Newsletter
Resource CenterSubscribe NowArchivesSubscribe Now
BestPractices
 January 13, 2010
Loren in capI have a pastor friend who on Wednesday wrote this as her Facebook status: "Dear God, why Haiti?"

This is one of the worst disasters in a century, and it happened to a country that was already known as "Island of the Damned."

I asked Monte Sahlin to provide you with some information you can share with your church about helping in Haiti. We want our people to give intelligently. You can pass this out, or put it into your email newsletter.

Also below, Mike Temple tells about his experimental approach to outreach: try different things, measure their effectiveness, and keep what works. You'll enjoy following his progress via his website and newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE
Mike Temple cleans house
Stewardship: how to help Haiti
Reading: What you need to know about Haiti
Media: Haiti and ADRA
Quotes: "I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me."
Dan Day on discipleship
News & ideas: "Gifted Hands" special
Events: InMinistry classes
Pastor
Keep What Works, Throw Out the Rest
by Mike Temple

Mike TempleTempleWhat does eBay, cupcake decorating, and community leadership lunches have in common? They are all forms of community outreach! It has been my passion over the last few years to discover new ways to reach out to the geographic areas that we serve and begin building personal relationships between church members and members of the community.

I've tried to sum it up in my own words, but I've found it quite difficult to improve on the following quote: "Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, "follow me." Ministry of Healing, 143

Winning confidence in the world that we live in is easier said than done. We look for a variety of outreach methods that serve as relational "springboards" when it comes to meeting new people that might never step through the doors of our church facility.

We've used eBay Seller Training classes, cupcake decorating contests (I actually got that idea from another pastor,) iPod Nano giveaways, financial classes, marriage seminars, guitar lessons, healthy snacking classes, beginner computer instruction, and the list goes on and on. We're testing to see what could possibly work, and we're being honest about what doesn't. We keep doing what works, and we tweak, (or throw out) the things that don't.

With everything that we do, we have an end result in mind; build a relationship with someone we didn't know before, and ask the Holy Spirit to open doors to share our faith with them as our trust in one another grows.

What will we try in the future? Here are a few things that we're kicking around:
  • "How to Market Your Small Business on Facebook" Seminar
  • Vege-oriental Cooking Classes
  • A mom's support group for young mothers (complete w/ babysitting for their little ones while the moms visit with each other.)
  • Video editing classes
  • A morning mall-walker's outreach in a local indoor shopping center.
Will these ideas work? We don't know. But we'll be honest about the entire process whether it does or not. We have discovered that with personal involvement and investment in the lives of others, we are seeing tangible results in the opportunities we have to share our faith. And that's what it's all about!

Mike Temple is a pastor of a three-church district in North and South Dakota. He also authors the "What's Working in Outreach" blog at www.whatsworkinginoutreach.com. You can become a subscriber to a newsletter of the same name by visiting the blog and signing up.
Stewardship
HaitiHaiti: How to be a Good Samaritan
by Monte Sahlin

In the next several months, our church members are going to be bombarded with requests for money for Haiti. Unfortunately, not all of the charities use their money very well. I asked Monte Sahlin to say a little bit about helping Haiti. You may want to include this in your newsletter or emailing to the church family. LGS

Haiti is the poorest nation in the American hemisphere. This is the largest earthquake disaster in this hempishere in more than a century. The Catholic archbishop of Haiti was killed in the earthquake and the president of Haiti is sleeping in his limousine because the Haitian White House was destroyed. If you ever felt like doing something for "the least of these," now is the time!
 
But, how can you get money there most effectively and quickly? I had many, many emails, phone calls and text messages yesterday and overnight asking me about this.
 
The answer is simple, but you may not like it.

The large, established international relief agencies will do the best job both in terms of speed, low-overhead and effective on-the-ground operations. I served for a number of years as the chairman of the inter-agency umbrella group VOAD [Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster] and for two years on the board of FEMA. I know the protocols and have personal friends among the key players.
 
You will hear lots of small organizations and individuals talking down the large organizations and urging you to give to hundreds of groups that all suddenly appear after a major disaster. Don't be fooled. They're playing to the prejudice that many Americans have against large bureaucracies. But (big but) in times like these the small groups will actually spend a much higher percentage of the funds on transportation to Haiti, shipping costs, etc., while they tell you they have "no overhead." They will be slower to get there because the jam-up at the airport is controlled by governments, the military and the UN. Governments and the UN know the big players and their capabilities, so first priority will be given to those.
 
Is ADRA one of the big players or a little fish? It is one of the 15 largest agencies on the globe. It has excellent credentials. It has a better rating from independent evaluators than does World Vision, for example. ADRA had an office and team in Haiti before the earthquake hit and they began to respond to the need within minutes. ADRA has backup supplies around the Caribbean and "back door" routes into Haiti. ADRA has a very large global network that is mobilizing supplies and money from throughout the developed nations.
 
There is no better place to give your money than ADRA. It will leverage your dollar with five to ten matching dollars. It will get supplies there as quickly as the fastest responders. Most important, not only will it play a key role in the immediate response, it will stay around for months and years after CNN has forgotten Haiti and continue with the rebuild effort.
Adventists, I believe, have a special duty to give to ADRA and not other organizations, because others will not support it as readily as we do. We are "it" for ADRA.
 
There are evaluation agencies out there with excellent information (such as Charity Navigator). Check those web sites before you give. Give intelligently. A lot of money is wasted in every disaster response, largely because of people making bad choices without adequate information.
 
If you have church members with a sudden urge to go to Haiti, calm them down. Unless they are part of one of the established response organizations and have been through the necessary training, they will simply get in the way and waste precious water, food, lodging and medical supplies. Encourage them to use their time and energy to raise money to support the guys on the front lines.
Reading For Pastors
Haiti:
 Disabled parishioners shouldn't have to stay away from church.

All those years I was pastoring small churches - I didn't realize I actually had a microchurch!
  • Have megachurches had their day? Some think so. Quote: "Smaller is working," says Easum. "That's because it is the way the church spread the fastest in the first century -- organically instead of institutionally." Easum is one of the few ready to predict a major shift: "I believe the megachurch will be replaced by smaller congregations that meet in multiple settings."
  • Microchurches have a lot in common with small groups - the issue of accountability. Here are some accountability questions.
  • Explaining the microchurch movement: Quote: "A major impulse for many micro ministries is the conviction that the institutional church-with its paid clergy and programs and buildings-is a perversion of the first-century church."
Featured Media


In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, ADRA committed $1 million worth of aid to support the immediate needs of survivors, and your assistance is requested to help ADRA reach this initial goal. Right now, ADRA is distributing 4.2 million water purification tablets and other water treatment systems to provide drinking water to 90,000 people per day. ADRA is also providing hygiene kits, medical assistance, and shelter materials. In addition to this immediate response, ADRA will be involved for years to come in long-term rebuilidng and community devleopment. Watch an ADRA video entitled People of Promise.  Download a bulletin insert for a report for your congregation.

To the Point

I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me.
  - Dave Barry

I must steal half a moment from my work to say how glad I am to have your book and how highly I value it, both for its own sake and as a remembrance of an affectionate friendship which has subsisted between us for nine years without a break and without a single act of violence that I can call to mind. I suppose there is nothing like it in heaven; and not likely to be, until we get there and show off. I often think of it with longing, and how they'll say, "there they come - sit down in front." I am practicing with a tin halo. You do the same.
 - Mark Twain (in a letter to Helen Keller)

Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult.
  - Charlotte Whitton

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
  - Noel Coward

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.
  - Niels Bohr
Discipleship
Dan DayDiscipleship Elements: How to follow Jesus
Dan Day, Director, NAD Church Resource Center

There are three key discipleship challenges around which the upcoming discipleship curriculum from the Adventist Church in North America is constructed: (1) Discovering how to follow Jesus; (2) Learning how to grow in Christ; and (3) Experiencing how to become a nurturing community. In this segment, we'll look specifically at the first one.

Discovering how to follow Jesus has to do with key elements in a vigorous spiritual life. If you're a pastor teaching a new members class, you may be dealing with a group of men and women who know relatively little about who God really is, what the dynamics of spiritual life encompass, or what God's expectations are for new members of His family. You may also have members who have been attending for years who do not clearly understand these dynamics-and who are thus limited in their ability to establish a vigorous spiritual life.

In the new discipleship curriculum, then, will be a number of segments about discovering how to follow Jesus. These will address basics in establishing a relationship with God, including forming an accurate picture of a loving God who wants to be in relationship with us.  Also central will be core values for Christian living, such as what it means to be a Christian, what the role of the Bible is in our lives, why we should seek to be involved with a caring Christian community, and what Jesus meant when He said, "by this shall all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Are these "fundamentals" what evangelism should emphasize? Sure, but sometimes in its rush to establish our distinctive doctrines, evangelism misses these. Yet, they are critical elements to establishing a spiritual connection with God, without which new members are unprepared for Christian living in today's complex environment. The rest is yet to come...
News, Ideas & Reminders

  • From Mark Thomas: "I hope it is okay to pass along some information which I thought the readers of Best Practices might be interested in. There is currently a promotion of Ben Carson's movie Gifted Hands through the church movie exhibition website WingCinema.com. The film can be previewed on the site and then a site license for showing it in church can be purchased. It is an amazing movie which affirms the power of God to change a human life. More information can be found at this website, www.wingcinema.com/giftedhands."
  • From Seth Pierce: "I have a minor concern about your endorsement of Karen Armstrong's writings because she advocates non-hurtful religion. While an amicable goal, it ignores the extreme biases Karen has, illustrated in a recent NPR interview where she states taking the Bible literally, including the creation story, is a modern invention and that nobody gave it literal meaning until recent times--and that part of the spiritual quest of the Bible is that there is no one meaning. Certainly I am not in the right wing fundamentalist camp and can appreciate diversity of thought and being challenged; however there may be people who take your endorsement without understanding that this author has a very strong slant to the facts that make her scholarship, in my opinion anyway, very suspect."
  • GODencounters: Pursuing a 24/7 Experience of Jesus named Discipleship Book of the Year. "In a blogging and twittering age, GODencounters: Pursuing a 24/7 Experience of Jesus is perfect, easy to pick up even for the attention impaired," notes Pastor Kirsten ุster-Lundqvist, of the Newbold Church in England.  "It keeps one's focus on the succinct thoughts, and the open questions beg for contemplation.  Balanced and real, GODencounters is accessible and deep, touching both the heart and the mind." Available at the Adventist Book Center.
  • Speaking of books, Nick Bejarano recommends Building Strong Congregations. It is written by three different authors one being Philip Kotler, who is known as one of the fathers of modern marketing. Also, three interviews with Bruce Wrenn, another of the authors: Part 1, Part  2, Part 3.
Got a tool, resource, site, article, idea or seminar that you like a lot? Share it with us at
BestPractices@ameritech.net.
Upcoming NAD Events

Do you have an event you'd like to invite NAD pastors to? Send details to BestPractices@Ameritech.net.
Best Practices is a Vervent publication of NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER. Editor: Loren Seibold, Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church. E-mail: Best Practices. You are free to republish pieces from Best Practices in your own newsletter or blog, with attribution to the Best Practices newsletter and the author of the piece.