Many of us have a deep sense that the world is not as it should be.
Broken relationships. Divided communities. Poverty and violence in our neighborhoods . . .
The good news is that God longs to work through us to help restore things to the way they were intended to be. In the language of the Old Testament, this wholeness is called shalom—a state where nothing is missing and nothing is broken.
The Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) is a network of Christians committed to seeing people and communities wholistically restored. We believe that God wants to restore us not only to right relationships with Himself but also with our own true selves, our families and our communities. Not just spiritually, but emotionally, physically, economically and socially. Not by offering mercy alone, but by undergirding mercy with justice.
To this end, we follow Jesus’ example of reconciliation. We go where the brokenness is. We live among the people in some of America’s neediest neighborhoods. We become one with our neighbors until there is no longer an “us” and “them”, but only a “we.” And, in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, “we work and pray for the well-being of our city [or neighborhood],” trusting that if the entire community does well and prospers, then we will prosper also.
We call those of us who orient our lives around this practice Christian Community Development (CCD) Practitioners. As Practitioners, we often commit to living in an under-resourced neighborhood for a minimum of 10 years. This is obviously no easy task. But we believe that true and lasting change takes time and requires real relationships. We think this approach is pretty unique.