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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: Cross-cultural Mission with Rooted in Jesus (also available here as an epub). 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: |
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| 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.
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: |
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| 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. |
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.