16Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 15 – Using an iPhone as a PDA

Administrative Skills, Equipping, Time Management
Earlier this year (January 4th - April 12th) I posted a series on Time Management which I have adapted from the Insight Time Management system of Charles Hobbs over the last 25 years. Throughout the series I focussed on a paper-based method as I considered that to be the best way to convey the principles of the system I use. However, many people use electronic devices (PDAs - Personal Digital Accessories) and I myself have used a Psion 5MX for more than ten years. In light of technology moving on I promised I would return to this topic once I had worked out how to adapt the system to, say, an iPhone. This is the device I shall now consider. The key elements are: 1. Appointments 2. Do it list…
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10Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation pt 8 – Implementation

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Leadership, Planning
PS = pre-script! Before continuing my series I encourage you to look at the following YouTube video. Fascinating and challenging about the change in economies and life expectancy in 200 countries over the last 200 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo&feature=player_embedded#! Implementation So far I have shared with you my approach to event planning - I will develop a series in the New Year related to some aspects of planning a ministry i.e. something that is continuous and has no particular climax. But now we will look at some of the matters related to implementing the planning methods we have been discussing. Leadership Many at this time of year will be preparing for a Christmas event, maybe a Carol Service or Presentation. Often this will come out of the creativity of one or more…
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01Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – Pt 7 – Creating a timeline

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Conference Administration, Equipping, Planning
Continuing the series on Planning we will now look at creating timelines. Timelines A timeline is a critical ‘driver' in achieving the end goal. Like a map it provides a constant reference against which progress towards a target can be measured at any point in the journey. It is a monitoring tool. And so it is worth taking sufficient time and effort in creating it to ensure that it is realistic. There are various ways of producing a timeline but I will consider two here: an Activity Table and a Bar Chart. I have found that the first helps me with planning an event where there are critical dates by which certain activities must be achieved, such as a conference. The second is more visual and is valuable where there…
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24Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

When Helping Hurts – Part 3 – Practical Strategies for helping without hurting

Christian ministry, Cross-culture, Equipping, Good Practice, International, News, Poor, Relief and Development, To the Nations
Concluding the review of this excellent book we shall now look at one very practical application. Short term mission teams. Like the story of the elephant and the mouse dancing together at a celebration - both benefit and enjoy it until the mouse is squashed - such can also be the effect of a short-term mission team. Who is really benefitting? Perhaps neither. The team have a ‘life changing experience' - but may learn the wrong things. The hosts can feel crushed. At the root of the problem is lack of sensitivity to others' cultures eg "Mine is the plumbline so any deviation is ‘wrong'". Consider time. In the ‘west' time = productivity; the emphasis is on good stewardship and using every minute productively. In the majority world there is…
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19Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

Ministry Report – Feeding Programme in Mumbai

Christian ministry, Good Practice, India, Ministry Report, News, Poor, Relief and Development
Recently I was visiting India and was very impressed by what I heard of a beautiful ministry of compassion. I asked Lynn Fernandes to write it up for my blog: Around December 2007, a few of us from Living Word Church, Mumbai, India, felt sovereignly lead by God from a verse in Is 58:7 " ...is it not to share your food with the hungry, to provide the wonderer with shelter, to cloth the naked, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood." In short, to do something for the poor. There were so many poor people around us. Where were we to start and how were we to go about doing what we felt lead to? Feeding of the Poor We started off one Wednesday in…
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10Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

When Helping Hurts – Part 2 – General Principles for helping without hurting.

Christian ministry, Cross-culture, Equipping, Good Practice, News, Poor, Relief and Development, To the Nations, Training
Continuing this somewhat protracted commentary on the strongly recommended book, When Helping Hurts, we will now see what the authors say about Principles that need to be followed to avoid causing damage to those who are in need. Relief, Rehabilitation and Development First, it is important to distinguish between Relief, Rehabilitation and Development. In true crisis (e.g. tsunami) people cannot help themselves and need Relief. After the crisis there is Rehabilitation when people can start to help themselves but need others alongside Development is about empowering, the point at which great discretion is needed - ‘handouts' can be very damaging, especially if the reason for needing help is of a person's own making e.g. through irresponsible living such as alcohol abuse. Cultural sensitivity At all times we must be careful…
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