The SIAFU Guidebook

78 The SIAFU Network Guidebook

responsive to local church authority. We desire the SIAFU Network to be a blessing, not a burden, financially or administratively.

Specifically, we wrote this guidebook in order to provide you with a one-stop shop to know how to form, launch, and operate a SIAFU Chapter in your church or organization. We will provide ongoing online support at our website, along with additional resources designed to help you host your Chapter and watch it grow as the Lord uses it within your church and community. The answers to these objections make plain the need we have to start and host SIAFU Chapters in urban churches all across America. God’s chosen method of transformation and proclamation is the Church, which is the place where God’s Spirit dwells and whose work advances the Kingdom of God. SIAFU Chapters do not stand alone; they require the blessing and endorsement of pastoral/leadership authority. The SIAFU Network empowers local urban churches to identify, equip and release servant leaders who can make a difference where they live. It is a network that helps urban churches mobilize their members to follow Christ and be fruitful for the gospel. Our intent is to challenge the whole next generation of urban Christians to minister to urban Christians, to befriend, equip, and disciple urbanites, who will join urban churches which can continue to advance the Kingdom. We chose the motif of the SIAFU ants because of their shared commitment to their common welfare. As vulnerable as these little creatures are as individuals, they are formidable and powerful when they stand together. They accomplish remarkable things when they work together for a common aim. As a colony of millions of individuals per nest, the SIAFU are truly a force to be reckoned with, one that is not easily impeded or stopped. In the same way, urban churches and disciples can be a force for the Kingdom of God if they make it their common shared aim to represent the Kingdom of God in their cities.