Volume 2, Issue 1 (2016) Impacting Social and Economic Marginalization Trends

We are so pleased to share our second issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Best Practices in Global Development. In this issue our authors have shared some cutting edge scholarship that offers new insights into practices that can truly change lives of those who suffer social and economic marginalization. Our first article “The Transformation of High-Risk Youth: An Assessment of a Faith-based Program in South Africa” Bennett Judkins and Karen Mundy share their study of the role of faith as an intentional intervention strategy within their work with the Outward Bound South Africa. The outcomes they share are impressive and can augment our scholarly discussion on the role of faith in practice. To expand this discussion on the role of faith and development Alexandra Raney and Joel Raveloharimisy share a paper entitled “The Contributions of Faith-Based Organizations to Development and the Humanitarian Field: An ADRA Case Study.” This paper concludes with an important discussion about improving service delivery as we move into addressing the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. Stillbirth is a significant public health problem in low to middle income countries and results in perinatal grief, often with negative psychosocial impact. In this, our third research article, titled “Mindfulness-based Intervention for Perinatal Grief Education and Reduction among Poor Women in Chhattisgarh, India: a Pilot Study”, Lisa Roberts and Susanne Montgomery share their best practice suggestions to address the complex grief after stillbirth. We capstone this issue of our journal with Daniel Muvengi’s critical transformational development challenge entitled “Towards a Biblically Empowered World View Programming Approach: The World Vision Tanzania Experience –Case Study.” While sharing best practices from this pilot World Vision Tanzania program, this paper is also a call for development practitioners to join the dialogue and embrace a Christ-centered approach in order to deal with the root causes of poverty and help improve the improve of children and the communities. It is with deep appreciation that our editorial board wants to acknowledge the many scholars and professionals who have volunteered to help us make this journal successful. We want to thank all of the peer reviewers who have volunteered their field scholarly expertise to helping us select only the most scholarly and notable work to publish. Finally, we want to urge each of you to continue to share the journal link with colleagues and to share your current publishable quality research papers with us for review for possible inclusion in the next issue. We do have a revolving issue approach to our e-journal, so as soon as we can process new best practices contributions, we will make those available. As always we are eager to get your feedback and suggestions. Our email is gcdjournal@southern.edu Additionally, please continue sharing our journal on your professional social media sites Thank you for helping us “spread the word” about development strategies using best practice scholarship to ensure optimal outcomes for those we partner with for sustainable difference-making and long-term empowerment!