In REAP (Rural Extension with Africa’s Poor) our work is through local churches, emphasising an approach that we believe plays to the potential of the local church.  While there is much potential that we see in the local church, we focus on four main factors in the area that we work, namely eastern Africa.  These are the potential of the existing church structure, the use of the Bible to motivate people, the potential for extending teaching leading to behaviour change, and the potential for teaching that is relevant to the rural poor.

One of the greatest challenges in sustainable approaches to …

Why are Natural Medicines relevant for the church?

• They are Biblical.
• When you are physically sick, your spiritual ministry is affected.
• The good pastor is concerned about the health of his people. (contrast Ezekiel 34:4)
• They portray God’s plan for man – working with creation (Genesis 2: 15)
• They are using what God has given us in creation, and by using them we are also learning to take care of creation.
• They are practical for serving one another – they help us care and so show love.
• It is our holistic responsibility – God is concerned about the whole person and whole community. The Bible, as does …
  
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SWOT is a commonly used tool for helping organisations understand themselves in organisational analysis and strategic planning. We look at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that the organisation faces and this helps us to look at its identity, and to decide what needs to be done.

A common way of using SWOT is to try to overcome some of the constraints by addressing weaknesses. This in practice means to some degree changing the nature (and therefore identity) of the organisation to overcome the weaknesses. This is most commonly done through training etc. coming from the opportunities. …

NOTE: This analysis relates to evangelical Protestant Churches. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches have a very different structure that leads to different potentials.

Relating to the church type

There is a tendency to share models that are successful in one place to a different situation where the model that is good for one area may not relevant for another. By more careful thinking of the circumstance of the church it should be possible to be more discerning in determining what model will transfer well. Of particular significance in this respect is how well established and influential …