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FINAL PROJECT: A PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLANFOR THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD,CHAD

William ShawSchool of Ministry

CMIN 6173 Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeJanuary 7, 2011


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A PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD, CHAD

Introduction

To succinctly and accurately describe the current order of international cross-cultural

missionary activityof the Assemblies of God is a difficult task. The full scope of our missionary

activity has seen significant change in the past two decades, with both the sending and receiving

sides of the equation assimilating new paradigms and morphinginto a largely unanticipated state

of affairs. The old equation where the western missionary led the way and others followed is

long dead. On the receiving end of the equation we are in some ways victims of our own

success, given the rise of the two-thirds world

1

church as a stand-alone entity on the platform of

world Christianity. On the sending end, historically passive and non-vocal donors have taken

greater interest in what is happening with their contributions and are no longer satisfied with a

vicarious missionary experience. They demonstrate a desire to be more intimately involved in

decision making on the field. The result is an international stage now peopled with new players

of various backgroundsand persuasions with competing praxis and theory, and the question of

best practice does not find a unanimous answer. Add to this what Alan Roxburgh considers

currents of change to be reckoned with in todays world, namely globalization, pluralism, rapid

technology change, staggering global need, the democratization of knowledge and the skepticism

and cultural relativism found in postmodern thought2, and we have a world stage that is at best

chaordic.

As a result, the continuing task of obeying Christs commission to go and make disciples

of all the nations is full of ambiguity, exhilarationand heartbreak. To do so in a culturally-

1This replaces the term Third World, sometimes connoting a descending order of importance or economic

viability worldwide. This new designation is not meant to be derogatory but refers to the majority of this worlds

nations that are developing economically, beginning from a more challenging starting point than others.2 Alan Roxburgh,Missional Map Making:Skills for Leading in Times of Transition(San Francisco:Jossey-Bass/John

Wiley and Sons, 2010), 87-110.


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W Shaw Strategic Planning, AG Chad 3

conflict created an organizational truce but not a cohesive corporate vision. Loyalty of its

members (including pastors) is directed toward family, clan, and ethnic ties. Many decisions

made on every level of the denomination are influenced by the strength of these ties. This

creates significant tension with a perceived lack of resources. Consequently cooperation among

pastors and local churches is weak. One particular ethnic group, the Laka, considers itself the

founders of the church as they were the ones who welcomed the first pioneer missionaries in

1965. With that they claim ownershipprivileges of the church. Another significant power

center is composed of two pastors who have been in some form of leadership in the AGC for

nearly three decades. Historically they made most of the decisions over this time frame in an

autocratic fashion. They also seem to garner the largest percentage of the financial resources.

This is a source of jealousy and contention among the other pastors. In general, accountability

and transparency are hard to come by so intra-organizational trust is quite low.

Inadequate pastoral training throughout its history has led the church to follow the

ecclesiastical example of the largest non-Pentecostal denomination in Chad. Due to its isolation

from the other Assemblies of God in Africa for the first thirty five years of its existence and the

overall weakness of the wider Pentecostal faith community in Chad, their Pentecostal distinctives

are under-developed. The pastors as a whole are essentially split over Pentecostal praxis and

doctrine. About half say charisma are unnecessary and this division also follows tribal lines,

though not necessarily by design. In terms of spirituality, it is my opinion thegeneral conditions

in Chad have created a type of welfare-victim mentality in the AGC.

In the Assemblies of God worldwide there is no international coordinating body for

missionary activity. Each autonomous church administrates its own missionaries in cooperation

with the host church. When the host church is relatively strong it takes the lead in directing


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missionary activity within its own boundaries. Where the host church is weak, the various

missions try to find a way to self-manage and avoid competition, jealousy and power politics.

The lack of a cooperative esprit among missionaries has plagued the development of the AGC

since our arrival 1997. After our arrival the church saw the participation of six other international

missions in the work. Prior to our arrival, the Swedish Assemblies of God mission and two

Bible translators were the only mission groups working on a regular basis with the church. Since

1997 missionaries from France, Sweden, Argentina, Togo, Burkina Faso, and the USA have been

resident in Chad and the Belgian and Italian Assemblies of God have been involved financially.

Theabsence of effective coordination among these missionary bodiesneeds to be addressed and at

least mitigated until a time when the AGC can take responsibility for this task.

Preliminary Observations on the Strategic Plan

Two textbooks in the course material approach strategic planning from opposite ends of

the spectrum. Bruce Wrenn, Philip Kotler, and Norman Shawchuck propose a somewhat

mechanistic marketing approach to growing a church which emphasizes the need to target a

particular segment of the churchs neighborhood in their bookBuilding Strong Congregations.4

Alan Roxburgh, with his bookMissional Map Making5 insists on a more organic approach,

saying that traditional strategic planning does not work in the postmodern West. Both texts find

the same center of focus on what God is doing in the neighborhood and not on the church

itself. I believe the first text presumes a certain level of congregational health before launching

its marketing plan and the second assumes the church needs to be healthy first before addressing

this neighborhood focus. The two approaches are by no means mutually exclusive, but

thecontext of ministry may determine the orientation that is the most effective approach on the

4Bruce Wrenn, Philip Kotler and Norman Shawchuck,Building Strong Congregations: Attracting, Serving, andDeveloping Your Membership(Hagerstown: Autumn House Publishing, 2010)np.

5 Roxburgh,Missional Map Making: Skills for Leading in Times of Transition, np.


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scale between the two. In a context high in predictability, the position could be more toward the

mechanistic. In highly volatile and chaotic situations the approach needs to be more organic.

For the past twenty-five years in Africa, my ministry approach has leaned toward a more

mechanistic and modernist orientation even though the African context thrives on spontaneity, a

strong emphasis on interpersonal relationships and a more in the moment concern for time. In

Ghana where the impact of the West has been more strongly this was tolerated. Our current

assignment in Chad speaks differently to this issue and requires a second look at my ministry

model. It is obvious I no longer have the luxury of situational and cultural grace that will

allow this type of approach. With the intent that my strategic plan will carry a more organic tone

I wish to present three elements of my plan for the Assemblies of God, Chad.

Character Formation in Small Group Discipleship

In order to address the general malaise and high-centered6spiritual condition of the AGC,

I consider the counsel offered by Alan Roxburghin his bookMissional Map Making. His

prescription for the challenge of an authentic response to the postmodern milieu where the

Western church finds itself issimple yet challenging. He speaks of the danger of communicating

a gospel that says at the front door that Jesus is all about meeting my needsthen at some point

we are going to have to tell them that in fact the opposite is the case. Jesus actually came to call

them into a life that requires them to let go of their needs.7 David Miller and Teytsunao

Yamamori noted that among the Pentecostal groups they studied in the two-thirds world that

absent from the conversation of the Pentecostals was [a] therapeutic rhetoric regarding finding

6 An off-road drivers term to describe what happens when a vehicle gets stuck on a rock in the middle of its chassis

and both the front and rear axles do not have sufficient traction to move off the rock, thus teeter-tottering on itsrocky fulcrum.

7Roxburgh, 147.


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ones personal path to self-realization and happiness8These two comments indicatethat a needs-

based model of Christian faith is inadequate for effective discipleship and transformational living

and does not fit a truly Pentecostal ethos.This has implications for the pervasive victim-welfare

mentality evident in the Chadian church and challenges the current normative definition of

Christian faith to a new orientation.

Roxburgh describes how the church must respond to its uncertain and hostile postmodern

environment by creating and cultivating a core identity of a contextualized Christian faith. He

encourages pursuing activities that encourages people to see that God is active in their life,

speaks to them from Hisscriptures and that He has a plan for them. He goes on to propose that

the local church should begin with a small group and with relatively simple habitsin cultivating

this parallel cultural identity. This is what he calls shaping our life around an alternate story that

does not harmonize with our current cultural surroundings but resonates with our soul. Among

the simple practices he suggests are daily prayer, hospitality toward strangers, regard for the poor

in relationships with them and in effect encourage life-long learning and discipleship.9

To further elaborate on this model, Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser in their book

Leading the Congregation note that Jesus found a balance between his public ministry and

private space, he carried out his ministry in the context of a small intimate covenant community,

and taught that there were six graces that were vital to his life and ministry, those being prayer,

fasting, the Lords Supper, the scriptures, spiritual conversation, and worship in the Temple.10In

essence these two citations suggest the creation of a mentoring discipleship process that requires

accountability and a spiritual life that is confirmed in community. For the West and its strong

8 Donald Miller and Teytsunao Yamamori,Global Pentecostalism- The New Face of Christian Social

Engagement(Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007),149.

9Roxburgh, 148.10Rober Heuserand Norman Shawchuck,Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving Others

(Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2010), 57.


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emphasis on individuality and personal liberty this is counterintuitive. For the Chadian context

this discipleship issue cannot be brushed aside. It is my concerned observation that much of

what is considered as Christian attitudes and behavior in Chad has not passed the contextual or

Biblical test of veracity. Shawchuck and Heuser make it crystal clear: excellence requires that

leaders take discipleship seriously.11

The first element then of my strategic plan is to develop a small group discipleship

practice with the students currently in the Bible school. This may seem elementary for students

preparing for full time ministry but the level of understanding of Christian faith formation in our

local churches is quite low. Some of the students did not own their own Bible before coming to

the school.

Part of my logic, dating from the year 2000, for encouraging the church to locate the

Bible school away from the AGC headquarters in Andoum (a village seventy kilometers south of

Moundou, the city where the new school islocated) was to create a type of cloister effect, or a

controlled environment, away from the negative influences in the churchs history of pastoral

training. This is so students could learn and experience a new model for ministry.

This is why the Bible school is so important to the further development of the church.

There needs to be a laboratory where a new model of ministry and a new experience of the Holy

Spirits work can be woven into the experience of future AGC pastors. The problem I now face

is the next step in the development of this new ministry. While the Bible schools importance is

clear to everyone, there is no common agreement on how it is going to train these pastors. Each

mission and the various parties in the church have their own point of view on this. I will explain

later, under the conflict management element of my strategic plan, the current dilemma we have

11Ibid.,293.


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and this will further expose why this choice of a non-formal small group approach to discipleship

is needed.

I wish to note here that a more organic strategic plan does not begin with structure but

with substance. Structure alone seldom leads to transformational change and changes to

structure are highly resisted by a system trying to sustain itself and justify its continued

existence. An organic approach uses informal, ad hoc networks and finds ways to cross

functional boundaries to accomplish the needed change. Structure may or may not follow. For

the Bible school this means instead of using the formal classroom setting, spiritual formation

occurs on an informal small group level. This is meant to not only mature the student spiritually

but also teach them the new model for ministry they will use in their personal ministry after

graduation. The emphasis is on character development first with knowledge and ministry skills

coming later. Again, this may appear to be a small and insignificant step but it is one that cannot

be ignored in a church with as much systemic dysfunction as the AGC.

Holy Spirit Charisma

The second element in my strategic plan is a serious emphasis on experiencing the Hoy

Spirit charisma. The intention here is to promote an experience of Pentecostal outpouring that is

culturally relevant and specific and therefore contemporary for the students. How that fleshes

out in either postmodern days in the West or in the Chadian context cannot be determined

preemptively. This has to be viewed as new ground.

This second element of my strategic plan is in response to the weak expression of the

Holy Spirits work in the AGC. As previously mentioned, the church experiences tension in its

identity as a Pentecostal, Spirit-led movement. Its historical isolation from healthy Pentecostal

groups, previous negative experiences of renewal moments that were thwarted by ethnic and


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personal jealousieshave discouraged many to being open to this experience. The abuse of

Pentecostal praxis by individuals with extreme and unbalanced understanding have not left the

church with a solid foundation to build on. Even at its inception,a void was created by the

untimely death of the pioneer Pentecostal missionary during the early formation of the church at

the critical time of choosing and developing the initial Chadian church leadership. As a result of

this leadership void, to a certain degree the Pentecostal identity of the AGC was high-jacked

by the selection of church leaders who were either not properly trained or personally inspired to

pursue these Pentecostal distinctives.

The tragedy is this distinctive that holds great hope for renewal and transformation is

controversial in the AGC. The experience of Pentecostal charisma is central to not only self-

identity but also the outgrowth of social concern among Pentecostals. It is revealing to note the

complimentary observations of sociologists Donald Miller and Teytsunao Yamamori. Their

study observesPentecostal churches in the two-thirds world that engage in social service

interventions, and do so without external financial assistance. First, they see that Pentecostal

praxis is well in line with the essential tenets of postmodernism and should not be denigrated as a

throwback to outmoded practices and thinking.12Secondly, they see a causal relationship between

expressive Pentecostal worship as a holistic and generative experience leading to practical

engagement in outreaches of social intervention. They statethe root of Pentecostal social

engagement is the experience of collective worship.13

Thirdly, they present a case study of a Pentecostal ministry that started in the notorious

Hong Kong/Kowloonmetropolisin a slum called the Walled City, or City of Darkness,led by Dr.

12Donald Miller, Teytsunao Yamamori,Global Pentecostalism- The New Face of Christian Social Engagement,

111.

13Ibid.,132.


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Jackie -Pullinger.14This woman heads a ministry that works with street children, at-risk youth

and drug addicts. It is so appreciated by the local Hong Kong government that it donated to

Dr.Pullinger srehabilitation center the land it now uses to house over 200 people in various

stages of recovery and transformation.15 This work, called the St. Stephens Society, is

thoroughly Pentecostal in practice. These two sociologists marvel at the fact this organizationhas

no fund-raising program, budget, or an overall strategic plan yet sees viable transformation in the

lives of hardened heroin addicts. In the words of Dr. Pullinger they are simply daily led by the

Holy Spirit.16It is very revealing to me these two social researchers, operating within the limits

of their professional and academic constraints with no vested interest in offering any validity to

Pentecostal praxis arrive at these generally positive conclusions. Their commentary lends

credence to the Pentecostal experience as a socially generative experience.

In bringing these researchers work to bear on the Assemblies of God, Chad, this

Pentecostal element, often assumed to be an integral part of our experience but regularly falling

short, requires a well-directed and renewed emphasis. This is no small task given the

treacherous history of the AGC in this domain.This need underlines again the importance of the

Bible institute ministry platform of small group discipleship and the benefit of a somewhat

controlled cloister type environment.

Due to its unpredictable nature it is difficult to provide specific detail on how this

emphasis will flesh out in the Chadian context. Biblical parameters will be set in place but

sufficient leeway is needed and a safe and encouraging ambiance set so these students can

14Ibid.,99-105.15 Jacob Baynham,Hong Kong missionary Uses Intensive Prayer to Help Heroin Addicts San Francisco

Chronicle Foreign ServiceDecember 14, 2007http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/14/

MNIKT2BIA.DTLl (accessed January 4, 2011)16Donald Miller, Teytsunao Yamamori,Global Pentecostalism- The New Face of Christian Social Engagement,

104.


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experience their own personal and culturally appropriate Pentecost. I need to remind myself of

my own Western preconceptions and admit I may not understand all that happens. I will never

be an African through and through and this is where a certain degree of ambiguity will rule the

day.

It is helpful to consider the warnings of Margaret Poloma, a sociologist at the University

of Akron, Ohio.17 She advises to be sensitive to the tension between the freedom of the charisma

to work and the tendency for the host human institution to push for a routinization of the

charisma over time and thus diminish its effectiveness. She describes charisma as elusive,

fragile, and affective rather than rational so the experience needs to be handled carefully. Her

research also shows in the United States that the Assemblies of God emphasis on intense

religious experience has been a major factor in its growth so care must be given to strike a

delicate balance between excess and liberty. Polomas further counsel can be summarized this

way: keep the practice of the gifts democratized and not centered on powerful dominating

leaders, keep it within the context and motivation for empowerment for global mission, maintain

a tolerance for ambiguity between excessive expressions and the liberty to express, avoid too

much emphasis on doctrinal minutiae, and keep the center of influence on Pentecostal

transformation not political clout in the social arena.

If left alone, however, this element could do more harm than healing. This is why I

propose the strategic element of character development through small group discipleship in

tandem with this one. If the moral character of the students develops at the same time, they

remain teachable and self-police as they experiment with their own personal Pentecost.

17Margaret Poloma, Charisma and Structure in The Assemblies of God: Revisiting ODeas Five

Dilemmashttp://www3.uakron.edu/sociology/AoGPastors02.pdf(accessed January 8, 2011)


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Conflict Management and Coordination of Missionary Partnerships

When relational conflict occurs the human inclination is to place blame for the

tensionand conflict on others. However, Stephen R. Covey advises that attention and energy is

best spent being invested within onescircle of influence. That which is outside the circle of

influence cannot be changed by intrinsic means so it is best to concentrate on what canbe

influenced.18Trying to expand ones circle of concern beyond the circle of influence leads to

frustration.It is essential to keep this in mind for effective conflict management.

The third element of my strategic plan is centered on what actions, attitudes and moral

attributes I need to pursuein order to affect improvement in conflict management within the

AGC. An intended consequence of this is also better coordination of the various missionary

partnerships the church currently has.This need is acute. It has been one of the primary sources

of conflict since our arrival in 1997. Without adequate direction being provided by the church,

this responsibility fell to the various missions to work out and the results were for the most part

not very fruitful.

Conflict occurs when parties feel threatened in some way and this promotes tension in the

relationship. Maintaining emotional equilibrium is hard to find when threatened thus clear

communication becomes more difficult. In a multi-cultural setting the parties involved tend to

default to familiar behavior because it offers a measure of security to counteract the threat. They

rely on their own particular set of cultural cues, strategies, and preconceptions to manage the

conflict because they feel most comfortable in them and this gives that sense of security.

Unfortunately the other parties in the conflict are not ready to align themselves with the others

cultural cues, strategies and preconceptions as they are operating from their own set. The image

18 Stephen R. Covey,The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People(New York: Free Press-Simon and Schuster,

1989), 81-88.


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that comes to mind here is of two hermit crabs who have ensconced themselves in their

respective shells and each time they emerge to see what the other one is doing they scare each

other back into their shells. The result is a more serious communication breakdown and the level

of conflict escalates. Needless to say, cross-cultural conflict management is quite complicated.

The success of conflict management is built on healthy relationships, and the primary

indicator of health in a relationship is trust. Trust is both given and gained. To begin any

relationship both parties need to demonstrate some level of basic trust and as the relationship

develops each one behaves in a way so as to engender trust from the other person. I see how

easily mistrust can develop In our situation due to the challenge of cross-cultural

communications among the seven different cultural backgrounds that have been active parties in

the work. The sheer number of possible political and relational permutations is by itself

staggering.

Since I cannot control how others engender my trust, I need to encourage the growth of

healthy relationships by doing all I can to present myself as being trustworthy. In this regard I

must be sure to avoid ambiguity when discussing substantive issues and be sure that what I say is

what is understood by my ministry partners. After confirming that their expectation matches my

commitmentI then need to be sure I follow through and do what I commit to. Some of the

conflicts we have worked through in the past have been motored by a mismatch of expectations

and commitments. I believe the bulk of my difficulty with a key member of our multicultural

mission team is due to his level of expectation not matching not only what I committed to do but

the time frame we had in mind for fulfillment of that commitment.

One complication in this process is the Chadian tendency to not commit to anything in a

planning meeting. Discussions are held, points of view are shared, and then the next agenda item


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is brought up without a clear decision being noted. I think they have learned from their long

experience of the tentativeness and instability of life in Chad that to make a decision one has to

commit to is dangerous or even futile. I have also noticed in the same meeting that they push me

to make commitments they can hold me to. In this case he who initiates is lost. Needless to say

this paradoxical application of commitment is frustrating.

In a situation like Chad where the unexpected is normal,everyone needs to understand

that delays, adjustments and outright annulation of promises can occur. The general instability

and uncertainty we live with requires that an added measure of grace be applied and that regular

communication occurs to keep everyone up to date. One example of this was the unexpected and

early departure of a new American missionary in 2003. He was tasked with the responsibility of

developing the Bible school campus and had already made building plans when his daughter

became seriously sick. Within one month this family of four was back in the United States

having resigned from their missionary assignment after nearly losing their daughter to a

combination of malaria and several concurrent viral infections. The entire project was pulled off

the table for four years, and a new plan was established on our return in 2007.

Since conflict rises from a perception of threat, to develop a second aspect of this strategic

element I need to proactively assuage perceptions that I am a threat to those I work with,

especially my African colleagues. One of the burdens we carry as western missionaries is a

variation on the ugly American.Since it is assumed we have all the money, the technology, and

therefore the power, by default the interpretation of all we do or say is that we wish to be in

charge and that we consider everyone else as inferior. I was greatly surprised one day when out

of the blue one of my African missionary colleagues declared to me I am NOT your

subordinate! and I honestly had no idea where he got that idea. I cannot assume my good


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intentions alone will automatically deliver me from the reality of a serious inferiority issue with

my African relationships. This is especially difficult to manage when the compensating behavior

is a demonstration of authority and domination when there is no triggering challenge to authority

in the first place. My goal is both an attitudinal orientation and intentional, proactive actions that

demonstrate respect for my African colleagues. I tend to be task-oriented more than relationally

oriented so I need to be more sensitive to opportunities where I can verbally appreciate their

good work, and publically demonstrate respect in the African manner. This is not a new

understanding for me but my difficulty in Chad is that too often I see someone who misuses their

position of authority and it is very hard to show them respect.

Another aspect of this strategic element is the concept of seeking first to understand, and then

be understood. In meetings I need to participate in active listening, using body language and

other non-verbal cues to remind them I am listening and also rephrasing what I hear back to my

African colleagues to be sure I understand what they are saying.

In terms of character development, I need to use my personal spiritual disciplines to reinforce

my capacity to have the peace that passes all understanding rule in my heart when difficult

decisions need to be made and conflict wants to turn ugly. Chad with its collective deficiencies

can make even an angel curse like the proverbial merchant mariner. This place bring out the

worst in a person, and the spiritual disciplines are not optional, even at six-thirty in the morning

when it is already 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the mosque next door spent the whole night blaring

Arabic Allah praise music through your open bedroom window and you wake up to shower and

find the water is turned off. Prayer and the sanctified life tend to be forgotten in circumstances

like that. I will not describe the number of endless meetings and difficult situations I have been

in to justify those occasions when I have lost my self-control and spoken in ways I wish I could


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now retrieve and erase from the AGC archives. There is no other solution to this challenge

except practices like centering prayer, the examen of consciousness, praying in the Spirit, and a

solid personal devotional life.

One example of conflict we currently face is the question of how the Bible school training

program will be organized. For example, the Togolese missionary wants to run the school like

his school in Togo. The former Chadian director of the old Bible school program wants to assure

himself a place at the table but does not have the necessary skills to do so with the new level of

program. He fears a loss of prestige and face (very important in the Chadian context) if he is

not included so whatever program is created he feels he must have a part. He also carries a lot of

influence over the current decisions made by church leadership in general and cannot be ignored.

My goal for the school is as I shared earlier- create a new and more effective model for ministry

and insure a quality program.

This project has been a priority of mine for the past ten years and I carry a strong passion

for its success. This is my baby, but I cannot do this alone. I have to share the burden with

others and let go of my comprehensive vision to accommodate theirs. I was the director of the

school for the past three years during the time the first building phase of the campus was

completed. I recognized though that over time and especially with the addition of the Togolese

and Burkinab missionaries to the school staff I saw a strong disinclination frommy African

colleaguesto accept my leadership role. After some reflection I decided to relinquish my official

position as director in February 2010 to relieve the mounting tension. This was unfortunately

interpreted as a rejection of the others and an abandoning of the school project even though I

continued to work on campus construction.After our return to the United States I was accused in


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examine Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as an appropriate intervention in for the Assemblies of God,

Chad. If hope is needed somewhere and AI can provide it, it is needed.

An experiment was conducted where a team of bowlers were shown on video what they

were doing wrong, and another team what they were doing right. After studying from these two

opposite perspectives, the teams bowled again. Both of them improved their scores, but the team

given positive feedback on what they did right had a 100% improvement in scoring over the

other team who was shown its mistakes to correct.19 This example points out one of the primary

justifications given for AI, that people respond better to positive encouragement.

In appendix B are listed the ten assumptions of AIdrawn from Mark Lau Branson, a

consultant who led an AI survey with a Japanese Presbyterian church in Altadena, California.20 I

would like to analyze these ten assumptionsfor their appropriateness in the Chadian context.

Assumptions one, two, three,eight and seven as their corollary focus on with how our perspective

shapes or frames the type of response we offer. It is no surprise that Chadians in general are

pessimistic with living conditions being what they are. It will be interesting to see the response

when I conduct an AI from a positive point of reference with church leadership. Hopefully it

will provide hope, engender trust, and inspire themto dream big dreams. This should also

mitigate their sense of inferiority.

Assumptions four and five address the capacity to welcome change and how to move

from the present to a new paradigm in the future. Connecting to the past is an integral part of

traditional African spirituality and honoring ancestors is very important.21The past has a strong

19Neil David Samuels,A Guide to Appreciative Upward/360 Feedback Conversations Appreciative Inquiry

Commons website Case Western Reserve Universityhttp://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/practice/toolsQuestionsDetail.cfm?coid=939(accessed January 3, 2011)

20 Mark Lau Branson,Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change.(

Herndon: Alban Institute, 2004), 24-28.21 Paul Hiebert, R. Daniel Shaw, and TiteTinou,Understanding Folk Religion: A Christian Response to Popular

Beliefs and Practices(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999). 119-121.


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hold in Chad. An example of this hold is illustrated by the fact people in the Andoum area (the

seat of the AGC) finally planted fruit trees after nearly thirty years of encouragement from the

resident missionaries because part of what had been passed down by their ancestors was anyone

who planted a fruit tree would die the same year. Speaking of the positive contributions from the

past and connecting them with the future would honorthat past. This being a strong Chadian

value it should also engender trust and confidence to move into the future, knowing it is an

extension of the past.

Assumptions six and ten comment on the value of corporate and community action. It is

true it takes a village to raise a child. These two assumptions fit very well within the context of

the dominant Chadian value of family, clan, and village ties. There should be no problem

working from these two assumptions. The close correlation of these previous assumptions

produce a good groundwork to achieve the goal of the ninth assumption which is that AI

conceives practical and useful applications for the future. I believe these ten assumptions should

fit in well with the Chadian ethos.

Gervase Bushe and Aniq Kassam analyzed twenty case studies of AI evaluations and

reported on their findings.22From their study, we cansee that an AI evaluation is useful where

Europeans attempted to intervene in non-European cultures that value narrative forms of

engagement23. They also noticed the act of simply sharing stories of the positive can lead to

profound transformations in relationships.24 It is interesting to read their conclusion:

if we can create a collective sense of what needs to be achieved, create new models ortheories of how to achieve that, and align those with the inherent motivation people have

22Gervase R. Bushe and Aniq F. Kassam,When Is Appreciative Inquiry Transformational?A Meta-CaseAnalysis,The Journal of AppliedBehavioral Science(June 2005): 161-181. http://www.gervasebushe.ca/ai-

meta.pdf(accessed January 3, 2011)

23C. Elliott,Locating the Energy for Change: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry,(Winnipeg: InternationalInstitute for Sustainable Development, 1999), np.

24Gervase R. Bushe and Aniq Kassam, 177.


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in relation to their organizational life, then a great deal of change leading to increasedorganizational performance can occur if people are allowed and encouraged to take

initiative and make it happen. 25

In the end though, the authors of the studyagree the AI goal of collective ideation may be

the key to transformational change, but that AI may not be the best way to achieve those

results.In spite of this last point I do not see any substantial reason not to use AI in Chad. Even

though in their opiniontransformational change is not guaranteed, the improvements in

interpersonal relationships provide positive benefit and contribute to the forward advance of the

AGC.

Suzanne Grant and Maria Humphries add critical theory to AI evaluations with an

interesting observation. Critical theorists study the presence and interrelations between power

blocs in social groups and their influence on group dynamics. They believe that AI facilitators

may gain insight by studying the unfolding AI evaluation from a critical theory perspective, by

paying attention to how power blocs manifest themselves in the AI process.26 Further addressing

the idea of power blocs and their effect on the AI process, Jan Reed says if an AI study

produces findings or ideas that do not accord with ideas of the people with the resources and

power to make things happen, it is difficult to see how these findings can be acted upon.27 This

suggested sensitivity to the presence of power blocs can help me to watch out for one that may

upend the long-term AI goal. The question of the influence of power also touches the

participation of the facilitator. Grant and Humphries caution:

unwittingly, the researcher bias could have exacerbated participant perceptions of arelative power imbalance within the research group and the de-valuing of local

25Gervase R. Bushe and Aniq Kassam, 177.26Suzanne Grant and Maria Humphries,Critical Evaluation of Appreciative Inquiry:Bridging an Apparent

Paradox Action Research (2006): 401418.h ttp://arj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/4/4/401 (accessed January 4,

2011)27Jan Reed,Appreciative Inquiry: Research for Change(Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi: Sage

Publications, 2007), 200.


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knowledge within the action research process. This process may not even be particularlyapparent to either researcher or participants, but may diminish the sense of trust within

the group and therefore the depth of openness and disclosure likely to be granted.28-

One concern that touches AI is as PJ Rogers and D. Fraser explain when they question

whether AI encourages unrealistic and dysfunctional perceptions, attitudes, and behavior.29 This

is the Pollyanna accusation- that AI does not maintain a sufficient grounding in the tough

realities of some group settings. In the middle of an AI session one participant openly

complained to his facilitator saying that he found it hard to find positive stories emanating from

Chicagos Cabrini Greens housing projects where he worked. He explained while working there

before coming to the session he encountered a group of young boys playing soccer, only they

had no soccer ball- they were using the dead carcass of a rat instead.

There is something to be said for keeping a solid grip on reality. Branson counters that

the framework of gratitude can create an environment in which lament and confession can be

properly generative. I also believe that genuine lament and confession will lead to gratitude.30

M.Q.Patton adds dreams and wishes (such as those generated in the dream phase of the 4D

appreciative inquiry cycle) often identify existing weaknesses from the perspective of the

participating dreamers.31In this case our understanding of Gods presence in our lives and

congregation, evidenced by his grace, leads us to gratitude. In our deeper understanding of his

grace we have room to recognize our faults and foibles and can make confession effective and

generative as it deepens our gratitude of his grace. In this way AI is not necessarily a thin veneer

over serious errors and faults. It does not have a lobotomized Pollyannaish outlook. Rather, it is

28Suzanne Grant and Maria Humphries, 413.29 P.J. Rogers and D. Fraser,Appreciating Appreciative Inquiry New Directions for Evaluation(Winter 2003):75

83.

30Mark Lau Branson,Memories, Hopes, and Conversations, 52.31M.Q. Patton, Inquiry Into Appreciative Evaluation. in H. Preskill& A. T. Coghlan (Eds.), Using Appreciative

Inquiry in Evaluation (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), 8599.


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a process that could and should motivate us to confession and repentance, knowing the fullness

of his grace available to us. Our confession brings forgiveness and restoration, and opens new

possibilities of what God can do in the future.

Don Messerschmidt who evaluated the results of an AI project in health clinics in Nepal

points out that AI has what he calls its true believers. These AI practitioners consider the

strong postmodern worldview behind it and in some ways its spiritual underpinnings as

essential to its effectiveness.32I believe Branson adequately counters this argument in chapter

three of his book that lays out a rather comprehensive biblical rationale for the AI process.33. I do

not see any serious compromise in using AI in a church setting. One note of caution from

Messerschmitts study was he found the personnel in Nepal who were trained in AI did not pass

on their training or continue to use it after the initial sessions were completed.34

Messerschmidt further concluded that AIpractitioners consideredtheir work above

measuring, which is typical of a postmodern approach to knowledge. From his perspective as a

social scientist the use of AI in organizational development is entirely on the qualitative side and

that it is not easily measured with the usual quantitative methods used by social science

practitioners.35Thomas Johnson renders an interesting point in quoting statistician W. Edwards

Deming who said 97% of what matters in an organization cant be measured.36 George Roth

concurs by concluding that measuring organizational change is nearly impossible.37

32Don Messerschmidt, Evaluating Appreciative Inquiry as an Organizational Transformation Tool: An Assessmentfrom Nepal.Human Organization,(Winter 2008): 454.

33Mark Lau Branson,Memories, Hopes, and Conversions, 43-64.

34Messerschmidt, 462.

35Ibid., 463.36H. Thomas Johnson, Moving Upstream From Measurement: A Former Management Accountants Perspective

on the Great Dilemma of Assessing Results. inPeter Senge, et al., The Dance of Change.(New York:

Doubleday/Currency, 1999), 293.37George Roth, Cracking the Black Box of a Learning Initiative Assessment. inPeter Senge et al., The Dance of

Change,.(New York,: Doubleday/Currency, 1999) 307


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I take a mediating position between the AI true believers and their postmodernist

spirituality and the traditional quantitative social research model steeped in modernism. For

me this is a classic example of the tension between modernism trying to quantify everything and

postmodernists who say nothing is measurable in the realm of human endeavor. The link

between cause and effect is difficult to establish and there are many variables and influences that

play to create an organizations ethos. While it may be true that whatever is real can be

measured, the complexity of human organizations may render conclusive evidence impossible to

determine.

In as much as the assumptions of AI appears to correlate well with the Chadian mentality,

and it has the potential of at least improving interpersonal relationships in an organization and

may yield significant change strategies for the Assemblies of God, Chad, I believe it is useful to

attempt an Appreciative Inquiry evaluation in my setting.

Conclusion

In this study I elucidated threecontemporary challenges that hinder the positive

development of the Assemblies of God, Chad. These are the lack of a culturally-penetrating

Christian faith, the need for a more dynamic experience of the Holy Spirits work, and the need

to manage conflict better and mitigate the weak level of coordination of missionary activities.

To address each of these I presented a picture of how these challenges could be met through

modeling transformational discipleship practices at the Bible schooland by providing a balanced

emphasis on the practical work of the Holy Spirit through this same venue. I also proposed some

insights in conflict managementapplicable within my own circle of influence that may improve

the level of cooperation among the missionary partnerships that currently exist in the Assemblies


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of God, Chad. I then analyzed the potential use of Appreciative Inquiry as a part of my strategy

to create this strategic picture and found it has good potential.

I use the metaphor of a picture here as the individual elements of this strategic plan blend

into a cohesive, synergetic and symbiotic whole, with each element complementing the others

and no one element taking a permanent priority over the others or maintaining a stand-alone

quality by itself. This organic model of strategic planning provides direction and offers the

flexibility necessary in highly uncertain and unstable contexts like Chad. Investment in any of

these four elements of the strategy should produce progress toward the goal of a self-sustaining

Assemblies of God, Chad.

In high risk,unstable and high stress contexts such as Chad it is important to develop and

maintain a maximal level of flexibility in program structure and avoid too much dependence on

infrastructure and programs that are dependent on external support. It is therefore equally

important to focus on activities that promoteintangible yet vital components that build and

advance the Kingdom of God. This produces a level of ambiguity that is disconcerting to those

driven under the influence of modernism but leaves a wide and effectual door open to those

breathing a fresh wind of Spirit-led creativity brought into the kingdom for such a chaordic time

as this.

Further research is needed to address the pastoral needs of expatriate mission team

members and the creation of adequate support systems to insure their long term commitment to

maintaining a presence in such intense and difficult conditions. It is my observation albeit

unsupported by empirical studies that there are no missionary personnel who have actively

engaged the Chadian church that stay more than ten years. The tendency toward burnout and the

resulting revolving door of missionary personnel exacerbate systemic weaknesses and hinder the


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development of sufficient momentum to overcome the grinding inertia that plagues places like

Chad on the African continent. It is our experience that a support structure of some kind that

extends the traditional parameters of mission praxis in the Assemblies of God is necessary if we

are to meet the challenge of the hard places in twenty-first century Africa.

All hope is not lost. In many ways the opening words of Charles DickensThe Tale of

Two Cities rings true to the African continents present and future:

it is the best of times, it is the worst of times,

it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness,

it is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity,

it is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness,

it is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair,

we have everything before us, we have nothing before us,

we are all going direct to Heaven, we are all going direct the other way.38

May the Holy Spirit who in the Genesis hovered over the earth that was formless and empty now

brood over mother Africa, create calm out of chaos, peace from poverty, and let justice roll down

as waters.

38Charles Dickens,A Tale of Two Cities(Gutenberg EBook#98, 2009), 7.http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98

(accessed January 4, 2011)


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APPENDIX I: Online Resources forPertinent Information on Chad

CIA World Factbook, Chad. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-

factbook/geos/cd.html (accessed November 29, 2010).

Foreign Policy Magazine website Failed States Index 2010. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/2010_failed_states_index_interactive_map_and_rankings (accessed

November 29, 2010).

How Many People Groups Are There. United States Center for World Mission, Joshua Project.http://www.joshuaproject.net/assets/HowManyPeopleGroupsAreThere.doc (accessed October

21, 2010).

Lewis, M. Paul. ed.Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th ed. (Dallas: SIL International,2009.http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/introduction.asp (accessed October 20, 2010)

Transparency International websiteCorruption Perceptions Index 2010

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results(accessed January 7, 2011).

UNESCO Institute for Statistics website.http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/

leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all-international-coordination/resources/statistics/also http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx

Note: For a variety of reasons, but mainly due to over thirty years of civil war and turmoil from

1970 to 2003 that rendered most research in these domains to educated guesswork, reliablesources of information on Chad are difficult to find. Ethnographies and anthropological surveys

for Chad are also scarce online and most are outdated. The Summer Institute ofLinguistics/Wycliffe Bible Translators organization in Chad has more current ethnographic

studies completed by their personnel on file in Chad but these were not readily available at thetime of this paper. I intend to access these on our return in 2012 in order to better understand

Chadian cultural dynamics.


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APPENDIX II: Ten Assumptionsof Appreciative Inquiry

1. In every organization, some things work well.2. What we focus on becomes our reality. We frame our understanding around what is

negative or weak; the organization is viewed as flawed and weak.

3. Asking questions influences the group, so how we frame our questions will move thegroup in either a positive or negative (generative/growing or hindering) direction.

4. People have more confidence in the journey to the future when they carry forwardparts of the past. Moving into the unknown future holding onto what is the best of the

past builds trust and confidence.

5. If we carry parts of the past into the future, they should be what is best about the past.Social groups have the propensity to carry dysfunction into their futures because they

have become habitual and therefore comfortable. They end up undermining the goalsand original purposes of the group.

6. It is important to value differences. Change is viewed too often in zero-sum terms-all for me and none for you or vice-versa. AI results will not necessarily be the same-divergent views on what everyone considers the best will emerge. What AI does is

get all the positives on the table so all parties can begin to play with the puzzle and tryto see how all the views of what is best can be combined/accommodated through a

higher way that synthesizes these parts. This builds possible more deeply sharedvalues that encompass everyones concept of what is best.

7. The language we use creates our reality. Much like point number 2 above.8. Organizations are heliocentric. They bend toward the source of energy, whether

positive or negative. Where the energy is coming from is where the organizationgoes. In problem solving it looks to eh negative to be fixed but becomes fixated on

the negative. AI starts from the positive and builds on it.

9. Outcomes should be useful, applicable, and tangible. The dreaming phase is whereparticipants can see how the positives can help them arrive at a solution. This is

grounded dreaming.

10.All steps are collaborative. Not just the information/narrative gathering, but also theinterpretation, dreaming, and implementation- it is inclusive of the whole

congregation. The broader the participation the greater chance the change wouldstick.

Compiled from Mark Lau Branson,Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry

and Congregational Change.Herndon, Virginia: Alban Institute, 2004.


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