Global Action Training (6 months to 2 years)

How can I join? Contact your local OM office

Community Outreach Teams

The Community Outreach Teams offer an unrivaled opportunity for hands on involvement in evangelism in the UK while at the same time providing high quality and relevant training.

You will find the programme stimulating. The mix of practical evangelism, studies and team life will help you grow in your faith. You will also find the programme supportive. Your personal and spiritual growth is vitally important so, we provide a network of pastoral care.

The Study Programme

Our study programme aims to give you a foundation of biblical understanding, help you know God and know yourself and equip you for the task of Christian mission. It combines class room, small group and on the job training. You will learn how to:

• Handle the Bible responsibly;
• Share the gospel with secular Europeans, Asians, Muslims, youth, children and sects;
• Give answers for your faith;
• Understand other faiths and engage with them;
• Grow in your relationship with God;
• Work in a team

This programme is delivered in an initial residential Toolkit Programme and followed up by seminar weeks that take place once a month.

Team Placement

Following Toolkit (our initial training in such subjects as sharing their faith and leadership) they will be assigned to a Community Outreach Team based at one of the local churches. Each team is different: one is in an 86% Asian area, another is mainly ethnically British and the others are in ethnically mixed communities. Care is taken to place you in the best possible team for you.

It is during the team placement that the biblical, cultural and evangelistic topics covered during the study programme are put into practice. In any given week you may find yourself staffing a book table, doing door-to-door visitation or helping in children’s and youth clubs. You may also get involved in community or sports activities that give you contact with local people and a space in which to share your faith.

Special Skills

Developing special skills is yet another important aspect to the Community Outreach Programme. Each week there are sessions where your skills and interests can be identified, developed and shared. Special skills options include:

• Asian
  

  The Asian special skill involves the study of, and interaction with, the religion and culture of South Asian peoples.

• Kids
  

  The Kids' special skill involves understanding how children learn and process information in order to present the Gospel to them in a manner which they can understand and respond. You will learn how to and put into practice telling stories to children, using puppets, creating an evangelistic show for children and designing worksheets. The Kids ‘n’ Things team works in schools and kids' clubs around the UK.

• Gospel Illustrations
  

  This special skill is a combination of creative methods to attract people’s attention and share the Gospel with them in a visual and active manner. You will gain skills in basic visual illusions using cards, ropes and other things making the Gospel message clear. You will learn face painting, balloon modeling as a means of entering into conversation with people, and put it all into practice in real life settings.

Support

All students are assigned a pastoral tutor whose role is to assist with study concerns, advise on option choices, monitor your progress, and contribute to personal and spiritual development.You will meet with a Barnabas once a month on a social/friendship basis.There is also an open door policy to meet with the field leader if you have any particular concerns. Staff  are there to help you connect your studies with how to live it out in the church and world.

How can I join? Contact your local OM office