ARUSHA 2012 - Discipling Nations Alliance (Vision Conference)

               with Dennis Tongoi (African Director Samaritan Strategy and CMS)

Dates: June 11th-14th

Venue: Arusha Community Church

Session times: Monday 10:30am – 5pm / Tues –Thurs: 8:30am – 5pm

Cost: Tz 25,000 (including lunches etc) 

Study Manual: Tz 7000

Dear friends ... 

This is an open invitation to what I believe is some of the most powerful, inter-denominational teaching addressing the BIG picture of African Christianity and challenge of societal transformation. 

We are inviting English-speaking church, ministry and business leaders to come dialogue and pray together around this strategic material. (The Swahili and bi-lingual versions of this conference have been run several times already in Tz, with very encouraging responses and fruit.)

We hope you can join us and see how we can together work to bring transformation to this nation.

Below is an overview of the history and material... 

What is a Vision Conference?

A Vision Conference (VC) is a five-day conference designed for pastors and other Christian leaders. It has three main objectives:

* To explore the concept of discipling nations - a vision of comprehensive transformation described by Jesus as the Kingdom of God.

* To identify, compare and contrast the biblical worldview with false beliefs - and resulting implications for personal behaviour and mission;

* To provide practical tools and training designed to equip local churches to practice wholistic, incarnational ministry in their own communities using their OWN resources.

Vision Conference Sessions...

*       The Transforming Story - Provides a brief overview of God's transforming story and the critical importance of a biblical understanding

of man, history, and creation for the development of communities and

nations.

*       The Role of the Church in Society - Presents historical examples of when and how the Church was used by God to transform society. Compares this historical reality with the seeming inability of today's evangelical church to impact its society and looks at the reasons why.

*       The Irreducible Minimum - Establishes the Scriptural truth that the

principle way we demonstrate our love for God is by loving the "neighbors"

God has placed in our lives.

*       Luke 2:52 and Development and The Three Relationships of Man - Examines Jesus' personal development - physically, spiritually, socially and in wisdom. Provides a model for a biblical balance in our personal lives and in the community.

*       The Power of Story - Introduces the concept of worldview. In addition to seeing how worldview works, this session explores how the Church has abandoned the biblical worldview and the consequences of that for our understanding of the nature of the Church and the Great Commission.

*       God's Intentions for the Future, for the Present, and for the Church...

- Examines the biblical evidence for man's brokenness and God's intentions for responding to that brokenness in the future as well as in the present.

Examines God's intentions for the role of the Church as it serves as a "window" through which broken humanity can see God's intentions for healing.

*       The ABC's of Culture: The Web of Lies - Reveals the fundamental building blocks of culture. Satan lies not only to individuals, but also to nations. He replaces Kingdom building blocks of culture with his counterfeit building blocks, resulting in the impoverishment and enslavement of nations.

*       Kingdom Math - Uses biblical examples to illustrate the mandate for and power of giving the little that we may have to God.  Shows how to maximize the use of known resources, discover and use new resources found within the community, and be set free from dependency on outside resourcesfor development.

*       The Kingdom of God - Offers a summary of the nature of the Kingdom of God and of the Church's Great Commission to disciple (build) nations.

*       Reviving the Reformation - Presents principles that offer hope for nations trapped in poverty today. Prior to the Protestant Reformation, all the nations of the world were materially impoverished. The Reformation lifted the nations of northern Europe out of poverty and established some of

the most free, just, and compassionate societies the world has ever seen. We will look at the principles that brought such national transformation.

*       Seed Projects - Introduces practical planning strategy and methods for doing development with LOCAL resources.

The Trainers ... Dennis Tongoi  will be coming down from Nairobi to lead the team for this conference.

A Little History...

The Country Director for Food for the Hungry/Peru (FH/P), Rosaura Mesones,had been praying for three years for a way for FH/P to help strengthen the local church for wholistic ministry. Rosaura organized a coordinating committee of local church, seminary and ministry leaders to plan a conference and invited Darrow Miller-Vice President of Food for the HungryInternational (FHI) and Bob Moffitt-Director of the Harvest Foundation tohelp facilitate it in 1997.

The response to the conference was so positive that Food for the Hungry and the Harvest Foundation formed a partnership to bring the same teaching toother church leaders around the world. This partnership eventually grew into the Disciple Nations Alliance (DNA) www.disciple-nations.org

In 1998, Darrow and Bob conducted three conferences in both Africa and Asia.

In 1999, the schedule grew to include 16 Vision Conferences in 14 nations.

To date, over 90 Vision Conferences have been held in about 40 countries

worldwide.

The DNA was co-founded by Bob Moffitt and Darrow Miller. Bob is president of the Harvest Foundation www.harvestfoundation.org

He has been a consultant, curriculum developer and training facilitator for development and wholistic ministry strategies in the developing world since 1984. He received his Ph.D. in Adult Education in 1996. His passion is to encourage and enable Christians to demonstrate God's love, especially to broken people and their

communities.

Darrow Miller is a Vice President of Food for the Hungry International  

He has served with Food for the Hungry since 1981. 

Before that, he was the pastor of an urban US church for five years and was on staff at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland for three years.

He has traveled to over fifty countries as a learner, pastor, educator and trainer. 

His heart is to see the power of the biblical worldview - The Transforming Story - bring hope to people trapped in cycles of poverty.