Needs and Objectives of TransformD Discipleship Programme
Over the past few decades, the centre of gravity in the Christian world has moved dramatically southward and eastward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. However, this exponential growth, particularly in the case of Africa, does not necessarily equal spiritual growth. In the past, numbers have been celebrated while the quality of Christianity compromised.
That vibrancy and warmth towards the Gospel has been found in many cases to lack solid Christian discipleship foundations. As a result we have witnessed sporadic growth of prosperity Gospel that puts a lot of emphasis on the message of health and wealth. This is where iServe Africa TransformD discipleship program comes in.
This programme is interested in transforming the lives of high school leavers between the age of 18-21yrs of age into Christ-centered individuals. It is our hope that after they have stayed with us for a period of 6 months they will move into the next stage as well trained, equipped and mentored to face life.
The Need.
- Lack of teaching. We live in a context where the prosperity gospel is thriving. You do not have to wait for long to hear so and so has opened a new church and people are move that way in droves. Close examination of the teachings in most of those churches reveals it is all about the message of ‘health and wealth’. People are wrongly taught that if you want your way of life to improve and enjoy good health then, Jesus is the answer. Therefore, for many this is a welcome message and many have ended believing in God for the wrong reasons. We would therefore wish to walk alongside young people and teach what the core of the Gospel of Christ is all about.
- Lack of discipleship. Our faith in God today is as a result of men and women who laboured faithfully to make us true disciples. However, this cannot be said to happen in all Christian communities. For a strong and credible discipleship process to take place there should be a close relationship between mentee and the mentor. iServe Africa would therefore wish to work in conjunction with church leaders and others who hold the same ethos to achieve a servant leadership model. Through this model we hope, people in places of leadership will lead their communities to peace, harmony and prosperity that God has always desired for them.
- Global missions. There is great need in helping young people to explore Christian missions in the global context. In our discipling them we would like to explore together with them what God could be saying to them now or might be preparing them in the days to come. As iServe we would like to work with those individuals together with their own churches and explore cross cultural mission opportunities together. It is our hope that at the end of the program they will be able to see the world from the eyes of Jesus.
- Lack of Life skills. Our focus is to disciple young people for Jesus through teaching and mentoring as well as offering them life skills. These young people will be leaving home in few months to live independently while they do further schooling. Therefore, during the discipleship program, we would endeavour to impart life skills to them. With unemployment rates in Kenya growing each year we hope to impart skills that would help create opportunities for their future and to do that with Christ Jesus at the center. This would include how to run a business, manage personal accounts, first aid skills, and other useful knowledge like simple but effective farming methods that might turn helpful into their future.
Objectives
- To train the participants in crucial life skills: Time Management, Reading, Creative Writing, Hard Work, Discipline, Relationships, First Aid, Responsibility etc
- To disciple young people by developing them in character and passion for Jesus Christ.
- To mentor the Ex Cans into responsible adults and prepare them for their next step in life
- To provide an environment where young people can explore and ask questions about their faith and themselves
- Provide young people with an opportunity to gain valuable experiences in cross cultural mission trips.