Topic code C2: An emphasis on interfaith respect and co-operation

This category grouped data illustrating one particular value, namely interfaith respect and co- operation. World Vision’s ‘kingdom’ values place a particular emphasis on building trust and understanding between different religious groupings. The building of harmony and co-

operation within communities helps World Vision to achieve sustainable development. This was a strongly supported and

fully distributed connection (Figure 8.2). There were 29 underlying links, making this the second-strongest

connection in the analysis. The commitment to interfaith understanding was framed in different ways. For

some it rose out of an understanding of our shared humanity. Christianity ‘is about Christian values – Jesus values. Getting the wider picture about the world. All creatures are children of God, all brothers and sisters.’19

Others saw the commitment as a matter of hospitality and friendship. It was reported that some World Vision bases would regularly convene meetings of Christian and Muslim leaders ‘not only for teaching, but just to be together’.20 Still others saw the commitment arising from an orthopraxy that transcended different faith traditions. For example, a consistent finding in the evaluation reports was the role of World Vision in acting as a unifying agent in bringing Christian and Islamic leaders together into locally adapted development collaborations. These collaborations involved capacity training in various aspects of development, including

training about HIV and AIDs, gender, education and interfaith dialogue itself.

The data illustrated that World Vision is well positioned to bring about greater interfaith and interdenominational understanding. As World Vision is not aligned to any one Christian denomination and it has a practical and applied focus in its work, it provides a platform for engagement between different religious groupings. The following examples illustrate some of the methods used:

19 _{KII with a WV Administration Manager, Bosnia and Herzegovina.}

• Roundtable discussions – World Vision offices in Armenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina used inter-religious round table discussions as a way of building understanding and strengthening civil society.21

• Informal contact – World Vision brokers and provides facilities for informal contact.

For example, ‘If I meet Muslims leaders today I can shake hands and discuss meetings, but I could not do it 5 years ago. Here in this room with World Vision we can meet Muslims and talk, we could not do it in past. Through World Vision we as Christian and Muslim leaders meet, can pray together in Jesus’ name, and be accepted and work together.’22

• Summer camps – ‘These summer camps are run by an ecumenical organization with

Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Armenian Apostolic and Georgian Orthodox Church board representation. The various leaders are all trained together, including seminary students, providing fertile soil for understanding the “other”.’23

• Youth projects – For example, Project Yakaar is a youth-focussed training scheme

that tries to instil civic and ethical responsibilities. In doing so, it ‘seeks to build the capacities of WV staff and partners to increase inter-religious actions and to develop models and best practices for jointly engaging religious leaders to work together.’24

• Inclusivity in general programming– In Tanzania there was repeated praise for World

Vision being inclusive and non-discriminatory in all its general programming. ‘We are really thankful to ADP staff because they do not segregate anyone; they treat both Muslims and Christians equally.’25

World Vision’s understanding of the primary importance of religion within community means that it is well placed to facilitate interfaith dialogue. As a faith-based agency seeking to do development work, it has a vested interest in the topic. The evidence suggested that other types of agencies might approach this topic from a distance. They may regard religion as a private matter or something to be repudiated, or they may feel that their own secular underpinning does not enable them to engage religious institutions in the same way. In contrast, World Vision is well positioned and has a clear theological imperative to broker good relations as a faith-based participant/actor.

21 _{Kilpatrick & Goode, p. 27; Newmarch 2010, p. 17.} 22 _{Goode 2011b, p. 22.}

23 _{Goode 2010a, p. 17, and see KII with a representative of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Georgia.} 24 _{Goode 2011b, p. 6.}

An important aspect of this topic code is the way World Vision seeks and uses shared or overlapping religious values with Muslims to provide a common platform to engage staff and communities. Twelve quotes from three different countries were noted that affirmed this approach.

This level of inclusiveness is possible because of the overlap in values between

Christianity and Islam as two Abrahamic faiths. In terms of shared values, the strongest data came from Senegal. The common ground was described in the following terms:

• World Vision’s Christian identity means ‘trying to do good as God teaches.’26 • One imam noted that many of World Vision’s core values are represented in Islam:

‘All prophets God sends teach good … I have many books relating to Christian values and I enjoy reading them. Each of us can share his faith with the other without hurting them.’27

• ‘In World Vision Senegal, Muslim and Christian staff unite around a shared goal, the well-being of children. Muslims are happy to be associated and work in World Vision because of the positive values that align with Muslim values.’28

• Christian people help ‘Muslims understand how to serve God and help others, in terms of relationships, love of children, and protection.’29

Common ground was also built through the shared identity of religious figures. These quotes came from Muslim respondents.

• ‘We are all followers of Jesus.’30

• ‘Muslims pray to Jesus because he is a prophet and Mary because she is sacred.’31 • ‘If a Muslim wants to pray to Jesus, that is ok.’32

• ‘we [Muslim staff members] walk as Jesus Christ walked with the poor people.’33

8.1.2.1 Preliminary analysis.

World Vision has a strong commitment to promoting respectful interfaith relationships. The theological imperative behind this value is its commitment to live in anticipation of the kingdom of God. God’s reign on earth will not be achieved by disparagement, violence,

26 _{FGD with 15 Imams and Koranic teachers, Ndiognick Senegal.}

27 _{Comment of Imam, FGD with Religious Leaders, Sine ADP, Senegal.}

28 _{Goode 2011b, p. 30.}

29 _{KII with a senior DME Advisor, Senegal – a Muslim.}

30 _{KII with a Finance/Grant Accountant, Bosnia and Herzegovina.} 31 _{KII with a Muslim community leader, Beirut, Lebanon.}

32 _{FGD with women of ADP Beirut area, Lebanon.}

mistrust or suspicion. Nor will God be glorified by these kinds of attitudes. World Vision policies adopt a careful and nuanced position. They prohibit staff from judging the salvation of another, while acknowledging Jesus Christ as the ultimate revelation of what God is like. This provides a firm basis to uphold the integrity of key Christian beliefs, while providing room to positively engage with people of other faith traditions.

World Vision’s relational posture, its understanding that all peoples reflect the image of God, and its emphasis on orthopraxy are all important bases from which to build closer interfaith relationships. The data showed that a wide range of initiatives and methods were deployed to build these relationships. The volume of data indicated the importance of this theme. Critically, World Vision was able to successfully build strong interfaith relationships because it had a theological driver to do so. The data suggested other kinds of organisations do not enter the discussion in the same way. Overlapping values and a shared Abrahamic heritage helped to build closer relationships with Muslims. This observation is consistent with the work of Haynes, which suggests that religious organisations can have inherent advantages when it comes to conflict resolution.34