Cindy & Matthew giving instruction
We had a good time two weeks ago leading a short vision seminar about CHE in South Sudan. Attending were 30 leaders of the two Covenant churches in Juba, South Sudan. We started with the story of the river crossing and discussion between aid/helping and development. Every time we have led this it is always fun to watch the drama. Participants here have always been much more animated, creative and engaged than the Americans we’ve seen do it. The groups we have led this with have varied in how quickly they grasped the issues related to development. Was the guy who was carried to the middle of the river and left there stranded really helped or not? Some would say yes, because he was helped.
Discussion group
When we turn the questions to “Have you seen this in your village or city?” it is always interesting to see the examples that come up. Again, some get it quickly and others much more slowly. Dividing a large group into smaller groups always works to get more people engaged in the discussion. It also encourages the women to participate more as initially they are often more reluctant.
We also use the story of the village on a mountain where people commonly fell off the steep path and got injured, some even dying. There is some intervention from the outside to help them with their injuries, but those don’t last forever. The problem is only solved when the villages find their own solution to the real problem. This story always provokes great discussion about local ownership of the problem and solutions.
Women participating
In the end it was a good day. Many grasped the ideas we hoped they would. We believe what we did prepares the way for the next seminars someday in the future.
