It’s sometimes the case that people with good intentions can muck up aid and development simply from misunderstanding the needs. Ross Farley will be lecturing Aid and Development at BST in Semester 2, 2015. Ross Farley shares some of the challenges in aid and development.
What are some of the common misconceptions?
Most Australians misunderstand the nature of poverty and that leads to unhelpful or counterproductive responses. We want students to be able to rethink their ideas about poverty. Poverty is not about stuff – although poor people do lack many of life’s essentials. Effective responses to poverty are not about just giving people stuff.
Another challenge is that Christians often don’t know where the needs are greatest, often concentrating efforts in low-needs countries. We encourage our students to be prepared to have their motives challenged. Why do you want to respond to the poor? Why do you respond the way you do? Are your responses really driven by the needs of the poor or your own needs and desires?
Why is there a need to study aid and development? Can’t we simply respond and go as we see human need?
There are many good reasons to get some training in aid and development. Firstly, God calls us to respond to the poor – so this is a subject Christians need to know about. Secondly, Christians often “do” aid badly and in some cases, they use approaches that increase poverty in the long run or advantage some people but disadvantage others. This is a field that is much more complex than most Christians, including pastors, realise.
Most churches would not allow people to preach in their pulpits without doing some Bible training, yet it is common to find Christians who think they can fly overseas into cultures they don’t understand and easily address long-standing, difficult problems. A great deal has been learnt about effective responses, yet too many Christians think they can just go and do it without learning the lessons from the past. Thirdly, most unreached people groups today are in contexts where missionaries are not permitted, yet many of those countries have considerable poverty, where aid and development responses by Christians are welcomed. For aid and development, the goal should be poverty alleviation but people often come to Christ in the process.
Who would benefit from coming along to learn more about aid and development?
Christians who plan to serve in developing countries will benefit from this subject. Those who plan to work specifically in aid an development will need to do more than this subject offers – there are now whole degrees in aid and development – but this will be a good start. The subject will be very beneficial to pastors to help them have a better understanding of the issues and will then be able to guide Christians with informed responses.
What is your background?
I have extensive youth ministry experience working with Brisbane Youth for Christ (six years) and serving as a youth pastor for a local church (eight years). I was with Scripture Union Queensland for ten years where I founded and developed the SU Qld Training Department.
I studied at BST when it was then known as Queensland Bible Institute. I also completed a Graduate Diploma in Religious Education and a Master of Arts in leadership Studies.
I’m currently the Queensland State Coordinator for TEAR Australia. TEAR is a Christian aid and development organisation and my role includes education and Bible teaching.
You can read some of Ross’ published works: Strategy for Youth Leaders, Following Jesus and Leading People, Strategy for Youth Leaders for the 21st Century, including the book he co-authored Incite, Making a World of Difference.
If you are interested in the Aid and Development unit, you can study this as part of an ACT accredited course, or audit the unit (i.e. attend lectures without having to do major assignments) for $260.
[banner text=”Enrol in A&D”]
[banner text=”Audit the subject”]
[banner text=”More courses”]
