by RobHueniken on March 5, 2012
On March 3rd, 2012 we had our fourth open meeting, which was hosted by Village Green Community Church. It was an excellent morning of open and interesting presentations and discussions.
The theme of our latest meeting was talking about the recent Helping without Hurting conference, held in January at North Park Community Church. That conference presented many challenges to the ways that churches help the materially poor, and might be summarized by the idea that “Development isn't done to people or for people but with people.” .
At our March 3rd meeting we had presentations from people working in the local environment and at the global level, sharing personal insights and stories of Christians helping, and learning how to help in better ways.
In the topmost photo, emcee Steph Card introduces Ron Burdock. Steph did a great job of framing the presentations and discussions.
Thanks to everyone who attended, presented, and volunteered!
One of the main resources we added at this meeting is the following handout, which has excellent links to materials from the Helping without Hurting conference:
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Click on the image on the left to see the handout from the meeting.
This includes links to many useful resources for asset mapping, as well as benevolence guidelines.
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Jon Korkidakis is the lead pastor at Village Green Community Church (www.vgchurch.org).
Speaking about the poverty challenges facing local churches, Jon Korkidakis said: “We are looking at new ways to deal with immediate and long term needs. We are sensing the tension between the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of helping. It can be easier to write a cheque than doing the time-intensive work of engaging personally with people, but that is what we need to do.”
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Bob Kline works with Hope for Rural Children and Orphans (http://www.horco.ca) in Ethiopia.
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Bob's discussion of Ethiopia was framed by the fact that 70% of people there have no clean water access. By working through NGOs and rural partnerships, HORCO is able to help via indirect ways that invigorate the local communities there. The HORCO Facebook page shows a video of a community’s hands-on work to tap into an underground spring. “Seeing them working together, using pots and pans, is an inspiring example of a community in action.”
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As North Park’s director of global outreach, Ron Burdock brought a lot of experience to the meeting. Ron's team had also hosted the recent Helping without Hurting conference.
We had an excellent turnout, and did lots of great sharing and discussing.
A shout-out to Rob's Mom, Helen Hueniken, for her wonderful baked goods! She liked that the extra went to Darryl and Debra's friends at Sanctuary London.
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Ron Burdock said: “We need to empower local resources, and build capacity into families and communities.”
“The guideline at the heart of these changes needs to be ‘Don’t dishonour the poor.’”
www.northpark.ca
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There were lots of excellent questions from the meeting attendees, including Sue Gowan, President of Mission Services of London.
The front-line care organizations really feel the struggles of providing relief while aiming for personal and community development.
A phrase that sums up much of the new approach to helping the materially poor is “Development isn't done to people or for people but with people.”
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The meeting wrapped up with a panel discussion, moderated by David Cottrill.
David’s good work with new arrivals to Canada has helped develop his perspectives on helping. “If your organization gives things out then you become known for that, and lose opportunities to develop relationships. When you give people the responsibility to help themselves they can show their community to be very resourceful.”
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There were many discussions after the presentations, including Bob Kline speaking with Dave Hiebert (of Village Green).
We are happy that Churches Together London can help to encourage discussion and learning, as we move forward in our shared community development efforts here in London.
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by Churches Together on February 8, 2012
We are looking forward to our fourth meeting, on Saturday March 3rd, from 9:30am until 11:00am. And you are invited!
The theme will be "Practical Applications from the Helping Without Hurting Conference".
Our meeting is being hosted by Village Green Community Church, and its pastor, Jon Korkidakis, will be one of the speakers at our meeting. (Here's a map).
The Helping without Hurting conference, held on January 14th, provided a wealth of interesting and challenging ideas for improving how churches help others, both locally and globally. 500 people attended this excellent conference, which was hosted by North Park and organized by Ron Burdock.
There's a lot of fascinating material to explore and talk about.
At our next meeting we'll be looking at various key areas, including:
- A summary of the conference highlights
- Presentations on global helping by Ron Burdock of North Park and Bob Kline
- Local efforts to help in new ways by Jon Korkidakis of Village Green
- Some excellent resources for you and your team
- A panel discussion, to share ideas and experience.
As usual, our meeting will be fast-paced and interesting. There will be snacks and the opportunity to stay afterwards for some informal discussion.
We look forward to seeing you on March 3rd !
All are welcome!
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Please pass along our website address to your friends and colleagues. Let's really rev things up in London!
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by Churches Together on January 15, 2012
The Helping without Hurting conference at North Park Community Church was a fantastic day of learning, great food, and community. The volunteers and staff made 500 of us feel welcome and encouraged to be sharing in Steve Corbett's learnings about helping those who are materially poor.
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At the heart of Steve Corbett's message is the need to:
- move more quickly from relief efforts to development efforts
- investigate what is truly needed by the people (rather than assuming we know what they need; to do this means commiting time and building relationships), and
- ensure that the people being helped are active participants in moving forward. As Corbett said: “Development isn't done to people or for people but with people.”
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Please note: You can click on the photos to see a larger version.
I'd like to thank Ron Burdock for putting together an excellent conference, and the many thoughtful folks who joined Churches Together London to share this good day.
We'd like to encourage you to connect with us so that we can let you know about upcoming meetings and events, and to help us all keep the excitement and value of this conference moving forward in the coming months.
Please consider coming to our next meeting, on Saturday March 3rd, 9:30am to 11:00am, at Village Green Community Church. We'll be sharing ideas about the conference, and talking about ways to incorporate these learnings into our lives. It'll be a great event, so come on out!
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Ron Burdock (Director of Global Outreach at North Park) and author Steve Corbett. Churches Together London is one of North Park’s partners in this effort. |
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North Park members, Donna Ballantine and Vicky Lozada helped organize the hospitality, which included delicious African food by the World Cooks. |
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The conference is sparking lots of conversation about how to rework our charity efforts. Seen here are Paul and Sue Gowan from Village Green Community Church, which had a dozen members attending. |
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Author Steve Corbett brought energy and encouragement, along with studies and techniques available for free at the Chalmers Center for Economic Development.
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Katie Jo Ramsey assisted Corbett by leading the discussion about helping locally. Ramsey stressed the importance of having people willing to walk together with people in need – a process that takes time and compassion. |
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A resource area at the conference included books from the Navigators Resource Centre (thanks, Dennis Funk!), and information booths from Vision Ministries (thanks, Jay Gurnet!), International Justice Mission (thanks, Ed Wilson!), and Compassion Canada (thanks, Bill Coleman!).
It was a great group of organizations to be part of.
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Rob Hueniken and James Kingsley at our booth. We had copies of the books we recommend and an overview of our group.
The handout and display boards are available as PDFs below.
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Click on the image to see the PDF of the handout from the conference, talking about Churches Together London. |
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Click on the image to see the PDF of the display boards. |
by Churches Together on January 11, 2012
The team at Churches Together London is partnering with North Park Community Church to help this conference be an amazing and insightful event.
Saturday, January 14th is the date to be at North Park for the Helping without Hurting one-day conference.
There are already 350 people signed up, so this is going to be an exciting and dynamic place to be.
New ideas will be shared, relationships formed, and partnering ideas starting to blossom. This conference has the makings of a landmark day for the Church in London.
Can you tell I'm excited? Our team will be there, with a booth, sharing our enthusiasm and passion for the good work we can do together.
Rob Hueniken
On March 3rd, 2012 we had our fourth open meeting, which was hosted by Village Green Community Church. It was an excellent morning of open and interesting presentations and discussions.
