16Oct 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best pt 11 – Engaging with the local context

Christian ministry, Equipping, Good Practice, India, Poor, Relief and Development
In this penultimate posting on Key Indicators to Good Practice we shall consider two Indicators related to the context and environment in which a ministry is being carried out. 9. Local community ownership Some ministries are contained within the local church whereas others intentionally impact a local community. Where the latter is the case the active endorsement and cooperation of the local community may be key contributors to success. It can be tempting to feel that the church has the knowledge to carry out the ministry independently of any outside influence. But often community representatives will have a better understanding of the culture you may be trying to impact than is readily available within your local church. In the development world there are various participatory techniques for involving the Community…
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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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