MISSIO-DEI IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19 AND POVERTY: TOWARDS A MISSIONAL-PASTORAL APPROACH USING THE INFORMAL SETTLEMENT OF ZANDSPRUIT AS A CASE STUDY

Abstract

As the church and its members and its functionaries continues with its mission work, it must do that with the self-understanding of what the church is and its nature as a missional church, which has pastoral responsibilities, among its many dimensions. The mission is not that of the church, its members and functionaries but it is the Mission of God, the author of mission, who has mandated the church to be missional. As the church lives out its God-given mandate, the church does that in specific contexts, and in the case of this article, it is the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and poverty and associated suffering, using Zandspruit informal settlement as a case study.