River of Life exists to equip individuals to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, allowing His influence to impact every area of their life, including:
• Faith Formation – the growth of oneʼs relationship with Jesus through the development of lifestyle habits of the heart as evidenced by personal devotion and communtion with God including listening and sowing to the Spirit, the exercise of the spiritual disciplines (i.e. prayer, worship, Bible intake, mediatation/personal reflection), and personal obedience. The overarching goal of faith formation is Christ-like character development.
• Emotional Formation and Maturity – the development of emotional maturity that is reflected in recognition of personal strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities, as evidenced by embracing personal brokenness leading to the reception of Christʼs healing of past emotional and personal hurts and identifying Godʼs providential and redemptive plan for all life circumstances.
• Social/Interpersonal Formation – the development of relational skills through interaction with others that reflects genuine concern and inclusion, the ability to deal with conflict constructively, and how to get along with others.
• Health and Wellness Formation – the development of positive health awareness and practices that recognize physical stewardship as vital for fulfilling oneʼs life calling through proper nutrition, physical exercise, sleep patterns, stress management, and sexual responsibility.
• Vocational/Ministerial Formation – The development of ministry preparedness, no matter what oneʼs chosen path through identifying oneʼs spiritual and natural giftedness, life history/story, previous employment experiences, personal areas of fulfillment, and to engage in professional and ministerial development experiences as a platform for future service.
• Theological/Intellectual Formation – the development of the ability to think critically and reflectively from a Christian worldview in relationship to Godʼs Word, multiple and continuous sources of informational stimuli and events, and oneʼs personal life journey and circumstances.
• Financial & Resources Stewardship Formation – the development of attitudes and practices which reflect biblical and God-honoring principles of handling money, debt, and material possessions in order to reflect Kingdom priorities whereby all resources are received and utilized for Godʼs glory.
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:11-16, NKJV)
