What does integral mission look like

Tearfund’s working definition of integral mission:

• Basic needs being met – the meeting of people’s absolute basic needs for food, water, sanitation, health, shelter, education and information
• Participation and empowerment – the enabling of poor people to make choices, take part in actions and decisions that affect their lives, and become agents for change.
• Good stewardship of resources – the sustainable and compassionate use and distribution of resources, ensuring that the material needs of all are met now and in the future.
• Advocacy - the engagement of people in advocacy to address structural injustice and to protect the vulnerable
• Values change – the recognition by people of their true worth as made in the image of God, and the challenge and transformation of their values and worldview
• Local church engagement - the encouragement of sustainable Christian communities in their commitment to Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and their service of the poor.
• Opportunities for exploration of the Christian faith – the provision of opportunities for people to encounter, acknowledge and follow the Lordship of Christ
• Christians in leadership – Christians serving their communities and taking positions of leadership and responsibility outside the church

Partner understanding of integral mission (From Tearfund Integral Mission partnership consultation in India, New Delhi 2007)

• Love in action
• Whole/complete
• human need and divine solution
• reaching out to the unreached
• Social concern

• Wholistic
• Kingdom
• Faith
• Jesus
• Practice
• Character of God
• When the word integral, when mission is already integral
• Word and deed

Explaining the definition to a non-Christian benefiting from the work of a partner:

• Introducing them to the Love of God
• Creator and creation
• Doing what jesus did
• Providing food for body and soul
• empowering them
• Transformation
• Caring

Common themes that can be incorporated into an integral mission definition:

• family
• people don’t set boundaries – worked though relationship
• building relationships – rather than being project oriented
• change – (positive) = physical and spiritual
• sensitivity to the needs
• undergirding of prayer
• churches accepting and affirming marginalised people
• needs varied but spiritual need is cross cutting
• church caring for its own members
• practising what we preach – individual change
• Christians were bold enough to step in/take action