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SDOP's Mission
Self-Development of People is a ministry that affirms
God's concern for humankind. We are Presbyterians and
ecumenical partners, dissatisfied with poverty and oppression,
united in faith and action through sharing, confronting
and enabling. We participate in the empowerment of economically
poor, oppressed and disadvantaged people who are seeking
to change the structures that perpetuate poverty, oppression
and injustice.
Foundation
Presbyterians have traditionally valued self-determination. It is a concept deeply rooted in the Christian Church's philosophy and in the pioneering spirit of the United States. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through the Self-Development of People ministry, considers the application of this concept a crucial element in turning the tables on despair here and abroad. It affirms the concept demonstrated by Christ and His mission. By His actions, Jesus demonstrated His belief in people as children of a loving God. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues that mission by exercising the same belief in the practical terms of our own day and age.
Christians recognize their own need for independence and self-respect. Through the work of the Self-Development of People ministry, Presbyterians have the opportunity to be partners in development so that others may grow with dignity.
That some of our sisters and brothers are forced to beg for human dignity is absolutely scandalous to the Kingdom to which we have been called to witness. May God provoke us to give our money, our time and our talents to programs of self-development as an evangelical witness to the good news of salvation revealed in Jesus Christ.
Biblical / Theological foundation
"I want to remind you that God cares, God cares about
injustice, about oppression, about exploitation."
- Bishop Desmond Tutu
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History
After World War II, European nations, Japan, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States mushroomed into technologically sophisticated societies. At the same time, however, a new spirit of nationalism was growing within the colonies of Britain, Spain, the Netherlands and France. Many new nations were born, some taking their zeal for independence from the very nations that had controlled them. But these new countries had minimal financial and technical resources at their disposal. No matter how hard they tried to catch up, advanced nations surged ahead at an accelerating rate. By 1961, the gap between what was called developed nations and underdeveloped nations had grown wider than before the war. Recognizing that polarization between the rich and poor countries was growing more intense, the United Nations issued a declaration:
"On December 19, 1961, the United Nations designated the period of the 1960s as the Development Decade, an era of unprecedented activity designed to reverse the process which widened the gap between the rich and poor nations. The need was recognized, plans were made and activities started ..."
Between 1961 and 1970, rich and poor nations across the globe still grew further apart, and as the world witnessed political, social and economic upheaval, the Church heard the voices of underprivileged people cry out for justice. How should the Church respond?
It seemed that massive foreign aid programs administered by governmental or ecumenical agencies could lower the rising incidence of death and disease but could not reverse the process of degeneration in underdeveloped countries. In addition, the kinds of ministries in which the United Presbyterian Church was then engaged were not capable of totally responding to that cry.
Nevertheless, the Church's history of mission showed that for the past 150 years, various governing bodies and their agencies had often interpreted Christ's commands to teach, to preach and to heal through developmental ministries, which emphasized an individual's moral right to fulfill his or her own potential. The concept of self-development was as old as the Church itself. It simply needed to be brought to the forefront and applied to the modern dilemma.
The Church interpreted "power" as the ability to control one's destiny. But the forces which alienated rich nations from poor ones worked within advanced countries as well. The concept of a self-made person, choosing his or her own path, was vital to the Church, but as a social reality seemed little more than a dream.
Why? In technologically sophisticated societies, the ability to take the reins of one's life into one's own hands was too often inhibited by a tyranny of poverty and discrimination, a tyranny which was theologically no more acceptable to the Church than that of despotic governments. It was morally demeaning for Christians to stand by and watch millions travel down the road to despair.
In a period of great insight and inspiration, the 1970 General Assembly launched a project that strongly recognized this fact of ecclesiastical reality. In order to get the program started, the Board of National Missions provided $1,250,000 to implement the work of the National Committee on the Self-Development of People, until monies would be coming in from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. |
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