NCS International Current Initiatives
To understand the current initiatives of NCS International, we believe it is important that you know our history. Our history reveals how our current initiatives had their beginning. The following will help you understand where we have come from and how NCS International continues to emerge.
2001
John Wesley made famous the phrase, "The world is my parish." In line with that same spirit, in 2001 we traveled to Rome, Italy and spent two days with Nazarene Italian leaders, discussing how the principles of NCS and NCU could be contextualized for use in planting new churches in Europe. Dr. Daniel Ketchum, now the Director of Nazarene Missions International, facilitated that training event.
2002
In the summer of 2002, we began contextualizing New Church University materials for use in East Africa. Our first East Africa contextualized version of NCU was delivered to a group of 25 pastors and leaders on a new district being developed by District Superintendent, Erick Oguta. During this thrust, the following results were achieved:
• 2 new churches were started.
• 812 people made commitments to Christ
• the existing churches began an intensive discipleship program in which these new converts were assigned to mentors from the core groups and also placed in prayer cells.
During the NCU training, the pastors became so excited because God helped them begin to articulate their vision and goals for the work in our new district in Tanzania. As the strategy emerged, plans were initiated to minister to AIDs caregivers and patients, orphans and widows, and to launch a strong, church multiplication movement all across the north of Tanzania.
2003
Dr. Louie Bustle asked for a meeting with us on May 11, 2003. At his request, we offered a rough, first-draft proposal which was accepted by the World Mission Department on May 21st for training church planters globally through NCS International. At Dr. Bustle’s request, we made a formal presentation to all six Nazarene Regional Directors on June 17. Because that went well, a request for a formal NCS proposal was made in July by David Hayse, Director of Nazarene World Mission Operations. Later a request came from Dr. Bustle to the NCS Board, requesting NCS consider releasing NCS materials for world-wide use by the Church of the Nazarene. Because materials and training had to go together and no funding from World Mission was available, NCS begin raising funds for our International work with various World Regions.
2004
In October of 2004, we were invited to participate in the Billy Graham 2004 Lausanne Forum for World Evangelization. This learning and exposure to evangelizing the world was priceless and a great help in developing the thinking of NCS internationally.
2005
In July, we did our first training event in Naivasha, Kenya. Over 30 pastors participated from a number of different denominational backgounds. After this event, we made a commitment that we would deliver a New Church University in Kenya in 2006.
November 1-5 we partnered with the Pacific Southwest District of the Wesleyan Church, Dr. Steve Babby and Phil Stevenson to deliver church multiplication training to all of the Latin America Wesleyan churches at a five-day training event in Puebla, Mexico. Training was delivered to leaders from 17 different countries and the feedback we received from this event was terrific.
2006
In April of 2006, NCS delivered a New Church University in Naivasha, Kenya, with 84 pastors attending. August 14-20 of that same year, we participated in the Nazarene East African Leadership Training & Holiness Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. About 500 pastors and church leaders were present.
2007
In 2007, we signed our first partnership with the Mexico and Central America Region. We spent two weeks in Guatemala City, learning and building the Mexico & Central America Regional Partnership. This is a region with 38 districts and 1,500 churches and missions. The on-site strategy meetings with MAC Region Leaders had the goal of training and sharing NCS resources with the regional staff. We have continued to raise resources to fund both our time investment and the translation of NCS materials for international use.
The Mexico & Central America Region has made a commitment with NCS that they would like to take our ReFocusing process of: 1) Assessment, 2) Renewal, 3) Planning and 4) Implementation along with a contextualized use of NCS tools and implement basic Church Assessments and Church Action Plans on all 38 Districts throughout the following 7 countries: Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama. They also purchased 800 copies of “Falling in Love with the Church” books in Spanish and began selling and distributing them.
On August 2-5, 2007, Jose Cardona led a New Church University with 80 pastors and planters attending in Quito, Ecuador. Out of this event, Nazarene North Andean Field Director on the South America Region, Rev. Dwight Rich signed a partnership agreement with NCS and has begun using NCU contextualized materials throughout Ecuador.
2008
In May of 2008, we helped train 36 DSes at their annual gathering. In August of this year, we spoke for a week in Mexico at the Mexico Pastors Gathering. The ultimate goal of the MAC Region is to have a trained, NCS Consultant working with pastors on every one of their 38 Districts.
2009
In February, NCS will spend a week training consultants to serve Nazarene districts throughout the MAC Region. At the same time, we will be training pastors and church leaders from multiple districts.
For more information about our current initiatives e-mail Dr. Larry McKain at office@newchurchspecialties.org. Because NCS International is not revenue-generating, we are deeply grateful to donors and friends who believe in what we are doing and want to assist the resourcing process of the church internationally. To make a donation to NCS International, click here.
