ABSTRACT
This chapter explores power dynamics leading to frequent references to integral development and diakonia on leadership and formal level, and a prime position of the suma qamana discourse in dialogues with communities. Religious and relational dimensions were interrelated in Mision Alianza de Noruega en Bolivia (MAN-B) and Iglesia Evangelica Luterana de Bolivia (IELB) understandings of integral development. The discourse of diakonia in IELB and MAN-B drew on discourses of human and integral development as well as on theological interpretations of Church, mission and the Kingdom of God. Even though neither MAN-B nor IELB used the suma qamana discourse in institutional documents, all the leaders spoke about it as a natural theme. The discussions of suma qamana in IELB and MAN-B were marked by ongoing processes of recontextualisation of the discourse. The relational focus found in IELB and MAN-B’s understanding of integral development drew on discourses of human development.
