All are invited to a DNA Vision Conference to be held in Rumbek, South Sudan at the end of May. These conferences have a history of sparking life-changing vision, new ideas and partnerships. Please join us and pass this on to anyone who might be interested!
The Republic of South Sudan became an independent nation on July 9, 2011.
What tangible impact can words of truth have on a broken society? As the recent DNA Vision Conference in Rutana, Burundi showed, the words of Scripture can begin to bring about community transformation.
Burundi, in East Africa, is a poor nation known for witchcraft, sorcery, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS.
In Burundi, about 65 percent of the population lives in poverty, and the life expectancy is only 54 years of age. Despite these unfavorable circumstances, the land is fertile and with over 60 percent of the people living in the rural areas, there is great potential for community development.
Christian organizations like the Disciple Nations Alliance and Harvest Foundation have organized Vision Conferences in Burundi to begin healing the brokenness. Through these conferences, indigenous trainers use the teachings of the Bible to train local pastors in wholistic transformation.
In 2005, the General Chaplain of the Burundi Police, Canon Onesime Nimbeshaho, attended his first DNA Vision Conference. Since then, his heart for wholistic ministry has led him to be involved in several training events and to head up the recent Vision Conference in Rutana. Forty-one participants attended this conference and, afterward, many said it was the most beneficial conference they had ever been to because it gave them practical, hands-on advice on how to bring healing to their nation.
“Other seminars give us theoretical knowledge, but this Vision Conference has touched theoretical and practical issues to help us to solve problems in our communities,” said Pastor Pontien Ribakare of the Anglican Church.
The Vision Conference encouraged the participants to put the teaching into action by doing Seed Projects in their local villages. A Seed Project is a small, church-initiated outreach that allows Christians to identify needs in their communities and practically help meet those needs using their own resources. The goal is for Seed Projects to become ongoing initiatives working to bring wholistic restoration.
Because of this conference, local Christians planned 11 new Seed Projects, including:
As these Christians begin to practically show Christ’s love to their communities, pray for the restoration of the province of Rutana.
Pray that the Church would begin to make positive impacts in every area of society. Finally, the Pastors of Rutana are virtually illiterate when it comes to understanding the Bible, so pray that God would raise up more educated people to train the pastors and further this ministry.
We are so excited about our new partnership with PovertyCure, a new initiative that champions the creative potential of the person and seeks to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that fills the developing world.
The core values and principles of the DNA are closely intertwined with those of PovertyCure. One common value is the dignity and God-given potential of all humans, even children born into the poorest of societies.
We often ask, “What causes poverty?” But the real question is, “What causes wealth?”
PovertyCure seeks to shift the emphasis:
PovertyCure is about re-thinking our assumptions. We are an international network of individuals and more than 100 organizations committed to a vision that recognizes the dignity and capacity of people to create value and prosperity for their families and communities.
Check out PovertyCure’s Voices section, which features short videos of entrepreneurs, political and religious leaders, and development experts like Paul Collier, Marcela Escobari, Michael Fairbanks, Hernando de Soto, and George Ayittey.
Visit the blog, and contribute to the discussion on Facebook and Twitter!
We’ve joined the PovertyCure network to help champion these ideas, and we encourage your organization, church, or non-profit to do the same!
Here is an innovative video from our friend Christian Overman at Worldview Matters. DNA co-founder Darrow Miller said this is “one of the clearest explanations of the sacred/secular dichotomy that I have seen.”
Worldview Matters exists to help followers of Christ recover from secularized thought, instead revealing God’s plan for Christians in the marketplace to shape culture and transform society every day of the week–not just on Sunday.
Worldview Matters also helps Christian educators create lesson plans that directly, relevantly connect to God’s “bigger picture,” filling students at all levels with a biblical worldview.
Since 1999, DNA partners from all over the world have gathered about every two years to renew their vision for their work, to share how the biblical worldview plays out in their various ministries, and to build new partnerships for even greater impact.
This year, the DNA Global Forum was a milestone. For the first time, it was hosted in Latin America, and two new countries declared themselves as local DNA networks: Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic!
The Forum, in mid-March, was hosted by the newly formed DNA-Brazil network. More than 60 delegates from 16 countries spent six days at a retreat center operated by Igreja Batista da Lagoinha, a 51,000-member church in the city of Belo Horizonte. Many leaders and members of the church participated in the Forum, the topic of which was “Possessing the Kingdom: A Call to Truth and Love.”
Here are some reflections on the week by John and Kate, long-time partners of the DNA serving in South Asia:
John and Kate on the DNA Global Forum 2013 from Disciple Nations Alliance on Vimeo.
Below are a few photos from the week. Click here to see many more! Over the next few months, we’ll feature stories on many of these people and the work God is doing through them. Subscribe to our e-newsletter to stay informed!
Disciple Nations Alliance is glad to partner with Christianity Today, Christ Church Anglican and others in hosting a two-day event in mid-April featuring Andy Crouch.
Andy wrote the excellent book Culture Making and, in his three plenary talks, he’ll lead us through the story of culture, the work of culture, and the hope of culture, stirring our imaginations to consider how we can serve the common good of Phoenix through our vocations.
We’ll also have opportunities to hear from local Christians whose common-good decisions are making Phoenix a better place for all of us.
Phoenix, Arizona is the 12th largest city in the United States.
DNA co-founder Darrow Miller accepted an invitation from the Colson Center to be a featured platform speaker at this year’s Wilberforce Weekend Conference in Washington, D.C., April 26-28.
The conference will engage the tension in which Christians live: living in the “in-between” of the here and the not yet Kingdom of God.
If this piques your interest, watch this short video with John Stonestreet, host of The Point radio broadcast.
It is a great representation of our DNA core beliefs!
Darrow, one of 10 featured speakers along with Eric Metaxas, will speak on how Christianity disciples entire nations. Interested in going to the conference? Register online or learn more.
DNA is a family of associate ministries, and one of those family members is Harvest. Harvest staff member, Chris Ampadu, also serves as DNA coordinator for West Africa. In recent months, God has opened many doors for him to share the biblical worldview with the staff of Mercy Ships, a Christian organization that brings healthcare–aboard giant ships–to those most desperate for it.
On February 17, U.S. television network CBS aired an excellent segment on Mercy Ships. Click here to watch the full segment.
“Spend a few days as we did, aboard the Africa Mercy, and you will see how two worlds meet: at the intersection of courage and compassion,” says reporter Scott Pelley from CBS’s long-running television news program, “60 Minutes.”
“Someone has to look at them; someone has to tell them that ‘You’re human, and I recognize that in you….’ It gets to a point where you cannot see it anymore. You don’t see the tumor, you just can see the person’s eyes … or if they only have one eye, because the other one is a tumor, you find their eye, and you find a way to connect with them.”
The ministry of Mercy Ships extends far beyond the physical realm. Last year, Chris Ampadu began training hundreds of people in the biblical worldview through this ministry. Mercy Ships crew members, local government officials, pastors and church leaders have received biblical-worldview training through this fruitful partnership.
The majority of those trained have been from a Muslim background, making this collaboration even more exceptional.
“This week, we had a wonderful conference for pastors and church leaders with almost 600 participants,” Chris said of a recent Mercy Ships invitation to Guinea. “Interestingly, the conference was held at Winners Chapel which was attacked by Moslems last few weeks. Now, the church has a solution–to love their Moslems brothers, and they have made plans to initiate seed love actions towards them … they have no option than to love them!”
In the months to come, watch for more stories about Chris and his partnership with Mercy Ships!
Come & Listen: a chronicle of the DNA global movement 