10 Keys for Impact - inspiration and guidance for your community project
Introduction by Matthew Frost, Chief Executive, Tearfund
One thing I’ve learnt as I’ve got older is that the more I know, the more (I realise) I don’t know. Which is why I believe this booklet will be invaluable to your work.
It’s 15 years of collected wisdom from Tearfund’s UK partners operating grassroots Christian community organisations and church community projects.
In Luke 10 Jesus re-asserts the central importance of loving your neighbour as yourself. When he is asked ‘And who is my neighbour?’, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan and commands us to, ‘Go and do likewise’.
If we are to reflect the model of the Good Samaritan, the importance of going out of our way to help people living in poverty on our own doorstep cannot be ignored. For over 40 years Tearfund has been concerned to educate the UK church in material and spiritual transformation. Additionally for over 15 years Tearfund has specifically focused on enabling churches and Christian organisations in the UK to develop programmes that reach out with God’s loving arms into local communities experiencing poverty and significant disadvantage.
This resource captures the ten most important areas of learning and development for church projects and Christian organisations who want to have an effective impact on material and spiritual poverty. The learning is grounded in the accumulated knowledge and experience of Tearfund’s UK partners over the last 15 years. Further guidance, templates and resources can be found on the bottom of the page for each key area of learning. It is our belief that regularly revisiting these 10 areas of learning and development will significantly help more church projects and Christian organisations to become beacons of spiritual passion and professional excellence, reflecting the example of the Good Samaritan who went out of his way to ensure the man in need was shown genuine love and ongoing care.
Matthew Frost
Chief Executive, Tearfund
2011