The following is a document prepared by Rochelle McAlister as part of a training plan on Integrated Mission used in Zimbabwe where she currently serves with her husband, John.

What is Integrated Mission?
Each person is on a journey with God. Human beings were designed to be in full relationship and reconciliation with God, and so each person - whether they are aware of it or not - is somehow on that journey. Mission is about walking beside people on our journeys; sharing with one another and keeping each other on the path. Integrated Mission is about remembering that everyone has something to teach and to learn about the journey with God, and that we all need to be ministered to in body, mind, soul and spirit.

The Salvation Army, and the wider Christian Church, began in order to reconcile people to God, to each other and to themselves. From the beginning was recognition that each human being is a complex mix of spirit, body, mind and soul, and that God desires redemption and wholeness in each. Somewhere along the way, the spiritual and social focuses got separated. “There is no doubt that when everything we do as Army is put together, The Salvation Army is the very embodiment of Integrated Mission. But it is when we view each Salvation Army corps or centre or programme on its own that we need to pause and think,” (Paul Bamfo, Back to our roots - Integrated Mission). In many parts of the Salvation Army world, we have our corps - where souls are being won for Christ, and our social service centres - where bodies and minds are being ministered to. These are often not integrated. Somewhere along the way, we also got focused on offering programmes in our buildings, rather than being part of the communities where we live and where our corps are situated.

Integrated Mission is about integrating and restoring the intended balance of social and spiritual. It is about a ministry and mission which participates in the life of the community where we live. Issues such as HIV/AIDS and poverty cannot be addressed as social or simply spiritual issues. As Africans, we have long agreed that they are both spiritual and social, and therefore a response has to be integrated. Integrated Mission is about blurring the lines between social and spiritual; and between those who give and those who receive. It is about seeing someone as a whole person, and facilitating God’s grace to minister to each other as whole persons.

In your journal… What do you think about Integrated Mission? Do you think everyone is on a journey with God? Do you agree that mission is about walking beside, or do you think it’s more about pushing or pulling people in a certain direction? In your experience of The Salvation Army, have you been exposed to more of the spiritual side or the social side or has there been a good balance?

Salvation Army History
The idea of Integrated Mission is not a new one for The Salvation Army. From the start, visiting homes of families in the community has been undertaken by corps officers, visiting sergeants and league of mercy members. An 1886 Orders and Regulations for Field Officers manual (Chapter 8, Section 5) expresses practical instructions for Salvationists to create teams of workers called “cellar, gutter and garret brigades.” They were instructed to meet families in the neighbourhood and to regularly and routinely be in relationship with them in ministry, not just providing food or clothing. They were not to go with a limited agenda of soul saving, and they were not to give up if there was no early sign of response. Here is one of the instructions: “7. No doles and blankets: There should be no regular supply of either food or clothes or any other temporal thing: so that receiving a visit from a soldier of the brigade should not, in itself, raise any expectation of relief in the minds of those visited. If these are welcomed at all, it should be solely for the love, guidance and help in spiritual things.” Although The Salvation Army is well known and respected for its relief work around the world, it would seem that that was not the intention from the beginning. Officers and soldiers were asked to go and visit people without material gifts, but rather with the gift of their presence, their love, and their guidance in spiritual matters.

In Luke 10:1 - 12 we read of Jesus’ instructions to the 72 followers who were going to go out into the communities to minister. He tells them not to take a purse or bag or sandals, and to go to homes bringing peace rather than material goods. This is a good lesson for us as we integrate into our communities.

What does it mean to help?
In the many parts of the world, “help” has often become very “professional.” Rather than neighbours helping neighbours, or family members helping family members, most help comes from organizations. The aim is to find out what people need, and then provide services quickly and efficiently. Sometimes, people are not even called by their name, but rather by some sort of identification number. This often causes division in society - between the needy/dependent and the helpers. The two groups find it difficult to listen to one another, and get trapped in an unhelpful relationship which isolates them from one another. Of course, this Western form of “helping” has also spilled over into Africa, and other parts of the world. Many communities have become used to the model of waiting for a rich, intelligent outsider to come in and “fix” all of the problems that those outsiders have identified.

There are a lot of people who see difficult situations and want to help. Helping makes us feel good; it increases our self-esteem because our helping is admired by others. Helping can also make a difference. The danger in helping is that it can rob people of their own capacity to help themselves. It may be faster to jump in, predict the future, throw around some money and ideas and feel satisfied at the end of the day. But the change and solutions will likely last longer when they are thought of, “owned” and implemented by those who are already there, taking the time to discover the possibilities within; walking alongside one another.

In your journal… Reflect on these ideas of helping. What do you think? Do you like to help people? Why?  Do you agree that sometimes when we try to help people, it may actually harm them? If you agree, then do you think we should stop helping or are there alternative ways?

Grace
God’s grace is present everywhere, and available to all people. Titus 2:11 explains this idea of prevenient grace - meaning that God’s grace is present before any human beings show up. Sometimes we have this idea that we are bringing God or salvation to people. While it is true that we are called to share the Good News, we must keep in mind that the grace of God which allowed us to find Him is also with every other person. Although we are naturally sinful (Romans 3:23), God’s grace is also in each of us, giving strength and abilities and capacity and potential.

Sometimes Christians feel that it is our job to save people and bring Christ to people. Of course, we have a role in this process, but we also need to humbly acknowledge that it is God who saves, and that He is constantly at work within people and communities before, during and after we may ever show up. Think of the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:1 - 15). Integrated mission is more about sowing seeds and watering seeds than creating gardens.

In your journal… Reflect on this idea of prevenient grace. What do you think?

Strengths/Capacities
Journeying with a person, which is the core of Integrated Mission, means participating in a community where both needs and gifts are explored. When we act as neighbours, we do not only ask what people need, but also what they can give and what they can offer. We ask them about their strengths, and not only about their weaknesses. If you always ask someone what s/he needs, s/he will start to see him/herself as needy; and you - the one asking - as the saviour. This will divide you and put you in two separate classes of people; rather than walking beside one another.

Integrated mission is a process that tries to facilitate community participation-looking for and using the strengths and assets in the people and community that will help them solve their own concerns and achieve their own aspirations. People do not come to a community to “do” integrated mission. They are people who are already part of the community, sharing life, and stimulating the community to talk or think, to share and explore ideas. This is not an approach that has “experts,” but rather the belief is that everyone has strengths and capacities. The emphasis is on mutual learning and developing the capacities/strengths that already exist. This emphasis on listening and learning from one another is sometimes termed “facilitation.”

Facilitation teams are groups of people who assist a community to learn about itself. Members of a facilitation team know how to guide a group of community members in identifying their concerns, ideas of how to address those concerns, and hopes.

The belief that people and communities have the capacity to solve their own problems offers great hope to individuals and neighbourhoods. It is not about waiting for someone to come and help, but rather exploring how we are already helping ourselves, and how we can re-enforce that process.

In your journal… Do you find it easy to see strengths and capacities in others or is it easier for you to notice weaknesses? Explain. Do you find it difficult to engage in meaningful conversations with people about concerns and hopes, or does it come naturally to you?

HCD and CCD:
Human Capacity Development (HCD): HCD is about developing the strengths or capacities that already exist in a person, or even discovering new strengths and capacities. Fundamentally, it is a belief that people possess great capabilities to help themselves. HCD leads to a way of working and living that listens and shares. It is about working with people; not for them.

Community Capacity Development (CCD): CCD is about developing the strengths or capacities that already exist in a community, or even discovering new strengths and capacities. Through CCD, people get together. They acknowledge concerns that they have in common. They develop a common vision about life. They learn how to better relate to one another, and how to do things individually and together that will benefit the community.

The idea behind Human Capacity Development or Community Capacity Development is that rather than just giving people a handout, or imposing an outsider’s idea of a good solution to a problem, the person, or the community comes up with the solutions themselves. There is a belief that the solutions already exist in the person or community, and therefore they no longer need to feel like victims or dependent recipients. Instead, they will likely feel empowered. They will use creative stress in order to grow and be involved in their own brainstorming and problem-solving.

Incarnation & Presence
In many African cultures, people offer their support to those who are experiencing joy or sorrow by offering their presence. They show up and they share in the mourning or in the dancing. They seem to grasp the idea of Romans 12:15 - “…rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Immanuel is a name for Jesus which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). In the person of Jesus, God came to earth (incarnation). He put on human flesh and became a neighbour of humans. “The Incarnation is God’s testimony to the fact that we all need someone with skin on, and never more so than when we confront the loneliness of illness…” (or other forms of suffering) - (S.E. Wheeler, Stewards of life. Bioethics and pastoral care).  In the same way, we show our solidarity with people by identifying with them and living amongst them. We cannot be on the outside pushing solutions at others. Rather, we are called to participate in the conversation, share our gifts, validate the assets that others contribute and celebrate the transformation of communities over time.

Spiritual leaders are those who dwell among their people. They are like shepherds who live among the sheep, serve the sheep, feed, water and protect the sheep. They touch and talk to the sheep - they even smell like sheep! And they are wiling to lay down their lives for the sheep (Lynn Anderson, They Smell Like Sheep).

No one wants to feel that they have been abandoned, or that they are alone. Mother Teresa said that the worst disease in the world is loneliness. Sharing life with others is a way to ensure that people know that they are not alone. In the Old Testament, people believed that one of the worst things that could happen to them was for God to turn his face away from them. This imagery is all throughout the Psalms. This theme is also in the New Testament, and even Jesus on the cross cried out, “My God, My God why has thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) No one wants to feel that they are alone; particularly in times of suffering. By being with people in their suffering, we will likely discover that we are not only representing God’s presence to them, but that they are also making God’s presence very real to us (see, for example, Matthew 25:31 - 45 - the story of the sheep and the goats) - (A. Verhey, Remembering Jesus. Christian community, scripture, and the moral life).

“Presence is a powerful and beautiful concept. Jesus changed communities by being present with people. William Booth and the early Salvationists changed communities by being present with people. And today, across Africa, change is happening in communities because of people being present with one another, sharing life and pain and joy together, and also sharing in the presence of God,” (Utibe Okim, Presence Leading to Change).

Care vs. Cure
Often we try to “cure” problems or sicknesses. But often, what people really want is just someone to sit with them or walk alongside them and care for them. The idea of caring for people rather than trying to cure them, is part of a more holistic concept of health. John 10:10 refers to “life in abundance” which includes a lot more than simply not being dead; just as health means a lot more than simply not having diseases or sicknesses. Abundant life involves a health that involves transformation and wholeness of the whole person; in body, mind, soul and spirit as well as in family, community and society. Rather than placing us in the role of experts, it is more about being ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) - in the ministry of reconciling people to God, to themselves and to others.

Key approaches within Integrated Mission:
-    Listening - truly listening to people, without an agenda
-    Asking appropriate, open-ended questions (i.e. questions that keep conversations going - and don’t end with yes or no answers)
-    Really, truly believing that people have capacities and strengths - and resisting the temptation to jump in and be a hero
-    Community mapping  - drawing a map of the neighbourhood/community, outlining important places, services, resources, roads and transport links, etc.
-    Prayer walking - walking through a neighbourhood with open eyes, ears and hearts, asking God to reveal things to us; this can also involve stopping to talk to people or praying with them
-    Home visits  - visiting people in their homes to talk with them
-    Discussion and brainstorming - looking at strengths and issues in the community and prioritizing which ones are the most important (Note: This may be termed as a “community conversation,” or even “community counseling” and is usually guided by a trained facilitator/facilitation team)
-    Blending spiritual ministry with social ministry - in fact, more than blending, they should be the same thing!

Walking with people as we all journey towards and with God is an immense privilege. It is also a form of ministry that most people are involved in every day. Almost all men, women and children are involved in relationships; sharing life with other people. Without thinking of it as such, they are likely rejoicing with people who are rejoicing, weeping with those who are weeping and caring for people who are unhealthy.