The Servant's Heart board of directors recently introduced Steve Nugent as the new Executive Director. “We are glad to have Steve Nugent join us in our work to help the Sudanese and Kenyans in their efforts to survive and thrive. He comes with a depth of experience in running other organizations and has embraced the needs of Servant’s Heart,” said Diane Bennett, former Executive Director and co-founder. Steve and Mollie Nugent live in California. Steve and Mollie have served in various ways throughout their careers, including working at an orphanage in Mexico, directing a home for unwed mothers in Nevada, and partnering in jail and prison ministries. Steve has also held the position of pastor/ elder at their church.

Steve says, “Having grown up spending my life in a small town of 800 people, the thought of serving as executive director to a Southern Sudan ministry was daunting. However, Mollie and I have often prayed a simple prayer, "Lord please don’t let us waste our lives." That prayer has led us over the years to various ministries, and now it seems to be Servant’s Heart. As I consider the foundation that has been laid by Dennis and Diane and the many others I am humbled to be given the opportunity. I am glad to be working closely with our field staff and Anna, Samuel, Gideon and Evangeline.

Our connection with Servant’s Heart began a few years ago when our close friend Anna Strachan began to explore serving in South Sudan. And now after getting to go and see Anna and the people of the eastern Upper Nile region, I am excited to see opportunities for us, you and me, as we have been given this small piece of God's creation in which to minister. Together, with blessings from on high we have been given the ability to be used to accomplish good for the people of Longochok County. My prayer is that we will be of service, equipping the Sudanese people of the region to advance His kingdom. It is my desire that we would be the best of stewards with the gifts that you entrust us with. I will be working with the board of Servant’s Heart to develop clear objectives, the action plans to accomplish those objectives and the measures to evaluate our effectiveness in accomplishing them.”

Diane and Dennis Bennett have both assumed positions as members of the Servant’s Heart board of directors. They look forward to working together to address problems in the South Sudan communities and work towards cost-effective solutions that work for everyone. They join with Steve and Mollie in this prayer: Oh Lord, please don’t let us waste our lives.

Thinking Strategically: Sustainable Development (Summer 2008)

The Financial Times of London hosted an online economic debate between Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and William “Bill” Easterly of NYU, offering economic solutions to aiding the world’s most needy.

Both Jeffery Sachs and Bill Easterly have outstanding credentials—and the world stage. Sachs’ book, The End of Poverty, proposes ways to meet Millennium Development Goals that were adopted by the United Nations as how to improve life in the world’s poorest countries through funding from wealthy nations. As a former World Bank economist, Bill Easterly points out the failures of top-down development in his book The White Man’s Burden. Paul Collier’s The Bottom Billion is also referenced.

Dennis Bennett entered the online discussion with 25 years’ experience in international banking and risk management, experience in Africa and co-founder of Servant’s Heart. Here are his comments: I agree with Martin Wolf and with Professors Sachs, Easterly and Collier that the “Bottom Billion” require outside assistance to move them out of their current conditions. However, I strongly disagree with Professor Sachs that a large government- funded intervention is required to lift Africa out of its poverty trap. Rather, substantial positive gains can be achieved through private sector initiatives, when people are willing to develop creative solutions, transfer knowledge, and be persistent. It is the human element, accompanied by skillfully applied funding, that will lift Africa out of poverty.

(to read more, click here) (http://blogs.ft.com/wolfforum/2008/06/column-sustaininggrowth-is-the-century%e2%80%99s-bigchallenge/)