What iDREAM Is All About

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MISSION STATEMENT OF DREAM INTERNATIONAL (iDREAM)

Shaping Young Professionals to Lead In a Secular World

WHAT IS iDREAM?

iDREAM is an acronym for Disciples Reaching, Empowering, Activating, and Magnifying. i stands for International. 

MISSION  (What we Do)                                                                                                               

iDREAM exists to Disciple Young Professionals to Reach the Secular Youth, Empower relationship-centered leadership, Activate God’s gifts for ministry, and Magnify God with our worshipful lives.

VISION

A global network of youth leaders with a passion to D.R.E.A.M. in their homes, churches, workplaces, and communities.

PHILOSOPHY

Every believer is a disciple.

Every disciple is a minister.

Every minister is a leader.

Every leader is a disciple-maker.

iDREAM’s PURPOSES

To fulfill THE GOSPEL COMMISSION, THE GREA T COMMANDMENT, and THE NEW COMMANDMENT through the following 5 defined purposes. 

Evangelism - The church exists to communicate God’s word - “Go…make disciples”

Fellowship - The church exists to integrate God’s family - “Love one another” 

Worship - The church exists to celebrate God’s presence - “Love God with all your heart” 

Discipleship - The church exists to educate God’s People - “Teach them all things” 

Ministries - The church to exists demonstrate God’s love - “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” 

iDREAM CORE VALUES 

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, in response to the mission of Christ, is placing emphasis on three strategic issues: Quality of Life, Unity, and Growth.* iDREAM student ministry supports all these core values in the context of young adult ministry. The official GC minutes that placed these strategic issues before our church states, It is our deep desire that in the formation of a community of faith, each person will experience unconditional commitment to Christ. This commitment results in joyful and loving personal experience, active participation in the life of the church, and compassionate service to the wider community in the world.  iDREAM desires that every youth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church find expressions of his or her Christ-centered life through: 

1. Quality of personal and church life demonstrated by:

a)      Living  a  life  that  radiates  the  joy  of  salvation  and  restoration,  and    enthusiastically anticipates  the  perfect  world  to  come. 

b)      Taking  an  active  part  in  a  weekly  Bible study  group. 

c)        Faithfully attending church, Sabbath School, and AYS meetings. 

d)      Nourishing  a  personal,  family,  and  group devotional  life  through  the  Bible  Year, Morning Watch and Encounter plans. 

e)      Sharpening  our  skills  at  training  programs  that  highlight  discipleship,  witnessing,  and  involvement  in  local  church  activity. 

f)        Playing some part in the worldwide work of the Church. 

g)      Showering  love  and  attention  on  all  church members  while  helping  them  discover  their spiritual  gifts. 

h)      Becoming  a  Seventh-day  Adventist  who  is also  a  model  citizen,  someone  whose mental, physical,  and  spiritual  life  values  are  revealed through  compassion  and   service. 

Makes sense.  Who would want to join a church whose members don’t demonstrate at least some of those eight things? 

2. Unity of the church demonstrated by: 

a)      Allowing the Spirit-guided, Bible-based, Christ-centered fundamental beliefs of the 

Seventh-day Adventist Church to unify us.  

b)      Enjoying  the  rich  cultural  and  ethnic  diversity  within  our  church. 

c)       Letting  the  world  church-approved  system  of  structure  and  organization  create  a 

sense of  identity  for  each  person. 

Exactly how unifying are you? Something to think about! 

3. Growth of the church demonstrated by: 

a)      Fill  the  pews  with  people  who  have come  to  enjoy  a  rich  spiritual  experience and who have  discovered  their  spiritual  gifts and committed  themselves  to  active witness. 

b)      Increase membership in local churches while holding onto present believers. 

c)       Create a positive Adventist impact within the community. 

d)      Establish churches in unentered areas.   

e)      Keep  alive  the  church’s  legacy  and  mission  in order  to  motivate  and  inspire future generations. 

There you have it:  Quality of Life, Unity, and Growth. Core values to keep and teach. The strategic issues facing our church today. As a youth leader, you’re in a unique position to address these issues in powerful and far-reaching ways.  You  have  at  your  disposal  the  boundless   energy,  up-to-date  thinking,  and  from-the-heart  passions  of  our    young  people. How are you going to respond to these challenges? What programs will you implement to meet the needs of   your community? When are you going to funnel the resources you have on hand into the lives of those who want to make a difference in our church? 

Your church leaders can place in your hands cutting-edge spiritual resources.  It can train you at   seminars, equip you with manuals, Starter Kits, videos and ideas.  They can challenge you, encourage you, and pray for you. But, that won’t be what touches the hearts and minds of your youth. YOU are their greatest treasure. YOU are the  power  that  can  bring  these  core  values  to   life  for  your  young people. Into your hands has been placed the challenges of today and the hope for tomorrow. What you do and say will impact your youth far greater than anything your   church’s leadership says and does. As you look to the future and consider how you can implement the core values of quality of life, unity, and growth.   

The BIG idea

Being a leader in today’s world has its share of hardships. One of them is getting things done. There are some leaders that have great ideas and large scale imagination, but it takes talent to take those big ideas and set them in motion so they become reality.

I have worked with leaders who can envision unique actives, programs, or resources that seem really great but when it comes time to get from imagination to reality, many leaders lack patients in creating a path for success.

In my minuet experience I have a little formula that I use when planning and developing ideas. I hope this can help you too.

What, Who, When, Where, Why and Whom, these (for me) should be first on your agenda when starting the “idea”.

What - What will this program do? What makes this program different from the rest?

Who - Who is benefiting? Who should relate? And who needs the program? In short define your audience.

When - when planning an event, program or worship service, the “When” is important to the “Who” and should be considered if you plan to reach out to the “Who”.

Where - next to the “When” the “Where” has complications too. Your “Where” needs to be relevant and a common ground for the audience. ex. Bringing non-church going folks to your local church might not be the best location for ministry, since they wouldn’t be comfortable as to environments that they are used to.

Why - the “Why” will answer your purpose. Why do we have this program? Is it relevant to my audience?

Whom – Hopefully Jesus Christ is the Point, Reason, and Center of the program or idea.

These basic questions give you a foundation that makes a complete, stable and centered idea from which you can develop and build up on. Once having answered fully the 5 Ws you can now start in making your idea more concrete by the following:

Cause and Effect
Many programs and events are created because of schedule (weekly service, yearly revival, etc), or of position and statues (preaching, sermons, teaching, etc). Not much though goes into what I call “cause and effect”. Cause and Effect differentiates a habitual program with a directive program. The Cause is based on the What and Why, issues at hand and the reality of life which defines the point of the program. Effect is the outcome of your program, will it change people for the moment or will it drive the motivation of change in total action.

Purpose
Defining your purpose will help in the overall planning and initiating of your program.

Content
I have attended some religious programs that are filled activities and events but no real content. At times speakers or worship planners just add activities just to fill up time and its Cause and Effect isn’t taking into consideration.

Focus
A program that isn’t focused can get confusing and your participants may not get the full message and Effect that you wanted to portray with your program.

Relevance
Topics should not only be focused but precise to the culture, issues, realty, and generation or the listener. The mediums of both presenter and audience should be compatible so that a connection can be made and the message conveyed clearly.

Quality
Quality is important not because of perfection, but because of impression. The totally conservative may have their perspective of making impressions, but in reality 1rst impression lasts. Jesus gave powerful impressions, He reacted to the sellers in the temple, He turned water into wine, and He raised the dead! If you want to draw attention to Jesus, i really suggest that you do it in the best way you can.

Conclusion
This is only the tip if ice berg, after you completely understand the basis of your idea or program, you can then start on planning the road map that can lead you to completing your idea to a real functioning program. Great programs start with a idea that have a firm foundation.

Dare to React

There’s one unfamous story about the Bible that will help us understand and give us wisdom on when we need to Act.

It’s the story about Jonathan’s courage that took him out of his confort zone and do something really risky… or was it? I found it interesting when Jonathan took his body guard and left the security of his father’s army and went to where the Philistines were staying. You can read more details in 1 Samual 14.

I got to thinking that this guy really had guts! What was he thinking? How crazy was Jonanthan?

You’ve all heard the Netwon’s Law , so you know the Law of Attraction. Have you heard of the “Law of Reaction”? I think Jonathan know the Law of Reaction and how to use it.

What is Law of Reaction? The Law of Reaction has 3 level process.

1rst Law- Know when to react.

The Philiistines where occuping Isreal’s terratory, and Jonathan know this to be wrong. Knowing God was on his side and that it was God’s will  that Isreal reconquer thier promised land, Jonathan know it was time to react.

So when do we know when to react? We need to react when Satan occupies our territory. We as Christians should know to Whom we belong to. When a part of our life is occupied by greed, anger, lust or pride we need to stop and react! When we see someone in need of help, we must react to become the good Samaritan. To react is to stand for an act of change, a change that from that point onward things willl be different.

2^nd law -  Ask God for guidance

It doesn’t seem like Jonathan actually prayed as according to verses. But he seem prepared, as if he has been preparing himself for this moment or for moments like this one. Jonathan must have had a constant relationship with God that had him set and prepared for anything. For many of us we only get in contact with God when in serious need or trouble. Or when in the middle of crisis do we start communicating with God. Sad but so true.Its not that we live our life literaly in prayer, but we live our life in connection with God. The relationship will make you spiritual strong and will make you ready for anything that may come your way. Giving you the ability to react with confidence.

3^rd Law – When you react, people will follow

Jonathan was able to get the trust of his bodyguard. When we react, we hold an influence which called people of the same belief to join in. There are many reactionaries in the bible but Jesus tops them all. Jesus is the ultimate reactionary! He went against religious cultural flow and beliefs. He Cast out demons, He healed the sick on the Sabbath, He talked and communicated with prostitues.  His reaction to sin was His mission statment which was His death and resurection.  His reaction proved His cause, which had so much power that His story of reaction has called so many others to follow and stand up for the same cause, to react against sin.

Do you dare to act? How will you react?

Road Trip Ministry: In Luxury

Picture in your mind this photo op: a Team of 9 dreamers, with their backpacks and suitcases ready, classy, with all their perfect and genius smiles, read to go to Mindanao for a Mission Trip, on a very luxurious boat: Supper Ferry 12, first class SUITE. An air con van ready to pick them all up as soon as they dock on the pier. A perfect, comfortable house with all the comforts of your own house is waiting. People so ready to welcome and assist in every way they can like a chauffer. Food is all good that you wish you can bring the cook home. Cebu Pacific flight on the way back home. And most of all its all FREE!

Envious? Yes, of course. It’s the perfect ministry outreach, right? If you saw the announcement in the bulletin, I know for sure you wouldn’t hesitate to sign in and be part of the team.

Honestly, that’s not what happens to our trip to MVC (Mountain View College), Mindanao. Sometimes, we felt like we want to go back home and take our break. Yes, we did board Supper Ferry 12, but on economy suite. The aircon van was not there to pick us up in Cagayan de Oro harbor, coz we were stranded for 24 hours in Manila. The Superferry which was known to have the finest cruising service in the country, has failed to live up to its name. After arriving at Cebu and stranded again for more than 2 hours, we were transferred to, I would say, this horrible and unsafe boat that you would be scared to leave all your stuff coz if you’re not careful enough, you will find yourself looking for your valuables in just an hour. Just imagine our dilemma, coz wehave so many valuables. After docking in the pier, we waited for a good 3 hours again for our van. We are all tired, sleepy, and most of all hungry and almost angry. We don’t have beds in our boat to sleep in that night. We all slept in the coach in the lobby or in the dinning area of the boat. Just imagine how we look like when we’re waiting for our ride. Yes, most of us are moody already. Good thing Gem didn’t go with us in the boat and arrived earlier in Cagayan de Oro to look for our ride and buy food for hungry-angry lions.

Arriving at MVC, we did have a cozy house to rest our exhausted bodies. We have very comfortable beds (for girls only for the record the guys didn’t complained about it), and cool people who are so happy to welcome and assists us, not as a chauffer. The house has enough bathrooms that we don’t need to rush or to be rush when we’re taking shower, and enough COLD water (that sometimes turn into chocolate after a rain) to enjoy. The catch is from our house to our booth is a mile walk in a dirt road! After a good walk, we already look and smell like we need go back and walk a mile again to take another shower! You may be asking why ‘the walk’ is the catch. It’s the catch coz the whole team agreed that the house is *geniusly perfect for us and we just hate the walk.

To be a part of a team, each of you has responsibilities, right? To make the long details short, each of us has 2 to 3 ordeals throughout the whole week! Imagine you as a salesperson and a cashier, at the same time the accountant,and last but not the least the assistant to everybody. Basically, that’s just an example of how we work. Not only that, we have 24 hours without sleep, breakfast at 10am, lunch at 3pm, and dinner at 12am. And the food? If you’re asking? Just imagine the worst.

You’re more than welcome to join our International Team, who always have Ministry in Luxury. Don’t worry its FREE!

iDREAM Vocabs

 *Perfect: if a thing doesn’t work according to what we have planned, it iscalled ‘perfect’.

*Genius: any idea, plan, scheme, suggestion, proposal, or actions even thought it’s the craziest idea you’ve heard in the world or the stupidest action plan your ever seen , it called ‘genius’