Pastoral care in a context of poverty : a search for a Zambian contextual church response

Abstract

In Zambia, it is true to say that people are politically free but materially still very poor, 49 years after independence which was attained in 1964. Many people lie below poverty datum-line and those that are, most hit, are the people living in rural areas. Many people are flocking from the rural areas to cities, leaving the old people, women and children in rural areas and in poverty. The levels of poverty in Zambia have reached a crisis, that even the president of Zambia, His Excellence Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, acknowledged this fact during his parliamentary address to the second session of the 11th National assembly broadcast live on Zambia National broadcasting Network in September 2012. The church is challenged by conditions under which the rural dwellers find themselves in. As a church, our political liberation is to be transformed and driven by the will to restructuring and healing our society; thus ultimately developing those individuals who are suffering in the rural areas of the country. In Zambia, the church should accept that the missionaries who brought the gospel from western countries worked very well in the area of community development. The missionaries’ work and their care for the poor should inspire the churches today to be willing to help the poor rural people to be transformed. The good thing the United Church of Zambia could learn from the early missionaries is that the Christian church needs to be committed and involved in the plight of the poor. The church cannot ignore the socio – economic issues that affect rural poor communities. The United Church of Zambia should be transformed and made to understand that human liberation is not possible, if the political and economic issues are not equally addressed, a human being is not only the soul but also, consist of body and mind. The Christian church must bring a holistic ministry to the suffering people. The church; especially the United Church of Zambia, should understand that economic freedom is a reality which cannot be separated from people’s daily life. The church should learn to listen and act as ‘a midwife’ and a place of safety. She must be willing to suffer with the poor, for the sake of the poor. While the church is committed to development issues, let it also not lose sight of spiritual issues. Therefore, the church leadership should serve as a role model in human and community development. The Christian church should use the gospel to change the mind-set of the rural poor in order to help them transform their living standards.