Zeke - Update 6: Empowerment

Journal prompt: Is empowerment easy? Why or why not?

No, empowerment is not easy. Something that I have heard a lot listening to Mr. Garner is that Africans want muzungu money. They see white people and see the answer to all their problems if they can just become friends. The things that we have been doing come against the idea that you need a muzungu to fix your problems. With both SLAM times that we have put on, there comes testimonies from students about how they’ve learned that they themselves can serve. They can learn how to teach, and go teach. They can learn how to build a rocket stove and go build rocket stoves. It is difficult to help people reevaluate their culture and teach them the Bible. It takes time. Empowering requires investment into people. It’s a key difference between a relief agency and a development agency. As a development agency, we focus on developing the people so that they don’t have to rely on muzungu money. And it’s harder because that development occurs over a long period of time, but it’s worth it. People are God’s workmanship. We are developing people for the long haul, and that is difficult but worth it!