Development from a Christian perspective – Pt 3 – Characteristics of development agencies

Development, Equipping, Poor, Relief and Development
News First, the International eNews of Newfrontiers has just been published. Do you receive it? It is a newsletter which ‘visits’ four nations each month to bring updates of what is going on in and through Newfrontiers churches. To view it or receive this regularly click here. Now, lets return to the series on Christian Development. Having briefly seen the benefits which the gospel brings to Christian development I would like to look at some of the characteristics of the secular NGO or aid agency and of the church. Obviously I have to make some sweeping statements in such a short treatment of the topic and there are many exceptions to the examples I quote, but here goes! Some of the distinctive characteristics are typically: The Agency Expertise Resources Size…
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Kenya update – and some good news

Kenya, News, Poor, Relief and Development
Water in Samburu The rains have failed in April so the crisis continues. Yet there has come some recent hope of sustainable solutions for the future. Read this sms message just received from Edward Buria: ‘We are so overwhelmed by discovering water in our Wamba centre and we are now sinking a 3 million (£30,000) bore hole that will supply water to thousands ... also other good news is the Lengusaka sand dam project. We have done a lot of progress on that and hope to have all these projects commissioned before end of year'. The Wamba Centre Wamba is a key town in Samburu 4 hours north of Meru and in recent years Edward Buria and the Newfrontiers churches have established a major centre there to provide a base…
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Development Studies from a Christian perspective – pt 2 – Becoming contributors to Mission

Christian ministry, Development, Equipping, Poor
Having explored some of the definitions of ‘Development' and ‘the Poor' in the last blog we will now look at some of the differences between the world's and church-based models. First, I would like to look at a variant of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of need. Maslow's pyramid of need Maslow was a psychologist who developed a theory of how our actions are determined by our physical and emotional states. In his pyramid he has five levels of need: 1. The physiological needs - food, water etc 2. The safety and security needs - protection including housing 3. The love and belonging needs - the need for belonging in a community 4. The esteem needs - personal recognition by the community 5. Self actualisation - to be what you are meant…
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Development Studies – Christian cf Secular pt 1

Development, Equipping, Poor
Recently I gathered the students from my church, Church of Christ the King in Brighton, UK, who were taking degrees or modules in Development Studies from the local universities. I had become aware that these courses, being secular in nature, tend to discourage our students by having little place for the spiritual dimension of mankind. And yet, if true transformation is going to take place - which must be one of the major goals of any development programme - it is important to address the ‘inner man' not just the outward circumstances. Understandably, secular courses do not make room for such a consideration. What is Development? We began the evening by asking the question ‘What is Development?' On a flip-chart I was able to write contributions from them such as…
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Kenya Crisis – update

Kenya, News, Poor, Relief and Development
The Crisis Fund has now topped £40,000! Thank you so much. Yesterday and today these encouraging text messages were received from Edward Buria. March 10th My heart leaps with unspeakable joy as I see the joy displayed by our friends from receiving water. We brought around 5000 litres. I admire the order as they all know that they will go home with around 10 litres of water and 2kg of sugar. It is awesome and so fulfilling. March 11th Hi Nigel. We returned back to Meru late last night with such a great feeling of touching and giving hope to a people 4goten and trapped by many things that are against them. We have 2 more trips next week in different places in Samburu. Then from next week we will begin to issue families…
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Planning for Ministry Pt 8 – Logframe Assumptions pt 1

Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Poor
[caption id="attachment_1805" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Equipping Oaks of Righteousness"][/caption] Assumptions and Risk In order to carry out specific activities and to reach certain goals there are, inevitably, assumptions that have to be made. Indeed, not only is it important to be aware of these assumptions as the one leading the ministry but any potential donor is also interested as they represent the level of risk to his money. Let me illustrate. One ministry I am aware of in a particular nation has sought to help women over several years who have been caught up in the sex industry. This included those who had been trafficked into that country from other nations under false pretences. The church concerned worked closely with the police who gave the team security as they visited brothels…
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