COURSE
ACTIVATE+ TRAINING
ACCOMPANIES LEADERS LONG TERM
Activate+ is a practical training and goal-oriented mentoring program for church planters, for leaders of existing churches and for people who want to make a difference in the kingdom of God. We train leaders to inspirationally and passionately lead people into a deeper relationship with Jesus.
We help the participants to further God’s kingdom wherever they are, to generate growth, to adventure out in new directions or to take first steps and start new churches.
MAIN FOCUS AND CONTENT
THEOLOGICAL COMPETENCE
The church of Jesus, the interpretation of the New Testament, focus Jesus (studying and passing on the gospels), basics of evangelism, preaching to glorify God, ethics and transformation and more.
IDENTITY
Identity, a leader´s character, a life of prayer, hearing God’s voice, strengths and gifts, capacity for teamwork, servant leadership, family and marriage and more.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Communicating vision, choosing a team and training leaders, mentoring, leading a service, preaching in a culturally relevant way, counselling, the art of leadership and more.
EFFECTIVE CHURCH STRUCTURES
Steps for planting churches, phases in the life of a church, suitable structures, building a team, pastoral ministry, vibrant services, the importance of the fivefold ministry, prophecy and more.
STRUCTURE
The training consists of eight weekends spread over a year. A mixture of experienced church leaders, church planters, theologians and experts in their field will make the training “church-based” and very practical. It is important to us to offer a training that is embedded in the centre of church life.
It is important to us to offer a training course that is embedded in real church life and doesn’t just look at theory.
Are you already in the middle of a church planting project or are you involved with a church building project that needs to be further developed? Or do you have plans that are waiting to be realized? Then our mentoring-program will further assist you.
In addition to the training weekends, we offer the possibility for you to consult experienced mentors and to take new paths and next steps with your project. Should you have no idea yet as to what project you could get involved with we would like to help you to find an already existing project in your church, to which you can contribute and apply what you have learned on our course.
DATES + FEES
ACTIVATE+ DATES 2025/2026
7-8 February (Start)
7-8 March
11-12 April
16-17 May
13-14 June
12-13 September
24-25 October
28-29 November
23-24 January
6-7 March
Friday schedule
16.30 Arrival with tea & coffee
17:00 Session 1
18:30 Dinner
19:30 Session 2
21:00 End
Saturday schedule
09:00 Breakfast
10:00 Session 3
11:15 Break
11:30 Session 4
12:45 Lunch
13:45 Session 5
14:45 Tea & coffee
15:00 Session 6
16:00 Worship, prayer & end
Fees & accommodation
The taster weekend is free of charge and with no obligations. Course fees for the subsequent eight weekends:
€550 per person
€790 per married couple
€50€ one-time registration fee
Course materials, stipends for the guest speakers, refreshments and small snacks are included in the fee. Food for all meals can be brought by the participants themselves or can be bought at the surrounding shops.
Each participant is responsible for his or her own accommodation. Should you need help finding in accommodation, please send an email to info@activate-network.org
APPLICATION
Are you interested in Activate+ and would like to apply? Or do you have questions about the course? Don’t hesitate to send us an email to training@activate-network.org
OUR SPEAKERS
Our speakers have a broad field of experience and have specialized knowledge in their subject areas. Most of them are church leaders who have planted churches themselves.
JOIN THE NETWORK
Talk to us during one of our events near you or get in contact via the link below.
Or sign up for our regular updates here:
Our main speakers are:
Wayne and René Neuper
Wayne was born in Durban, South Africa. He worked as a chartered accountant until Cornerstone Church, Johannesburg, appointed him as an elder in 1992 and at the same time offered him a full-time position.
Sent out with their church’s full support, Wayne and his wife René planted a new church east of Johannesburg in 1993. In 1999, they were asked to take over the leadership of Jesus Gemeinde in Dresden.
Since then the Jesus Gemeinde has grown to be a church of many hundreds of people. On some Sundays there are as many as six services. The leadership team consists of eleven elders couples, many of which are employed by the church. The leadership role and especially working together as a team are the aspects that Wayne really enjoys. He has a heart for building effective, contemporary and biblical churches. Wayne also has a translocal ministry and he has established connections to many churches throughout Europe, where he regular ministers and advises church leaders.
Dr. Dierk Müller
Dierk is (happily!) married to Nadia, has two children and lives with his family in Dresden. He has been an elder in Jesus Gemeinde since 2012 and was a pastor in a youth church before that. Dierk studied theology in Kansas City, USA, and graduated from the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master’s degree in biblical languages. In his doctoral thesis (PhD University of Pretoria) he examined the military language in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Today, Dierk is the academic leader of the Promoveo bible school in Dresden. He has been functioning as a guest lecturer at the Theological Seminary Beröa and, in addition to that, is a co-founder and lecturer at the pastoral seminar Forerunner Leadership Institute Tainan, Taiwan.
Dierk has a captivating way to excite people for the word of God and to pass on theology in a vibrant manner.
Other speakers are:
Adnan und Helga Yaqub
Bielefeld, Germany
Adnan and Helga have been in the leadership of the Christian Center Bielefeld for many years. As a multicultural couple (American-Arab and Franconian) with five grown children as well as grandchildren, the fact that at the end of time people from all cultures will stand before God and worship Him spurs them on be part of the Activate Network. Therefore, inspiring praise for the Lord and at the same time reaching the unreached is close to their hearts.
André und Kathi Nickel
Meißen, Germany
André and Kathi have been married since 2005 and have two children. Both have studied social pedagogy. André worked in open children and youth work and Kathi in social counseling; and currently she works in school support. For many years they were part of the team of elders at Jesus Gemeinde Dresden, where they led the children’s and youth work, preached, conducted evangelistic services and were responsible for the evening service. Across denominations, they preach in other churches as part of the Activate Network and have led the JESUSlive conference for many years. Since 2017, André and Kathi have been the lead pastor couple of Jesus Zentrum Meißen and love working as a team. They love to be with people and to support them in the exercise of their gifts and to accompany them on the way in their calling.
Ant & Helen Rist
St. Albans, Great Britain
Ant and Helen Rist lead the Forest Town Church in St. Albans in England. In 2000 they relocated from South Africa, where they had been serving as part of the leadership team for many years, to Great Britain to plant the church there. With great joy they have been building the church there for the past 16 years. Ant loves to preach and to teach, while Helen works as the coordinator of the church ministry and serves both with her prophetic gifting and preaching. They have two sons, Matthew and Jesse.
Christoph und Marianne Währer
Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany
Christoph and Marianne were both born in Switzerland and got married in 1987. They have five children, who were all born and grew up in Germany. In 1989, they came to Germany for two years to visit the “Glaubenszentrum” in Bad-Gandersheim. They became part of the leadership team in CZ-Herborn in 1991 and then moved to Meissen to plant a church in 1997. They led that church for 20 years and then passed it on to new leaders. Since then (November 2017), they have been leading a church in the Activate Network in Brandenburg an der Havel. Christoph and Marianne love north-eastern Germany and have a heart for the many smaller churches. They see these as an opportunity to reach the people living there. Proactive church life, leadership development and visionary and pioneering life with Jesus are close to Christoph’s heart. Since 2018, he has played an active role in the Activate Training courses in Germany and in partner churches in Bulgaria. Christoph and Marianne have been connected to Wayne and Rene and part of the network since 2001.
Gerfried & Ulla Schmidt
Bielefeld, Germany
Gerfried and Ulla have served on the eldership team of the Christliches Zentrum Bielefeld for many years. Gerfried has been leading that team since 2014. They often travel around Germany, serving churches who are part of the Activate Network. Gerfried and Ulla ́s ministry is characterised by a love for the word of God and a love for the local church.
Rahel Wesner
Lemgo, Germany
Rahel was born in Singapore in 1983 and is a freelance consultant for personality and team development based on the Clifton StrengthsFinder Tests.
When she was 20 years old, she was part of a team of church planters for three years. Later she completed a Master’s degree in Global Leadership in Los Angeles (USA). There she received a lot of valuable input in the field of church planting and leadership development. She studied educational theory, psychology and English studies and worked as a secondary school teacher for several years. Through continuous training in the fields of communication and coaching, she made her path into the area of consulting.
She loves to help people and teams to release their potential, to live out healthy relationships and to live out their God-given calling.
Ray & Moira Oliver
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Ray has been married to his wife Moira for more than 40 years and they have three sons. He was born in Zimbabwe and worked as a lawyer before he planted two churches in Zimbabwe. In 1974, he and his family relocated to Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. There they began a ministry with a small group of students that later developed into the NCF Church. The church grew and Ray handed over the leadership in 2000 to focus more on international ministry and the training of leaders. Later, Ray and his wife served in many countries all over the world and led a training for church planters in South Africa for about eight years. Now both of them are an active part of their original local church again. Among other things, they are responsible for one of their church sites that mainly serves the Indian community. NCF is now called One Life Church and has continuously grown. The church currently has 15 different sites in a radius of 100 km around Pietermaritzburg.
Steve Wimble
Durban, South Africa
Steve has been serving in various church leadership roles since the age of 17. When he was leading the youth group in his local church, he met Jacqui. They got married and now have two sons – Levi and Ethan. Steve and Jacqui worked on team as full-time pastors at One Life Church in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, where they were involved in different roles at different times. These included planting new sites, training small group leaders, preaching, leading the worship teams, overseeing the church administration and more. In 2013, they took over the leadership of CityHill Church Hillcrest in Durban. As part of the NCMI team, Steve has travelled to many different countries, usually with Jacqui, doing leadership training.
The mentors, who will be part of the training, all lead churches in Germany. You will get to know them throughout the training.