Social Concerns

For too long Pentecostals have polarized “social activism” and “evangelism”, artificially separating those who would save souls from those who would feed the hungry, minister to derelicts and outcasts, and liberate the oppressed. This kind of dichotomy is unnecessary in the light of the revealed will of God. Social concern (Genesis 2:15; Matthew 15:29-39; 22:15-22) and evangelism (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:17-18) go together.

In recent years, however, the Assemblies of God seems to be waking up to the challenges of the holistic missional nature of the church. There is an overwhelming sense that the denomination has finally arrived at a juncture where their response to a hurting, hungry, oppressed, and lost world must be reaffirmed and expressed with clarity and conviction. A theology that articulates the inward and the outward, the spiritual and the secular, and the private and the public into a holistic and dynamic Christian heritage needs to be exemplified by Pentecostals.

A few years ago the world Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF) established a relief agency called World Assemblies of God Relief Agency (WAGRA) to respond to the physical and material needs of the world. The Assemblies of God leaders felt that compassionate ministries should be clearly enunciated and made an integral part of evangelistic ministries.

To affirm their commitment to the holistic ministry pattern of Jesus and the early Church, Africa Assemblies of God Alliance met in Nairobi, Kenya, January 15-16, 1993, and passed a resolution to form a humanitarian agency under the full sponsorship of AAGA. The agency was to be empowered to develop an appropriate procedure for establishing necessary structural documents and other preparations for the task of transforming the vision into concrete reality (AAGA Declaration on relief and social development, 1993). On October 29-30, 1998, the ad hoc committee met and drafted the constitution and by-laws, thus bringing the agency into being with “the responsibility of seeing to the relief, development and social needs of Africa under the name AGCARE (AAGA Constitutional Addendum, 1998).

In another related development, the Africa Task Force on AIDS met in Limuru, Kenya to consider the Assemblies of God responses to the pandemic of AIDS, which is devastating lives across Africa. The meeting was sponsored by Africa’s Children. The task force adopted a motion “to immediately create the Africa Assemblies of God AIDS Commission (AAGAC) under the auspices of Africa’s children, and amenable to the Africa Assemblies of God Alliance.” AAGAC is charged with developing and implementing a continent-wide strategy for impacting the AIDS crisis in Africa through active involvement (Task force on AIDS: Letter to AAGA Leadership, 1996).

While the establishment of these commissions is a step in the right direction, they are somewhat like “putting the cart before the horse”, and trying to cook when the fire is not yet ready. There seems to be a missing element – that of pooling and sharing complementary strengths and resources – to reach agreed-upon expectations.