demonstrate an inability to 'be reborn in consciousness' and to 'die as a class'. Furthermore, the uncertainty and corruption brought about by South Africa's political transition, globalisation and postmodernity breed fundamentalism and individualism to the extent that a vision for the common public good of all suffers. The dilemma is that deep levels of distress develop among the majority of the poorest in the broader community. Pastoral counsellors may consequently encounter people with anxieties that do not stem from their personal lives, but from a 'distress-effect' in the broader community (Taylor 1984:229). The impatience of the poor has brought the need for poverty alleviation into sharper focus. This calls for a new focus in government in addressing poverty alleviation before reconciliation (Sampson 2009:141). It also calls churches to realign their programmes for reconciliation and restitution in redressing socio-economic conditions in poverty-stricken communities. The plight of poor communities from the health profession's perspective is self-illuminating: In our country, the consequences of extreme levels of poverty and interpersonal violence bring people to the doors of our public health facilities. [This is the] end result of desperate lives leading to stabbings, gunshots, rape victims, gangrene from disease and personal neglect, ulcers from drug abuse, homeless people exposed to the cold, shack dwellers burnt at paraffin stoves, young children suffering the end results of malnutrition, cancers from smoking, asbestos, poor diet and of course our latest epidemic, HIV and Aids. (Cairncross 2007:1)The church is strategically positioned to make a difference as it possesses two assets, namely premises in all the stricken areas and counselling skills that transcend cheap information and advice (Taylor 1984:228). Research has highlighted the existence of a link between economic and pathological factors (Taylor 1984:231). Such a finding may be helpful in constructing a picture of the severe effects of the socio-economic dynamics in local poor communities. Gangsterism, for example, is a phenomenon that links economic conditions with pathological factors (Dames 1999:3; MacMaster 2003:61-66, 69; Pedro 2001:44).The church is not responsible for comprehensive solutions to these intractable problems. However, these problems cannot entirely be absolved from the responsibility for the socio-economic distress that local poor families and communities are experiencing. The church remains a contrast community and a catalyst for socio-economic transformation (Osmer 2008:192). The pastoral task demands a theological re-evaluation of its traditional position of an uncritical theological undergirding to the norm of a 'work ethic' or 'work' as such. The nature of work for poor and vulnerable families, particularly within a gangster ecosystem and with reference to the 'dop' system on farms, through which people are supposed to find dignity, status and purpose, is degrading and dehumanising. It generates new forms of poverty, injustice and exploitation, the loss of identity, anxiety, strained relationships and meaninglessness (Taylor 1984:231-232). Families in these communities learned how to survive with human dignity and integrated valued and purposeful lives. These families are living signs of hope in fostering a kairos moment, a time of transformative opportunity (Taylor 1984:232). Their world views should be acknowledged and may demonstrate practical signs of the eschatology. This is where pastoral