This God wills that all peoples laden with burden and yoke are eased and freed to become productive and meaningful members of their communities. Social development is about the upliftment and capacitation of peoples so that they can democratically participate in shaping their own lives and communities. Social development is about people resolving to reduce, if not eliminate, their vulnerabilities in life, to avail of and enhance social protection, and to promote social integration that better their lives and their communities. God's beloved community flourishes when people bear responsibility for the upliftment of one another. In this community, people participate in the building of God's Kindom and in the realization of God's project of liberation.
Empowerment is the transforming and liberating character of participation.
An empowered participation is transforming when it addresses inequities and imbalances in the access to and use of power and resources. Empowerment democratizes the playing field of participation, and thus makes it liberating Participation is liberating when it empowers the weak and the vulnerable, enabling them to participate in decision making with their dignity and their rights intact. Participation is a process where people take an active role in shaping their lives and communities. Power, transformed and liberated, becomes democratic and participatory. When people are called to participate in the social development of their communities and nations, they too are called to challenge any policies that are economically exploitative, politically oppressive, and culturally repressive.