Interactive Tracks
HIV Pandemic and City Movements: Building Hope Church Alliances
“God is in the slums and the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both of their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of a wasted opportunity and wasted lives. God is with us, if we are with them.” Bono, singer, musician, humanitarian
The HIV / AIDS pandemic is the greatest humanitarian crisis in human history:
• More than 40 million people have died of HIV since the pandemic’s breakout
• More than 30 million people are currently living with HIV
• The life expectancy in countries like Swaziland has been lowered to 32 years of age
• A majority of the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day
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Participants: |
The track is for Pastors, Ministry Leaders, Marketplace Leaders, and Mission Mobilizers who want to see a movement of churches in their particular city address the needs of a specific country impacted by HIV. The track will be facilitated by leadership from World Vision and The New York City Leadership Center. |
Objectives:
• Learn about the global trends of HIV and the forecast for the next 40 years
• Discuss and explore case studies of church based alliances in the United States and their impact on HIV _-impacted areas
• Create a plan to strengthen or catalyze a Hope Church Alliance in your city to address this humanitarian _-crisis
• Network with like-minded leaders and explore opportunities to travel to countries impacted by HIV
• Learn how to engage your civic and community leaders in a humanitarian campaign
• Learn how your church can combine local and global outreach to grow your church and impact the world
Track Speakers:
Dean Curry, Lead Pastor of Life Center Church 
Dean Curry, lead pastor at Life Center church in Tacoma, WA., is a native of Tacoma. Dean is a nationally sought-after public speaker, motivator, teacher, and mentor who is passionate about extending Jesus’ message of hope. In 2006, he co-founded The Global Neighbor Project a compassionate, community-based outreach to the region of Lesotho, Africa. As pastor of Life Center, Dean shepherds one of the largest multi-generational congregations in the state, with sister programs ranging from a K-12 preparatory school, Life Center South campus in Lakewood, WA, to a full-service retirement facility. Dean's heart is for the community, and he is hungry to promote unity among people of all backgrounds. Dean and Anne have been married for 22 years and reside with their two children in Tacoma.
Rev. Dr. McKenzie Pier, President of The New York City Leadership Center (NYCLC), an independent non-profit organization, which was recently planted by Concerts of Prayer Greater New York in 2007.
The mission of the Center is to exponentially increase the leadership effectiveness of ministry and marketplace leaders. As the founder and former president of Concerts of Prayer, Mac initiated and promoted an historic stream of corporate prayer for the city, nation, and world. After 23 years the ministry has become a trusted source for urban and suburban unity across denominational, racial, and economic lines. Mac’s latest book, Spiritual Leadership in the Global City (New Hope Publishers) was released in September 2008. Mac also is co-author of The Power of a City at Prayer (Pier & Sweeting, InterVarsity Press, Sept. 2002), a testament to God’s grace experienced in the region before, during and after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Mac earned his doctor of divinity degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in June 2000. He and his wife Marya have three children and reside in Flushing, Queens.
John Volinsky, Senior Director for Church Relations World Vision
John served 20 years in the ministry before joining World Vision in 2008 as senior director of church relations. He was serving as a Creative Arts/Teaching pastor for one of the nation’s top 25 influential churches, near Sacramento, California. The church experienced a major revival as a result of a fund-raising campaign, the outpouring of generosity (they raised $19 million), attendance growth and many conversions to Christ. He felt God wanted him to share what he learned with churches around the country. He is now connecting churches in the U.S. with World Vision’s work helping children and their families overcome poverty in nearly 100 countries. He also continues to serve as an adjunct professor at Western Seminary in Sacramento. John felt called to the ministry during high school and always had an interest in missions. He earned a Masters in Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and then went into church planting work in the U.S. John says, “My goal is to create a revolution where the church really begins to live out the values that Christ calls us to live out. And when we do that, the world will see and be changed because of it.”
Jarvis Ward, Mission America- National Facilitator of City & Community Missionaries Ministries
Jarvis was invited to join the national staff of Mission America as a National Facilitator of City/Community Ministries in November 1997. His role involves the exploration, formation and implementation of City/Community/County partnerships that include diversity denominationally, ethnically and racially with the vision of sustained holistic transformation. In hundreds of cities in America, this transformational process is beginning to take place. Jarvis is involved in numerous Para-ministries and civic organizations and presently is the Mississippi Regional Trainer for The Intimate Life Ministry based in Austin, Texas. He has served many years as a Volunteer Chaplain for the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. He was unanimously appointed as a member of the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to serve a term through the year 2004. Jarvis is involved in preaching and teaching throughout Mississippi as well as across the country. His ordination is from the First Evangelical Church of Greenville, SC. He has made a life commitment to labor and sacrifice to see young and old come to know, to love, to worship and to serve Jesus Christ. Jarvis is a graduate of Memphis State University and the Evangelical Institute of Greenville, South Carolina. Jarvis and his wife, Brendalyn, have five children and reside in Pearl, MS.
Track Design Team:
| Mac Pier | President, The New York City Leadership Center |
| John Volinsky | National Director of Church Partnerships, World Vision |
