What is the application for you?
In this short series I have challenged you to ‘write your history in advance’ by considering where you anticipate being at various points in you life. We then looked at what a ‘calling’ is before looking at the real life example of John Kpikpi as he returned from Brighton to Ghana.

Now it is time to apply what we have considered in recent weeks to your own situation.

Exercise 7:
There are decisions to make. How do you make them?

General principles:

1. You are chosen from before the foundation of world for ‘good works’ (Eph 2:10). Why? What are they? Are you fulfilling your destiny?
2. Are you making decisions about your future based on world values (e.g. money, status) or Kingdom values (God’s will for your life)?
3. Do you recognise there are decisions to make which may be costly (e.g. to pursue God rather than wealth)? Settle this in your heart and ask Him for the grace to make the right decisions.

Specifics issues to consider:

1. Should you stay in UK/go to another nation/return to your home nation?
2. Is church/Kingdom advance a ‘spare time’ activity or are you ‘full time’ in your thinking and practice?
3. How are you going to decide your location in future? Will it be based on the job offer (which may be appropriate)? Will it be based on wanting to be part of a particular Church? How will you combine both of these essentials? When you think you have found the right job will you consider what church God wants you to join before agreeing a job offer?
4. Do you have someone whom you trust, and you know loves and cares for you, who speaks into your life? If not, ask God to give you someone.

Conclusion
We are all ‘full-time’. Do you agree? We are all called, whether to secular work or to ‘full time’ Christian ministry. How does this affect your thinking about life-choices?

Exercise 8:
What actions do you need to take NOW? You need to create your own list but here are some suggestions to help get you thinking:

1. Establish what are your unique gifts and talents
2. Pray about the future
3. How can you optimise the opportunity of being in your present church?
4. Look for a mentor.
5. Make yourself accountable

Students leaving university are at a pivotal point in their lives. They are moving from a context of day-to-day life being determined largely by others (ie the degree programme) to needing daily to make intentional decisions about their own lives and futures.

Through working at the material in this series (which has been prepared primarily with overseas students in mind - but applies to everyone) my prayer is that you will have been provoked to recognise that, at this precise time, you have a unique opportunity to set a course for your life which may not readily be available to you in future.

I urge you not to miss this opportunity.

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Introducing John Kpikpi
John came to Brighton from Ghana to study for a PhD in zoology over 20 years ago. While at Sussex University he became an active member of CCK (called Clarendon Church in those days) and successfully completed his PhD - as well as finding a lovely wife !

On his return he planted a church ‘like CCK’ in Ghana and subsequently had an apostolic gift recognised as he planted churches in 7 nations in West Africa

In preparing this material I phoned John to ask various questions:

Q1 What did he see that was different at Clarendon Church?

• High value of church on God’s heart (had seen churches in Ghana - people just left and moved easily)
• Expectation of an encounter with the Holy Spirit
• Preaching faithfully from the word
• Relationships
• Healthy attitude to money
• Servant leadership in contrast to one-man ministry
• Young men can come through in leadership

Exercise 5:
What have you observed in your church that has impacted you and given you fresh understanding of God’s purposes?

Q2 What did John feel God was saying to him?

• That he should become a church planter - he had responded to a guest speaker at the Newfrontiers Leaders Conference in 1990 at the Brighton Conference Centre who made a call for church planters (I have heard many others say their response to this appeal changed their lives).

Q3 How did this affect John’s thinking?

• His expectations for his career path had been only academia/zoology. Now he saw it on a ‘bigger canvas’
• He felt commissioned to plant New Testament churches
• He prayed in a more intentional and focussed way about the future.

Q4 How did this affect John’s time in Brighton?

• Attended every prayer meeting possible
• Obtained resources
• Built friendships so that he could learn

Q5 What did John regret not doing while in Brighton?

• Not sitting with leaders enough and asking questions e.g. how to start a church and lay a good foundation

Exercise 6:
What steps should you be taking to avoid ‘missing the opportunity’ of being at your particular church?
Be specific about:
• People to see or spend time with (e.g. asking questions from church leaders)
• Meetings you would like to attend
• Resources you would like to obtain
• Etc.

Now plan how you will follow these things through.

Q6 Was Cultural re-entry difficult?

• Not too difficult - but it was for Alex, his English wife.
• Faced issues about Ghanaian culture v Kingdom culture e.g. racism, funerals, marriage, grace.

(Nb John has written an excellent book God’s New Tribe out of his experience and theological study, which addresses these issues. I strongly urge you to obtain a copy and read it. Price £4.99 + postage. I would be happy to handle any order you may send me at feeding5000isnopicnic@gmail.com)

I then asked John if he had any word of advice for those facing the next season in life:

Response:
• Time here (ie studying in Brighton) is not accidental - use it well. Throw yourself into whatever you are doing
• Time away from your home setting is a good time to hear God - you can more easily ‘separate the wood from the trees’
• As you consider your future remember that separation of married couples is not good e.g. when one goes to USA, say, to earn money but leaves his/her partner and family at home. If this possibility applies or could apply to you settle this issue in your heart before you face it.

Be diligent
There are several exercises I have given you. Please be diligent in doing them before we move on to the final part next time.

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Calling
There are 3 categories:
1. Primary calling (common to all believers)

• To live the way of Jesus, to be like him.
• To use your God-given talents and gifts.

How do you know what these God-given talents and gifts are? You can consider them under 3 headings:

a) Natural talents - From birth or acquired through training

b) Spiritual Gifts - anointed by the Holy Spirit eg.

- ‘Spiritual’: Prophecy, Tongues etc. (1 Cor 12:1-11)
- ‘Practical’: Craftsmanship (Ex 31:3), Administration (1 Cor 12:28), Mercy (Rom 12:8), Leadership (Rom 12:8), Encouragement (Rom 12:8), Hospitality (Rom 12:13) etc

c) Passion/Heart’s desire (Ex 35 - various verses in relation to building the tabernacle: ‘everyone whose heart stirred him…everyone whose heart moved him…’ etc). What is it that, when you think or talk about it, you become very animated and your eyes ‘light up’?

Exercise 3:
List what you feel applies to you under each of the above headings a), b), c).

2. Normal calling (common to all believers)

• Great Commission (Matt 28:19).

Kingdom mandate (Is 61:1-3)
General call to the church e.g. we at CCK in Brighton UK are very involved in serving the community with the purpose of affecting the culture.

• To be a testimony of God in you - reason for the hope within you (1 Pet 3:15)

3. Special calling, such as:

• A specific geographical region e.g. I have friends who felt called to Bhutan and Albania
• People Group e.g. I have friends who have been called to work with Swahili speakers in Oman and Street Children in Mexico
• Issues e.g. Slavery (Wilberforce)
• Context e.g. ‘full-time’

Nb ‘Full-time’ is not a ‘promotion’ but a function of time. We are all ‘full time’ once we are in His Kingdom wherever we are and whatever we are doing e.g. Businessmen, Teachers etc are all called to be witnesses and Kingdom-advancers in their contexts. We become ‘full time’ in the church when that is the only way we can fulfil our calling to serve the membership of the church (local and wider) in a ‘hands on’ way and do not have sufficient time while in a secular job.

How do you know if you have such a calling? Some ways may be:

1. Through Scripture
2. God speaking into your heart
3. Circumstances
4. Passion - constant interest in an issue
5. What friends say to or about you which indicates something they see in you which you may not have recognised
6. What is fruitful?

Exercise 4:
Not everyone has a ‘special’ calling but give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to speak to you about any possibility.

Next time we will look at the experience of a post-graduate student who was in the church in Brighton over 20 years ago. His life was changed in a major way thorough being a member of CCK (then called Clarendon Church) and he is now planting churches in many nations in West Africa.

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Your target

There are over 50 nations represented at CCK and many have come here to study at one of the universities in the city of Brighton and Hove. For them the question ‘What next?’ is very real.

This material comes out of a very interactive session. To be effective and helpful it requires serious consideration, and the self-discipline to carry out the exercises. It may be relevant for you or your friends, or for others in your church, particularly students in the same situation as my audience.

Each part of this series will be quite short. This is to encourage you to do the exercises as you go.

Nb Since it was prepared for those in the above context (ie post-graduate students from other nations) you may need to adapt it for your own purposes.

Let’s get going
When you arrived in Brighton you probably saw the main purpose of coming here as being to get a degree. That is still the highest priority. However, I hope that your being part of CCK has also been a blessing that will affect the decisions you make as you prepare for the next phase in life.

To get you thinking about the issues, I want you to answer two questions. Consider them prayerfully and ask God to enlighten you of His will:

Exercise 1:
Where do you expect to be in 5 years (geographically, job, married status etc)?

In the UK we often put a statement on the headstone of a grave which encapsulates some quality or achievement of the deceased person during his life. So the second question I now want you to answer is:

Exercise 2:
What would you like to have written on your headstone?

Please take time now to answer these questions. Do so prayerfully; the answers will affect the rest of your life.

Once you feel that God has helped you to find the above answers these will help you define your calling in Him. But what do we mean by a ‘calling‘? We shall consider this next time.

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This report, taken from my book ‘The Poor deserve the Best’ (see side panel), is one of thirteen I included with the intention of being a practical help to others who may be considering starting similar ministries.

What is the fruit of the ministry?
The school has been in existence for ten years and so there have been a fair number of learners who have passed through the school and gone on to further learning. Many of the learners now have excellent jobs, some in multi-national firms, some have gone onto tertiary education and many of them are fully involved in the church, and are continuing with and growing in their walk with God.

We have seen parents of children who are in the school come along to the church, get saved and added to the local body of Christ. Several of our youngsters are now playing musical instruments in the church’s youth worship band using skills they first learnt in our primary school.

We have several teachers who are being trained on the job and who are studying a teaching course with UNISA, a distance learning university. This will enable them to become fully-fledged teachers. Two of these teachers are now in their final year of study. These changed lives are our trophies!

Funding
Dihlabeng Christian School is registered with the South African government as an independent Primary School and as such, receives a small quarterly subsidy from the state. Some parents pay the full cost of school fees, whilst those of needy children pay only a small token fee, which differs according to individual circumstances. This fee is not nearly adequate to cover all necessary costs so sponsorship is sought, in both South Africa and from the UK, for the majority of the children who attend the school. The most needy children require full sponsorship, whilst others need partial sponsorship. This helps to cover school fees, books and stationery. Extra funds raised through the sponsorship programme also help to provide classroom equipment, money for extra curricula activities and trips, plus resources for special needs education.

The Dihlabeng Christian School Trust is registered as a Non-Profit Organization (registration number- 065-845-NPO). We receive 100% of any donations given and are able to issue a section 18A certificate to donors for tax purposes.

Lessons We Have Learned
There have been a myriad of lessons learnt over the last ten years. Here are a few:

• Nothing is impossible with God
• Stay true to the original vision God gave you
• Team work is the key to success - get help in areas you are weak
• Make sure you are developing others and helping them to grow into all God intended them to be
• Building good relationships is essential - enjoy spending time with those who are for you and what you are doing
• Pray as a school family, as a staff team and with a prayer partner
• Don’t be too impulsive in decision making and always try to get advice from others on the team
• Finances are a real challenge especially at the start of a project and personal sacrifice for the bigger vision is definitely required
• A leader has to live with being misunderstood and criticised at times and it is not necessary always to try and justify your actions
• There is great value in getting input from a mentor who has walked the road before you and great value in being linked in with the church
• Global links with other schools and with the wider body of Christ are essential
• Keep going no matter what. Never, never give up - keep the vision in mind, especially when the going is tough.

Information which may be helpful to others
The school has developed a sponsorship programme which works in conjunction with the amount of school fees that the parents pay. This amount is decided according to their income. This has been developed and is run very successfully by a partner church which is part of the Newfrontiers family of churches in the UK.

Contact details for enquiries:
Phone/fax: +27 (0)58 256 1796     Email: dihlabengschool@intekom.co.za

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This and the next posting was included in the Education sector. Margaret Grant, Founder and Principal of Dihlabeng Christian School in the Free State, South Africa, shares from her own experience.

The Vision
Dihlabeng Christian School was started in January 2000 as a part of Dihlabeng Christian Church’s desire to bring hope to the hopeless by working with the materially disadvantaged and those from the poorer part of the community.

The school aims to provide children with an excellent primary school education. It is intentionally multi-cultural and seeks to educate children for life and godliness so that they grow into confident, life-loving adults. Looking to the future, the vision is for growing numbers of children and a staff from many different nations working together in a strong multi-cultural team.

By providing a well-rounded and stimulating education, the school is giving hope for the future and a fair chance in tomorrow’s job market for today’s children. In this way the school is helping to break down the hold that poverty and disadvantage have over many families. The school, together with the church, also provides an environment in which children can meet Jesus Christ and develop a personal relationship with Him.

Growth and Development of the School
The school is located in the small town of Clarens, on South Africa’s northern border with Lesotho. It began with just seven Basotho children in the garage of a private home until a house in the local township was obtained. The school grew steadily in 2000 and at the end of the year had nineteen children. Growth continued and a larger building became necessary. In July 2001 the school was moved to a local municipal farm in Clarens, which gave space for future expansion. By 2008 the school had grown to more than 100 children with staff from both Basotho and English cultures. The school now has over 120 children on its attendance register and eighteen members of staff.

Dihlabeng Christian School has developed as part of Dihlabeng Christian Church’s belief that it is God’s plan to use His church to change individual lives and thus nations and so display His wisdom and glory. The church is an integral part of all that happens at the school and vice versa. The Chairman of the School Governing Body is the lead elder at the church and other elders whose children attend Dihlabeng School are also members of the School Governing Body. The most vulnerable children who attend the school are referred to the church’s project ‘Mapheo’ which helps and supports the most needy youngsters. Likewise, children from ‘Mapheo’ who are due to start school are offered places at the school and sponsorship is sought for them.

Dihlabeng Christian School follows the South African national curriculum but uses a theme-based approach and all lessons are taught in a hands-on way to ensure that children fully understand what they are learning. We want all the glory to go to God through what He achieves at the school. It is our prayer that we will see people changed by His love and that the fruit of that will be seen in the lives and future of the children.

Teacher Training
The school is committed to the training of teaching staff. This is a real need and necessity. Teacher training takes place whilst staff are working. We aim to provide funds for college fees and expenses through sponsorship and small bursaries.

Next time
In the second part Margaret will report on some of the fruit of the ministry and will address the issue of funding. She will also share some of the lessons learnt.

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Mexico
Bruce and Denise went to Mexico soon after the beginning of the new millennium. Initially they went to work with the street children in Guadalajara through the Oasis en-Gadi ministry. After 4 years contacting boys on the streets they began church planting in a poor area where the main source of income was brick making. Generally there was very bad health due to smoke from kilns and extreme poverty. Now there is the added problem of a large company moving in to make bricks, putting the small brick-makers out of business with the resulting loss of family income. (I plan to post a video interview with Bruce and Denise over the next few weeks)

Latvia
David and his family have laboured faithfully for 9 years and seen some small growth. Now, following the visit of a large YWAM team, they have been able to run an Alpha course for 70 people on Sunday mornings. Another Alpha of 1-200 is about to start!

UK - Chafford Hundred (near Lakeside)
Dave has received great favour with local schools. He has also been given the youth club, attended by 120 of 160 from one year group. Schools have even provided a room for prayer! They approached the authorities to help in the playground where there were many instances of bullying. They now have a fulltime presence in the playground and bullying and petty crime have totally ceased!

Netherlands - Kroningen
This church of 350 has 25 language groups including many Indonesians; at Christmas 150 Indonesians attended! There are also Deaf groups. They are Church planting and hosting Alpha groups in homes.

Serbia
There are only 80 Christians in one city of 350k across two churches: one Newfrontiers and another legalistic baptist. Culturally, it is very difficult raising leaders due to communism; people were not taught to be decision-makers. There is the added challenge of a ‘shame’ culture where people say what they think you want to hear, not necessarily the truth.

Vlada tries to win people by saturating them with love and grace. They are planting into another city, also of 350 thousand, with an ex-drug addict as leader, and yet a further one of 50-60 thousand. Vlada also has a heart for Macedonia.

This is just a taster - there were also reports of encouraging developments in UK, China, Kenya and Stockholm (Sweden). I was very stimulated to meet these pioneering people. May Newfrontiers continue to be a family of pioneers as we press forward into a new season!

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Angela Kemm
I first met Angela in 1987. Working out of what is now called Jubilee Church, a Newfrontiers church in Cape Town, South Africa, Angela regularly stepped out of her comfort zone and went into the communities living in tents and corrugated iron shacks on the sands of Cape Flats. She fell in love with these people, praying for the sick and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. When apartheid collapsed in 1994 that community was the first to receive a government grant (Rs9 million) to build 650 small houses. This success came through Angela helping the people to trust God for the finances and empowering them to lobby government and make application for a grant. The story is told in the video The story of Tambo Village made by a good friend of both of us, Penny Relph, who sadly died of cancer in 2002.

Recently I met up with Angela again; she is now based in the UK at City Hope Church, London. I asked her to share how she applies the gospel when working with people who are poor.

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What is Social Enterprise?
Social Enterprise is attaining a growing profile in the UK. Increasingly businesses are being launched or re-aligned to help those who are socially disadvantaged, often through circumstances. Businesses are being run with the dual aims of making money (an essential goal of a successful business) and helping those who need support and training in order to become contributing members of society.

Mow and Grow
By intentionally employing former prisoners, for instance, and giving them on-the-job training they become equipped to achieve independence with dignity. Such is the approach of Mow and Grow in East Anglia, and the umbrella Grow Organisation described, in a Case Study presented by the founder and entrepreneur Alexandra Cosgrove. They ‘specialise in working with those who are farthest removed from the labour market by tackling the roots of issues, dealing with people’s perceptions and facilitating a change in attitudes in both themselves and others’ and have the goal of ‘offering recognised training and qualifications, volunteering opportunities, placements and professional work experience to individuals farthest removed from the labour market’.

The impact has been remarkable in the four years since their foundation. Police statistics show a drop of 37% in crime as well as many other benefits such as an increase of 90% in social inclusion.

Make and Bake
Another Case study presented by the impressive Sarah Dunwell showed us how Make and Bake, launched only 4 years ago and producing high quality food and drink in their own chain of six excellently run restaurants, has had a huge impact on giving hope to young people in Leeds. Her Create Foundation has the vision to help ‘all children and young people with a care experience have the opportunity to reach their full potential’.

Listen to the talks
The talks from this important conference, which also included presentations about the theology of Social Enterprise, about the place of Social Enterprise in Kingdom advance and about practical matters of setting up a business, are available on the Jubilee+ website. I urge those who are in business or are working with people who are poor or disadvantaged to listen to them. Prepare to be challenged. Through such initiatives the church and individual members can contribute significantly to long term sustainable solutions which can address some of the most challenging issues facing society at this time.

Beulah London
At the Everything conference there was another illustration of a successful social enterprise, shared through an interview with two women, Natasha and Lavinia, who were greatly impacted by a visit to India and where they observed those caught up in the sex industry. As a result they have set up the successful fashion house Beulah London. One purpose is to help these women by ‘producing exceptional quality garments, without compromise….. meaningful fashion, bridging the gap between high-end fashion and style, and ethical sourcing of products’.

The Challenge
How good it is to learn about initiatives by Christian entrepreneurs to make businesses work to bring about significant social change. But it is not only for entrepreneurs. Can your church, or a member of it, create opportunity to help the socially disadvantaged in your area through business? Consider - and be creative!

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Over the last 30 years I have had the privilege of serving many teams, both as a member and as team leader. I have provided administrative support to various teams led by Terry Virgo and have given leadership to the management teams for the Downs and Stoneleigh Bible Weeks, and for the Together on a Mission Conferences. I have also led the staff team of Terry Virgo’s office in Hove. In each case I have sought to encourage team members to see their role through the lens of servanthood. Jesus modelled this so vividly to us in many narratives in the gospels, particularly and most conspicuously when he washed the disciples feet (Jn 12) and when he taught that he came to serve, not to be served (Matt 20:28).

Inconspicuous Support
When leading teams nothing has given me more pleasure than when I have seen one member noticing that another needed help and, without being asked, just drew alongside their colleague and offered the necessary support. They thus demonstrated their understanding of the above verses ‘looking not only to their own interests but also to the interests of others’. Such action produced strong, close-knit teams who took pleasure in achieving the intended outcome to the highest standard without seeking personal recognition.

Personal Recognition
This lack of seeking personal recognition was another value I sought to instil. I encouraged team members to recognise that their reward and satisfaction came from not being noticed; not being noticed indicated that they were doing a good job and people were not encountering inefficient or heavy administration!

A servant does not demand thanks for what he is employed to do, although it is clearly encouraging when he does receive thanks and commendation. For Jesus this recognition comes in Phil 2:9. The verse begins ‘therefore’. As has been said by others, when you see ‘therefore’ you must ask what it is there for! The answer is that God is pleased with what has gone before in verses 1-8, namely that Jesus has demonstrated pure and total humility in his serving attitude, and was thus ‘highly exalted’ by God, the only One who can bring such a commendation.

Conclusion
We come to the end of this series on a ‘high’. What better place to reach than one that emulates Jesus’ attitude as we serve in a team! To serve in this way demonstrates that we are growing to be more like him, and that produces teams that work.

Summary
In this series I have sought to show how to create teams that work. Using the mnemonic TEAM in reverse we have seen:

Mission - what are we trying to accomplish?
Achieve - are we hitting our goals?
Equipped - what skills and gifts are needed or represented on the Team?
Together - how to work together in a humble and mutually supportive way.

My prayer is that this series will help you create teams that recognise that they have a mission to accomplish and that they will achieve this mission with an appropriately balanced combination of gifts and talents, and an attitude of humility and mutual support.

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