This study investigated the way in which educators identified and managed the needs of the orphaned learners they encountered in their situation as educators in a school setting. The sample in the study consisted of a total of 12-orphaned learners and 8 educators from one primary and one secondary school in the rural part of Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. Data on how orphaned learners viewed their situation were collected using draw-and-write strategy and observation followed by in-depth interviews and follow-up interview questions. The aim of interviewing the orphans themselves was to explore their own views of the realities of their lived experiences of orphanhood and their expectations of the world around them. Data on how educators identified and responded to the needs of the orphaned learners were collected using in-depth interviews and follow up interview questions. The experiences of the orphaned learners interviewed indicate a need for social and emotional support besides the obvious material need. Two distinct identities (among the educators themselves) emerged from the interviews with these educators: <ul><li>There were educators who responded positively by providing support to the orphaned learners.</li> <li>And there were educators who responded by referring the orphaned learners to the educators who help orphaned learners.</ul> The findings of the study revealed that internal motivational factors had a strong influence on the choices these educators made in responding to the needs of the orphans; and lack of knowledge and skills in identifying and responding to the orphans’ emotional needs could have a negative impact on educator response. The findings also showed that the level of interaction and involvement in a relationship with the orphans determined the way the educators identified and responded to these orphans’ needs. The study suggest the need for training educators to be in a position to provide care and build relationships, as a means of helping fulfill the social and emotional needs of these learners. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management, Law and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

[This dissertation is] helpful because it does not only talks about abuse, which is a problem and trauma, it also brings a solution which is a healing for abusive ministers, the choice is left with abusive ministers, to remain in their abuse or go away with abuse and become good The purpose of this thesis is to research about the abuse of power by certain ministers in the congregations to the women members of the congregation, to the session, board of management, and by taking the money of the congregation without their concern. The dissertation is not only highlight the above abuse, it also highlight the abuse of the entire congregation through coming late of the minister to the church services, This thesis is written in order to help ministers in the churches who are abusing their power to revisit their calling by God. It also helps those who are not abusing their powers not to fall in the same trap of abuse as their colleagues do. Something written down is not easy to forget, because you can read as many times as you want in order to understand what it says. Life is not easy for ministers, life contains troubles, temptations, death, and diseases hence it is important to ask wisdom from God the source of spiritual power and love. This thesis will be very much pastors in the ministry. The bible version that will be used through out this thesis will be quoted from the new international version (NIV) This thesis also reveals tribalism as being used for wrong motives namely for supporting abuse of power by certain ministers who come from the same village, same tribe, same language and same culture. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The purpose of this research is to help people who have been hurt by bad leadership, and also to find out why they move from one church to the other. This is an undercover issue since in most cases the Pentecostal church family projects strength than weakness. This study deals with people who have been hurt by bad leadership that verbally attacks and curses them from the pulpit. The pulpit is already a position of power and if not handled rightly, it has negative ramification on the hearers. One of it is the mobility of membership, from one Assembly to the other in search for more understanding and encouraging atmosphere.This particular abuse of power has been a burning issue within some of the Pentecostal churches and has been overlooked and without any redress. Therefore this thesis attempts through pastoral care approach, to deal with these issues, that have affected some church members. The problem in the study has been extensively explained and a method of helping and healing those that are hurt is also projected substantially. The different types of leadership and leadership qualities are also tabulated and explained to enable an understanding that people deserve a better approach. Since the researcher has been in the church for a long time, and through observation has experienced how some people were verbally abused from the pulpit has motivated her to conduct a research. Specially, on how to care for those who are wounded in spirit, as she mentioned some of the members have been hurt for almost three decades, yet they are still looking for a church where they can be spiritually fulfilled. It is appropriate to make this valuable research in the field of practical theology as the generated knowledge, shall help the people to heal the hurts and stabilize. It is reasonable to surmise that when a miss-normal is perpetuated without any challenge it takes a toll and becomes a standard behaviour. This research refuses to remain silent and has exposed and projected a healing solution to the plight of members that the pulpit victimises whether consciously and unconsciously. The willingness of the interviewees in these case studies is also highly commended as it roots the studies in concrete realities and generates lessons that are based on real life research. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The purpose of this research is to explore a mode of resilience within the context of the traditional African divorced men. A qualitative methodological design was followed, allowing unique experiences to emerge. Four men were interviewed and an in-depth qualitative analysis undertaken, in order to explore the subjective experience of resilience during and after the period of separation and divorce. The study‘s results were presented in the form of integrated and descriptive text. The participants stories were re-encountered through the researcher‘s owns frame of reference in which common themes of the divorced process were constructed. These were elaborated on and a comparative analysis was undertaken to link them to the available literature. This information gained from the research could contribute to the existing research on the impact of divorce and the ability to bounce back positively aftermath of divorce by offering this new perspective from traditional men. This project was done within the selected areas of Vatsonga speaking tribes in the Limpopo province. It was found that the most pivotal aspect of resilience as reported were social support, family support and new environment. Apart from this, the research further explored the biblical teaching on the phenomenon and discovered that:<ul><li> The prevalent universality of marriage seems to confirm the biblical traditional marriage as the divine way of recreating humanity. Furthermore, the bible in both the Old and New Testaments view divorce as contrary to the divine intent. It was noted that Deut 24 does not command or encourage divorce; rather, it simply regulates divorce since it was already happening. </li><li> After a thorough exegesis of the passage and survey of the relevant interpretations in (Matthews), it is clear that Jesus forbade divorce for any reason except adultery. Divorce is unthinkable because it destroys the intended order of creation and God‘s creative act in bringing a man and a woman together in accordance with his order. God is the author of marriage; therefore, he inscribed the call to marriage in our very being by creating us as male and female. Marriage is governed by his laws, faithfully transmitted by his bride, which is the Church. </li></ul> / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

People of Africa have travelled a long way with discrimination oppression and abuse, more especially women married as second wives in a Polygamous marriage. They have been abused oppressed and discriminated in the church, in the family and in the community. This has happened for a very longtime due to a long time male dominance in the church and in the community. This has left the church crippled in the ministering of women more especially second wives married in a Polygamous marriages. The researcher aims to help our community to confess for the past sins and ask for forgiveness. The aim here is to help the church to see that culture and Christianity works together with the aim of having one culture as Mugambi states “It can be change” ( Mugambi J.N. 1997.14). by doing so it will be pleasing in God’s eyes and we will be blessed as Africans. The researcher focuses on how the Methodist Church of Sothern Africa can play a role in addressing issues faced by the second wives married in a Polygamous marriage so that they have dignity and human rights. How can the church deal with the trauma and pains caused by the church, the in Laws and the community more especially after the death of a husband, this will help the women’s married in a polygamous marriages to share their painful stories so that they can be helped, and accepted by the church and organizations in the church as full members. This research is a way of helping and educating the church to have compassion and love for the women’s married in a Polygamous marriage, and that will make the church to be christlike and that will be pleasing in God’s eyes and we will be blessed as Africans and as the people of God. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This study is an explorative, qualitative study on how mothers experience the defilement of their own children by a church leader in the Zambian context. The aim of the study is to get some insight into how the defilement affect the mothers, and the challenges that occur in their lives regarding their relationships with their defiled children and other people who are around them. The researcher also looks at how the role of motherhood has been affected by the defilement. Qualitative research methodology was employed in this research study. This enabled the researcher to understand the social constructions of mothers and how they experience the disclosure of defilement of their children by a church leader. The researcher used semi-structured interview to collect data from the eight mothers affected by child defilement who were selected from within Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. Thematic Analysis as a method of data analysis was employed in this research study. In employing this form of analysis, the researcher identified major concepts or themes that came up during the discussions with the interviewed mothers. The following are the themes that came out of the data that was provided by the affected mothers: Loss of religious faith, less trust in the church leaders, dissatisfaction of their parenting role, Feelings of anger towards the perpetrator, feelings of guilt, feelings of shame, marital problems, relationship problems with their daughters, concerned that their children might have contracted HIV and AIDS, and worried that their children have lost their virginity. In this research study, the researcher has used Gerkin‘s shepherding method of pastoral care to address the emotional experiences of the mothers following disclosure of defilement of their children by a church leader. This methodology is helpful because it provides an integrated approach to healing that is enculturated in the African belief system and culture, which views healing as taking place within the community and not in isolation. Gerkin‘s shepherding methodology is augmented by Waruta and Kinoti‘s work, Pastoral Care in African Christianity and Pollard‘s evangelism method of positive deconstruction. These three methodologies have been employed to help in empowering the mothers to come to terms with the effects of child defilement by a church leader. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Practical Theology / PhD / unrestricted

The dissertation focuses on water, which has become the focal point of global debate today among nations. This is due to ever-increasing population and the insatiable consumer demands that the market makes on humanity, putting heavy stress on natural resources, especially water. Since the 1980s, rich countries and the institutions they control, i.e. the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been forcing poor countries to implement policies and sign agreements that do them more harm than good (i.e. privatization of state assets such as water). The debt crisis drove many poor countries into structural adjustment programs as a condition for receiving IMF and World Bank aid. These programs, under various names, contain policies that compel vulnerable countries to expose their social services to competition with big profit making corporations. Through persuasion, threats, bullying and conditions attached to loans and aid, poor countries have been forced to: <ul> <li>Open their markets in order to subsidize exports from rich countries.</li> <li>Stop prioritising domestic producers.</li> <li>Divert development efforts away from local food markets, and</li> <li>Privatize essential services such as water system, electricity etc.</li></ul> These debt relief conditions and trade agreements are focused solely on making profit and not on improving the livelihood and welfare of the poor. The theory that the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO put forward is that increased trade will automatically be equal to improved welfare. This equality has not worked in practice as Raj Patel in a more or harsher description, that structural adjustment and other trade related policies could also be seen as a “weapon of mass destruction” (Znet, November 28, 2000). The author concurs with Patel’s view, as according to UNICEF, over 500,000 children under the age of five died each year in Africa and Latin America in the late 1980s as a direct result of the debt crisis and its management under the International Monetary Fund’s structural adjustments programs. These programs required the abolition of price supports on essential food-stuffs, steed reductions in spending on health, education, and other social services, and increases in taxes. The debt crisis has never been resolved for much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Extrapolating from the UNICEF data, as many as 5,000,000 children and vulnerable adults may have lost their lives in this blighted continent as a result of the debt crunch (World Policy Journal, Volume XIX, No.4, Winter 2002/03). Privatization and commodification of water system is the order of the day in many developing countries. It has raised survival issues for the poor and the marginalized, causing problems such as scarcity of safe drinking water, pollution of water and soil, and destruction of agricultural sectors in other parts of developing countries. This dissertation emphasizes that all people have internationally accepted rights to water “all peoples, whatever their stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and of a quality equal to their basic needs” (United Nations 1977). This right is being violated for millions of people around the globe, particularly in developing countries such as Africa, Asia and Latin America. This dissertation reminds the church leadership, members of faith communities and all relevant stakeholders of their responsibilities to God-given gift of water. Both the Old and New Testament understanding of justice as taking the side of the poor and oppressed, and also seeking to compel us to action, i.e. to address the exploitative and oppressive systems that seek to hold the poor and their oppressive structures. We are inspired to strive for justice, each in our own place and according to our separate gifts. We are called to the struggle to make trade a means of sharing the bounty of the earth and the fruits of human labor, and to ensure that people’s rights to water is fully respected. The dissertation emphasizes that “water” is the source of life, a gift of nature and that it belongs to all living beings and the rest of creation. God who is the creator gives this right to everyone. It is not a private property but a common resource for the sustenance of all members of plant and animal kingdoms. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

In Zambia, it is true to say that people are politically free but materially still very poor, 49 years after independence which was attained in 1964. Many people lie below poverty datum-line and those that are, most hit, are the people living in rural areas. Many people are flocking from the rural areas to cities, leaving the old people, women and children in rural areas and in poverty. The levels of poverty in Zambia have reached a crisis, that even the president of Zambia, His Excellence Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, acknowledged this fact during his parliamentary address to the second session of the 11th National assembly broadcast live on Zambia National broadcasting Network in September 2012. The church is challenged by conditions under which the rural dwellers find themselves in. As a church, our political liberation is to be transformed and driven by the will to restructuring and healing our society; thus ultimately developing those individuals who are suffering in the rural areas of the country. In Zambia, the church should accept that the missionaries who brought the gospel from western countries worked very well in the area of community development. The missionaries’ work and their care for the poor should inspire the churches today to be willing to help the poor rural people to be transformed. The good thing the United Church of Zambia could learn from the early missionaries is that the Christian church needs to be committed and involved in the plight of the poor. The church cannot ignore the socio – economic issues that affect rural poor communities. The United Church of Zambia should be transformed and made to understand that human liberation is not possible, if the political and economic issues are not equally addressed, a human being is not only the soul but also, consist of body and mind. The Christian church must bring a holistic ministry to the suffering people. The church; especially the United Church of Zambia, should understand that economic freedom is a reality which cannot be separated from people’s daily life. The church should learn to listen and act as ‘a midwife’ and a place of safety. She must be willing to suffer with the poor, for the sake of the poor. While the church is committed to development issues, let it also not lose sight of spiritual issues. Therefore, the church leadership should serve as a role model in human and community development. The Christian church should use the gospel to change the mind-set of the rural poor in order to help them transform their living standards. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Clergy widows face unique challenges because of being in the manse and their changed position in the congregation. Though they are human, like everyone, the expectations from the church and community are usually different. As the mother to the church, she is expected to be strong for the sake of the church members. There is a common assertion that a clergy spouse should conceal her grief due to her position in public. Many clergy spouses struggle to find their ministry rhythm after losing their husband. One of the contributory factors is the manner in which the local church leadership handles the clergy family after the death of the male clergy. This research was undertaken as a response to the plight of the clergy widows under the local church leadership. A qualitative methodological design was followed to tap out new experiences. Five clergy widows and one pastor were interviewed and an in-depth qualitative analysis was undertaken to explore the role of the church on caring for the clergy family. The results of the study are presented in a descriptive and interpretive approach. The available literature was coherently linked to participants’ narratives in developing new knowledge. Hence, the research is intended to contribute by bringing new perspective on how the church cares for the clergy family after the death of the male clergy. This study was initially scheduled to be done within the Sekhukhune district in the Limpopo province. However, due to the withdrawal of some potential participants, the author ended up overlapping to part of the Mpumalanga province. It was discovered that most churches provided the necessary support towards the burial of the clergy but to dismally disappear immediately after the funeral. This trend coupled with the removal of the clergy family from the manse immediately after the funeral has caused unfathomable trauma in the clergy family As this study’s aim was to contribute to the field of practical theology and pastoral care, the interpretive model postulated by Osmer was employed. The findings are hoped to contribute to the body of knowledge within an African perspective. It is intended to contribute to pastoral an approach, which is applicable to the African perspective and Biblical ethos. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Practical Theology / MA / Unrestricted

The thesis The Parish Community at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Prague in the Years 1950-1990 describes, as the title advises , about the history of theParish Community during the communist era. Studied Both the history of the church itself, and that of spiritual administration, Pastoral Care and Priestley House, which was established after the expulsion of the Jesuits in their residence, are investigated in the thesis. The aim of this work is to digest the history clearlyorganize and and hereby to fill the gap in the history of this place, because during the communist era the records on activities and events in the parish were not kept systematically. records about the events in the parish. Keywords Jesuits, Religious, History, Pastoral Care, Priestley House, Ignatius