By Brooke Helder, GACX Content Creator
When I was studying abroad at Uganda Christian University, one of my cherished day-to-day activities was lunch. Not just because of the groundnut sauce over posho and fresh pineapple but because of the variety of people at my table.
I ate lunch with native Ugandan friends, fellow Americans studying abroad, and students from throughout Europe and Africa. Eating lunch with friends from all different cultures and households immersed me in a truly global experience.
The value of forming international connections, as I experienced in Uganda, is emphasized by the Missional International Church Network (MICN). MICN is a member of GACX, a global alliance for church multiplication. Their focus is on international churches, which are bodies of believers composed primarily of expatriates, but often including nationals as well. International churches connect people from different backgrounds into a single community for worship, discipleship, and outreach.
MICN is active in nearly 80 countries. Dr. Warren Reeve, founder of MICN, explains, “Diaspora make up the third largest population on the planet. And the international churches are at the intersections of where these people meet. London, Bangkok, Paris, Laos, and Hanoi are large cities worldwide where diaspora people end up: diplomats, Nike employees, trafficked people, and international students.”
MICN’s most significant collaboration is with DCPI, Dynamic Church Planting International (a founding member of GACX). Not only are the leaders of both organizations friends, but MICN personnel utilize DCPI training with their individual churches.
MICN has two church planters, Jay Devs and Steve Mills, who use the DCPI material frequently in their work in Africa. MICN is also trying to determine how to help international churches use the DCPI curriculum and methodology to extend the reach of the international church into the local context where they exist.
For example, if there were an international church in Nairobi, Kenya, how could the church use the DCPI curriculum to reach other Africans in other areas of the country?
MICN is seeking additional GACX members to come alongside them to find ways to expand the reach of the international church. Dr. Reeve shared with excitement, “I do not doubt that among the couple hundred international churches around the globe that operate independently, they are in one way or another connected with other GACX members.”
Are you interested in partnering with MICN? Visit www.micn.org to learn more.