A great foundation for growth!

Posted by Bill on May 3, 2013

Like any physical building, the health, growth and strength of small group life is wholly dependent upon the quality of the foundation. If a group is founded right, it stands to reason it will grow right. The ideal building plan for every small group should detail as its foundation the Great Commandment and the Great Commission (Matthew 22:36-40 and Matthew 28:18-20).

These two great passages of Scripture complement and complete each other, forming the greatest foundation for the building of our new lives in Christ, and building meaningful community life with one another. This ‘great foundation’ also inspires and guides us in the fulfillment of our primary purpose on earth … helping others see their need for Christ.

This is a good time to examine the foundation of your life, and the life of your group? Unless our lives/our groups are built on the right foundation then our building efforts will be in vain (Matthew 7:24-27, Psalms 127:1).

Love the Lord + Love one another = Great Foundation!

Forward Growth

Posted by Bill on April 26, 2013

The fourth dimension of our small groups’ growth plan is Forward growth. This dimension of personal growth points to “our” growing-up into the likeness of Jesus (growing in our discipleship). This is a life-long process (Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 8:29)!

Forward growth doesn’t just happen … it results from having a desire for this to happen and then through being intentional about learning more and doing more of God’s word (obedience). Giving opportunities to our members to share in the overall leadership of small group life is paramount to their growth and the development and the success of our groups. Forward growth takes place as we discover, practise, and develop our spiritual gifts in the fertile soil of godly small group life.

Dreaming big for DKI in Cairo – Vacation Bible School 2013

Posted by Nick on April 19, 2013

Last year thanks to the generosity of CCI supporters and a church in the UAE (of all places!) the Destiny Kids Vacation Bible School was a huge success, bringing the Gospel to 75 teenagers and young people from the Sudanese refugee community in a way that would not have been possible without God’s direct intervention and miraculous provision.

This year Pastor Fredrick and his team are planning to hold Vacation Bible School between 8-11 July 2013 and they are dreaming even bigger…

They want to run VBS in 2013 for 170 youngsters!!

Fredrick writes: “Dear CCI friends, we know from our past experiences that Destiny Kids can’t do the VBS on our own strength and so we totally trust and depend on the Lord for everything needed for this event. God has been so good to us each year since we started VBS and we are especially thankful to the CCI team and supporters for all their help. We believe that God can and will do it again and we feel that He wants us to reach out through the 2013 VBS to 170 young people with the love of Christ. So I invite you to partner with DKI in prayer as we look to the Lord for Vacation Bible School this year.”

The cost of DKI’s “big dream” is US$5,100 or just $30 per child which will cover the costs of the venue, feeding and transporting the young people and the leaders as well as provide all the materials, resources and t-shirts for everyone taking part.

Please join the CCI team and everyone involved with Destiny Kids in praying for Vacation Bible School this year – and let’s expect the miraculous!

If you would like to make a donation right now to Destiny Kids VBS you can do so by just clicking the button below.

Outward Growth

Posted by Bill on

If Upward growth points to a growing love-relationship with the Lord; and Inward growth points to a growing love-relationship with believers in the church, then Outward growth points to a growing love-relationship with our un-saved friends (Matthew 22:36-40).

Outward growth results as we minister to our unsaved friends in simple, practical ways with the love of Christ. Reaching out to our un-saved friends is best achieved through a team effort/small groups approach, in partnership with the Holy Spirit.

Knowing that no one is good at everything, small group members add weight to the Outward growth effort through combining their various experiences, personalities, spiritual gifts and talents. Through prayer and a collaborative team effort, Outward growth can be an exciting reality for every believer, and small group.

Destiny Kids International: Investing in the development of youth leadership!

Posted by Bill on April 12, 2013

Fredrick and the DKI Team prefer to be on the cutting edge in the development of their teen-leadership in Cairo. In partnership with CCI, DKI facilitated small groups development training for seven African youths. Fredrick kindly shares with us the following testimony …

“Greetings in Jesus Name. I would like to testify regarding to the Youth Cell Groups leadership training that took place on the 28th of March, 2013 which lasted for six weeks. We bless the Lord for how He moved during the training. It was a big blessing to the lives of the trainees; we were eight in number, including myself.

During training, the young leaders came to have a better understanding of the meaning of reaching out to the lost for Jesus. It was an eye opener to them and a refresher to me also. We all benefited in the training: we started very well and also with the help of your prayers and God the training ended very well. On the last day we had a little celebration where we provided them with refreshments. I prayed the Prayer of Empowerment over them (Ephesians 3), and we had a time for questions that related to the training experience.

Prayer Point

Next week (Thursday) we will be starting training for a second set of young people. Commencing on April 11, the training will continue for six weeks. I wish you could see the excitement in the eyes of the candidates for the next session. I am so ready to be used by the Lord. Please join us in prayer that the second training group will fire-up like the first group. Thanks to the CCI Team for their support through prayer and finances. May Almighty God bless you all, Amen.”