02Aug 2017 by Nigel Ring

Coffee Cups to help Burundi

Burundi, Poor
Please take action! To help families in Burundi, one of the poorest nations in the world, just click on this link and scroll down until you find this cup. Then click on it. If you are in the USA you can also make a purchase. It is hoped that they will become available in UK shortly. Here is the story. Milk for transformation I have written previously about the initiative to help transform Burundi through milk and here is a video. By providing rural families with high milk-yielding cows they can generate a steady income.  This helps them in various ways, such as getting children into school rather than following the traditional long horned cows into the hills, as well as the obvious nutritional benefits. So far 400 families have been helped. One Grow…
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01Jun 2017 by Nigel Ring

Important Conferences – 1. Administration 2. The Poor

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Jubilee+, Poor
Bookings have recently opened for two very important conferences. Please book now to get the benefit of discounted rates Mastering Kingdom Administration Sept 25th - 28th 2017 Milton Keynes, UK This is a special event: three days of equipping for those involved in any aspect of administration and the final day for them to attend the conference with members of the leadership of their churches to learn about working in teams. Paul Manwaring is the Main speaker who will take many of the sessions. Monday 25 September 2017 – Administration's Time Has Come Administration's time is now. Revival, reformation and renaissance require the gift in the hands of Spirit-filled administrators, leaders and managers. Come and be equipped, inspired and empowered. Tuesday 26 September 2017 – Divine Order Often we meet tension…
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25May 2017 by Nigel Ring

Burundi: Challenge and Transformation

Burundi, Church Planting, Poor, Regions Beyond
Burundi has a chequered history. It experienced revival as part of the East African Revival in the middle decades of the twentieth century and then inter-tribal civil war through the 1990s and into the new century. Tension continues to exist to this day. On the UN scales of poverty Burundi features near the bottom. The infrastructure is at best unreliable, at worst non-existent, with supplies of electricity and fuel severely restricted. But the church is active in helping to bring peace and transformation. Donna Bloomfield, of Gateway Church in Swindon, UK, has a deep commitment to Burundi, having served for two years as the principal of a Christian school in the capital, Bujumbura, at the turn of the century and more recently having become engaged in various initiatives to alleviate…
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01Feb 2017 by Nigel Ring

Pathways Care Farm

Agriculture, Farming, News, Poor
I have not met many alpacas – in fact I had not met any before I met Boris. But he was a good representative of his species and quickly made me feel at home. I was visiting Pathways Care Farm in Lowestoft, UK, founded by Geoff Stevens. I came to know Geoff when he was exploring an initiative within the Relational Mission sphere of Newfrontiers, Pathways from Poverty, now led by Julia Miller. Geoff knew nothing about farming when the opportunity arose to start a care farm but he and his team have achieved an astonishing amount in just two years. Walking around the farm with him I found he is bubbling with ideas – ‘we’re going to put a bird watching hide here’, ‘we will create an arts and crafts room…
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25Jan 2017 by Nigel Ring

Leading a church to minister with the Poor pt 4. Money

Finance, Poor, The church
In this concluding interview with Andy Cottingham we talk about money. What are the possible sources of funds including the pros and cons of gift days in the church and charitable grants? How to make a ministry sustainable. What about overseas giving? What are the pitfalls and the damage that can be done by unwise giving? What is success? In these discussions two books are mentioned which I recommend: When Helping Hurts and Toxic Charity. Both address the issue of damage that can be done if giving is not wise.     In concluding this series I want to encourage church leadership teams to watch these interviews again together and apply them to your own situation. Andy raises many questions that you may not have thought of. They should stimulate good…
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18Jan 2017 by Nigel Ring

Leading a church to minister with the Poor pt 3. The structure of a ministry

Charity, Equipping, Poor, Social Enterprise, The church
We have now looked at two topics: how to make church life more accessible to those who are poor or in need so that they can 'hear' the gospel, and how to identify what particular ministry we should be carrying out in our church. In this interview Andy Cottingham considers some matters related to running the ministry. Form a Charity? The church is an integral part of the community. A charity has a separate life. So it is with great caution that a church should consider forming a separate charity and there must be safeguards in the governance to prevent any such charity becoming independent of the church. Andy addresses this in the talk below but I have also written about it in a previous series. Relationship with other agencies Typically there are several agencies…
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