Faith Matters in Development Work? A Case Study of Christian Faith Based NGOs in Mongolia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze how faith or religion matters in the development work of faith based NGOs, using Christian faith based NGOs in Mongolia as a case. The issue of the relationship between faith and development promoting organizations is a recent agenda of the disciplines studying development issues. By examining the academic works which were done in the last decade as an analytical source, the paper attempts to explain a case of Christian faith based NGOs operating in Mongolia, a landlocked, mainly Buddhist, and developing county in East Asia. An area of mutual influence of faith and development works is a field where faith based development NGOs with international operations work, particularly, the organizations operating in the countries with different religious traditions. With their transnational networks, faith based obligations towards others, and a close communication with the poor, but depending on the development views, passive, active, and persuasive type of organizations consider the ways of development works differently, and do it so.

Keywords: Faith, NGOs, Development, Mongolia