Training

The Haven is also a training centre to help train and equip Gods people for works of service. This includes equipping future pastors, elders and ministry leaders (deacons). Please read below for more details.

Disciples

Jesus commanded His followers to make disicples. What's more, this is the only mission command Jesus gave His followers. Jesus stated that He would build the church and commanded us to make disciples or followers of Christ. Many Christians realise this and understand it, but a huge percentage of the church do not actively follow this command.

 

Every single follower of Christ is commanded to make disciples. Not just the mature ones, paid ones or gifted ones. Every believer who follows Christ must make disciples! However, not many people know where to start or just sign a friend up to a 12 weeks discipleship course.

 

Here at the Haven, we want to elevate the imporatance of discipleship to match Jesus' expectations. Every true believer should spend a life time making disciples, as Jesus commands it. Therefore, the Haven wants to help and equip every member of the church to make disciples.

 

The starting point is to help understand the simplicity of following Christ and making a follower of Christ. Each person who wants to follow Christ must; desire to go after Him, deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Christ Jesus (Matt 16:24). This is a life time process. We can desire to go after Christ one day and not the next. We can deny ourselves on odd ocassion but not always. We are all a work in progress.

 

Although this seems hard work, and it is, it also makes every follower of Christ qualified to making other followers. As one followers learns to desire, deny, pick up and follow, they have learned valuable lesson that they can teach others. This is what Jesus says in the Great Commission, 'teach them to obey everything I have commanded you' (Matt 28:20).

 

It is a simple logic and solution that Jesus is laying down; faithfully follow Him by obey His teachings and you can pass on your experience to others who want to follor Him. The hard part is the process, first to follow Christ faithfully yourself and then to teach someone else to do the same. Just as well Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower His followers and to equip them with both ministry and spiritual gifts, for the work.

Leaders

Leadership in the early church came from within the gathering of followers. Many would agree with that statement and we do see this principle within our modern running of church.

 

However, they didn't just come from within but they also were equipped within the church. Although some of these homegrown leaders were called out of the local church, some also stayed within and perhaps planted church within their region or became elders.

 

The Haven has a learning hub that allows its church/fellowship plants to equip potential pastors and elders, in order for them to plant further churches/fellowships. It also looks to equip ministry leaders (deacons) to serve in ministry outside of the church or on mission.

 

The material is designed around the importance of discipleship. All the material is interactive and while there will be group learning, it is all to be discussed on a one to one basis with the trainee's current leadership, either pastor or one of the elders.

 

The answer to solving every issue or problem in the church is discipleship. Making leaders is no different. Here is a worth while saying, 'sheep reproduce sheep, shepherds reproduce shepherds'. Church leaders should be discipling future church leaders.

 

The Haven also wants to help and support other churches to produce future leaders from within their own congregations. We look to either support pastors and elders to set up their own learning hub or for them to enroll their future leaders on to the Haven Learning Hub.

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