|
|
Asset Based Community Development
 Just a generation ago, we believed that the world was composed of strange and faraway places. Travel to other countries was reserved for the wealthy and members of the military. Today, we are limited only by our imaginations. We use the internet to shop all over the world. Ideas can be shared with millions in seconds. We can travel around the world. We can follow world events in real time. But every- thing has changed so quickly, we have not had time to change our view of the world. Many of us still believe that the world is waiting on us to save them. Much like the Marshall Plan after World War II, much of U.S. foreign aid, international non-profit organization aid, and faith-based community outreach has been based on the principle that we have all the answers.
 In recent years, however, governments, churches, and international aid organizations have had to reassess their approach to communities. Large- scale externally funded social welfare programs have only succeeded in creating dependency among the target communities. Using these kinds of programs, the need is endless. We have been looking at the deficiencies of global communities and ignoring their historical and current assets.  By always providing the resources that we thought they needed, we have killed the initiative that could allow them to value themselves and their contributions.
But slowly, the giant bureaucracies that have driven funding policy are beginning to change. Asset-based community development has given us a new model that will make us more effective and faithful with our resources.  For churches, this model allows engagement with communities around the world with the claims of Christ which reflects a deep belief that the gifts and skills of congregants and community residents, combined with all of the other resources and assets of both the congregation and the community, will lead to greater progress.
 Instead of focusing on deficiencies, community builders can focus on the skills and talents of community residents, the web of local voluntary associations, the strengths of local institutions (public, private, and non-profit), the available land and physical property, and the local economy. This approach does not require unlimited external funding. It builds the capacity of the community to solve its own problems and build its own future.
Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) provides a structure to build positive life change for communities here in Marietta and around the world.
If you would like more information about ABCD and how the idea is helping Marietta FUMC engage with communities and build relationships, contact Forrest Cate.
|
Links of Interest to ABCD
|
|
|
|
