VeNews September 2006

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Gifted by God in the Mission of Health and Well-Being

An Interview with Steve de Gruchy

Confronted by the ravages of AIDS, surrounded by orphans, hunger and economic deprivation, Africans increasingly are asking a different sort of question of a seemingly hopeless situation: What are our gifts? Asset-based development acknowledges that resources are present even in the most troubled setting. That approach lies at the heart of the Vesper Society-sponsored African Religious Health Assets Program (ARHAP), an international, interdisciplinary effort to identify and connect the resources of religious institutions and communities in sub-Saharan Africa. For ARHAP partner Steve de Gruchy, professor and director of the Theology and Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, moving from ‘needs’ to ‘assets’ is no mere semantic shift. It’s good news, and thus profoundly theological.

What drew you to the African Religious Health Assets Program (ARHAP)?

I think the most important thing that drew me in was the term ‘assets’ in the title. For a couple of years I had been teaching around asset-based development, and found that it worked for both me and my students. I think from a Christian and a development perspective, this kind of focus is crucial. Furthermore, Africa gets such a lot of negative press, which promotes ‘deficit’ approaches – whereas many of us know that there are huge assets in Africa, and within this, there are religious assets that are crucial to health and well-being. In a development context ravaged by HIV and AIDS, this is crucial.

What is the theological meaning and significance of ‘religious health assets’?

I think three things. First, the focus on ‘health and well-being’ is important from a Christian perspective. Much of what the Bible points to is an understanding of salvation that includes good health. Jesus’ healing ministry is a sign of this. Second, the concern for health and well-being is a missiological concern. This is what God is doing in the world, and what God calls the church to share in and with the world. Third, engagement with the world is built on the ‘assets’ of the faithful and our faith. In short, we are gifted by God to engage with God in the mission of health and well-being.

How do your students respond to this concept of assets?

My students love it. For a generation or more, outsiders have pushed deficit thinking and deficit policies onto Africa, and many inside and outside Africa have come to internalise this. Yet graduate students from Africa know and feel a different reality. They know that there are so many assets in Africa and that Africa's future lies in tapping into, protecting, and enhancing these assets – as the basis for global engagement. As Christians, they also love the affirmation that God has granted gifts, talents and assets to the church in Africa. It builds the kind of pride from which positive action flows.

Why is a deficit-based approach to development still promulgated by many entities, including the church? It seems that a deficit-based approach is even construed as noble. Why is that?

I think we are dealing here with two issues. First, if you think about many of the stories of the Bible, such as the parable of the Good Samaritan, there is an emphasis on helping those who are in need. And we move very quickly to thinking of them as needy people, people who can’t help themselves. There are times when that is important, such as for refugees, but as a long-term development strategy it is unhelpful. The second issue is that Christians are often rather narcissistic about caring for others. We often do this because it makes us feel better or strengthens our credentials with God. And so we want to relate to other people as weaker, so that we can seem stronger.

How does a regard for assets relate to post-colonial thinking?

Interesting question! One of the crucial aspects of colonialism was a colonialism of the mind, so that colonized people came to believe that they were second-class, uncivilized, useless, liabilities. Their history is denigrated. Their culture and religion is negated. An asset-based approach, particularly in the South, is a powerful statement about the fact that whatever others say about you, you still have the resources, the gifts, the talents, the assets, to contribute to the building of your own community and country.

In your writing on economics, you note that God seeks the “flourishing of all creation.” What do assets have to do with this flourishing?

I’m not quite sure it is a simple connection between these two, and certainly not one that can be answered quickly. I like to think of God’s work in the world as the ‘big’ economy—the way that God has put the world together and sustains it to work for the common good, or the flourishing of all creation. Our task, as humans who are attentive to God’s work, is to build our economies in harmony with the ‘big’ economy, also allowing for the flourishing of all creation. If we are going to build our own economies in ways that sustain the common good, then we need to build them on what we have, our assets. Building them on what we don’t have is likely to lead to greater competition, greater conflict, greater abuse, and work against the flourishing of all creation.

Why is this convergence of religion, health, and assets good news for the church and world?

At the heart of this convergence is a desire to find a commonality between religious language and public health language. Health provides a very powerful ‘middle axiom,’ because as the Millennium Development Goals show, more and more development thinking is centered on health. At the same time, religious traditions have always moved comfortably in the world of health and healing. Thus finding a way to speak together, dream together, and work together for the health of the poor – and particularly those with HIV and AIDS – is good news for us all.

To learn more about ARHAP, click here.

To learn more about Dr. de Gruchy and the Theology and Development Programme at the School of Religion and Theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, click here.

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Vesper Society, a private operating foundation, promotes social justice locally and globally by addressing critical social issues including the provision of health services for the underserved.