06Jan 2016 by Nigel Ring

Millennium Development Goals – success or failure?

Development, Poor
Look back, look forward 2015 has ended and with it the final date has passed for the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved. How successful have been the efforts to tackle them? Recently I read a helpful article by Chris Hoy on the Overseas Development Institute’s website which gives some indication of areas of success and failure. This is far from the full story but at least gives some indication. The article is brief but for those of us who have been involved working with churches in some of the relevant areas of the world it is both encouraging and sobering to see what has happened.  There is also a helpful short video from the United Nations Development Programme. What were the MDGs?  In 2000, at a UN Summit, the goals were defined with…
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16Dec 2015 by Nigel Ring

Factfulness – Data to surprise you

Development, Equipping
Factfulness How many people will there be in the world in 2100 compared to now? How many babies are born per woman in different regions of the world? What percentage of relevant aged girls are enrolled in primary school worldwide? What is the average life expectancy across the world – 50, 60 or 70? To find the answers to these and many more questions I urge you to watch The Data Lecture by Hans Rosling. He does not present the data as dry figures but relates them strongly to life issues facing real people. Gapminder In recent years Hans Rosling has revolutionised data analysis and their presentation related to social statistics. He is widely accepted as an authority. On his website www.Gapminder.org he presents data of the wealth and health of all the nations of…
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26Mar 2012 by Nigel Ring

The secret ingredient

Christian ministry, Development, Equipping, Good Practice, Poor, South Africa
Gospel Impact As I travel to churches helping them think through the key issues to launch a ministry with the poor I invariably contrast what the church has to offer compared to secular NGOs and aid agencies. There are areas of similarity and areas of contrast. The biggest contrast is that we have a ‘secret ingredient' - the Gospel. We are able to approach the ministry God has laid on our hearts knowing that we go into situations in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Angela Kemm I first met Angela in 1987. Working out of what is now called Jubilee Church, a Newfrontiers church in Cape Town, South Africa, Angela regularly stepped out of her comfort zone and went into the communities living in tents and…
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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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