The ARA Steering Committee met to debrief their 2023 ARA Intensive on Spiritual Metrics. The team discusses their key takeaways and reflections of the day.

Dr. Jayakumar Christian, author of "God of the Empty-handed: Poverty, Power, and the Kingdom of God" was the keynote speaker of the 2022 Accord Research Alliance Intensive. This podcast is a recording of his talk, with an introduction from Dr. David Bronkema.

Dr. Drew Hart, author, activist and professor of theology and the Bible at Messiah University and Rodney Green, Senior Manager of Monitoring and Evaluation at Compassion International, have a conversation about the theological foundation to resist perpetuating colonial legacies in the data journey. One framework introduced is “decolonization”, a term that refers to approaches and methodologies of acquiring and leveraging data in a way that better honors and shares power with communities on whom these limits have been placed and/or that have been historically oppressed, enables them to control their information and use data to tell their own story, and that helps dismantle mutually dehumanizing colonial paradigms and practices that have affected their history and current realities. As the conversation is only an introduction, alternative frameworks working towards a similar aim of greater love and justice for those marginalized are not discussed, though we hope the conversation can spark helpful steps to engage in deeper learning and strengthening humanizing and liberating practices around data. To learn more about Dr. Drew Hart, his books, and his podcast “Inverse”, visit: https://drewgihart.com/ and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inverse-podcast/id1358332600

Emilie Jackson joins the podcast to talk with Nathan Mallonee about the listening work HOPE International does in their microfinance institutions. Their listening practice is geared toward helping them design new microfinance products and services for their clients. Emilie also goes into depth about one particular tool they use for quicker feedback—the Net Promoter Score—and how they modified it for clients in the countries they work in. For more information about HOPE International, visit www.hopeinternational.org. To find out more about the Accord Research Alliance, and to register for the 2022 OneAccord Forum, visit www.accordnetwork.org. Emilie's book recommendation is: Ghosts in the Schoolyard by Eve L. Ewing. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo27506579.html To find out more about Emilie's work at HOPE, you can contact her at [email protected].

Rhett Bailey and Nathan Mallonee from Living Water International share their experience applying rapid testing and experimentation to inform the organization’s strategy development process. The approach — based in design thinking — produced data insights and fostered a discernment process to inform a strategic direction for an organization working in 17 countries. The conversation covers the basics of the approach, how the implementation of the rapid testing was managed, and lessons learned along the way. Notes: Register for the Accord Research Alliance annual intensive in October 2022: https://accordnetwork.org/oneaccord-2022/ Playing to Win Methodology: https://hbr.org/books/playing-to-win Testing Business Ideas: https://www.strategyzer.com/books/testing-business-ideas-david-j-bland

Rodney Green interviews Allan Kakinda, Senior Manager of Innovation and M&E at Compassion International, about integrating and utilizing different types of evidence in M&E design –generating unique insights for decision-making. Lean Impact by Ann Mei Chang is mentioned, with a helpful review here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/book-review-lean-impact-ann-mei-chang-thoughts-science-brown/ Do More Be More podcast is here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1gGDrmGybvBsoYUdQoXvIs To connect with Allan, please visit his Linkedin and Twitter page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akakinda/ https://twitter.com/alkakinda

This episode is the conversation with Pete Howard, Leadership Consultant with Christian Relief, Development and Advocacy organization hosted by Dr. Subodh Kumar, Chief Data Officer with World Vision International. This conversation touches upon the three theological virtues of Beauty, Goodness and Truth and its importance to Christian Relief, Development and Advocacy organization. In this broken world, through our M&E work we are witness through our relationships and work of God’s beauty, goodness and truth.

Lincoln Lau is back on the podcast! Nathan Mallonee interviews Lincoln, who is the director of research at International Care Ministries (ICM) in the Philippines. ICM has been conducting different RCTs in partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action, and Lincoln comes back to talk to us since they published the results of their first RCT and how they’re using RCTs today. To find out more about ICM, visit: https://www.caremin.com Book recommendation: Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Nathan Mallonee interviews Nell Becker Sweeden and Zekarias Asfaw from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) about their global COVID-19 response and a recent evaluation they conducted. For more information about NCM, you can visit: https://www.ncm.org To register for the upcoming OneAccord forum on Oct 19-21, visit: https://accordnetwork.org

Rodney Green talks with Dr. Subodh Kumar, Chief Data Officer from World Vision International, about how to view and utilize data through a Jesus-centered way, or in other words, from a Kingdom perspective, where data is a way to listen to and meet with God as revealed in Jesus. Contact Subodh with questions at: [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/subodh-kumar-ph-d-74409616/ Toward Laying the Foundation for Christ-Centered Monitoring and Evaluation: https://crdajournal.org/index.php/crda/article/view/417

Nathan Mallonee talks with Michelle Wijaya, Will Kendall, and Vicky Madzure from HOPE International's Savings Group team about developing their theory of change. HOPE SG Theory of Change Visual Summary: https://hopeinternational.box.com/HOPESGTOCVisual HOPE SG Theory of Change Detailed Visual : https://hopeinternational.box.com/HOPESGTOCDetail HOPE SG Theory of Change Resource Guide: https://hopeinternational.box.com/HOPESGTOCRESOURCE Also, Will has clarified that there are over 7,500 churches that have been equipped through HOPE's Savings Group program. To get in touch with Michelle Wijaya, you can email her at: [email protected]

Kristen Check interviews Alistair Sim, Principle Scientific Advisor, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning, at Compassion International. Innovations for Poverty Action/JPAL(causational attribution): https://www.povertyactionlab.org/person/duflo. Self-assessment tool and group facilitation: http://www.grahambodie.com/ Evidence-based journalism: https://theconversation.com/us Contact Alistair: [email protected] [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistairsim/

Mary Kay Gugerty discusses her book, The Goldilocks Challenge: Right-Fit Evidence for the Social Sector, with co-host Nathan Mallonee. Professor Gugerty studies nonprofit performance and accountability systems and teaches public policy to master's students at the Evans School of Public Policy at the University of Washington. Topics include: + why we need to be careful about how we use the term "impact" + when an organization should NOT consider doing impact evaluations + what you should do if you aren't doing impact evaluations (and why organizations should prioritize getting robust output and immediate outcome data) + how to apply the CART (credible, actionable, responsible, and transportable) principles to your monitoring & evaluation work + why you need a performance framework (or a theory of change) to make your data actionable + how to know when you have a "right-fit evidence system" Links: The Goldilocks Challenge book: https://www.poverty-action.org/right-fit-evidence/book/the-goldilocks-challenge Right Fit Evidence website: https://www.poverty-action.org/right-fit-evidence Professor Gugerty's website: https://evans.uw.edu/profile/mary-kay-gugerty/ Recommended books: Measuring Social Change by Alnoor Ebrahim: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=27990 Between Power and Irrelevance: The Future of Transnational NGOs: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/between-power-and-irrelevance-9780190084721?cc=us&lang=en&

Last week (October 5-9), we held our sixth annual (and first virtual) intensive. This year it was all online and focused on the theme of "Cultivating a Christ-Centered, Data-Informed, and Responsive Organization: Listening in your M&E Practice." In this special episode, the steering committee talks with each other about the highlights of the week and what they learned along the way. For more information about the Accord Research Alliance, visit: www.accordnetwork.org/ara If you want to find out more about how to get involved or have ideas for future podcasts, email us at [email protected]. Steering Committee Members on today's call: -Kristen Check, Compassion International (co-chair) -Rodney Green, Compassion International (co-chair) -Nathan Mallonee, Living Water International (co-chair) -David Bronkema, Eastern University -Stephen Offutt, Asbury Theological Seminary -Rebecca Mentzer, HOPE International -Subodh Kumar, Food for the Hungry

In this special episode, we are playing Dr. Olivia Wilkinson's keynote speech from the 2019 Accord Research Intensive as a way to promote the upcoming 2020 Research Intensive. If you haven't registered yet, the deadline is Thursday, October 1. https://accordnetwork.regfox.com/oneaccord-research To watch a video of Olivia's presentation, go to: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7552959

Today one of our co-hosts goes on the other side of the mic. Kristen Check interviews Nathan Mallonee about why your organization should have a Theory of Change. Nathan provides details about the process he led at Living Water for developing a Theory of Change and the lessons learned along the way. You can read Living Water's Theory of Change here: http://livingwater.box.com/toc This podcast was actually recorded in 2019, but this topic is more relevant than ever during Covid-19 as outlined in this article from Better Evaluation: https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/blog/adapting-evaluation-time-covid-19-%E2%80%94-part-2-define Other resources include: Think NPC's Theory of Change in 10 Steps: https://www.thinknpc.org/resource-hub/ten-steps/ DFID's review of Theories of Change: http://www.theoryofchange.org/pdf/DFID_ToC_Review_VogelV7.pdf And you can find out more about Nathan at http://nathanmallonee.com

In this episode, Rodney Green speaks with Dr. Jamie Aten from the Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI) about a wide range of inter-connected topics including faith, resilience, and approaches to better understanding and measuring spiritual fortitude in the midst of personal and shared suffering, racial injustice, and the covid-19 pandemic. Resources from HDI on the Measure of Spiritual Fortitude, Leadership Humility, Post-traumatic growth: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331603591_Development_and_Validation_of_a_Measure_of_Spiritual_Fortitude https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341577750_Why_Leader_Humility_is_Vital_to_Effective_Humanitarian_Aid_Leadership_A_Review_of_the_Literature https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309222416_Cultural_Humility_and_Hospital_Safety_Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254320192_Resource_loss_religiousness_health_and_posttraumatic_growth_following_Hurricane_Katrina Dr. Jamie Aten’s book “A Walking Disaster: What Surviving Katrina and Cancer Taught Me about Faith and Resilience”: http://www.jamieaten.com/a-walking-disaster HDI website: https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/academic-centers/humanitarian-disaster-institute/ The conversation between Rodney and Dr. Aten briefly introduces the systemic nature and sin of white supremacy, racism, and racial injustice, and important voices to listen to in order to go deeper can include: Dr. Drew Hart. “Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CF1TR1Y/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Dr. Ibram Kendi. “How to Be an Antiracist” https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist-1 Mark Charles. “Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V7ZXT1R/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Rev. Rene August. “How to Decolonize the Bible” [Webinar On Demand] https://freedomroad.us/freedom-road-institute-for-leadership-justice/decolonizing-the-bible/ Also, “The Aid Sector Must Do More to Tackle its White Supremacy Problem” https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/15/the-aid-sector-must-do-more-to-tackle-its-white-supremacy-problem Equitable Evaluation Framework: https://www.equitableeval.org/ee-framework

The ARA podcast is back today talking about (what else?) COVID-19. Nathan Mallonee talks with Rebecca Mentzer and Rodney Green about how different organizations within Accord are responding to COVID-19, especially as it relates to our work to "measure what matters." Resources mentioned in the podcast are available at https://accordnetwork.org/resources/covid-19-resources/ Connect with us through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4362102/ Special thanks to Daniel Schmidt for producing today's podcast.

Today's podcast was recorded live from the 2019 Accord Research Alliance intensive. It provides a recap and analysis of the day from David Bronkema, Kristen Check, Rodney Green, and Nathan Mallonee. To get connected to the Accord Research Alliance and find out more about next year's intensive, email us at [email protected].

Dr. Steve Offutt presents on research he and others have conducted on Christian ideas for development, understanding the current theories, networks, and priorities of Accord member organizations.

In advance of the 2019 ARA Research & Spiritual Metrics Intensive, we are sharing several sessions from the 2018 intensive. In this episode, Dr. Laura Shannonhouse gives examples of spiritual metrics used in two studies. Join us at the Accord Research Alliance intensive on September 30, 2019 in Ridgecrest, NC. We will be discussing: “Measuring What’s Difficult: How to Measure ALL That Matters in Christ-Centered Relief, Development & Advocacy”. Register NOW: https://accord-forum.squarespace.com/research-intensive-1 Laura Shannonhouse is Assistant Professor of Counseling and Psychological Services at Georgia State. Laura is also a contributing fellow with the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College.

2018 ARA Spiritual Metrics and Research Intensive panel discussion: "Case Studies of Integrating Development & Faith in Research". Panelists: Kristen Check, Water Mission Rebecca Mentzer, HOPE International Nathan Mallonee, Living Water International Ryan Smedes, FFH Mikaela Cochran, Compassion International Register NOW for the OneAccord Summit!: https://accord-forum.squarespace.com

In advance of the 2019 ARA Research & Spiritual Metrics Intensive, we are sharing several keynote sessions from the 2018 intensive. In this episode, Jean Duff, President of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities shares with the audience an overview of the faith and development sector, including the main actors, issues of focus, and potential research opportunities with Accord Member organizations. If you haven't registered for the 2019 Intensive, do so here!https://accord-forum.squarespace.com/research-intensive-1 Learn more about JLI here: https://jliflc.com/

Stacy Nam is the Senior Programs & Knowledge Manager at the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities (JLI). In this podcast, Nathan Mallonee (from Living Water International) and Stacy talk about what JLI does, how it can be valuable to Accord members, and how Accord members can participate in the Learning Hubs that JLI facilitates. You can become a member of JLI at www.jliflc.com. Read the Guide to Excellence in Evidence for Faith Groups at https://jliflc.com/guide-excellence-evidence-faith-groups/ Stacy's Book Recommendations: 1. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman 2. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Rönnlund 3. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

In this episode, Nathan Mallonee catches back up with Luis Noda, VP for Transformational Engagement at Food for the Hungry. In episode 9, Luis talked about how FH was working on developing a document on the theological foundation for their work in relief and development. This document is now available (https://www.fh.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Gods-Story.pdf), so Luis is coming back to discuss how they've been rolling this out and how it's influencing the organization. Luis also provides a book recommendation for the most interesting book he's read this year. Building a Better International NGO by James Crowley & Morgana Ryan https://www.amazon.com/Building-Better-International-NGO-Greater/dp/1565495837

Michael Woolcock has been at the World Bank for 20 years, where he is the Lead Social Scientist in the Development Research Group. For twelve years he has also been a (part-time) Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. As a sociologist, he's written about culture, social development, and social capital. Michael is also on the editorial board for Accord's new journal, Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy (CRDA). Nathan Mallonee from Living Water International talks with Michael about how he got to the World Bank from Australia, his new book on building state capability, the case for using mixed methods for research, and ideas for papers he'd like to see submitted to the CRDA journal. Here is a link to Michael's new book, Building State Capability: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/building-state-capability-9780198747482?cc=us&lang=en& Here is a link to the call for papers for the CRDA journal: https://crdajournal.org/index.php/crda/announcement Michael's Book Recommendations: ‘Epic Wanderer: David Thompson and the Opening of the West’, by D’Arcy Jenish. A biography of the life of first person to map the western coast of North America, from (what is now) Oregon through to British Columbia, and vast areas inland to Hudson Bay. His maps became the basis for where exactly the border was drawn between the US and Canada along the 49th parallel, and included being the first to traverse (and map) the full length of the Columbia River. Doing all this entailed surviving decades of unimaginably cold winters, crossing the Rocky Mountains on foot endless times, learning some of the languages of indigenous peoples, and doing all manner of complex negotiations – all without ever losing a man. ‘The Tyrannicide Brief: The Story of the Man Who Sent Charles I to the Scaffold’, by Geoffrey Robertson. Incredible account of the first legal team to challenge the divine right of kings, in the 1640s, arguing that no-one was above the law -- when that notion had never before been tested on a head of state, in this case a king (Charles I) whose civil wars had led one in ten Englishmen to their deaths. The lead lawyer, John Cooke, undertook this task knowing full well that it would likely lead to his own death, which it duly did in the most gruesome manner… Makes a bad day for me seem like a stroll in the park… And the justly classic ‘The Hiding Place’, by Corrie Ten Boom. “Give thanks in all things” takes on a whole new meaning after reading this book…

Have you ever wondered if Toms Shoes, child sponsorship, or de-worming interventions are really making a difference? Dr. Bruce Wydick,a professor of development economics at the University of San Francisco, shares from a researcher perspective about what kinds interventions are truly effective for holistic human flourishing. Dr. Wydick has a new book being released by Harper Collins in 2019 - The Shrewd Samaritan. His blog is http://www.acrosstwoworlds.net and he regularly writes for the World Bank blog, Christianity Today, and other publications. Dr. Wydick is interviewed by Rodney Green (World Relief). Show notes and links here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q8fXJy3_chVHpFTzhq7xatf_GIZBGmlo/view?usp=sharing

Today's podcast was recorded live at the end of the Spiritual Metrics and Research Intensive on October 29, 2018 at the Accord Forum in Ridgecrest, NC. The podcast's co-hosts, Kristen Check, Rodney Green, and Nathan Mallonee, are joined by David Bronkema to discuss their thoughts on the day and possible next steps for the Accord Research Alliance. The topic for the intensive was "Integrating Faith with Relief, Development, and Advocacy: Research, Metrics and Implementation." Our keynote speakers did a fantastic job framing the entire day's conversation: * Jean Duff, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities * Rebecca Shah, Religious Freedom Institute Then a panel of practitioners from member organizations shared case studies of how they were addressing this topic in their work: * Kristen Check, Water Mission * Rebecca Mentzer, HOPE International * Nathan Mallonee, Living Water International * Ryan Smedes, Food for the Hungry * Mikaela Cochran, Compassion International To get connected to the Accord Research Alliance and find out more about next year's intensive, email us at [email protected].

ARA Podcast Co-Host Rodney Green discusses partnering with a university professor on a mixed-methods case study. Show Notes: This study used a quasi-experimental differences in differences design with 4 comparison groups https://www.meda.org/innovate-projects http://www.worldrelief.org Email us at [email protected] with your ideas for future podcasts.

Interviewed by Kristen Check (Water Mission), Mikaela Cochran (Compassion International)describes how the Program Effectiveness Research team is using a quasi-experimental design to study the causal relationship between Compassion's programs and childhood development outcomes. https://www.compassion.com/ [email protected]

Interviewed by Rodney Green (World Relief), Matt Kistler (American Bible Society) describes a research project in Rwanda that required a translation of spiritual metrics from a US context to an international context. Link to the trauma-healing curriculum mentioned in the interview: https://bit.ly/2IIdaxu

Jeff Bloem is a PhD student in applied economics at the University of Minnesota. He's written several peer-reviewed papers, including a recent one on "measuring hope" in Myanmar and a program evaluation of the material, social, and spiritual impacts of a business skills training program in western Kenya. Jeff is also an active blogger on the topics of international development, economics, policy, and theology. Check out his blog at: www.jeffbloem.wordpress.com and find him on Twitter @jeffbloem. Jeff's book recommendations: Slow Kingdom Coming by Kent Annan. https://www.amazon.com/Slow-Kingdom-Coming-Practices-Justice/dp/0830844554 Experimental Conversations: Perspectives on Randomized Trials in Development Economics by Timothy Ogden. https://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Conversations-Perspectives-Randomized-Development/dp/0262035103/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532710731&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=timothy+ogden+%28nyu%29%3A+experimental+conversations Cents and Sensibility by Morson & Schapiro. https://www.amazon.com/Cents-Sensibility-Economics-Learn-Humanities/dp/069117668X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532710769&sr=1-1&keywords=Cents+and+Sensibility

Rebecca Mentzer & Josiah Meneghini discuss Listening, Monitoring and Evaluation at HOPE International - how they developed their unique M&E framework; their focus on “improving” rather than “proving”; successes, failures, and the tools and resources they use to measure program effectiveness; and what excites them in the research space right now. To learn more: www.hopeinternational.org learning resource portal: http://www.hopeinternational.org/resources/ Rebecca Mentzer - [email protected]

The REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey has been utilized with over 2,000 churches regarding spiritual health. Join Rodney Green from World Relief and Dr. Nancy Scammacca-Lewis to unpack how the survey can inform Christ-centered relief and development.

Jill DeTemple is an associate professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University. In 2012, Jill wrote "Cement, Earthworms, and Cheese Factories: Religion and Community Development in Rural Ecuador." She also serves on the steering committee for the Religion and International Development Group at the American Academy of Religion. This conversation covers ideas like "thinking religiously about development", how the concept of a "whole person" should inform our commitment to measuring what matters, and the allergy toward religion within development studies. Jill's book recommendation: In the Realm of the Diamond King by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. https://www.amazon.com/Realm-Diamond-Queen-Out-Way/dp/0691000514 Email us at [email protected] with your ideas for future podcasts.

Nathan Mallonee talks with Daudi Msseemmaa from Convoy of Hope about his experience during the organization's first impact evaluation. As the Regional Field Operations Director for Africa and Asia, Daudi had a unique perspective on what it was like to propose and help oversee an impact evaluation for a women's empowerment project in Ethiopia. He not only shares the results of the study, but he also goes into what it was like to propose this idea to staff who were already stretched to capacity and perhaps didn't see the value of empirical studies. You can find out more about Convoy of Hope and its work with women's empowerment at www.convoyofhope.org.

Dr. Bryan Gouge and Matt Kistler are both Research Analysts from Global Scripture Impact, a team within the American Bible Society. Bryan, Matt, and Rodney Green discuss the value of qualitative research methods and the grounded theory approach in establishing an informed theory of change. Bryan and Matt are available for further questions: Bryan Gouge: [email protected] Matthew Kistler: [email protected] Here is a resource mentioned in the podcast focusing on outcome harvesting due to its relevance in grounded theory. http://www.betterevaluation.org/en/plan/approach/outcome_harvesting

Dr. Shannonhouse discusses her experience researching the role of religious coping with resource loss in disaster contexts, and shares resources and instruments for measuring spirituality including several she and her team at Wheaton’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute have recently developed. Show Notes: Laura's webpage: education.gsu.edu/profile/laura-shannonhouse/ HDI at Wheaton: www.wheaton.edu/academics/academi…saster-institute/ HDI resources for Louisiana flood: www.wheaton.edu/HDI/Resources/Louisiana Jamie Aten, HDI, "A Walking Disaster": www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER26CNWUy5w Disaster ministry handbook: www.amazon.com/Disaster-Ministry…ten/dp/0830841229 Email us at [email protected] with your ideas for future podcasts.

Today on the podcast we talk with Laura Shannonhouse, Assistant Professor of Counseling and Psychological Services at Georgia State. Laura is also a contributing fellow with the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College. The conversation with Laura was so rich, we will be releasing it in two parts. On today’s podcast, Part 1, we discuss the psychology of religion and spirituality, Laura’s work in disaster research, and the value of “spiritual first aid”. Show Notes: Laura's webpage: http://education.gsu.edu/profile/laura-shannonhouse/ HDI at Wheaton: https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/academic-centers/humanitarian-disaster-institute/ HDI resources for Louisiana flood: http://www.wheaton.edu/HDI/Resources/Louisiana Jamie Aten, HDI, "A Walking Disaster": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER26CNWUy5w Disaster ministry handbook: https://www.amazon.com/Disaster-Ministry-Handbook-Jamie-Aten/dp/0830841229 Email us at [email protected] with your ideas for future podcasts.

Luis Noda, VP for Transformational Engagement at Food for the Hungry (FH), discusses the work he's doing in his new role around defining and building the organization's philosophy of transformational development. He also discusses why it's important for Christian organizations to think deeply about our theology for relief and development. Email us your feedback at [email protected] Resources & books that Luis recommends: The Lausanne covenant, complete text with study guide; John Stott (2009). Note: The Lausanne covenant was signed in 1974 Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development (2011). Bryant Myers Engaging God’s World: A Christian vision of faith, learning, and living (2002). Cornelius Plantinga Jr. Generous Justice: How God's grace makes us just (2010). Timothy Keller When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself (2009). Fikkert, Corbett Discipling the Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures (2001). Darrow Miller

Dr. Ray Norman, WASH Director of Faith Leadership at World Vision shares about how spiritual metrics has been integrated in their WASH programming in West and East Africa. Beyond the Margins Film - Africa WASH and Disability Study partnership between Messiah College Collaboratory and World Vision: http://www.wvi.org/disability-inclusion/video/beyond-margins Dr. Ray Norman's Book - "Dangerous Love: A True Story of Tragedy, Faith, and Forgiveness in the Muslim World": https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Love-Tragedy-Forgiveness-Muslim/dp/0718027086

Lincoln Lau, Director of Research at International Care Ministries (ICM), talks about how he reluctantly became a researcher, how he got connected to ICM, and why ICM is serious about gathering good evidence through RCTs. Bonus: he also goes into why researchers need to be thinking about epistemology. Email us your feedback at [email protected] Links: ICM: https://www.caremin.com/ Lincoln's faculty page: http://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/lau-lincoln/ Books: The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett Social Network Analysis by John Scott

Chad Hayward, Executive Director of the Accord Network, talks with us about the annual One Accord Forum and the role of research and evaluation in "measuring all that matters" to support the work of member organizations. Learn more at www.accordnetwork.org.

Today on the podcast Moriah and Kristen are LIVE from the One Accord Forum in Ridgecrest, NC. Moriah walks us through what it was like conducting Feed My Starving Children's first large-scale longitudinal study as a one-person M&E team, and some useful lessons learned along the way. Reach out to Moriah to learn more at: www.fmsc.org / [email protected].

Kate Williams, Quantitative Research Manager for Compassion International, shares about the reasons why rigor is important for measuring what matters.

Nathan Mallonee talks with Kristen Check, program evaluation coordinator at Water Mission and one of the co-hosts of this podcast. Find out more about a major evaluation project Water Mission has been working on over the past year and what Kristen's experience has been as anthropologist working for a water engineering organization. To find out more about Water Mission, visit http://watermission.org/. To learn about the RANAS model Kristen mentions, visit: https://www.ranasmosler.com/ And here is the website for Metrix Research Group, which partnered with Water Mission for the evaluation project: https://www.metrixresearch.org/

In this episode of the Accord Research Alliance Podcast, we speak with Dr. Stephen Offutt, Associate Professor of Development Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, about development studies at Asbury, how faith intersects with both poverty and development and what existing poverty indices have failed to consider, and touch on the Accord Research Project, an exciting new study Dr. Offutt conducted on assessing the research practices and needs of Accord member organizations. Relevant publications by Dr. Offutt: 1) Advocating for Justice http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/advocating-for-justice/351700 2) New Centers of Global Evangelicalism in Latin America and Africa http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/new-centers-global-evangelicalism-latin-america-and-africa?format=PB#dZCBGeUDljAEjXbZ.97

This is the first podcast from the Accord Research Alliance. Nathan Mallonee, Kristen Check, and Rodney Green discuss what the Accord Network is, what the Accord Research Alliance does, and why we started this podcast. Email us at [email protected] with your ideas for future podcasts. "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/