Background on Domestic Violence Globally with Special Reference to South Africa
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THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH AS MISSIO DEI: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE RESPONSE OF UBUNYE FREE METHODIST CHURCH TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE By Innocent Iyakaremye A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for Masters of Theology Degree (Theology and Development) in the School of Religion and Theology of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Supervisor: Prof. Isabel A. Phiri Pietermaritzburg, March 2010 DECLARATION I declare that, unless otherwise specifically indicated through the references, this dissertation is entirely my original work. _____________________________ _______________________________ Date Innocent IYAKAREMYE As supervisor, I agree to the submission of this dissertation ____________________________ ________________________________ Date Prof. Isabel A. PHIRI ii DEDICATION To My wife Nelly MUKAMPIRANYI Our children Peace ALLIANCE Kevine NYAMPINGA Shamma IRAKOZE iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor Prof. Isabel A. Phiri for the guidance and advice. I highly appreciate her zeal, understanding, commitment and patience she has evidenced from the beginning to the end of this dissertation. My thanks are in addition expressed to Christian Aid and the Rick Turner scholarship foundation for financial support through the School of Religion and Theology, Theology and Development programme and the Scholarship Office of the University of KwaZulu Natal. I am also grateful to all the lecturers and the staff of the School of Religion and Theology of the University of KwaZulu-Natal for providing academic entry, the framework and environment through which the development of this dissertation has been possible. I finally give my thanks to the Ubunye Free Methodist church leaders for allowing me to conduct this study within this church, to all the interviewees for the disclosure, the cooperation and the time allocated to this study, and to those who directly or indirectly have contributed to the accomplishment of this work. iv ABSTRACT This dissertation is an assessment of the response of Ubunye Free Methodist Church (UFMC) of Pietermaritzburg to domestic violence in light of the mission of the church in the world as missio Dei. It was undertaken because of the suspicion that the response of this church deals with consequences of domestic violence, but leaves aside its origin and causes, thus providing an incomplete solution to deal with the complex problem. This suspicion was nurtured by my observation of what the church was doing and the knowledge of the theology of the missio Dei, one of the current understandings of the mission of the church in the world. With missio Dei, the church is understood as not having its mission as such but as participating in God’s mission. As the situation to which the church was responding relates to women’s oppression, the model of accomplishing God’s mission during oppression was drawn from the reaction of the prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ in the New Testament to the injustice and the oppression in the community. With regard to this, prophets’ and Jesus’ approach displays four main elements: envisioning a just community, standing with the oppressed, caring for the oppressed, and challenging oppressive structures. Therefore, the question this study sought to answer was: to what extent does the response of UFMC to domestic violence embody the fullness of these elements taken as characterising missio Dei? Through empirical research, these four elements have been used as yardsticks to analyse the goal, strategies and activities comprised in the UFMC’s response. Finally, the study revealed that this response fulfils three conditions as follows: envisioning a just community, standing with the oppressed, and caring for the oppressed. It falls short in the area of challenging oppressive structures. From these results, some lessons have been drawn and have served as basis to suggest how this response can be improved so as to reflect the fullness of missio Dei. v ABBREVIATIONS AIDS : Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome BSF : Bible Study Fellowship CFM : Couples’ Fellowship Ministry DSD : Department of Social Development DR : Domestic Relationships DV : Domestic Violence FAMSA : Family and Marriage Society of South Africa FGM : Female Genital Mutilation FMCSA : Free Methodist Church of Southern Africa GBV : Gender-Based Violence HIV : Human Immunodeficiency Virus IMC : International Missionary Council UCH : Ubunye Cooperative Housing UFMC : Ubunye Free Methodist Church UNFPA : United Nations Population Fund UNICEF : United Nations Children’s Fund YWCA : Young Women’s Christian Association vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Research Problem and Limitation ................................................................................ 5 1.3. Literature Review and Choice of the Topic ................................................................. 6 1.4. Working Questions and Objectives ............................................................................ 11 1.5. Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................. 12 1.6. Research Methodology ............................................................................................... 17 1.7. Structure of the Dissertation ....................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE GLOBALLY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SOUTH AFRICA ..................................... 22 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 22 2.2. Definition of Domestic Violence ................................................................................ 22 2.3. Forms of Domestic Violence ...................................................................................... 23 2.4. Sources of Domestic Violence ................................................................................... 25 2.5. Evolution of Domestic Violence ................................................................................ 27 2.6. Consequences of Domestic Violence on Women ...................................................... 28 2.7. Situation of Domestic Violence around the World .................................................... 31 2.8. Situation of Domestic Violence in South Africa ........................................................ 32 2.9. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 35 vii CHAPTER 3: THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD AS MISSIO DEI ...................................................................................................................... 36 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 36 3.2. Historical Features of the Church’s Mission .............................................................. 36 3.3. The Mission of the Church as Missio Dei .................................................................. 47 3.4. Goal and Activities of the Mission ............................................................................. 48 3.5. Accomplishment of God’s Mission during Oppression, Injustice and Violence ....... 50 3.6. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 56 CHAPTER 4: ASSESSMENT OF THE RESPONSE OF UBUNYE FREE METHODIST CHURCH TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ....................... 57 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 57 4.2. Women’s Stories ........................................................................................................ 58 4.3. Envisioning a Just Community ................................................................................... 63 4.4. Standing with the Oppressed ...................................................................................... 66 4.5. Caring for the Oppressed ............................................................................................ 69 4.6. Challenging Oppressive Structures ............................................................................ 74 4.7. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 78 CHAPTER 5: TOWARDS A RESPONSE THAT EMBODIES THE FULLNESS OF MISSIO DEI ...............................................................................................