Adventist Youth

Ministries
 Module 7 –
Community Outreach Development

Zlatko Musija
Youth Director
TRANS-EUROPEAN DIVISION
Adventist Youth Ministries
 Ten Objectives
Ambassadors Ministry

Inspire the teens to give personal expression of their love

Make the number-one priority of your Ambassador
1 6 for God
programming to be the personal salvation of each and every
by teaching them how to be involved in various
teen who is a member.
outreach activities.
Encourage teens to discover their God-given talents and to Teach the teens specific vocational skills and hobbies
2 use their gifts and abilities to fulfil God’s expectations of 7 that will
them. provide them with purpose and employment
Teach the teens to internalize God’s love and His principles opportunities.
so that they
Encourage the young people to develop and maintain
3 will take responsibility for their walk with God and use His 8 physical
principles and
fitness through an active, energetic, drug-free lifestyle.
the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make wise decisions in
their lives.
Help teens to realize that God and His church love them and Provide them with opportunities to develop and
appreciate the implementation of their talents for the fulfilling demonstrate their leadership abilities. They will
4 of the gospel commission as established in Matt. 28:18–20 and 9
strengthen their resolve to learn and maintain
Acts 1:8. Help them find fulfillment in their life with God as appropriate internal discipline and apply their skills of
they share their beliefs with those who God brings to them. resourcefulness and understanding of the processes of
group dynamics.
Teach an understanding and love for God’s creation through
programs of adventure and discovery. The young people will Provide ample opportunities for teens to interact in
5 find their fellowship with God to be more meaningful as 10 carefully
they are given the opportunity to experience supervised activities that will lead to and strengthen
that sense of wonder and worship as nature unfolds its life-long committed relationships.
deepest spiritual secrets, as described in Romans 1:19, 20.
 Seven Foundations/ Modules
Ambassadors Ministry

A Christ- Leadership Mission Lifestyle Character &

centered Development Personality
Discipleship Outdoor Adventure

Lifestyle & Nurturing Community outreach

Vocational Godly development
Training Relationships
 Four Essential Elements
Ambassadors Ministry

Individual
Spiritual Social
Discipleship Projects
Companion Activities
Plan (IDP)

01 02 03 04
 Outcome and Evidence of Learning
Ambassadors Ministry

Outcomes
Head
Participants will...

Hands
Participants will be able
to...

Heart 
Participants will be able
to...
 The Importance of Module 7
Ambassadors Ministry

• The best way to represent Jesus is by living/ loving like

Him – serving people in need.
• Young people often leave the Church disappointed
because it is not serving the community.
• Young people want to see the church take a stand
against injustice.
• Involvement in community project can help youth find
their vocation/ spiritual gifts/ leadership skills.
• Resiliance – active involvement in service develops
their own resiliance against at-risk behaviours.
 SESSION 1: OVERVIEW
Ambassadors Ministry

1. This lesson provides an overview for the first 7 lessons in Module #7 on

community development outreach using strategies for reaching out to our
neighbors and communities from a ministry philosophy known as
Christian Community Development (CCD).
2. This lesson will provide a quick introduction to the key components of
this philosophy and encourage participants to consider how these
principles can be applied in their communities through their own
churches.
3. This lesson uses an example from the lives of John and Vera Mae
Perkins, who were very active in the civil rights struggle in America.
Their story can be used to draw parallels to the current situations and
realities of the Ambassadors in your group in any country or setting.
 SESSION 1: OVERVIEW
Ambassadors Ministry

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION FOR COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT:
• Luke 4:18-19 (Jesus ministry to eradicate all evil and injustice)
• Jeremiah 29:4-7 (seeking the „peace and prosperity” of the place
where you live)
• Matthew 22:36-40 (loving God and people as the greatest way to
live as a Christian)
• John 10:10 (Jesus ministry – to bring an abundant life)
• Isaiah 65:17-24 (the vision of the new heaven and earth is prosperity,
justice and joy)
• How can we be a part of helping our communities experience
this heavenly experience on earth?
 SESSION 1: OVERVIEW
Ambassadors Ministry

SHARE THE STORY

• Share that the Christian Community Development movement in America
began with a demand for justice by John M. Perkins and his wife, Vera
Mae Perkins (also known as "Grandma Perkins"). Despite being a third-
grade dropout, Perkins has been recognized for his work with 16 honorary
doctorate. He has served on the Boards of Directors of World Vision and
Prison Fellowship. Perkins has advised and/or served on the Presidential
Task Forces of five U.S. Presidents and is the author of 17 books, including
the best-selling One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race.
• Share some other good stories (e.g. „Mama Maggie” Gobran in Egypt etc.)
 SESSION 1: OVERVIEW
Ambassadors Ministry

The key components of the ministry philosophy are:

• Relocation: living in the community in which one is ministering
• Reconciliation: having been reconciled with God, we now work on reconciliation with
one another
• Redistribution: creating equal access and opportunity for all humanity to the needed
resources (economic, social, educational and relational)
• Church-Based: the Church is the foundation from which other programmes emanate
• Listening to the Community: the needs of the community are to be identified and
addressed
• Wholistic: community development is to be comprehensive
• Leadership Development: developing the future leadership from among those
indigenous to the community
• Empowerment: developing and strengthening capacity enabling others to do for
themselves and use their gifts to serve others.
 SESSION 2: CHURCH-BASED
Ambassadors Ministry

1. This lesson helps the participants understand the central role of the
church in any community development outreach effort and to see
the value of church in community.
2. As participants understand the biblical understanding of church,
they will also see applications of how the church can help every
community to look more like the kingdom of God.
3. This lesson will pick up where the previous lesson ended in talking
about God’s kingdom being on earth as it is in heaven.
 SESSION 2: CHURCH-BASED
Ambassadors Ministry

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION
• Mat 5:13-15 (church as salt and light)
• God’s relationships to those in need (Deut 10:17-18; Ps
35:10; Proverbs 29:7; Pro 31:8-9; Jer 22:3; James 1:17
etc.)
• Isaiah 58 – Sabbath and social justice
 SESSION 2: CHURCH-BASED
Ambassadors Ministry

PROBLEM:
• The problem with the Church is that it is often self-focused
and self-serving; not involved in developing its
communities.
• Churches are guilty of being open only once or twice a
week and being almost irrelevant to the needs of the people
in the communities they serve.
• Many para-church or secular organizations have started to
do the work of loving their neighbor that the Church has
neglected.
• It is practically impossible to do effective wholistic ministry
apart from the local church. The goal of this lesson is to
 SESSION 2: CHURCH-BASED
Ambassadors Ministry

The church in relationship with the community:

 Doing ministry IN a community,
 Doing ministry TO/FOR a community,
 Doing ministry WITH a community.

Look at your church/organization and relationship to the

community.
Which of these descriptions fits your situation?
Why?
 SESSION 2: CHURCH-BASED
Ambassadors Ministry

Examples of church-based ministry to the needy:

• PRIA ministries (India)
• Example from history (Fernando Stahl in Peru)
• Find some local examples
 SESSION 3: RELOCATION
Ambassadors Ministry

1. This lesson will explain the principle of Relocation, first

looking at the example of Jesus and other examples (like
Moses).
2. To understand that there are different types of
“relocators”.
3. It is also important to note that relocators do not “bring
God” to the community. God is already there! They
come to participate in God’s work.
 SESSION 3: RELOCATION
Ambassadors Ministry

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION
• Jesus incarnation - He became one of us. He didn’t
commute back and forth to heaven. 
• Moses “relocation”– what did he learn by leaving the
Pharaoh’s house?
• Relocation is physically living amongst those in need in
under-resourced communities.
• “With-ness” – the gift of presence, being there to walk
through life together, sharing the suffering and pain of
others.
 SESSION 3: RELOCATION
Ambassadors Ministry

Relocation can happen in any of three ways.

 As a relocator, a person who moves into a community from
the outside who has never lived in the community before.
 As a “returner,” someone born and raised in the
community but left for a time, and chose to return.
 As a “remainer,” someone born and raised in the
community and intentionally stayed to be a part of the
solution to the problems surrounding them.
 SESSION 3: RELOCATION
Ambassadors Ministry

Relocation is hard – whatever is your type of relocation, the

essence is to sacrifice your commodity in order to be close to the
people.

Relocation is the best way to serve:

• You will understand most clearly the real problems facing the
poor
• You will develop relationships with people you are serving
• They will perceive you as „one of them”, not somebody „above
them”
• By getting to know them, you will respect and involve the
people from community
SESSION 4: LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
Ambassadors Ministry

1. This lesson will explain the principle of Listening to the

Community which is key to the ministry philosophy.
2. In this lesson the participants will have a chance to
participate in a number of exercises to help them
understand the value of taking the time to listen to the
community as well as practice some of the skills/
techniques that help one listen well.
3. This lesson includes a “homework” assignment that will
provide practice in discovering the assets within their own
community
SESSION 4: LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
Ambassadors Ministry

PROBLEM:
• Too often communities are developed by outsiders that
bring in resources without taking into account the
community itself. 
• Often we work on what we think they need.
• Also, we focus on the weaknesses and needs of a
community. 
SESSION 4: LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
Ambassadors Ministry

• Felt needs (you listen in order to find out what they really
need). The community „decides” what needs to be changed.
• Focus on their assets not on their weakenesses. Their strengths
are used to bring change.
• This approach affirms the dignity of individuals and
encourages the engagement of the community to use their
own resources and assets to bring about sustainable change.
• If we listen and focus on their assets, that will give them a
sense of ownership. It is important to recognize everyone has
something to say and everyone has something to contribute
SESSION 4: LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
Ambassadors Ministry

EXCERCISES/ ACTIVITIES:
• Head, Hands, Heart Treasure Hunt (bring your gifts, not
your weaknesses)
• Label exercise (everyone has been labeled at some point)
• Listening/ Learning conversation exercise (questions, in
groups...)
• Homework – prayer walk (walk around your community in
places you usually go during a typical week and pray while you are
walking. Pray with your eyes and heart open. As you walk and pray,
pay attention to what you are seeing. See your community through
God’s eyes)
 SESSION 5: REDISTRIBUTION
Ambassadors Ministry

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION
• Redistribution is the redistributing of economic, social, educational,
and relational resources in order to create equal access and
opportunity for all humanity
• OT economic system was created to keep gap between rich and poor
as small as possible (e.g. Lev 19:5-15)
• Caring for people in need (Deut 15; Deut 22; Prov 14:31; 2 Cor
8:13-15; Luke 3:10-11; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Tim 6:17-19; James 5:1-6)
• Two different worldviews: Viewing yourself as an owner with rights
vs. Viewing yourself as a steward with responsibility
SESSION 5: REDISTRIBUTION
Ambassadors Ministry
SESSION 5: REDISTRIBUTION
Ambassadors Ministry
 SESSION 6: EMPOWERMENT
Ambassadors Ministry

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION
• The Bible teaches empowerment, not dependency.
• In Deuteronomy 24 and Leviticus 19, God instituted the
gleaning system:
1. As an opportunitiy for people to get their needs
met.
2. The person who had a need must be willing to
work for it. When these principles are working, a
person’s dignity is affirmed. 
SESSION 6: EMPOWERMENT
Ambassadors Ministry
 SESSION 6: EMPOWERMENT
Ambassadors Ministry

 RELIEF
 BETTERMENT
 EMPOWERMENT
 SYSTEM CHANGE
 SESSION 7: WHOLISTIC
Ambassadors Ministry

1. This lesson provides an overview of the component of

‘Wholistic’ from the Christian Community Development
philosophy of ministry. It will help tie all the previous lessons
in this module together.
2. Feel free to bring back in anything from the previous lessons
that you find helpful.
3. Leave time to answer questions here that may have come up
before, or those you may not have had time for in previous
lessons.
 SESSION 7: WHOLISTIC
Ambassadors Ministry

• There is never a simplistic answer to the problems in poor

communities (spiritual, social, economic, political, cultural,
emotional, physical, moral, judicial, educational and familial
issues of each person).
• The wholistic approach is difficult because there are so many
aspects to a person’s life. That is why there is no better way of
helping a person than having him or her committed to a local
church. 
• The church must be involved in every aspect of a person’s life.
It is also important to network with other organizations in the
community. 
 SESSION 7: WHOLISTIC
Ambassadors Ministry

Share with the whole group about the work of ADRA, which
includes disaster/relief work, but also wholistic community
development. For example, ADRA Australia has projects that
include the efforts in the following areas where
shalom/wholeness is needed:
• youth development
• clean water
• remote medical services
• HIV/AIDS prevention and services
• small enterprise development
• employment services and education
 Emergency Preparedness
Ambassadors Ministry

What to do before, during, and after an emergency while fostering

critical 21st-century skills such as problem solving, teamwork,
creativity, leadership, and communication.

 We do not have a standardized Emergency Preparation Training

because each country operates differently.
 The leader should contact their Conference/Union/ADRA office to
see if there are any organized training, if not, then they can contact
their local Red Cross/Civil Defense and arrange for them to give
the seminar (Do this a few months ahead of time).
 To help defray any cost involved in running the seminar/training
and to maximize the seminar benefit/effectiveness, it might be best
organized through the local conference to involve multiple
 Module 7 –
Community Outreach Development

Zlatko Musija
Youth Director
TRANS-EUROPEAN DIVISION
Adventist Youth Ministries