Transforming Neighborhoods

1. TransformingNeighborhoods Overview 3/12

2. CHE is Community Health Evangelism which is mostly focused in rural communities • 105 countries worldwide • In over 4000 villages globally • Neighborhood Transformation is CHE in Urban North America and is focused on underserved neighborhoods in 20 cities Community Health Evangelism/Neighborhood Transformation

3. Transforming of Neighborhoods and Cities By Equipping Churches to Facilitate Transformed Neighborhoods and People to Maturity in Christ

4. Love God with all your mind, body, soul and strength AND Love your neighbor as yourself Built on Luke 10:27

5. What is Kingdom Transformation? Gods Kingdom come, His will be done…. Health and wholeness (spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially). Restoration of right relationships with God, self, others, and creation. Transformation is radical change that starts on the inside. As beliefs and values change, behaviors and the resulting effects are also altered. Communities change as individuals change. Transformation comes one person at a time.”(adapted from Miller 1998)

6. Our Purpose • Not just breaking poverty or planting churches, though both are accomplished through CHE. • A transformation in lives and communities that is as deep as the human heart and as broad as the whole range of societies sectors. • Jesus is recognized as Lord over all creation and our development activities to reflect the depth and breadth of the kingdom of God. • God is at work in and through us to transform beliefs and change behavior so that his peace, justice, compassion, and righteousness are reflected in the life of the communities we serve.

7. Transforming Neighborhoods is is Built on Relationships • Person to person relationships • Person to neighborhood relationships • Neighborhood to city relationships

8. 10 Core Values • Integration of physical, emotional, spiritually and social. • Multiplication through intensive participatory training. • Building on what’s there, people and neighborhood assets. • Community ownership • Different approaches to enter a community. 6. Building mature Christian leadership. 7. Program sustainability. 8. Look for and expect program effectiveness and impact starting from a single village spreading throughout region and country. 9. Sensitive adoption to culture and situation. 10. Attempt to maximize contact with local people in order to build trust and relationships.

9. In 2010, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas. By 2020, 70% of the world will be living in cities of over 1 million. There are 200 cities today with over 1 million people. By 2020, there will be 1450. Cities Today

10. CHE Overseas is in Rural Villages • A geographical place where people live • Been in same place for generations • Know each other • Hold many things in common • Strong network of relationships • Have a sense of belonging, my place

11. Urban Neighborhoods Since the Spread of Suburbs Began in 1950 • People from all over, generally transient • No sense of community because they do not know and trust their neighbors • More isolated, dependent on professionals • No safety net when people need help • City is not a community, too big therefore must break into smaller neighborhoods

12. Neighbors live in same geographic area Neighbors know each other Neighbors available to each other Neighbors spontaneous with each other Neighbors meet frequently Neighbors have common meals Characteristics Needed to be a Real Community

13. Choosing a Neighborhood • Most churches work in a neighborhood they already have contacts and are doing something in. • It is best to form a partnership with a group in the neighborhood such as a church or Neighborhood Association. • But remember keep it small with a school catchment area or Census Track the largest size.

14. Smaller in size (8-12) blocks • Centers around an elementary school area (since most kids still walk to school) • Parents are more involved with kids at this age • Parents can be connected to other activities Geographic Neighborhood

15. Ways to Help Compassionate Ministries - Provide temporary help using outside resources. Relief does not address long term issues nor increase the effectiveness of local people & organizations. (Doing) Betterment Ministries Rehabilitation)- Rehabilitation programs can help people grow past one issue but often only gives partial improvement. (Alongside) Development Ministries – (Empowerment) Help participants & their communities to develop their abilities, knowledge, and conditions. Improvement should be recognizable & lasting. (People Doing)

16. Different Ways to Help

17. Build a Village in the City where people know each other Urban Churches Focus on Assets Gain Participation o f people The Neighborhood Approach

18. I. To Build a Village in the City • Where we know each other and look out for each other by starting with fun activities and built on self interest • Surrounded by a social network, which is not kin or tribe based • Realize all people have intrinsic value • Build trust so help each other • Aggregate neighbors into transforming their neighborhood

19. To Build a Village We Must Find Out About Each Other • Since most people do not even know the neighbor’s names we need way to find out about people, groups and organizations in the neighborhood. • We equip people to walk their neighborhoods and begin to know their neighbors as people begin to develop new relationships • We build on Assets found on individuals and informal groups. When you build on needs you build on what is not there

20. Are commuter churches with very few members living in the church neighborhood. It is desirable for people to first walk in their own neighborhoods to get them out contacting people but that means contacts are so disperse there is no one target neighborhood Since work needs to begin in one neighborhood for mass, the people initiating ministry will generally be from outside the neighborhood. It is important to become known in the neighborhood therefore working with the local elementary school is good as well as joining in existing activities of the neighborhood II. North American Churches

21. III. Focus on Assets • Everyone has assets (skills, knowledge, passions) which may be unknown • All people want to be of value to others and not just be a receivers • Builds on what is in the neighborhood already, work can be on-going by people in it. • Needs focus on problems, assets on solutions

22. IV. Start Where People Are At Expose (Compassion) Easy Entry One Time No Commitment Little Relationship Engage (Betterment) Several Times Heart is Changing Some Commitment Builds New Relationships Own (Development)Justice Deeper Engagement Recruiting Others High Relationship Compassion Betterment Develop- ment

23. Find churches that are externally focused and want to reach their neighborhoods in a wholistic way. Create new sub-communities and villages with a neighborhood. Find assets and interests of people and equips them to accomplish activities built on their self-interest. Connect small interest groups to neighborhood interests. The Strategy

24. Major Players in Transforming a Neighborhood A local Core Team (launch team) of lay people from the church, and eventually the community, initiates the program--creating awareness and training the next two groups. A Committee, or Neighborhood Association of local leaders from the neighborhood who are trained by launch team & then direct the outreach in their area. Neighborhood Agents of Change (NAC) are local volunteers who learn how to help their neighbors & then visit neighbors to share what they have learned.

25. Local Facilitation Team From the neighborhood church Neighborhood Association NAC NAC NAC NAC NAC Church Initiated NT Groups

26. Activities to Start Launch team from the church begins work on several fronts to raise awareness and participation. Church identifies where members live and group into neighborhoods challenging people to know their neighbors Members and local people in the neighborhood begin walking the two square blocks where they live to meet and get to know their neighbors Hold bar-b-ques, block parties etc to begin to develop relationships in driveway and street Begin to do acts of service to elementary school for the designated neighborhood. Good way to start if no one lives in the chosen neighborhood. Find assets through neighborhood members and school and begin simple classes based on what people in the neighborhood want to learn

27. Training Local Volunteer Facilitators • Facilitators are volunteers therefore only have limited time each week • Start with 14 hour Weekend Training for volunteer facilitators by Master Trainer • Train multiple churches together each applying in their neighborhood. • Churches decide which modules they want additional training on from 16 modules (4 to 6 hours each).

28. Training Is Built On Turning Learning into Action • Starts with what people already know and builds. • Focuses on the learner not the teacher. • People are involved in their own learning instead of being lectured to. They participate in small groups, discussions, role plays, creating stories and songs. • All learning is turned into action and not left as head knowledge. • The teaching is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. • There are over 2000 participatory lesson plans to be used by the trained on many different topics.

29. Impact Statement • Neighborhoods throughout city doing wholistic transformational ministry are networked together to learn from and encourage each other. • As the teams come together they find common interests which begin to transform the city as a whole thereby changing it from the inside out.

30. Observable Indicators • Transformed neighborhoods from the inside. • People know neighbors and helping each other. • People knowing and growing in Christ. • People taking responsibility for their own lives. • Healthy growing churches. • Improvement in employment and living conditions. • Reduction in disease, crime, drug and alcohol addiction. • Other Neighborhoods throughout the city begin to implement Neighborhood Transformation.

31. www.neighborhoodtransformation.net www.chenetwork.org http://facebook.com/pages/Neighborhood-Transformation/178206349129 http://urbancheguy.wordpress.com Resources

32. Helping Transform Neighborhoods and People To Maturity In Christ A Ministry of Alliance for Transformational Ministry Stan Rowland & Jeff Bisgrove www.neighborhoodtransformation.net