Transformation Vision Overview

As briefly stated in our Vision statement, Alive Passion Ministries‘ focus is on transformation, of individuals, families, and communities in the Bugesera District of Rwanda. Critical to effective efforts to those ends is a solid foundation of beliefs and values. Our foundation is built on two primary resources:

  • Bible
  • Helping Without Hurting in Africa, Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze and Anthony Sytsma with Brian Fikkert, The Chalmers Center, 2018 [HWHA]

Needs Identification

So what are the areas of need that Alive Passion Ministries are addressing? In Helping Without Hurting in Africa [HWHA], the authors have provided us a good classification of areas of need that we have used in developing our programs. These are: personal needs, community needs, stewardship needs, and spiritual needs. These are described briefly below.

  • Personal including low self-esteem: “A person has [low self-esteem] if he or she has an improper view of himself or herself…” [HWHA, p.77] Developing awareness of underutilized skills or talents at a personal level and building on those is a first important aspect of our ministry engagement.
  • Community: “We have a poverty of community [i.e., need] when we have a broken relationship with other people…” [HWHA, p.73] As community members begin to develop an awareness of their underutilized skills or talents, those are best understood and utilized within their community, for their own benefit as well as the benefit of the community.
  • Stewardship: This need addresses the proper utilization of resources available at either the personal or community level. “We have poverty of stewardship [need] when we have a broken relationship [which can be] in the form of … not working and being productive…[HWHA, p.75] We encourage community members individually or working together to identify unused or underutilized resources and ways to effectively use them.
  • Spiritual: “We have poverty of spiritual intimacy [need] when we have a broken or imperfect relationship with God…” [HWHA, p. 70] While our beliefs and values are clearly identified in our Statement of Faith, our ministry efforts only engage participants in recognizing the importance of a spiritual need in their lives. Further specific discussion related to this need is left to small group leaders as they engage with group members.

Needs Response

A key consideration in responding to identified individual or community needs requires a good understanding of the situation to employ the appropriate response. In the referenced resource Helping Without Hurting in Africa [HWHA], the authors identify the following categories: Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development.

  • Relief: “This is the temporary emergency aid given to reduce immediate suffering from a natural or man-made problem. People needing relief are unable to help themselves… Without help their situation would just keep getting worse…” [HWHA, p.103]
  • Rehabilitation: “Rehabilitation begins as soon as the ‘bleeding’ stops. This is the attempt to bring people and their communities back to the same normal conditions they had before the disaster or emergency… During the rehabilitation response, we work together with … victims, not for them.,,.” [HWHA, p. 104]
  • Development: “Development is the process of change that moves people to a better way of life than they have ever experienced before. It is taking them from their normal level and raising them to a higher level…” [HWTA, p. 104]