I have recently returned from Guinea in West Africa where I have been visiting the church in the capital, Conakry, which was planted over ten years ago with refugees from the Sierra Leone civil war.
Guinea is a very poor nation. Let me give you some of the bare facts:
Population: 10 million, 2 million being in [...]
Concluding the review of this excellent book we shall now look at one very practical application.
Short term mission teams.
Like the story of the elephant and the mouse dancing together at a celebration - both benefit and enjoy it until the mouse is squashed - such can also be the effect of a short-term mission team. [...]
Continuing this somewhat protracted commentary on the strongly recommended book, When Helping Hurts, we will now see what the authors say about Principles that need to be followed to avoid causing damage to those who are in need.
Relief, Rehabilitation and Development
First, it is important to distinguish between Relief, Rehabilitation and Development. In true crisis (e.g. [...]
Continue reading about When Helping Hurts - Part 2 - General Principles for helping without hurting.
The floods which hit Pakistan in August were the worst in living memory and their magnitude eclipsed some of the recent disasters in other parts of the world.
Newfrontiers have several churches in Pakistan and one, in Nowshera, was particularly badly affected. People lost their houses and all their possessions, and the church building and office [...]
Recently I had the joy of meeting up with Steve and Heather Oliver who moved from South Africa to lead the Newfrontiers church in Dubai. Here Steve shares some of the differences they faced on moving to Dubai, a brief look at some of the cultural issues and the vision he has for the church.
Steve Oliver in Dubai [...]
From Zimbabwe to Kenya
In March I attended the 6-monthly Foundations for Farming Champions Conference in Zimbabwe. It was a great pleasure to meet two men from Kenya. One, Ashford, I knew from a previous visit to his country when I accompanied him on a medical visit to an unreached people group in Tharaka. He is [...]
Continue reading about Country report – Visit to Kenya pt 3. Foundations for Farming
Welcome to Kenya!
It is always a great pleasure to visit Kenya and to spend time with Edward and Fridah Buria. Edward brings apostolic oversight to many Newfrontiers churches in East Africa. This larger-than-life couple have a huge vision and a track record of success that is inspiring, including about 200 churches they have planted in [...]
Following my time in the Harare area a 4 hour drive to Bulawayo took me to the farm of Peter Cunningham, successful ostrich farmer and visionary, who seeks to help empower the poor by ‘out-sourcing’ the husbandry of young ostriches to village people and then buying them back for processing. I was also amazed to [...]
Continue reading about Report on Zimbabwe pt 2 - Rural Poverty
I am breaking into my Time Management series to include a report on my recent visit to West Africa.
It was a joy to be with John Kpikpi in Ghana and Sam Amara in Nigeria. John leads City of God Church in Accra and brings apostolic oversight to Newfrontiers churches in 7 West African nations. Sam [...]
Continue reading about To the Nations - Visit to Ghana and Nigeria - Part 1
