GUIDELINES FOR CO ORDINATORS:

 (Caring for displaced people in churches and care centres)

FROM CRISIS TO TRANSFORMATION

“…we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

2 Chron 20:12b

We are in a situation at the moment where we don’t know what to do, we do not know when or how it will end and we cannot see where it will lead.  But there is hope: We are not alone in this, and there are some guidelines to help us through.

RESPONDING TO A CRISIS

A crisis can refer to anything from a death in the family or an accident, to an earthquake war, famine or what we are experiencing right now. Before the crisis occurs, the community, group or person is generally in a state of adequacy or sufficiency. Things are not necessarily perfect, but they’re OK; people are managing. But when the crisis occurs, people are plunged into turmoil. Everything they’ve known changes in a second and their world falls apart. Quality of life takes a serious dive. How do we respond?

1. RELIEF / WELFARE

The first response is RELIEF – addressing immediate needs. People are injured, hungry, lost, shell-shocked, so you provide clothing, food, temporary shelter or medical care. “Give a man a fish.” This response is immediate, but temporary. It is necessary in order to stabilize people and make them comfortable; to “stop the bleeding”. It is important to remember that this response does not solve the problem and must be short-term.

2. REHABILITATION

The stage of relief must be followed by rehabilitation. Continued relief is damaging as it can create dependency and entitlement in the receiver and fatigue in the giver. Rehabilitation is the equivalent of teaching someone how to fish, teaching the amputee how to walk, helping rebuild damaged houses. The person coming out of crisis begins to walk again, and the helper walks alongside. Here counselling occurs as people are helped to come to terms with their situation and consider options for moving forward. In relief, all responsibility lies with the giver. In rehabilitation, the responsibility is shared, but is being passed to the receiver.

3. DEVELOPMENT

Following rehabilitation is the stage where people are rebuilding their lives, returning to normality and moving on. They may still need support, but are no longer dependent. This can be a long process and involves re-planning, rebuilding structure, gaining skills, and re-establishing resources. It’s about obtaining fishing nets and rods and getting down to the business of serious fishing; meeting one’s own needs. People taking ownership and responsibility for their lives is a very important stage of development.

4. TRANSFORMATION

The fourth stage is that of transformation. Transformation takes people beyond adequacy and sufficiency to a place of abundance and blessing. It’s about having access to the fish pond. Instead of dependency, there is inter-dependence as resources are shared and distributed. Conditions that caused the crisis no longer exist. Transformation introduces the John 10:10 for communities: I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

 SOME POINTS TO BEAR IN MIND:

Ø  The situation we are in now is still very much crisis. It may last anything from a few weeks to a few months, but it will not last forever.

Ø  The response from people has been amazing as tons of food and clothing have been pouring in, and churches and community halls all over have been offering accommodation and support to refugees. Do not give up yet. The end is in sight.

Ø  People have been asking: ”We have responded to the needs of people from other countries, but what about our own people in poverty? ” The response: Thousands of churches and organisations in South Africa run projects and ministries to people in all kinds of situations. The difference is the immediacy of the need and the scale of the problem right now. Our existing projects are generally long-term, and aiming for rehabilitation and development. The type of response we’ve been seeing here is pure crisis and needs to be responded to immediately. This kind of crisis gets lots of public attention compared to long term development initiatives.

Ø  People in crisis have had their world ripped apart. There will be anger, hopelessness, helplessness, despair, demands, accusations and mistrust. If you are faced with these responses from the people you are serving, don’t take it personally but respond with love. Such responses are normal and are part of the coping and coming to grips with what has happened. This reaction will pass as people move on into the rehabilitation phase.

Ø  Rehabilitation will look different in each situation, but for those caring for displaced people in your church halls or care centres, rehabilitation begins when the people start making their own decisions, going back to work, taking responsibility for their own cooking, washing, medical and other needs. You no longer need to do everything for them, but must make resources and information available so that they can do things for themselves. Rebuilding dignity, self-empowerment and a sense of identity is important in rehabilitation.

Ø  Beware of the “honour of activism”. Helping others in times of crises makes us feel good and important. We feel guilty and helpless about what has happened, so we try to deal with that by going all out to give all that we can in every way that we can. What happens is that we use our good works to meet our own identity needs. This is dangerous as it can lead to burnout and resentment when people do not respond as we think they should. We must respond out of love. Without that we are banging gongs and clanging cymbals.

Ø  Equally important is to remember that the responsibility for the outcome lies with God, not us. Our duty is to do only what He tells us in the way that He tells us and to trust Him in that. God is the commanding officer; we are only the soldiers. Seek His face. Pray at all times and at every stage.

Ø  You have been doing a wonderful job! Keep up the wonderful work.