For some reason an article I wrote many years ago (2006/7) has become very popular online. It has really taken off on Academia.edu. The name is "Challenges in Doing Church-Initiated Community Development in the Philippines." Admittedly, my writings are FAR FROM VIRAL. Still, relatively speaking it is quite surprising how many people are reading it. …
Category: Community Development
The role of missions in wholistic transformation of communities.
Can You Learn Something Good From “Playing God”?
We generally use the term "Playing God" to describe a bad thing. But let's try to think of some ways that are a bit more positive. Being a parent (or a pet owner) and leading a government involves a bit of playing God--- embracing some of the roles that God has, but on a smaller …
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Ministry Presentation
Powerpoint that shows a small amount of our ministry work from 2003 to 2013.
The Quest for Aesthetic Perfection
The following is an excerpt (first draft) of an article I am writing. The article's title is "Better than New: Reflections on Wabi Sabi as a Metaphor for Christian Perfection." The Greek ideal of beauty is tied to Platonic philosophy. With this, the goal is to conform an object to an ideal form. A carpenter …
HCICD — Holistic Church-Initiated Comdev
Years ago when I was looking into a topic for my dissertation, I wanted to study, utilizing grounded theory, HOLISTIC CHURCH-INITIATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, in the Philippines. In the end, I dropped it. I switched to studying Christian medical missions events here in the Philippines. The main reason for this was that I had trouble finding …
Valleyview, a Short Story
This story was used by the Mendozas of Holistic Community Development and Initiatives (HCDI) in its Training of Trainers program for CHE (Community Health Education). I don't really know who came up with the story first. I modified it just a bit. ------------------------------------- There was a small mountain village we can call “Valleyview.” The mountain …
Challenges to Church-Initiated Community Development in the Philippines
<div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/bmunson3/challenges-in-doing-churchinitiated-christian-development-in-the-philippines" title="Challenges in Doing Church-Initiated Christian Development in the Philippines " target="_blank">Challenges in Doing Church-Initiated Christian Development in the Philippines </a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/bmunson3" target="_blank">Bob Munson</a></strong> </div> I was originally thinking about doing my dissertation on this topic. Then I realized that there were so few churches in the Philippines …
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Ooooops! Some Mistakes I Have Made #3
Mistake #3. The Challenges of Dependency, Paternalism, and Stewardship One of the first things I learned in missions is the danger of paternalism. A missionary should not amass control others but empower others. Therefore, one should not pass on resources with a lot of strings attached. I also learned that giving can create dependency... so …
Engineering Design as it Applies to Missions (???)
I learned a rule as a Mechanical Design Engineer. Back then I mostly worked on military projects (particularly submarine radar systems). However, occasionally I would work on commercial projects... particularly integrated bridge systems for commercial shipping. Each has very different philosophies. I worked at a company which operated with both philosophies, but it was difficult. …
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Research on Medical Mission Events (Philippines), Part V
This is the last section on Medical Mission Events. This is based on my dissertation. The focus of the dissertation was the use of medical mission events in the Philippines for long-term impact in a community by a local church. As such, the traditional medical mission is inadequate. Traditional medical missions typically have little long-term …
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