20Oct 2011 by Nigel Ring

Equipping conferences in November – Debt and Homelessness

Equipping, Finance, Good Practice, News, Poor
Both Debt and Homelessness are two major problems in these days of recession and many churches are becoming involved in helping people in their localities. We, in Newfrontiers, are privileged to have two highly experienced long-standing networks which are eager to equip other churches to serve those who are affected by these two social issues. Debt Advice Community Money Advice was birthed in the Newfrontiers church in Burgess Hill. It now represents a network of about 100 centres across the UK, both within Newfrontiers and among other Christians. Envision, the annual CMA conference, will be held at HTB in London November 4th - 5th. This provides an ideal opportunity for those considering starting a debt advice ministry to understand what is involved, how to access training etc. You can book…
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05Oct 2011 by Nigel Ring

Kenyan drought/famine – update

Kenya, News, Poor, Relief and Development
Help still urgently needed In the last 9 months Newfrontiers churches have been able to contribute nearly £200,000 to help Edward Buria and his team, who are based in Meru, in their endeavours to provide relief through his churches into the communities in Kenya during this time of severe famine. I am breaking into my series on Building Effective Teams as Edward has recently sent me this update. There is still a tremendous need for funds as the earliest that there will be food harvested locally will be March 2012. Until then the population will rely on outside help. Is your church able to help with a special offering? First, have a look at the average rainfall in the affected areas and picture how 'on the edge' these people are…
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05Oct 2011 by Nigel Ring

Kenyan drought/famine – update

Kenya, News, Poor, Relief and Development
Help still urgently needed In the last 9 months Newfrontiers churches have been able to contribute nearly £200,000 to help Edward Buria and his team, who are based in Meru, in their endeavours to provide relief through his churches into the communities in Kenya during this time of severe famine. I am breaking into my series on Building Effective Teams as Edward has recently sent me this update. There is still a tremendous need for funds as the earliest that there will be food harvested locally will be March 2012. Until then the population will rely on outside help. Is your church able to help with a special offering? First, have a look at the average rainfall in the affected areas and picture how 'on the edge' these people are…
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28Jun 2011 by Nigel Ring

Development from a Christian perspective – Pt 6: Church characteristics pt 2

Development, Equipping, Good Practice, Poor
Integral part of the community The church, by its very nature, is an integral part of the local community. It is made up of people from that community and is well equipped to understand and contribute to the welfare of the community. In this respect, also, it usually differs from the secular agency, although there are, of course, secular charities that do exist within and for the local community. Major development activity often requires external intervention and there are many NGOs who specialise in bringing some particular skill and benefit to a community. However, by their nature they tend to engage in the community only for as long as their services are needed, and then they move to bring benefit elsewhere. Because the church is an integral part of the…
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20Jun 2011 by Nigel Ring

Development from a Christian perspective – Pt 5 Church characteristics pt 1

Development, Equipping, Good Practice, Poor, Relief and Development
Having looked at some of the characteristics that relate to the secular agencies we will now look at some of the distinctives of the church in its development work. However, I must stress that this is inevitably a somewhat simplistic overview and there is often significant overlap between the practice of the church and the world. Gospel impact In the recently published book ‘In His image’ p137 (2010 Authentic Media) Andy Matheson says ‘Because all people are made in the image of God, all people need to be reconnected with Him if they are truly going to experience transformation in their lives. Transformation cannot come simply through helping people with employment, health, or any other area of physical or emotional wellbeing’. The most significant difference between the secular agency and…
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14Jun 2011 by Nigel Ring

Development from a Christian perspective – Pt 4 Further characteristics of development agencies

Development, Equipping, Good Practice, Poor, Relief and Development
In the last blog I looked at the first three of five characteristics which I consider to be particularly applicable to a secular agency namely: 1. Expertise 2. Resources 3. Size 4. Quick fix 5. Staff mobility We will now look at the fourth and fifth characteristics. Quick fix An aid agency may be particularly good at providing a ‘quick fix' solution to a problem. However, sustainability and on-going maintenance may be weak, particularly if inadequate attention has been paid to community participation in defining the problem and determining a solution. Failure to involve the community adequately in the process may result in a lack of ownership by that community and thus also a lack of motivation to maintain the activity or project (e.g. maintaining a bore hole and pump)…
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