19Oct 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 12 – Sustainability

Christian ministry, Equipping, Ghana, Good Practice, Planning, Poor, Relief and Development, Training, Zimbabwe
We have been considering Key Indicators of Good Practice under the title The Poor deserve the Best and now come to the final 2 of 20. 11. Sustainability Much charitable work relies on continual fund raising. Called Donor Dependency this makes a ministry very vulnerable. However, Donor Dependency introduces a measure of insecurity and puts the permanence of the ministry in doubt. It can also lead to the compromise of values in order to obtain funding. Further, Donor dependency may diminish the dignity of the ministry, but sometimes is a necessity. To mitigate against this a thorough assessment should be made of the reliance on outside funding and how this may be reduced. Appropriate practice should then be implemented to make the ministry as self-sustainable as possible. Clearly certain ministries…
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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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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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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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