11Oct 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 10 – Achieving success

Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Planning, Poor, Relief and Development
After a brief look at three of the crises currently facing African nations in which Newfrontiers churches are working, Guinea, Kenya and Zimbabwe, we shall now return to the Key Indicators which should typically characterise well-executed ministries with the Poor. During the first weeks in September we looked at Key Indicators which were peculiar to Christian ministries. Since then our focus has been on Indicators of ‘good practice’ which could apply to any relief and development work, although our approach has been to look at these from a Christian and Biblical perspective, as appropriate. 7. Impact. When any ministry is planned, clear goals and expectations need to be defined (see Project Cycle Management - see Sept 22). Although the processes of monitoring and evaluation are distinct, both reveal whether the…
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02Oct 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 9 – Supporting people

Administration in the Church, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor, Training
Workers are your most valuable resource. If they set out taking part in a ministry with great enthusiasm but then burn out through lack of support there may be serious consequences. First, and most important, they may experience short or long term damage to their physical, emotional or spiritual health. Second, you lose an effective and valuable worker. Third, this does not glorify God and is a bad testimony, discouraging others from getting involved. So how can you support them? Let's look at two more Key Indicators. 5. Pastoral support Workers are frequently in the front-line of opposition. They may see and experience much ungodliness, and also be subject to verbal or physical attack. So it is important that they have appropriate oversight, and good pastoral support and encouragement. Sharing…
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29Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 8 – About People

Administration in the Church, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor
We are continuing to look at the Key Indicators that would normally be found in a thriving and effective ministry which embraces the poor. We have looked at some of the more ‘spiritual’ Indicators and then two very practical ones. We now consider two more in the 'practical' category which are relevant for the individuals who carry out the ministry. Key Indicator 3 - Mature leadership Ministry which embraces the Poor can be very demanding. Often activists are in hostile environments, either due to the types of people being reached or to the secular context in which they are operating. Leaders of a project need to be spiritually mature both for their own health and for the sake of those they are leading. They should have their own close walk…
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25Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 7 – Handling Finance

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Planning, Poor
Key Indicator 2 - Finance Finance is a gift from God and He trusts us to be wise stewards. But sadly Finance is renowned for having caused ship-wreck with many ministries; even Christians find the temptations associated with money can become their masters. We must recognise that we have an enemy prowling around looking for people to devour. Handling finance is a spiritual matter, not just administrative. For this reason more will be written about this in due course. Here I will give an overview of the key issues to be aware of. It is vital to put in place good procedures to ensure full accountability in order to be above reproach and to protect those who handle money from any suspicion. The two most important features are Stewardship and…
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22Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 6 – practical skills

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Christian ministry, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Poor
We have been looking at 20 Key Indicators of Good Practice. In previous postings we have considered 8 Indicators that are peculiar to the church and spiritual matters related to ministry embracing the poor. Now we shall consider some of the skills that enhance Good Practice and enable us to pursue excellence in all that we do. There are 12 key Indicators which we shall address under this heading. Only an overview will be given in this and the next series of postings but some of these will be dealt with in greater depth in future. 1 Project Cycle Management. 2 Finance 3 Mature leadership. 4 Responding to gifting/passion. 5 Pastoral support. 6 Training. 7 Impact. 8 Partnering/networking. 9 Local community ownership. 10 Sustainability. 11 Scaling up and multiplication. 12…
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22Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 6 – practical skills

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Christian ministry, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Poor
We have been looking at 20 Key Indicators of Good Practice. In previous postings we have considered 8 Indicators that are peculiar to the church and spiritual matters related to ministry embracing the poor. Now we shall consider some of the skills that enhance Good Practice and enable us to pursue excellence in all that we do. There are 12 key Indicators which we shall address under this heading. Only an overview will be given in this and the next series of postings but some of these will be dealt with in greater depth in future. 1 Project Cycle Management. 2 Finance 3 Mature leadership. 4 Responding to gifting/passion. 5 Pastoral support. 6 Training. 7 Impact. 8 Partnering/networking. 9 Local community ownership. 10 Sustainability. 11 Scaling up and multiplication. 12…
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