08Jun 2011 by Nigel Ring

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…
Read More
23May 2011 by Nigel Ring

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…
Read More
17May 2011 by Nigel Ring

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…
Read More