Does MCC have a political agenda?

MCC’s mandate from its supporting churches is to bring Jesus’ “good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18) to people around the world, not to follow a political agenda. Yet actions by Christians have political consequences, particularly when we work with poor and powerless people. The powerful often see help to the poor as a threat.

The “non-political” act of training village health workers to vaccinate children, for example, becomes political when the health workers use their new skills to help people who are considered suspect by their government.

Sometimes bringing the good news means speaking to governments on behalf of those who cannot or are not allowed to speak for themselves. Relief and development work can be ineffective if the conditions that first created the needs – war, debt, greed, selfishness, materialism – are not addressed.

In some areas MCC workers have called for provision of land to the landless poor or an end to the ways in which multinational corporations abuse local economies. While some do not see this type of advocacy as the work of relief, development and service agencies, MCC does advocate for such reform occasionally, as a way to prevent suffering and human need. MCC also continues its traditional ministries such as helping farmers in Zambia grow soybeans, encouraging Burkina Faso farmers to dig wells by hand and helping people in many nations help themselves rather than depend on outside aid. MCC’s agenda is to help poor people, whether the solutions are seen as traditional or non-traditional, political or non-political.