MASIHAMBISANE – The Journey with Churches

At the heart of our work in the world, CAST journeys with churches as they seek to see His Kingdom come, His will be done, “on earth as it is in heaven”. As Jesus’ prayer is answered, we will see Shalom – (wholistic peace) filled communities, full of justice, righteousness and abundant life. The journey is called Masihambisane as it is an invitation to walk together towards the peace and justice of God in the world.

Over this last year, we have had the privilege of journeying with the leaderships of 8 different churches quite closely and a broad range of churches more informally. What has been important is that no Church-CAST journey looks the same, and yet a really helpful learning has been that it is extremely helpful to have some basic building blocks in place at the outset of the journey to help to develop a shared vision for the work…a vision rooted in scripture and prophetic imagination (God’s dream for the world). This involves 3 initial steps at the outset of Masihambisane. The first two steps are geared around Bible study in order to develop a fuller imagination for the vision for our work – where does this particular church feel God leading them? The third step then involves action planning; both for taking the work forward within the church and then for taking missions and social outreach work into their neighbourhoods forward. For the latter, we then move onto the stage of Project Support which is detailed in the following pages. We’ve found that starting the work here allows for the greatest alignment and whole-church active participation.

Masihambisane involves a process developed by Latin American theologians known as the praxis cycle. This action-reflection cycle creates space to reflect on and hear from God and the world in a way that leads to direct action. And then have action which leads to further reflection and listening for even more impactful action. As we act and listen, we pay particular attention to those at the margins of our communities. It is a cycle that moves us and churches closer and closer to God’s shalom and justice.

We have found this work to be most impactful for individuals and the world not when it is leader-led, but when it is congregation-owned. This means that the work starts with leaders and then work is done to bring the entire congregation in. This is where we see the most transformative action.