PENTECOSTAL ASSEMBLIES OF GOD, UGANDA Pentecostal Assemblies of God are mobilising the Church in Uganda to bring hope, transformation and empowerment amongst some of the poorest communities on earth.
WHY WE ARE WORKING THERE Many people across Uganda live in destitute conditions below the poverty line. In practice, this means countless families have limited access to clean water, health facilities and sanitation. Most survive on an unpredictable income that fails to consistently guarantee the next meal. These problems can best be addressed when local communities take ownership of change and lift themselves out of poverty. Tearfund s partner The Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) is involved with 4,500 local churches across Uganda, helping transform communities. We are working with PAG to mobilise, equip and support them to bring continue bringing holistic transformation across Uganda. HOW WE ARE WORKING THERE PAG works through a process called Participatory Evaluation Process (PEP). The PEP approach helps church leaders and their congregations work together with community members to bring about positive changes for the whole community. It is a process that brings hope, empowerment and transformation, and is based on over twenty years of experience of working throughout Africa and Asia. PEP is about bringing energy and excitement to churches and communities concerning the positive changes they can make for themselves. It seeks to build on the resources they have, and encourages the discovery of new skills and expertise within a community.
Far too often, development projects are dependent on injections of outside aid and often leave individuals and communities worse off. The PEP approach seeks to do the opposite: inspiring and equipping local people with a vision for determining their own future with their own resources. HOW THE PEP PROCESS WORKS The PEP project works, not by PAG turning up and telling the church what to do to address the needs that PAG and the church can see; but rather it works by helping the church to dialogue with their community to work out what they together want to change first. It is not a prescriptive process, it s participative, holistic, community driven and community led. Tearfund supports PAG to provide the expertise and training in the areas that the church and community want to work in, using tools that have proved transformational over the years. Each church chooses a volunteer, or disciple, who is trained by PAG to lead the church and the community through Bible studies. This is a critical part of the process which aims to teach people that God has given each person great worth, and has provided them with the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty. People are then challenged to use those resources, no matter how small to begin with, to generate income that will start to turn their lives around. Alongside this, the church and community work together to develop solutions for the needs they have prioritised from across their community. Some examples might be tackling hunger, water or education, or supporting those stigmatised, living with or affected by HIV.
PROJECT IMPACT Research undertaken shows that the project is likely to see the following impact in the communities in which PAG and Tearfund work: 40% drop in the incidence of childhood diarrhoea 50% increase in crop diversity (measured by the number of households growing at least four types of crop) 50% drop in the number of households going to bed hungry 30% increase in the level of hope for the future 30% increase in the number of women who feel able to speak in community meetings There is enormous potential to expand PEP across the country. Training more facilitators who can take the process into new areas will enable more communities to use local resources and transform lives.
JOIN US It costs 250,000 per year for PAG to run their PEP programme. Join with us in supporting their work: A gift of 205 per year for three years would provide initial training for senior leaders in a community to begin the PEP journey. A gift of 5,000 per year for three years would cover the cost of training 30 disciples in 2 districts to take their local churches through this transformational process. A gift of 476 per year for three years would fund training for national resource teams across Uganda to continue developing PEP. It costs just 2 per year to take a person through the PEP process, leading to long-term, sustainable transformation. www.tearfund.org 100 Church Rd, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 8QE Tel: 0208 977 9144 Registered Charity No: 265464