18Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

Cultural Naïvety!

Cross-culture, Equipping, India, International, Poor
By way of light relief, before moving on to the second category in my series on 'The Poor deserve the Best', I am reproducing a written interview I gave recently for my local church (Church of Christ the King - CCK) blog. There are lessons here about lack of wisdom, enforced humility, doing your homework before travelling in another culture and being grateful for angelic protection! Introduction Nigel Ring has lived in Brighton and Hove for over 25 years now. He is part of the newfrontiers administration team and serves as Terry Virgo’s Administrator. He also has a passion for the upliftment of the poor and often travels to countries like India, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Zimbabwe to oversee some of the projects Newfrontiers has initiated in these countries. Nigel…
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15Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 5

Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor
We shall now consider the final three Indicators of Good Practice for ministries among the Poor which come under the category of Church and Leadership. 6. Kingdom extension to be intentional Ministry with the poor provides a fertile context for God’s rule and government to be made manifest. People who already recognise their weakness and need of help are often more receptive to the gospel than those who are surrounded with apparent material security. Ministry embracing the Poor can make a significant contribution to extending the Kingdom of God not only by demonstrating Kingdom rule as we plant churches in disadvantaged communities but also by challenging injustice, changing culture through education, demonstrating God’s provision by careful stewarding of His resources (e.g. through Farming) and so on. It is helpful to…
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11Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 4

Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor
Continuing our series on Indicators of Good Practice for ministries among the Poor we shall now consider the next three under the category of Church and Leadership. 3. Hearing God Jesus did nothing ‘on his own authority .. but always ..the things that are pleasing to Him’ (Jn 8:28, 29). It is vital that we are clear that we are in the centre of God’s will for at least two reasons. First, any ministry we undertake should be the result of seeking God and walking in obedience to Him. So, there needs to be a very clear sense of leading. This needs to be specific, which leads us to the second reason. When the going gets tough (and it will!) we need to be able to have the confidence that…
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09Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

Conference planning

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Conference Administration, Equipping, General, Leadership
Every year Newfrontiers hosts a conference at the Brighton Conference Centre, UK, Together on a Mission. The conference has two streams: Christian Leadership and Mobilise. The latter is for Students and Twenties. For parts of the programme these streams are separate and for parts they meet together. This is an international conference which gathers around 4000 people from up to 50 nations, mostly from churches who are in the Newfrontiers ‘family’. Based strongly on teaching from the Bible and with an expectation of the activity of the Holy Spirit the purpose is to impart vision, train people in their leadership skills and provide a context for people to sense any commission from God about their future ministry. The conference includes times of worship and prayer. I chair the Management Team…
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09Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

Conference planning

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Conference Administration, Equipping, General, Leadership
Every year Newfrontiers hosts a conference at the Brighton Conference Centre, UK, Together on a Mission. The conference has two streams: Christian Leadership and Mobilise. The latter is for Students and Twenties. For parts of the programme these streams are separate and for parts they meet together. This is an international conference which gathers around 4000 people from up to 50 nations, mostly from churches who are in the Newfrontiers ‘family’. Based strongly on teaching from the Bible and with an expectation of the activity of the Holy Spirit the purpose is to impart vision, train people in their leadership skills and provide a context for people to sense any commission from God about their future ministry. The conference includes times of worship and prayer. I chair the Management Team…
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08Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 3

Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor
We are looking at the principle of having Key Indicators of good practice when ministering to the Poor. Many of these Indicators would apply to ministry in general but the context for us is one of mercy ministries. The 20 Indicators we are exploring fall into 2 sections. In the first section, Church and Leadership issues, there are 8 Indicators. Having listed these we shall expand on the first two. 1. Apostolic endorsement 2. Local church eldership oversight 3. Hearing God 4. Vision to be clear 5. Gospel impact 6. Kingdom extension to be intentional 7. Individuals changed from poverty to active mission 8. Biblical principles to be clearly applied 1. Apostolically endorsed When writing to the gentile church in Galatia Paul told them of his commission from the apostles…
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