The challenge of economic development to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Makete, Tanzania.

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on the involvement ofthe Lutheran Church in poverty alleviation in Makete, Tanzania. My view is that the level of poverty is escalating at an alarming rate contrary to many people's expectation that it would decrease. The causes for this poverty increase are many but the obvious ones are the imbalance between population growth and production, mismanagement of land, illiteracy, misappropriation of funds and ecological deterioration. The study looks at what the church there ought to do as an agent for development. I believe that its mandate comes from God. It was demonstrated in the creation narratives and later in the life and work ofthe Jesus of history in Galilee. The mission of God aims at the comprehensive wellbeing of humanity, that is, shalom. In this light, there is no way the church in Makete can become a living church without being involved in the process of combating poverty. A number of suggestions are made in regard to this task. These suggestions range from the church taking sides with the poor and becoming their spokesperson to the state, to creating jobs and giving financial assistance to those people who do everything in their power to fight poverty. Finally, we look at the success and failure of the -Ujamaa policy implementation in Tanzania. The author is of the opinion that the Ujamaa policy was and is a useful strategy for economic development of all the people but there are many obstructions on its way to success. It was expected that the Ujamaa policy would reduce the gap behveen the affluent and the poor in the country.