LIFE Development Home Page

Our Vision

The vision of LIFE DEVELOPMENT is to have a team of trainers, contributing to the transformation of Africa, and beyond, through walking a road of learning and mentoring with a few faithful Christian leaders in each country in Africa. These leaders will then be challenged to multiply themselves with a view to impacting their country, Africa and the whole world for Christ.

Our Strategy

A trustworthy individual within a country will be selected to arrange for 20 - 40 Christian leaders who are involved in leading adults, youth and children to come together for training.

A team will come and conduct a training encounter for five days. Ideally teams will be large enough to have a ratio of 1 trainer to 3 - 6 participants.

Reading material and other spiritual growth goals will be left behind with the participants. Participants will be encouraged to pass on what they have learned to others.

The team will then return to do further training encounters with the same leaders each six months for the following three years, with participants being given growth goals in between. As far as possible the team that returns for each encounter will consist of the same trainers. We will also attempt to visit each participant in their home and place of ministry at least once during the three year period.

At the end of the process participants who have demonstrated faithfulness and an ability to teach will be given trainer training and encouraged to train others within their own country and beyond. We may also make it possible for certain individuals to accompany us on trips to other countries and use them as assistant trainers to give them experience and opportunity.

Ministry Values

All of the listed values apply both to those who are on the training teams as well as the participants.

We are committed to:
… being Christ centred and Christ like
… being true to the Scriptures
… servanthood
… holiness
… constantly being learners
… a vision for the nations
… being faithful stewards of God’s time and resources
… training faithful men and women
… being culturally aware and sensitive
… walking a road together with participants
… being a team
… gift based ministry
… character development
… individual and community transformation
… training a few well with a view to multiplication
… being process not event driven
… leadership as influence, as a role, not a position
… being generous but not perpetuating dependency
… presenting truth rather than focussing on problem identification

Goals

1. To gather a team of trainers who are committed to the core values to facilitate the process.
2. To identify a reliable, faithful individual in a country to use as the point person for the first encounter.
3. To identify faithful men and women in each country in Africa who we will walk with through the process.
4. To return to each country each six months for at least three years.
5. To identify those who are faithful and have an ability to teach who will be empowered to become trainers in their own countries and beyond.
6. To raise sufficient funding to sustain the ministry over the next ten years.

Risk Areas

1. The choice of our initial contact person.
2. The selection of participants by the contact person.
3. The availability and return of a small group of people every six months for three years.
4. The multiplication process that we are relying on participants to drive.
5. The material and method is very straight forward and biblical. (There are no gimmicks to impress people. If God does not do a work then there is little to hold people’s attention.)

We recognise that this is a high risk ministry. These crucial aspects upon which the ministry hangs that are largely out of our control. This means that we are totally reliant on God to overrule and act if this ministry is to succeed. This we view as positive.

Involvement by others

1. We want to raise up a dedicated group of people who will be praying regularly for LIFE DEVELOPMENT, the ministry, the team, and the participants.
2. We want to raise up and involve men and women who have are gifted in the area of training, and who share or values to participate in the training encounters.
3. We want to see people who share the vision for the transformation of Africa through training giving generously to support the ministry on an ongoing, sustainable basis.

Practical principles for encounters

1. The cost of the LIFE DEVELOPMENT team’s travel to the venue will be covered by the team.
2. All other costs such as accommodation, food, venue, will be covered by the participants and the local organisers.
3. The LIFE DEVELOPMENT team is to stay with participants during the encounter.
4. Each participant will pay an amount (US$10) as a token payment for the material.
5. Participants must commit themselves to attending all sessions during an encounter.
6. Participants must commit themselves to completing the reading and spiritual growth goals in between encounters.

Contact

To contact LIFE Development please write to:
LIFE Development
P.O. Box 30221
Sunnyside
0132
South Africa

Or email: