This is great news! (The ACT Forum and God's power and love)

Transforming Communities in Africa

Jennipher works for Tearfund, heading up our Transforming Communities work in Africa. (It’s also called Church and Community Transformation, or CCT, within the organisation.)

In the email quoted above, she had the joy of sharing a piece of excellent news – a vital peace agreement in Mozambique influenced in no small part by a group of church leaders called the ACT Forum.

And how the ACT (Africa Christian Transformation) Forum came about is a remarkable story of divine inspiration.

What is the ACT Forum and how did it come about?

It all started with a group of church leaders brought together by Tearfund to discuss, at a conference in Kigali, the future of the church in Africa, the challenges facing the continent (including conflict, underemployment, political instability and the climate emergency), and the incredible community transformation that is possible when the church brings God’s kingdom to those living in poverty.

Jennipher tells us, ‘We brought these church leaders together and took them through the church and community transformation process. (See below for more on this.)

‘There were 50 of them from 22 countries in Africa, and after we did a short session helping them to see what is possible through CCT (or Transforming Communities work), they decided that each of them in their own countries would support this work.

‘These are influential church leaders. Some of them head up big church networks like evangelical associations or the Council of Churches at a national or regional level!

Added value: advocacy transforming communities and whole countries

‘And, on top of this, these church leaders decided that their second objective was going to be to work together to influence governments and national leaders, and to shape the future of national leaders – the people who make decisions that affect the communities, the countries, and the whole continent.

‘In many countries in Africa where there's conflict or mismanagement of resources, people can’t access even the most basic services adequately in their communities.

‘The ACT Forum is a movement of these church leaders who have decided to advance CCT in their own countries, but also collectively – as the entire Africa – to address these issues.’

This was an unexpectedly excellent outcome for the conference.

‘What excites me the most about the ACT Forum,’ says Jennipher, ‘is that the membership that it so far represents – the number of Christians that its leaders are able to influence – comes to about 250 million across Africa.

‘Together, the ACT Forum covers all of the African countries, even those where Tearfund does not work.’

A result above and beyond expectations

‘This was above and beyond my own expectations of the first conference of this kind,’ says Nigel Harris, who was also at the gathering in Kigali. ‘The leaders committed themselves to a vision for change at two levels and they set up the Africa Christian Transformation Forum (the ACT Forum).

‘At one level, they committed to a significant scaling up of CCT, so that every church can be a centre of transformation and hope. And, at a second level, they committed to political engagement so that the church can influence for positive change at a regional and pan-African level.

‘They elected a steering group of nine leaders, under the chairmanship of Bishop Joshua Banda, to take this forward. This dual approach was profoundly moving to hear, and I’m sure is music to the ears of many of us who know the importance of a holistic approach to scaling up transformational work.’

But what does CCT (Church and Community Transformation), also known as Transforming Communities, look like?

Jennipher’s job is to head up Tearfund’s CCT work in Africa and she explains the transformation it brings like this:

‘I have seen great depth of poverty,’ she says, ‘especially in the rural communities.

‘And when you’re travelling through these areas, often you see impoverished homes. You may see children and adults looking malnourished, children not dressed very well, and quite a lot of hunger. From time to time there's either drought or flooding.

‘But then you know that you have come across a community which has gone through the Transforming Communities process when you come across a place that looks like an oasis.

‘Usually, it looks significantly different. You see happier faces. You see people looking busy, not distressed. You see houses looking much improved. You see a lot of food crops.

‘Because communities that have been through CCT training are able to be productive, and it's actually visible! You don't have to be told! When you reach the place, you immediately see for yourself.

‘And one of the things that excites me most is that when I go to communities that have gone through CCT, people will run to you to show you what they’ve achieved, or to share with you what they have produced. They’ll share crops. They’ll give you a chicken. They'll offer you a goat. In other communities, people will run to your car to beg, to ask for money, to ask for food.

‘So, in short, that's what church and community transformation looks like.’

How does CCT (Transforming Communities) work?

‘How it works is this: Church and community transformation starts with Tearfund training church leaders and other facilitators to mobilise their communities – in other words, to identify the challenges that they are facing and come up with solutions using the resources that God has given them – that are within them and around them.

‘The process involves not just a transformation of material resources, but of people’s spiritual wellbeing as well, as people start to recognise and take care of the natural resources that they have been given, and use them to address their challenges.

‘As Tearfund, even our definition of poverty is different, so church and community transformation looks at holistic transformation – the wellbeing of individuals, their environment and their whole communities, including their spiritual wellbeing. And this really excites me!

‘And I think the most important part of it is the spiritual transformation, and seeing churches working together across different denominations. Seeing young people getting busy, being innovative, being creative, being productive. And seeing women working together, being innovative around food production processing and so on.

An example of Transforming Communities in action: Malawi

‘I have a lot of examples and stories to share, but there's one specific area in Malawi that really stands out to me.

‘Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the northern part of the country has particularly struggled. And there, in the district of Muzimba, there's an area that was very well known for lawlessness, witchcraft, and all kinds of evil going on.

‘But, one church leader, who was trained by Tearfund in the southern part of Malawi, felt called to go and minister in the north – even though it was a very difficult context.

‘One of the things that is really noticeable in this part of Africa, is that even where there is no other infrastructure in a community – no hospitals, no schools, no other organisations – you are still likely to find a church, even a makeshift church. A place where people gather together.

‘So, this pastor went out and mobilised churches. Even though they were quite some distance apart, he got churches from 11 different denominations involved. These were small churches with very small congregations, but they began to meet. They started doing Bible studies, and then eventually they started the CCT process. Four or five years down the line, when I went there, it was completely transformed.

‘You can still see the scars, and you hear testimonies of horrible stories. But people will tell you, “I'm completely transformed.”

‘And all the churches have grown in numbers.

‘Together, they have put up a massive church building, where they have a whole lot of different activities going on. There are young people who are recycling plastic and doing other creative arts. There’s a group of women making food, and another group of women reaching out to the elderly and to the vulnerable children, to the orphans, and providing for their needs.

‘This group of pastors is reaching out, and now the government has also got involved in transforming this community!

‘They sent in police officers. They sent in community development officers, and it's unusual to see government officers being part of this process.

‘When I visited the area, the person standing next to me was in uniform, a senior police officer. And I learned that even he had been part of the CCT mobilisation process!

Tearfund’s vision of 250k churches

‘Because of the visible transformation that we have seen through this process (Transforming Communities aka CCT), Tearfund has set out to reach 250,000 local churches to become centres of transformation. In other words, impacting 250,000 communities across Africa and the world.

‘So, that is our number one prayer request – that the Lord will equip Tearfund with the required resources, including the master trainers, who are at the heart of training the facilitators and the church leaders. That the churches will continue to be united as we seek to scale up this church and community transformation work across Africa, and of course, pray for stability in our African countries.’

Read more about why we love the church (and how it’s the answer to poverty) here.

And read more about the ACT Forum here.