Topic code H2: Leveraging personal influence of church leaders

In addition to forming partnerships with churches, World Vision also seeks to leverage the influence of individual church leaders. This makes sense for World Vision because these figures tend to be highly trusted within developing communities.20 This was a well-supported and well-distributed connection (Figure 10.2). The data indicated that there were at least three different aspects to the way

in which World Vision’s developmental aims are furthered through religious leaders. In some cases, all three aspects were present in the same community.

The first aspect was the use of religious leaders to

obtain a kind of multiplier effect. This involved training religious leaders about particular developmental issues and encouraging them to spread the key messages among their

congregational networks. This enabled World Vision to access an important communication channel that would be difficult to replicate. For example, in Tanzania it was acknowledged by a World Vision manager that ‘We are carefully using faith leaders to help us do development work in the community … we involve faith leaders to help us in educating their respective believers, who are members of the households we want to target.’21 It was noted that ‘The

19 _{Ivereigh, A 2011, ‘Religious faith builds a civil society in a way secularism does not’, The Guardian, 29} September.

20  _{There are occasionally exceptions to this, as pointed out in the next chapter when discussing the risks of}

dealing with the church and its leaders.

essence of working with churches or religious leaders is making us different. Other NGOs are not using this strategy.’22 _{The reason other organisations were not doing this was unclear.}

A second aspect was using the personal endorsement of an authoritative figure to give a developmental message added credibility. The strongest examples came from East Africa. The report for Rwanda noted that ‘Pastors are often considered the “voice of God” in local contexts.’23 Specifically, it was asserted that church leaders have a stronger voice than government officials, the local mayor or secular NGOs. One ADP Manager claimed that ‘If the pastor calls a public meeting to talk about an issue, everyone will come. The community thinks pastors are “men [sic.] of God” and should therefore be listened to. On the other hand, if a local government representative or a secular NGO calls a meeting, not so many will turn up. The government recognises the power of the Church and relies on the Church to get its key messages across.’24 A similar reaction was reported in Armenia. There, the level of engagement and trust in a community HIV and AIDS project was not high. However, it was reported that ‘when we included Father Simeon as part of the training, the interest and participation increased.’25

The manner of endorsement was not always verbal, sometimes taking the form of symbolic action. 26 The first example is from an imam, but could be equally applicable to a church leader.In Senegal, an imam reported an instance where he suspected someone had died of AIDS but no one was willing to touch the body, thereby preventing the funeral from taking place. The imam, who had been trained in HIV and AIDS by World Vision, agreed to go and do the funeral. This action ‘was a big testimony and created new relationship between this Imam and the family to the dead person’27 _{A good example of symbolic endorsement}

from within Christian circles came from Georgia, where a World Vision health professional spoke about the action of ‘the Patriarch who blessed a new AIDS centre to promote condom use for AIDS sufferers, for people’s protection, even though this isn’t something [the

Patriarch] would normally do.’28

A third aspect involved training religious leaders to be more pastoral in their response to developmental issues. This was important, especially in contexts like Eurasia, where church

22 _{KII with a relief and grants manager, NO, WV Tanzania.} 23 _{Goode 2011a, p. 16.}

24 _{KII with ADP Manager 2, Rwanda.}

25 _{FGD, Idjevan staff, Tavush ADP, Armenia.}

26 _{Kessler & Arkush give an example of symbolic action in which a Christian bishop visited the work of Islamic} Relief in Sudan and was so impressed by it that he made a personal donation. This was a powerful gesture in the Sudanese context (p. 9).

27 _{Goode 2011b, p. 23.}

leaders were an important source of information for the general public. A prevalent attitude in Georgia is ‘If I have a question, I go to the priest.’29 _{Against this background, it is important}

to educate the clergy in terms of both their developmental and theological understanding. For example, the report for Georgia noted that ‘many [priests] still believe HIV/AIDs is

punishment from God.’30

There were consistent reports from Tanzania indicating that priests and pastors had changed their attitudes from judgment and stigmatisation of people with HIV and AIDS to a much more compassionate understanding. The data from Bosnia and Herzegovina also referenced World Vision’s important work at the ADP level in moderating the views of a Roma evangelical priest who was previously against any kind of tolerance.31

10.1.2.1 Preliminary analysis

Religious beliefs are a primary frame of reference for the vast majority of people living in developing communities. Religious leaders are in a privileged position of trust within communities. They serve as teachers, custodians of tradition, pastoral carers and persons exercising important cultic responsibilities. The data showed that World Vision was aware of the influence of religious leaders and sought to actively engage them in a variety of ways. These included accessing target communities through religious leaders, seeking their explicit endorsement for programs and developmental messages, and improving their pastoral

awareness and responses.

The messages of churches will at times be presented with a moralism that would be regarded as offensive or condescending in the West. Nonetheless, this tone is resonant with a large part of the world’s population, and it has been successfully deployed in bringing about social change. The data showed that World Vision was able to engage with Christian leaders as a credible friend. It was able to work with Islamic leaders, too, on the basis of shared values and a demonstrated commitment to work sensitively within their communities. Critically, over time the view of churches has changed, and sometimes softened, because of their engagement with faith-based development NGOs over the longer run. This is discussed at topic code H4.

                                                                                                                          29 _{KII with a Program Manager, Georgia.} 30 _{Goode 2010a, p. 18.}