Philosophy Of Transformational Development

Myers' book focuses on, what he describes as transformational development. One of the strengths of this book is that it is well researched and it contains a lot of information and the lists of helpful resources me to deepen understanding of the subject. However, it is also a weakness of this book as this is not an easy read for some people as it is too informational. Myers states that any Christian understanding of development must begin from an integrated view in which the spiritual and the material co-exist. Poverty have both material and spiritual causes and we should understand development as both a material process and a spiritual one. This book helps me to understand what is poverty, who are the poor, what is the theology of poverty,

He says that most people have a limited view on poverty and seeing it only as some form of need which exists. These people have a view that poor people do not have enough to eat, a decent place to sleep or clean water. He says that "any Christian understanding of transformational development must keep the person of Jesus and the claims and promise of the kingdom central to the defining of what better future we are working for and for choosing the means of getting

He points out that "the cause of poverty is fundamentally spiritual. Development by definition is about changing culture and changing culture is about changing values and worldview." He helps to drop the cultural burden without neglecting the spiritual center. He does this by focusing on transformational development that addresses both the god complexes of the non-poor as well as the distortions of the image of God among the poor taught by repressive and manipulative images within the host culture. He says that “a community's belief that some causes is located in the spiritual realm also influenced how it participates in the program." I like his recommendation saying that “when we experience high participation in research and planning and then low participation in implementation, this lack of certainty as to who is more powerful may be the explanation." I believe we must not forget the role of local churches in development programs. The local churches will be present “long after the development intervention is over”. Thereby ensuring that interventions done in partnership with local Christian communities will have staying power and lasting impact. However, I note he has not elaborated enough about it. There will be questions in the local churches about how the transformational development fits with the other ministries of the local