What do we teach?

We teach principles and best practices to help people Meet the Need First in communities of need.

Here are our core principles:

Meet the Need First

maslow.png

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one helpful way to understand the range of human need. In Upside Down training, we talk how we minister to immediate needs through Relief work, and deeper needs through Release work. 

As humans, we all have needs. Needs that go unmet become hindrances to life and faith. Almost every culture has a saying something like this: “The hungry person has no ears.” Unless we deal with immediate needs, a person is not able to move to a more whole and integrated place in life.  However, if we only focus on addressing tangible needs, we end up giving away our own emptiness. Therefore, we’ve learned, it’s “Meet the Need First,” not only “Meet the Need.”


Serve the Unserved

Jesus teaches us to look for those who are falling through the cracks or those who live in the shadows.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed, because they can’t repay you.
Luke 14:13-14

In Jesus’ upside down world, you look for people who can’t pay you back.  We are to look for those who aren’t influential “connectors” or “gatekeepers.”


See the Unseen

Faith is having eyes to See the Unseen. The apostle Paul reminds us to

Fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18

In other words, the inside stuff is more important than the outside stuff.


Small is Big

Jesus saw ministry in terms of starting small. He taught that one small seed planted eventually provides shelter and cover for many. 

What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.
Luke 13:18-19

Jesus’s teaching and example helps us understand three stages in ministry:

Stage 1: A time to bless the many
Stage 2: A time to invest in the few
Stage 3: A time when things get out of hand