July 6, 2008

Dear Friends,

Much that we write about is about experiences in which Gloria and I have had the opportunity to both learn and serve. We feel that many things that work here can be applied to situations in other places. We are strong advocates of exchanging experiences with other grassroots groups. We think it’s also useful to exchange theories of community development and the development methodologies that we use and believe in. The values-based planning method that we have used deserves attention if we are to deepen our work in countries where we have ongoing mission efforts.

We think it’s important to recognize the importance of the “appreciative investigation” of the values-based planning method, as opposed to traditional development methodologies, which look for what’s missing in a community, then look for a solution to the problem. A more participatory approach encourages input from participants to determine what’s “missing.”  In the traditional approach, solutions come from the outside.

In contrast, the appreciative investigation approach focuses on what assets the community has—what is working well—and then builds on that potential. The emphasis is not placed on what is lacking or the people lack of capacity.

I am often reminded of the appreciative approach of Jesus, who raised up the downtrodden with new hope. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them…” (Matt. 6: 29).

In Central America, people have been taught that poor people are less capable than people that are well off. They are told this at least partly explains why they are poor. A sense of low self-esteem is pounded into them. Born with few resources and opportunities, young people are forced to abandon school early. This way the cycle of poverty repeats itself, reinforcing the concept.

Appreciative investigation breaks down this cycle. It says that the people of the community have potential that can be developed and enhanced for their own benefit. Their self-esteem does not suffer since they are not told that they are not good enough or capable enough to achieve a better life. They don’t depend for solutions from the outside, thus reinforcing the negative cyclical syndrome of poverty. When we place the planning process within a values-based model, we affirm that the people have values that are worthy of recognition and reinforcement.

The illustration below summarizes the different steps of the values-based planning model. The values and assets that communities have at the outset are built on in the successive steps of envisioning the future and designing the project. And they are used as a standard to evaluate the progress of implementation.

Gloria and I will be in Louisville, Kentucky from mid-August through November. We would love visit your church to share about how we’ve witnessed God at work in Honduras. Thank you for your interest and for your faithful support for mission work.

Yours,

Tim and Gloria Wheeler

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.262