EDUCATING

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Building Relationships

Personal
​relationships is where we start because God is relational. He created us in His image. He created us to be in relationship with Himself and with others.
To really know another person takes time. This means other things in our lives may have to be set aside. This requires sacrifice. We must also be intentional in priori​tizing the time spent with others. We all know this.
Doing it is something completely different.

Time
is one of the main ingredients in building relationships. That's not all, but it's a great place to start. Giving up a night a week, a regular mealtime with family or friends, in order to share your life with someone else can be difficult to do. But if you do it, with the intention of "letting someone else in" as you seek to grow together, it becomes invaluable. 

Life Leadership Institute

Understanding
​is how we put feet to what we know. Growing in knowledge is one thing. Understanding is another. It is our understanding which enables us to put into practice what we know. It's not enough to hear. We need to understand.

"But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Matthew 13:23 NKJV

Open Arms is directly involved in the Life Leadership Institute which has been transforming lives around the globe for over 40 years. This transformation is accomplished through helping them understand their purpose, their origin, their destiny, and their identity.

Teaching
is the primary way we help others discover the answers to the basic questions of life, which we all have. The Bible is our guidebook in providing the answers to our questions and the solutions to the problems each of us faces in life.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV

A Life of Service

Duplicating
​​is the means of sharing with the world the joy of growing in relationship and understanding. One person at a time, one meal at a time, one conversation at a time. When a life is being changed from the inside out in the context of correct understanding how to relate with God and others, that is something that has to be shared. When it is shared with another there is duplication.

Encouraging
is a vital part of duplicating. We do this by word and by deed with those who have spent time with us in close personal relationship and encourage them to "go" and do the same. This brings a level of depth to that relationship which already is growing and adds strength to it. Trust continues to grow, along with a multitude of challenges and opportunities to trust God and each other.