Willow Creek Global Connections Overview

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Willow Creek Global ConnectionsOverview
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About Global Connections

• Mission
• To serve, empower, and
• connect churches that live
• out the mission to transform all areas of life
  through the Gospel

• Basic Facts
• We are a ministry of Willow Creek Community
  Church
• We serve people in Africa and Latin America who
  are marginalized, oppressed, and under-resourced
• We serve in partnership with churches and
  church-related organizations outside the US
• We seek to address a variety of community needs,
  such as
• HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care
• general health care
• Education
• job training
• church development
• more

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Wholism

• Reconciling all things through Christ
• By him all things were created
• ...and in him all things hold together
• For God was pleased to have all
• his fullness dwell in him, and through
• him to reconcile to himself all things
• Colossians 1.16-20 (NIV)
• And he who sits on the throne said,
• Behold, I am making all things new.
• Revelation 21.5 (NIV)
• Wholistic mission...
• A radical re-thinking that envisions
• the restoration of all things to Gods
• original design
• Caring for the whole person and community
• Being aware of needs around you and doing
  something about them
• Responding to needs in an integrated way that
  restores people

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Pastor Roy Soto and FamilyShalom Church Costa
Rica
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Shalom Church in Costa Rica
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Shalom Serving Community
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Shalom Church New Building

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South Africa Partners
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Joe Mubela
Lynne Hybels Center
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The churchs global challenge
Where we live Most of US, Europe, and other
developed countries
Where our partners live Most of Africa and Latin
America
From everyone who has been given much, much will
be demanded and from the one who has been
entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12.48 (NIV)
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GCs Focus

• Africa
• 25 million people infected with HIV (60 of
  global infections)
• 12 million orphans due to AIDS
• Most Africans subsist on less than 2 a day
• Highly vulnerable to disease
• Lacking water, sanitation, transportation
• Poor nutrition and health care
• Limited education

• Latin America and Caribbean
• Persistent populations of destitute people
• High HIV/AIDS prevalence in the Caribbean
• Over 100,000 women and children trafficked for
  sexual exploitation
• Millions of street children abandoned by their
  families and society
• Highest rate of deforestation in the world

• Poverty Fatalism
• Both regions are plagued by multigenerational
  poverty that is a legacy of centuries of
  colonialism and oppression. Many people living in
  this type of poverty tend to be fatalistic,
  assuming it is their fate and nothing can change
  it.
• This leads to
• Lack of inspiration
• Hopelessness
• Dependency

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Why churches must help

• Ubiquitous
• Churches may be found in communities with little
  or no government services or NGO involvement
• Sustainable
• Churches have been and will be part of the
  community longer than governmental or other
  organizations
• Churches are full of potential volunteers who
  have a long-term vested interest in their
  community
• Influential
• In many communities, local churches have more
  influence than any other institution, including
  the government

• Uniquely capable
• Churches are centers of hope whose unique mission
  is to respond as Christ would to
• Heal the hurting
• Care for the vulnerable and broken
• Bring justice to the oppressed
• Free people from addictions
• Give a voice to the marginalized
• Find the lost
• Restore all things to Christ
• Mandated
• Throughout Scripture, God commands and exhorts
  those who worship him to care for others in need

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Partnership with local churches

• Global Connections approach
• Partner with local churches already addressing
  challenges in their communities
• Provide funding grants, gifts-in-kind, and other
  resources to meet local needs and priorities
• Help our church partners increase the scale,
  effectiveness, and sustainability of their
  programs
• Types of church partners
• Single local church
• Coalitions or networks of local churches
• Local faith-based organization affiliated with a
  local church, coalition, or network
• Partnership tiers
• Build partnerships over time based on each
  churchs goals, needs, and competencies
• Tier 3 (provisional) for new partners and others
  that need time to demonstrate competency and
  establish trust
• Tier 2 (full) for partners that have demonstrated
  competency and good faith sufficient to warrant
  repeated grants and other assistance
• Tier 1 (strategic) for partners with
  exceptionally high levels of competency and
  mutual trust that are a light on the hill to
  other churches, modeling wholistic mission and
  encouraging others to follow

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Core purpose

• Applying the Hedgehog Concept defined by author
  Jim Collins, the core purpose of Global
  Connections is the intersection of three things

What we can be best at in the world Empowering
wholistic churches
What we are deeply passionate about Redeeming
and restoring under-resourced communities to
Gods original design
What drives our resource engine Compassion,
justice, stewardship
Global Connections core purpose Be a bridge to
connect churches in under-resourced communities
with resources from Willow and partner
organizations, including other donors and
technical experts

• Hedgehog Concept

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Connecting partners and resources

• Global Connections core purpose
• Be a bridge

Provide resources funding gifts-in-kind serving
teams prayer along with relationship and
accountability
knowledge and skills networks advocacy more
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Connecting technical partners

• technical partners
• Organizations with expertise needed by our church
  partners and communities

Examples of technical partners Medical
assistance Rush Medical AIDS education Kerus,
Prosolidaridad AIDS treatment.. BroadReach
Healthcare Computer training Esperanza
International Child survival World Relief,
Compassion International Economic
development ASPIRE, Esperanza International
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Connecting technical partners

• technical partners
• Organizations with expertise needed by our church
  partners and communities

Examples of technical partners Medical
assistance Rush Medical AIDS education Kerus,
Prosolidaridad AIDS treatment.. BroadReach
Healthcare Computer training Esperanza
International Child survival World Relief,
Compassion International Economic
development ASPIRE, Esperanza International
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Connecting donor partners
technical partners

• donor partners
• Organizations outside Willow that provide funds
  or products to our partners

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Blessings returned

• Partnership provides benefits in both directions

• Benefits to Willow include
• Growing in Christ through serving
• Becoming more globally minded about Gods kingdom
• Seeing and learning how local churches can change
  communities
• Combating the forces toward materialism
• Enjoying the satisfaction of doing good and being
  obedient
• Engaging neighborhoods and ministries in global
  compassion and social justice

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Missionaries

• In addition to working with church partners in
  Africa and Latin America, Global Connections
  serves fellow Creekers on long-term missions in
  other countries.
• Here at home, groups and individual volunteers
  can pray regularly for missionaries and encourage
  them through email and care packages.
• In this way, volunteers learn about another
  culture by interacting with fellow Creekers
  living in that culture.

• Current locations
• Arabian Peninsula
• Austria
• Chile
• Czech Republic
• France
• Hungary
• Kenya
• Kosovo
• Latin America
• Mexico
• Philippines
• Russia
• South Africa
• South Asia

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2006 Financial Summary
2006 Investment In Latin America
2006 Monetary Value Distributed to Partner

Operating Expenses 185K
Gift In Kind 215K
Gift In Kind 33K
Serving Teams 57K
Serving Teams 22K
Networking Grants 110K
Networking Grants 110K
Individual Church Grants 298K
Individual Church Grants 298K
Total 680K
Total 648K
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2006 Financial Summary
2006 Investment In Africa
2006 Monetary Value Distributed to Partner
Operating Expenses 247K
Matching Grant 652K
Matching Grant Expenses 20K
Gift In Kind 180K
Gift In Kind 26K
Partner Grants 1,093K
Partners Grants 1,093
Total 1,386K
Total 1,925K
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(No Transcript)
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Red Del Camino
GC
D.R
25 Churches
5 Partners
Intercambio (4 ½ WCCC Staff)
C.R
22 Churches
5 Partners
Argentina Brazil Chile Guatemala Honduras Panama N
icaragua Bahamas El Salvador
2 Partners
105 Churches
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105 Communities
GC
Rise
Angola
22 Churches
SCCP
Zambia
Bright Hope
Jubilee
61 Churches
Sobia
26 Churches
Isubilo
WCA-SA
S. Africa
20 Churches
World Relief
Malawi
362 Churches
K.H.C
Ethiopia
5,000 Churches
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Ideas for learning

• Identify issues that are interesting to a
  neighborhood or table and ask one or more members
  to learn about it and share their knowledge with
  the group.
• Many resources available on Global Connections
  web site (next page).
• Obtain a map of the world and place pins to
  locate Willow Creek partner organizations or
  missionaries that are of interest to the group.
• Attend a Global Learning Community as a group.
• Sign up for E-News Alerts to learn about upcoming
  events.
• Identify a partner organization or missionary to
  follow regularly. Have one person from each table
  provide a monthly update to the group.
• Study a book as a group, such as Becoming a World
  Changing Family by Donna Thomas.
• Host an educational night for your table or
  neighborhood with a guest speaker.
• Pastors from church partners in Africa or Latin
  America may be available when visiting Willow
  conferences
• Missionaries may be available during furlough

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Web site
The Global Connections web site is a great place
to begin learning about what we are doing and the
issues we confront.

• Read stories of Willows impact
• and check out the new Latin
• Fusion blog

Read profiles of Willow missionaries and sign
up for email updates
See Experience Global Connections, an online
course about our philosophy, values, and partners
Sign up for E-News Alerts about Global
Connections activities (Africa, Latin America,
or both)
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More ways to connect
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Development project opportunity
Dominican Republic

• Home makeover
• Provide tools, equipment, and materials to repair
  and improve homes of under-resourced families.
• 2,000

• Sponsor a project
• Help a church partner meet an important need in
  their congregation or community
• Examples of available projects

• Youth computer lab
• Equip a computer lab for under-resourced youth to
  learn computer skills
• 3,650

• Church sound system
• Provide speakers, microphones, amplifier, and
  other equipment needed by an under-resourced
  church of 700
• 2,550

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2010 Goals

• Four key goals towards achieving the vision
• Achieve great impact
• in LA Africa and at home
• 1. Through church partners, find ways to connect
  life
• giving resources to an exponentially growing
  number
• of people.
• 2. Engage all parts of Willow Creek in a life
• transforming way.
• Build sustainable capacity
• in partnerships
• 3. Supporting the development of partnerships and
• networks with local church partners in at least 5
• African 7 LA countries.
• 4. Develop strategic partnerships (tier 1)
• with at least 10 African 20 LA
• churches that exemplify wholistic

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A Vision of Hope (can we blend La Africa in
the next 2 slides like my attempt below?)
We envision that by 2010...
100 of Willow members are fully engaged as
innovative servants in some form of compassion or
social justice effort to remake everything
according to Gods original creation plan All
regionals are connecting to partners with high
levels of participation All neighborhoods are
experiencing significant life-giving
relationships with people in neighborhoods both
locally and globally Every ministry is truly
engaging in the lives of people in their local
neighborhoods and through the ministries we are
in relationship with globally All generations
are contributing in a variety of ways to
understand and become advocates for social
justice and compassion Every member of the
Willow family has been equipped to find their
individual role in Gods restorative and
redemptive work globally no matter where they are
geographically
Willow Creek is actively accompanying an
exponentially growing number of wholistic
churches in LA Africa (representing hundreds of
thousands of lives) in their efforts to bring
hope to Communities of people living in
under-resourced destitute conditions by helping
them develop new capabilities sustainable
capacities People with HIV/AIDS and other
illnesses affecting health (including addictions)
through education, awareness, and other
compassionate responses Orphans, street
children, the elderly, and homeless by providing
safe shelter, a place to belong, and
opportunities to regain their creative
productive contribution as members of their
communities Women and children abused or
trafficked for sexual exploitation by offering
safe refuge, care, and healing The devastated
global ecosystem by diligent initiatives to
restore green areas, beautify coastal areas, and
makeover entire communities devastated by
natural disasters or human exploitation and
misuse.