Disciples in Ministry at the starting line in South America

Arequipa, Peru

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

According to the South America Region, there is no longer a doubt that Disciples in Ministry (DIM) will transform how discipleship is done on the continent. The DIM strategy was officially presented in Arequipa, Peru, during the 2010 Iberoamerica Conference.

The following are the latest reports:

Arequipa, Peru (Iberoamerica)

Disciples in Ministry is a discipleship strategy that helps believers to recognize their specific call and trains them to fulfill their ministry. DIM has three stages for implementation called TW1, TW2, and TW3.

The TW1 begins with a service where believers are called to devote themselves. Individuals then take a test that guides them in discovering their ministry. Brief workshops give a general view of what is involved in each ministry.

The TW2 is specific to each ministry and involves more comprehensive workshops that include vision, desires, purposes, available materials, etc.

The TW3 strengthens the believer with a series of "Six Basic Self-directed Guides" for the whole church and then "Six Specialized Guides" that shape the believer to carry forward their ministry in a specialized way.

During Iberoamerica, the initiative was presented to the leadership of the church in South America while also training them on how to take it to the local church. Those in attendance - the majority of them pastors - expressed DIM will cover a need of the church that will be strategic for the growth of the region, not only in quantity, but also in quality.

Lima, Peru (Regional Nazarene Youth International Council)

The Regional Nazarene Youth International (NYI) Council met recently in Lima. While there, Regional Coordinator Jimmy De Gouveia presented the DIM initiative to all the national NYI coordinators. They embraced the approach and promised to implement it in their countries through the NYI ministry. They want to involve 100 percent of the youth in the region in ministry and service producing grounded Christians who participate in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Campinas, Brazil (National Coordinators Meeting)

Forty coordinators from the three areas in Brazil worked for two days on how to implement the DIM initiative in Brazil. When Pastor Geraldo Nunes (Integrated Ministries coordinator for Brazil) and Myriam Pozzi (regional ministry coordinator for Women's Ministries and Communications) presented DIM, its objectives, the plan for implementation, and materials, almost unanimously all in attendance expressed their happiness, expectations, and desires to implement it in their local churches, districts, and areas. Brazil, the country with the most growth in the South America Region, hopes all lay people are transformed into lay people specialized in ministry in order to continue developing the future.  

Buenos Aires, Argentina (South Cone Area Coordinators Meeting)

Integrated Ministry coordinators Carlos Radi (Argentina), Tim McKeithen (Chile), and Jesus Bernat (Uruguay) met with South Cone Area Strategy Coordinator Juan José Zani and Regional DIM Supervisor Fernando Almeida with the goal to put the official implementation of DIM into the schedules of the South Cone's three countries. They agreed that before the end of the year there will be meetings with pastors and local leaders in each country to present the strategy and resolve the lines of implementation.
--South America Region Communications

 

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