Recent Mens History in Foursquare
Books like "Wild At Heart" by John Eldredge speak of the need of men to recover their masculine heart, defined in the image of a passionate God. The men of Jubilee World Harvest Church recognised this, and saw a need to provide a men's ministry for men, by men, talking about men's issues, would capture men's attention and passions, and draw them out to discover who God has called them to be.
This group, called "4Men", has run a number of successful events, ranging from breakfasts, to workshops, and camps. These have been times of refreshing for the men involved.
For example, some men have never camped out in the bush, have never had to cook, have never canoed or even swam! At the last men's camp in Bickley, we saw young men conquering their fear of heights, and inspiring even the older men to step out in faith and boldness to overcome fears that have held them back in the past.
At each of these events, there is no holding back; men talk openly about their struggles, hopes and dreams. Men encourage other men with straight talk, and don't hide behind superficial platitudes. The times of sharing, tackling the hard issues - addictions, self-worth, confidence, and spirituality. This is what we are called to do - to live lives openly, warts and all, so that together we become the people of God built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit (Eph 2:22).
As a consequence of this ground-breaking approach, other churches have become involved with this ministry. At the last camp we saw men from other foursquare churches come and be part of this model, to see how they could take this back to their churches and start men's ministries with their own particular flavour.