4/14 Window News - Volume 1, Issue 7

Greetings!

Track facilitators, event hosts, and others involved in preparations for the Transform World New Generation 4/14 Window Global Initiative Summit began arriving in the New York City area Friday for pre-meetings prior to the big event that begins on Sunday.
It was a day filled with introductions, reconnections, conversations, idea-sharing, and much, much prayer.

Track facilitators met for several hours to pray and to share what God is doing around the world in raising up and connecting individuals and organizations who share a heart for transformational ministry to children.

Some key quotes:

"This feels historic. Something historic is about to happen here."

"The DNA of this whole movement is 'What is God doing?' God is targeting kids."

"We must see children as agents of ministry and not just objects of ministry."

"They are His children. If it's transformational He's the one doing it. And the gates of Hell will not be able to resist its advance."

"We are in mission together with God. He's on this amazing mission and he's giving us the privilege of being on mission with him and in the most exciting and reactive capacity I can imagine because it gets us from theological and conceptual to practical and tangible. Does it make sense to kids? Jesus was crazy about kids."

Thanks for your partnership in mission to reach a new generation, and thank you for your prayers throughout these days of strategic planning. We wait upon the Lord with great anticipation for all that He will reveal and do through this initiative.

Martha Anderson
Transform World newsletter editor
National Director, Centurions Program of Prison Fellowship / BreakPoint

Hope for Outcomes for the 4/14 Global Summit

By Luis Bush

This is a moment of hope, a moment of a bit of concern for some of us as we see things from a lense. We are aware we each carry a set of lenses. Some of us are trifocal. Each one of us has a perspective that we are coming to this event from, and it hinges a lot on what is going to happen in our own journey in this from the lense we bring to it. We bring a track lense that represents our heart passion of how we connect, related in a particular thrust.

What is the real hope for outcomes. Let me suggest a few:

1. Confirmation: The recognition and affirmation of what God is already doing in this 4/14 initiative in nations and continents - like Europe, like Nepal, Ethiopia, Uganda, where already there is a strong sense of commitment and emerging thrust of initiative so that in this meeting we will be able to recognize and affirm God at work. Sec

2. Connectivity: Divine connections - of each participant with the initiative which is why we are coming together. But more than the initiative itself is finding their place in connecting within a track, within a region, within a process so that they come away from this event no longer as spectators but engaged participants in their own area of gifting and passion.

3. Co-ownership: A personalization out of the connection of the 4/14 initiative - this is where I fit. This is where I engage. This is where I want to be a part. Owning the vision and personalizing it.

4. Channeling of interests of the 4/14 vision and ministry engagement: Not only owning and personalizing it, but now being an agent, channeling in the area of ministry engagement and interest. Becoming the vehicle, wheels, momentum for carrying forward that particular vision. Spiritual momentum is from God but practical momentum that comes out of this. Hopefully every participant goes back with hope for outcomes - this is the vehicle by which I can channel particular interests or passions

5. Collaboration potential: we have coming to this 4/14 Global Summit about 250 internationals and 112 North Americans. If we can find each other West and East, North and South, synergy and new sense of spiritual ministerial energy that could come out of that synergy that could be transformation.

Not only the actual collaborative effort, but the Spirit of Collaboration. Because it is that sense, that Spirit that leads to the practical. And so if we can capture under God the spirit of collaboration I believe we have great potential for seeing something beyond our imagination. As the scripture says above and beyond what we can ask, even as we are sitting here today, imagine, by the power that works in us, through the church, the body of Christ, who is the fullness, which is the fullness, of him who fills all in all. We are trusting that out of this a hope for conclusion will be that he, Jesus, will fill all in all as the church is the church.

6. Capability of Removing the Roadblocks: We have begun to meet to identify and consider what it takes to remove the roadblocks to the fullness of the 4/14 Initiative. These roadblocks are both present in the west and in the east, in the north and in the south.

The real hope for outcome could be how we can overcome some of those obstacles, break through some of those roadblocks that are causing us not to fulfill that potential. Tomorrow the steering committee will look at that. West and non West, North and South, learning to overcome obstacles and working together.

7. Covenant: Understand what we have together in different places. To covenant to a set of values or to the draft version (see below.) Shiferaw Michael from Ethiopia serves as chairperson of the Covenant Committee. If we could covenant on something together that could be that basis for understanding foundation things that will connect us in this initiative.

A new day in mission, new energies being released. How can we together capture that.

*Covenant Draft

4/14 Covenant Draft Resolution on the 4/14 window
Raising up a New Generation from the 4/14 Window to Transform the World Summit
New York 2009

PREAMBLE
Whereas the Bible boldly states that children are the gift of God and that God desires all children to come to Him; and

Although the Bible also decrees that children should grow up in an atmosphere of family love, wise counsel, tender discipline and unconditional care, the reality of our day is that this has often not become the case as children have been tragically neglected and therefore marginalized; and

Although the church has a responsibility to equip, train and encourage the family to play its proper role in the rearing of children, this too, , has often not become the reality of our day; and,

Whereas the glaring weakness in the handling and caring for children as a global community has contributed to millions of children becoming hopeless victims of our neglect;

Be it resolved that we, the participants of the 4/14 Window Global Summit, have come together to ask God to forgive us for failing to do what we could and what we ought for children as His gifts from above; and for failing to provide them with His holistic blessings and a strategy and hope for the transformation to the world;

Be it also resolved that we commit ourselves and the institutions that God has entrusted to us to improve and increase our efforts for the equipping, care and mobilization of the children and their families in the 4/14 window for the holistic transformation of the world;

In light of this Resolution, we now offer the following Covenant to guide us in the execution of our resolve:

Draft of Covenant on the 4/14 Window
General Provisions

1. Title of the Document
   This document shall be known to as "Covenant on the 4/14 Window"
    
2. Definition
   
   1. The '4/14 Window' refers to children and youth roughly between the ages of 4 and 18,
   2. "Christian organization" means a Christian NGO, or ministry or Christian mission organization that has ministry to children.
   3. "Denomination" means an organ that a given number of local churches of the same faith and doctrine establish for themselves.
   4. "Local Church" means a local group of believers who are organized within a denomination and satisfy the conditions set by the denomination or the umbrella for the formation of a local church.
   5. "National Alliance or Fellowship" means the alliance of fellowship of churches established by denominations and other organs in a country
   6. "Regional alliance or fellowship" means the alliance or fellowship of churches established by national alliances/fellowships and other organs in a continent of sub-region of a continent
       
3. Responsibilities of the regional, national alliances/Fellowships and denominations
   
3. Focus on children
   Each regional and national alliance/fellowship and denomination shall:
   1. Create a vision and mission statement for child and family ministry;
   2. Equip and train their member alliances/fellowships or denominations or local churches, as the case may be, to so that they make the children and families in the 4/14 window agents of holistic transformation; and,
   3. Create plans, budgets and strategies for the equipping and mobilization of children and their families in the 4/14 window for holistic transformation.
       
4. Responsibilities of the local church
4. Focus on children
   The local church shall:
   1. Have a mission and vision statements for equipping and mobilizing children and their families in the 4/14 window holistic transformation;
   2. Have plans, budget and strategy for the equipping and mobilization of the children and their families in the 4/14 window for holistic transformation;
   3. Give at least the same focus to the children in the 4/14 window as it gives to its other ministries;
   4. Train and equip families to raise their children as sources for holistic transformation for their communities and in ways they can protect themselves from the evils of the day.
       
5. Role of Christian Organizations
5. Strategies for reaching and mobilizing children and youth of the 4/14 Window
   Each Christian organization shall:
   1. Have clear strategies for the equipping and mobilization of children and their families in the 4/14 window for holistic transformation and that the same is done throughout its regional and national offices;
   2. Coordinate its work with organizations' that have a similar calling at international, regional and national levels to bring about more effective and efficient results in the equipping and mobilization of children and their families.
   3. Directly or through its branches, work closely regional and national church organizations and local churches for the equipping and mobilization of children and their families for holistic transformation.
       
6. Capacity building
   Each Christian organization shall include in its plans, programs and budget, provisions for capacity building of regional, national and local churches for the equipping and mobilization of children and their families in the 4/14 window for holistic transformation of their respective communities, nations and regions.

Glory to God in the Highest!

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Let the Waters Flow - Transformational Streams

By Bambang Budijanto, the Chair of the 4-14 Steering Committee, shared the following devotional with Summit Facilitators and staff in preparation for the Summit.

I woke up this morning around 4.56 AM and sensed that my Head and my Hand were way ahead of my Heart and Soul, so I decided to stop for a few hours (in His Presence) to allow my Heart and Soul to catch up. It was a precious moment. In my Bible reading this morning the Holy Spirit drew me to Ezekiel 47. . . .

I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple . . . He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river (47:6).

The way the 4-14 Global Initiative is structured helped me to see how the Tracks of the 4-14 Global Initiative act as and are actually Streams or Rivers that carry the WATER to the end of the earth.

As the Streams/Rivers flow the water grows deeper (3-4), which provides life in its fullness (9) and healing (12). Wherever the Streams empty themselves into the sea, they TRANSFORM the salt water into a FRESH WATER.

When Streams stop moving then they will become swamps and marshes which will then turn into salt water (11), no lives will be found there.

The Global, Regional and National Conferences and Summits function like Dams, where all the Streams/Tracks come together to synergize, to build momentum and to accumulate energy.

Dams are different than Swamps. The Streams/Tracks do not stop at the Dam forever. They stop for a moment to synergize, to build momentum and to accumulate energy. The Penstock in and the floodgate at the Dam will then allow the water either to produce clean energy for millions of homes and or irrigation for millions of acre of farm lands. The Streams/Tracks will then move on farther to provide life and healing for many until they reach the next Dam.

New York is by no means the Temple of God where the WATER is coming out from (1), but our gathering on the 6-8 of September could become the House of God, the Dwelling Place of God, the Temple of God where WATER flows from it to the end of the earth. With the few days that we have, let us humble ourselves before the Mighty God, that the Lord will come down and dwell in the midst of our 3 days gathering in New York. Let us pray that the WATER that gives life and healing flow through the Rivers/Streams/Tracks as we participate in this Divine Movement.

I am grateful to be part of this movement and am honestly honored to be able to journey together with you in this season of God (Esther 4:14).

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