Thoughts after 6 months of missions projects – (1) Infrastructure

Over the past 6 months, Bill has set foot in 15 different countries and ministered in 8 of them. I myself have been in 7 countries. We have seen a lot and learned more than we sometimes think we can process. But, I do want to share some of the observations and reflections we have gleaned over these past months.

INFRASTRUCTURE

The infrastructure of a country, which depends mainly on government action, makes a huge difference in how people live, how they overcome difficulties, and what their hopes are for themselves and their children. We experienced various levels of infrastructure development and saw the difference that it makes. Electricity and roads are the big ones that seem to influence all the others.

A West-African church leader told us that having dependable electricity would make an enormous difference for them. This is essential for the economic development of the population. Presently, it is difficult for small businesses to develop or even function because they never know when the electricity is going to be cut off. We drove around in the capital with him one day for half an hour looking for a neighborhood where the electricity was on so we could use Internet in a cyber café. In most places where we stopped, the employees were sitting in their dark offices behind dark computer screens just waiting for the electricity to come back on. They can’t all afford generators. They had paid for the office space and the equipment, but had no income that day.

Electricity also affects how food is used in a country. We were in a village that depended on fishing and had a small business for freezing and exporting fish. But, they regularly lost their production when the electricity was cut off for extended periods. There are some food sources, like dairy products (an important source of calcium) that just cannot exist without dependable electricity for constant cooling, from the production site to the level of the consumer. Electricity also contributes to the availability of clean water in keeping pumps and filtering systems working. Western cultures continue to develop exponentially, in part thanks to dependable energy sources.

Overall urban planning, such as for water and electricity sources, is lacking in many developing countries. The challenge of installing such systems in cities that already have populations of several million people is daunting. Where do you start?

We did see the difference that intentional development can make in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with a population of over 1 million. The government (surely with significant outside aid) has transformed the city over the last eight years. The main source of electricity is from a neighboring country and depends somewhat on seasonal factors. But, during the beginning of the dry season when we were there, the electricity only blinked off and back on again a very few times. We also had an excellent Internet connection, even better than what we had in the center of Germany! This gives a big boost to development on an individual level. And, there was no problem with having water in the faucets in Phnom Penh – which is not the case in the large cities we visited elsewhere.

The next challenge is getting this development out of the big cities into the countryside. Governments must be very intentional in this area. Rural development takes coordination and resources. Good roads are a key. This allows communication and transportation of both people and products that are necessary to development. In underdeveloped countries the rural populations are trapped in their local situation and very vulnerable to changing local conditions. If one food source disappears due to climatic conditions or disease, there is nothing for them to fall back on. As you saw in the video of Bill’s ride to a mountain church in Nepal, church development as well as economic and social development is handicapped by the lack of means of transportation.

Government choice is required for building roads, canals, rail lines and other transportation infrastructure. In one country where we worked, the government was “punishing” one region for having voted for the opponent by letting the roads degrade. The population was being intentionally cut off. In another country, no stable government has been in place for years, so no infrastructure development was being done at all. We saw positive results of government choice in Cambodia. Ten years ago the streets of Phnom Penh were dirt paths full of holes. During our visit, we did not see unpaved streets. This development is being extended outside of the capital. Missionaries in the country recently mentioned that the village they worked in was so inaccessible that they called it “the end of the world”. This year the land in front of the mission property is being leveled for a paved highway, with plans for an export-based manufacturing facility to be built in the town! It will also facilitate the mission’s outreach. From the time of the Roman Empire, the extension of roads has led to a rapid spread of the Gospel.

The key word for infrastructure is “dependable”. You can’t make plans if you can’t count on the availability of the tools necessary for carrying them out. Christians in these different countries rejoice in infrastructure improvements. It supports the health and economic status of the people in their churches. It removes seemingly insurmountable pressures on daily living. Their approach to these questions is very wholistic. They know by experience that the less time and energy you have to spend on just surviving, the more time and energy you can devote to serving.