Impact Groups

Here in the west, we gravitate to ideas; the challenge is to put them into practice. Increasingly, we have embraced an individual lifestyle, yet find ourselves desiring to be connected with others. When people embrace activation and community, we call this an Impact Group. They are beginning to spring up all over as places where men and women can support one another on the journey of spiritual transformation.

When an Impact Group becomes connected to a village in the developing world, not only is the village strengthened, the group is also powerfully enriched with the unifying knowledge that a tangible, significant difference is being made.

Impact Groups also build bridges to the poor and the isolated in their own communities, through a variety of outreach projects: providing a hot meal for the homeless, visiting the sick in hospitals, engaging in reading programs for ESL children, connecting with immigrant families who often feel isolated and confused in their new environment. The possibilities are endless.

And what does an Impact Group look like? It can be a neighbors’ group, a lunchtime office group, a book club, a church group. The variety is endless. In the process we discover the joy of belonging and the satisfaction of knowing that our lives are helping and enriching others.

Older Version

Simply put, an Impact Group is a purpose-driven gathering.

• A group where people can share ideas and dreams in a friendly and stimulating environment that encourages their fulfillment. There is no limit to the form that these gatherings can take—a book club, an office group, a neighborhood group, a Bible study.
• Connecting with the poor, the isolated and the vulnerable in tangible ways in our communities—providing lunches for the children of poor families, helping new immigrants with basic skills, caring for shut-ins. There are endless possibilities around all of us; in Impact Groups we help one another to recognize them.
• Connecting with the poor and the oppressed in the developing world, through specific rescue projects. An Impact Group could sponsor a training center for women-at-risk in India, build a feeding center for poor children in Central America, or safe drinking water to a particular village in the Philippines or Africa.

Impact Groups can connect with groups in other cities and countries, joining around common projects or overseas communities. We believe that these groups will be a powerful tool for both releasing individuals into new levels of effectiveness, and helping to change the lives of countless people in the developing world.

Doug – More on Impact Groups

• everyone can pray and serve the poor; Impact Groups must encompass both
• include the poor locally to understand how to serve the target nation
• start with either local (more integrated) or global (more compelling)
• try to pick projects where there’s already a personal connection (like you went there)
• first project is from the list, then start initiating your own
• materials come from Steve and our partner apostles (hopefully video)
• “ready” (infrastructure) “fire” (New Testament – just help them) “aim” (sustainability)