The Challenge of Poverty for The Church In Kenya: The Case of Kibera
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Date
2004-01
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
It sounds ridiculous to get a religious man or woman writing an essay
condemning poverty or even researching on poverty. This is because as a religious
we have a vow of poverty, whereby reacting against it seems a contradiction. Most
of my friends who heard about my topic could not believe it. Their questions were.
do you want to give us a new insight on how to live our poverty or you want to show
the whole world the meaninglessness of this vow? As for me neither of the
presumptions was true.
By the fact that I have freely chosen to live this evangelical counsel (poverty)
does not mean that I cannot talk about the negative impacts it has on others. So my
point in this essay is to highlight on how poverty oppresses people and how it
challenges evangelization.
In the recent years, the increase and effect of poverty has created a lot of anxiety
here in Kenya and the whole of Africa. Although quit visible, very little has been
done to reduce it.
This essay will be divided into four chapters. In the first chapter, I will first deal
with various definitions of poverty. Given that poverty is not a new reality in our
African continent or to humanity, I will too expose the tradition African view of
poverty. Then in the same chapter, we will review various general causes of poverty.
Chapter two will mostly be concerned with Kibera. Its location and causes of
poverty in this slum will be covered. Chapter three will cover both biblical and
Church's teachings on poverty. It would be of no use to talk about poverty without giving some recommendations or suggestions on how to alleviate it. So chapter four
will carry with it various recommendations. which are geared towards poverty
alleviation. Then I will end up with a general conclusion.
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Keywords
Challenge of Poverty, Church In Kenya, The Case of Kibera