Background

Encarnação Alliance Training Commission

Background

(Development of the "Training Commission" goals of the Encarnação Alliance as discussed and refined since the July, 2004 Consultation in Bangkok)

The Encarnação Alliance Consultation in Bangkok in July, 2004 sensed the Lord speaking that the slums of Asia, Africa and South America needed a mobilisation of 50,000 cross-cultural new workers to meet the need of deepening poverty, growing migrant populations from rural contexts, and the responsiveness of the urban poor. These would be the catalysts of multiple indigenous movements in each city.

New urban poor holistic church planting movements that would be deeply involved in the spiritual, social and economic transformation of communities would result in communities of believers. These movements can be catalyzed by those who live an incarnation lifestyle among the urban poor. The fastest growing of these movements are largely Pentecostal in nature and flourish where healing and deliverance are normal aspects of church life. However they also need to integrate social, economic and justice issues into the missional understanding of holism.

The Encarnação Alliance Consultation in Sao Paulo in 2002 had concluded that collectively we should develop our own training processes for urban poor workers. The delegates at the July, 2004 Consultation in Bangkok identified three levels of training and equipping needed in urban poor ministry.

Grassroots training utilising story-telling models of learning to build teams to minister among the urban poor. This has been developed around 12 modules, covering 40 topics. The modules include:

	Vision-Casting
	Trainers Resources
	Spiritual Formation
	Theological Framework
	Context of the Slum
	Evangelism
	Discipleship
	Church Growth in the Slums
	Leadership Among the Urban Poor
	Transformational Development
	Urban Poor Mission Structures
	Justice & Land Rights Issues
	Integration Module

A Graduate Degree in Transformational Urban Leadership

Candidates can be either:

	Existing workers with a few years of experience, progressing from pastoral, evangelistic, teaching, prophetic or diaconal roles into movement leadership roles.
	Those with the call of God to the poor or a strong sense of justice wanting to use business, educational or other professional skills to spiritually, socially, economically, politically liberate the urban poor in church-based advocacy, community development or community organisation.
	Those preparing to be pioneers to catalyse new movements in cross-cultural missionary settings among the urban poor in the poorest cities of the world.

Program outcomes

	To produce committed, spiritually mature and effective urban poor workers with comprehensive knowledge and skills to sustain long-term servant-leadership roles among the poor; engage strategic thinking and entrepreneurial expertise in developing long-term liberation through transformative movements.
	To increase leaders' capacities to found new church-planting missions and movements, development agencies and indigenous churches led by slum-dwellers
	Create consultative networks of urban poor workers, pastors, and city leaders that expand indigenous slum theologies and city strategies for church-planting and societal transformation. The knowledge, disciplines and skills needed are incorporated into the proposed MATUL Degree as per the program. The graduates would be expected to understand and apply learning programs among the illiterate, semi-literate and literate urban poor squatters, identify emerging leadership, experience and love incarnational living among the poor, unconditionally love the poor, be competently cross-cultural in approach, contextual in theology and practice, pastoral in care of workers, and a humble servant in working with national leaders.

Praxis-based: This Graduate Degree program will need exposure to 4-20 months cross- cultural urban poor incarnational living as part of an experienced team under close supervision and mentoring. This praxis should be placed between year one and year two in the program.

Outcome Oriented: The Alliance members see this stage of the candidate development program as equipping those who could become future citywide movement leaders catalysing church planting movements across a city by mobilising existing teams through multiplication into new areas not yet reached.