A lot can happen in 3 years. For the Evangelicals in their 20s and 30s who did IFES’ Cross Current Politics Programme from 2014 to 2017, they all blossomed in different ways.
Over 6 weekends of the Cross Current Course, the group focused on what it means to be a Christlike presence in public life and to think biblically about society and policy but also professional and personal life. The course was practical, personal, prayerful, designed around the needs and requests of the group and resulting in huge growth in wisdom, maturity and confidence. There are prayer partner friendships that are likely to last.
One strong foundation through the course was how to use the Bible in shaping ones views. This included why Christians may come to different political conclusions while still being faithful to God’s word. The participants were not able to hide behind theoretical knowledge. For example, when the refugee crisis hit Europe, they had to imagine they were government leaders in the midst of immediate needs… and expecting another nation or the European Union to sort everything was not an option!
By the end of the course, the participants were doing most of the work themselves, including coming up with wise responses to gender issues, balancing biblical teaching on identity, sexuality and freedom with compassion and practicality.
These politicos studied the lives of Nehemiah, Daniel, David, Moses and Joseph in depth, especially looking at how and why these leaders were great. The core of the answer was always that it was God that made them great, and this was possible because of their close walk with Him.
Please pray that this will increasingly be true for the Cross Current participants, who included political party workers & candidates, NGO advocates, diplomats, lawyers, academics, European Commission & Parliament workers and peace builders, from Albania, Austria, Czech, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Ukraine.
The Cross Current Politics group was led by Julia Doxat-Purser and Ross Hendry, and was one of the IFES Graduate Impact courses. A new group is being planned, we hope to start in 2018. Please would you help us to find the right participants? Do also point people to the other great programmes run by IFES Graduate Impact http://www.graduateimpact.org/
