Faith-based and asset-based congregational diakonia in a Malagasy Lutheran context. A qualitative study of the use your talents project

Abstract

After decades of ignorance, scholars and international development actors have come to embrace faith–based organizations (FBOs) as important actors in poverty alleviation. FBOs have the potential to be important contributors to community development – especially in the context of the Global South, which suffers from a lack of external resources – through the participation and involvement of their members. Community development projects may compensate for the inability of many states and governments to serve people and meet the basic needs of those living below the poverty line. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to broadening public knowledge and literacy about a specific asset–based community development project (ABCD) called Use Your Talents (UYT), which has been implemented in the Lutheran Church of Madagascar (FLM). The study addressed through local–level analysis how the UYT project is supporting FLM congregations’ engagement for community development. The data was collected with an ethnographic–inspired approach through participant observations and semi–structured interviews from four congregations within three FLM synods between July and October 2018. The data was analysed with thematic content analysis with ABCD, lived religion and gender perspectives. The findings demonstrate that religion might be one of the constitutive forces behind individuals’ and congregational community development’s engagement. The research also shows that the UYT approach includes some elements of ABCD methodology that appears to inspire collective action. Additionally, the results indicate that the UYT project promoted women as important actors in community development. The significance of this study is that it informs the empirical understanding of congregational community development dynamics with a focus on Christian religion/faith as an intangible asset, assets–based methodology and women’s contributions. The study also shows that congregations as local civil society organizations have the potential to contribute substantially to community development through their members, who are the Church’s greatest asset.

Paper I: Rakotoarison, Z. R.; Dietrich, S.; Hiilamo, H. T. (2021) Faith as an asset in a community development project: The case of Madagascar. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 77 (4), a6470. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i4.6470

Paper II: Rakotoarison, Z. R.; Dietrich, S.; Hiilamo, H. T. (2019) Tackling poverty with local assets: A case study on congregational asset–based community development in a Lutheran church in Madagascar. Diaconia. Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice, 10 (2), 119–140. https://doi.org/10.13109/diac.2019.10.2.119

Paper III: Rakotoarison, Z. R. (2024). Gender and Power Relations in a Malagasy Congregational Asset-Based Community Development Project. Religion and Development (published online ahead of print 2024). https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230028