Youth-Focused Leadership Developer - Eastern and Southern Africa

Christian Reformed Church In North America Foundation; United States; On-site; USD 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-Life Balance

Flexible Work Arrangements

Generous Vacation and Holiday Time

Professional Development Opportunities

Job summary

The Christian Reformed Church In North America Foundation seeks a Youth-Focused Leadership Developer to support and empower youth in Eastern and Southern Africa. This role involves collaboratively mentoring young adults, facilitating their spiritual growth, and connecting them with missional opportunities in diverse sociocultural contexts. Candidates must hold a Master’s degree and have experience in practical ministry. Full-time position with benefits and potential international travel.

Qualifications

• Professing membership in a Christian Reformed congregation.
• Demonstrated commitment to gospel witness.
• At least three years of practical ministry experience with youth.

Responsibilities

• Encourage and empower youth in their spiritual journeys.
• Develop relationships with Christian leaders and churches.
• Facilitate reciprocal exchanges for youth leadership formation.

Skills

Intercultural awareness

Empowering others

Creative problem-solving

Spiritual formation

Administrative skills

Education

Master’s degree in a relevant field

Job description

Youth-Focused Leadership Developer - Eastern and Southern Africa

Department: Resonate Global Mission

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: International

Reporting To: Regional Leader

Description

OVERVIEW: Eastern and Southern Africa is experiencing a youth bulge within our population. In certain countries, such as Uganda, over 75% of the population is under the age of 35. Resonate discerned this reality as an opportunity to go deep with young adults in mission as God works in and through them. Christian youth are declaring and concretely living out the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this position seeks to amplify their gospel impact in neighborhoods and communities.

PURPOSE: The Youth-Focused Leadership Developer walks with collaborators and communities of practice to form, connect, and release youth to more fruitfully join God’s mission. This role creates gospel-shaped spiritual and social transformation. The goal of this position is to encourage youth in Christ-centered formation to grow within an intentional community and provide reflective learning and radical discipleship.

This position will remain open until filled.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

Youth Formation

1. Encourage and empower youth by walking alongside them and co-facilitating Youth Cohorts or peer networks for mutual learning and care and prophetic imagination to concretely live out gospel witness within neighborhoods.
2. Identify and develop long-term reciprocal relationships with Christian leaders, churches, and organizations who see youth as leaders. Share a vision for missional living and gospel witness among different sociocultural backgrounds including the poor and marginalized.
3. Using practical and interactive learning processes, curricula, and methodologies, co-facilitate conversations, experiences, gatherings, and courses that equip youth to serve, lead, and innovate.
4. Care for key leaders, accompanying them through prayer, mentoring, and spiritual direction to promote a growing faith in Jesus, emotional well-being, and sustainability in ministry.
5. Co-design and connect with youth and collaborators for life skills, vocational discernment, and social entrepreneurship.
6. Collaborate actively with a community of practice relating to the ministry for mutual learning and growth as youth fruitfully live by God’s gifting within them.

Participating in the Regional Team

1. Meet with other Resonate staff and partners in the region once a month for prayer, learning, guidance, and ministry planning.
2. Become involved with the team’s communal listening and discernment processes and spiritual conferences.
3. Peer mentor church and ministry leaders engaged in youth leadership development.
4. Periodically connect virtually and in person with other team members and partners in the region for prayer, strategy, best practices, and encouragement.

Service with North America

1. Facilitate reciprocal exchanges between the CRCNA and ministry collaborators in Eastern and Southern Africa for youth leadership formation.
2. Return to North America periodically for Reconnect visits to report on God’s mission within youth and listen for ways to connect the CRCNA and other entities in the formation of youth.
3. Provide the CRCNA with insight and resources about youth missional formation from the missionary’s knowledge and expertise, encouraging a deeper passion and involvement in global missions.
4. Communicate the nature and impact of Resonate's ministry activities to the CRCNA and others through written communications (at least quarterly), and through teaching and speaking engagements, especially on Reconnect visits.
5. Participate in support-raising for Resonate Global Mission’s ministries by developing and maintaining a network of supporting churches and individuals in North America.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES None

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERTISE:

QUALIFICATIONS

1. Professing membership in a Christian Reformed congregation, or of a church in communion with the CRCNA, and agreement with the doctrine of the church signified by signing a covenant statement.
2. Demonstrated commitment to gospel witness and the integral word and deed mission of the church as expressed in Resonate’s foundational documents.
3. Demonstrated affinity and passion for ministering among people of different sociocultural backgrounds including the poor and marginalized.
4. Demonstrated effective intercultural awareness and capabilities to work with others from different cultures and religious backgrounds.
5. Demonstrated ability to listen well and empower others for gospel witness and ministry.
6. Proven capacity to be creative and innovative in complex situations without a predetermined map.
7. Self-motivated and proven quality administrative and organizational skills.
8. Flexible and adaptable to travel, communication, and living conditions in Africa.
9. The ability to travel periodically to, from, and within North America.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

1. Master’s degree (completed or in progress) in a field related to the position.
2. Three years of practical ministry experience with youth and leadership development, in contexts where crossing racial, ethnic, or other social barriers was necessary.
3. Certification or willingness to achieve certification in relevant interactive learning processes.
4. Training in spiritual formation is preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Position Stages

The successful candidate for this position will start as a Missionary in Training before fully transitioning to the Career Missionary role.

Stage #1 Missionary in Training: The purpose of this position is to prepare for international service. In this role, the employee will develop language and cultural skills, ministry expertise, and build a network of relationships for prayer, care, and financial support in North America that will enable future ministry. One can expect to remain in this stage for 6 to 18 months, depending on how quickly the support network comes together and their prior background and experience. Typically, this position is a full-time role. The pay range for this position is based on the US or Canadian domestic pay scale.

Stage #2 Career Missionary: When the missionary is ready to completely assume the duties in their job description, they transition to the Career Missionary role, which is located in their country of service. This position is full-time. The pay range is based on the US or Canadian international pay scale.

Full-time Benefits

Benefits may be pro-rated based on number of hours worked per week:

• Work-Life Balance
• Full-Time Flexible Work Arrangements
• Generous Vacation and Holiday Time
• Competitive benefits and retirement plan
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Contributing to an organization that is making an impact in the world