ROOTED IN JESUS
A Course in Christian Discipleship for Africa

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junior manual

muhabura2010

When in Rome

Stirring the Pot in Mfuwe

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fianar

masasi

zululand

Lango

Transport in Mfuwe

Karamoja

Mityana

AJM roots

 


 

 

Information for UK Team Members...

Joining a team

A Rooted in Jesus team consists of 4 to 6 people who have been trained and authorised to facilitate a Rooted in Jesus conference. The Team Leader will have a good track record of Christian leadership, will normally be an ordained minister, and will have prior experience of Rooted in Jesus. Each team usually includes at least one Rooted in Jesus coordinator from a diocese where the programme is already in use. Team members will be invited to join the team according to its specific needs, but we give priority, amongst other factors, to people who may be able to lead future teams, who come from a diocese linked with the receiving diocese, and who (for RinJ Junior) have teaching experience.

If you have been invited to join a team, please download the team registration form, complete it and post to the Rooted in Jesus administrator (we need a hard copy, please). We need one of these FOR EACH TRIP YOU UNDERTAKE, with the £50 contribution towards our overheads. We will send you a full set of books as soon as we receive your form and cheque.

The conference programme is contained in the Rooted in Jesus Team Manual, and all team members are provided with a copy of this, along with our introductory booklet When in Rome. Please read ''How to use this manual' and sections 1-4 and 9 as soon as you receive it. The team leader will provide you with guidance on which other sections you will need to study for your particular trip.

Please read When in Rome carefully, and fully - even if, as they say, you are a frequent flyer. It contains essential information not just about cultural differences but also about the Dos and Don'ts of ministry with Rooted in Jesus in particular - please bear in mind that you are travelling not as individuals but as representatives of the Mathetes Trust.

People who have been on RinJ teams usually return home encouraged, inspired and refreshed for ministry in their own contexts - read some of their comments below. It is a great privilege to serve the Lord in this way, and it is our experience that we receive far more than we give as we work together with our brothers and sisters in Africa. Enjoy!

Safeguarding

Although Rooted in Jesus teams do not work directly with children or vulnerable adults, we take safeguarding very seriously. RinJ team members have a track record of fruitful ministry as ordained ministers, teachers or lay leaders, and are asked to provide references and a copy of their current PTO or DBS certificate. For more information click here.


Resources
Once your place on a team is confirmed and we have received your registration form, we will send you:
  • A full set of the Rooted in Jesus materials (a leader's introduction and the four course books) so that you are aware not just of the sessions you will use during the conferences but of the overall shape and syllabus of the course
  • A Team Manual with background information to the course, conference timetables, full notes for the individual sessions, and information and testimonies from the various places where Rooted in Jesus is in use.
  • A booklet on the joys and pitfalls of cross-cultural mission, When in Rome...This includes a recommended reading list to help you orient yourself culturally; for a more detailed list click here.

 

Preparation for your visit
All team members must read When in Rome IN FULL, well in advance of departure. This contains useful information on our way of working, and will help protect you from common mistakes and unhelpful complications.
What to expect: You may enjoy Leslie Siu's video presentation on his experiences on team in South Sudan - it's on Youtube here.
The Team Leader should pay particular attention to the Team Leader Checklist in the Manual - the primary responsibility for ensuring that all the appropriate arrangements are in place is YOURS. Usually the initial invitation is handled through the office, and once the overall arrangements have been agreed the Team Leader takes over and handles the practical details.

Preparation The Team Leader will hold a preparatory team meeting for the UK team members well in advance of departure, at which s/he will allocate teaching and other responsibilities. Team members should read the first section of the Team Manual in preparation for this meeting, and prepare the sessions allocated to you carefully before you fly. There may be no opportunity to prepare sessions once you have arrived.

Prayer : You should ensure appropriate intercessory arrangements have been made with your local church. We also have a small team of dedicated intercessors who will pray for you and for the conferences while you are away. "We did what we did because of your prayers" (Alfred Sichone) is a typical response from team members.
Finance : Please read the section below carefully and take appropriate action.


Finance

Each team member is expected to cover the cost of their own air fares. We also ask that you contribute £50 towards the overheads of the trip at this end for each visit that you undertake. We will provide you with the books and materials you need. You should also take some cash with you, to cover local transport costs, incidental expenses and emergencies. In all you should budget for an outlay of between £1-1.5K, depending on your destination country.

Rooted in Jesus is a self-supporting ministry with no central funding. Whilst it is our experience that the Lord always provides what is needed, contributions towards the costs of printing the materials and subsidising the conferences are extremely helpful. We invite you to consider whether you or your church can contribute either towards the direct costs of the trip you are involved in, or towards the development of Rooted in Jesus there and elsewhere in the future. Whilst there is no obligation to do so, we have found that when a local church commits to either financial or prayer support for a mission it does significantly raise the mission temperature at home; and without such support we cannot ultimately run the programme. It is possible to be creative about this - one conference was funded by two churches, one of which made a donation and the other of which supported a 24 hour sponsored preach.

QR codeIf you are raising money to help with a particular visit, you may wish to invite your friends to support Rooted in Jesus - this can be done very simply by scanning the QR code or following the link bit.ly/rootedinjesus23.

Contributions should be made payable to 'The Mathetes Trust' and sent to the Rooted in Jesus administrator at 10 Dairy Close, Wells, Somerset BA52ND (not, please, to the team leader); or can be made online, gift-aided if appropriate. For other ways of supporting RinJ see our support page.

The main costs associated with each visit are as follows:
  • Board and lodging for the team is provided by the host diocese
  • Conference facilities - churches or diocesan premises where available
  • Participant costs - transport and food
  • Travel costs of African team members
  • Books and materials
 
Incidental expenses
Whilst team members should take enough money with them to cover incidental expenses, you are asked not to respond to requests from individuals or local projects for gifts or donations. We have learned from experience that this can become a source of a great deal of tension amongst the people you are serving, and it raises unhelpful expectations both for us as an organisation and for future team members. Other organisations have a similar policy, and we ask you to stick to it even if it seems tough.

 

Recent comments from Team Members

I considered it a real privilege to lead such a gifted and supportive team, and am very grateful for the opportunity to be part of Rooted in Jesus. I am grateful too that my church, St Mary’s support my involvement with RinJ, and I consider these times to be some of the most significant in my ministerial role.’ David Archer, Nzara, S Sudan 2023

‘We were not ill, had no accidents, lost none of our stuff and made all our connections. I think I have returned with a greater trust in the ability of God to help us be more adventurous in our faith. No need to bury our talent in the ground but instead to use what we have been given with confidence and faith. Because God is Good!’ Geoff Maughan, Nzara, S Sudan 2023
'We are so grateful to God for the wonderful time of ministry, teaching and prayer we all enjoyed together. The Rooted in Jesus training not only gives people tools to share their faith but alsoteaches, encourages, and builds up one’s own faith.' Siphokazi Ngcobo, Khahlamba, S Africa 2023
'I wanted to write this email to ‘thank you’ for the tremendous blessing that is Rooted in Jesus and for the deeply inspiring ministry that God has entrusted you with. It is beautiful. And even more importantly, it is powerfully effective. I feel deeply encouraged to have seen it in practice, and for the potential that it has to meet the needs of our friends in Angola and Mozambique.' Daniel Maganin, Zambezia, Mozambique 2023
I was overwhelmed by the responses that people gave during the last teaching, sharing most of the things that they had learnt. With all the barriers of language and lack of context and understanding, God was there because the people of Zambezia were more transformed – Revd Tebogo Monyai, Zambezia, Mozambique 2023
I am sensing that this trip has been quite life-changing for me, and would be happy to join another when the opportunity arises.– Elke Hagedorn, Zambezia, Mozambique 2023
"The visit was amazing. It exceeded our expectations and we felt that God had planned this mission for us with specific moments over the last 30 years. In some ways it was the culmination of a lifetime’s calling." - Gary & Ann Ralls, Uganda 2022
"I personally had a tremendous spiritual uplift and blessing, something that had been missing in the past few years, and I want to thank God, the team and the participants for that" - Roger Fenton, Uganda 2022
"I really loved the whole visit. The materials were excellent and the more I got into them and used them the better I felt they were. I had a fresh experience of the Holy Spirit during the conference and this has enlivened my relationship with God in a big way." Revd Geoff Maughan, Kitale 2022

To read more Team Members' experiences, click here

 

Rooted in Jesus is published and supported by The Mathetes Trust.
For more information please contact us.