Community Health Evangelism (CHE)
Do you want to empower the communities with which you work? Join us for Equip’s Community Health Evangelism (CHE) course. Let us equip you to be an agent of transformation!
Course Overview
Interactive, practical and life-changing, Equip’s one-week CHE course is a helpful tool for sharing the gospel and seeing transformation happen in poor communities. This course is highly recommended for all short- and long-term missionaries!
CHE is being utilized by hundreds of Christian churches and over 900 organizations in over 135 countries around the world! It is a Christ-centered educational program that equips communities to identify issues and mobilize resources to achieve positive, sustainable change. Lives and communities are transformed as people come to Christ and work together to address local needs. Through CHE ministries, people become followers of Jesus and whole communities are lifted out of cycles of poverty and disease.
When you complete this course, you have gained skills in:
Practicing a participatory method of learning that is effective in a variety of global settings.
Properly entering and serving in a new community, helping them to identify their needs and resources to meet those needs.
Weaving CHE principles into your existing ministry, utilizing the lessons and strategy in your context.
Cost & Dates
$660
Includes course instruction, materials, comfortable housing and tasty meals. Our affordable fees are made possible by professional instructors who volunteer or raise their own support.
The course starts on Sunday evening at 5:00pm.
March 24-29, 2024
October 20-25, 2024
To view our accommodations, click here.
Registration
“CHE is more than a method—it’s a way of thinking, decision-making, and educating that gives dignity to those you serve at every step, opening doors to minister to the deeper needs of the heart.”
Meet Our Facilitators
Equip started holding our first CHE courses back in 1997. Since then, we have facilitated this Christ-centered, transformational approach to holistic ministry to over 980 individuals, serving in 169 countries.
Shannon Wiederholt, RDN, is our CHE Coordinator. Shannon and her husband, Eric, have been international CHE facilitators since 2017, using CHE in their ministry in Southeast Asia, as well as training international workers in traditional CHE and the Integral Disciple Making Movement (IDMM) approach. Shannon is currently serving on the Global CHE Network Representative Council as the volunteer representative for Southeast Asia network members.
Matt and Ellen Zell have been facilitating CHE training at Equip and using the CHE strategy in their country of service, Honduras. They have experience in the cultural adaption of appropriate technology, such as heat retention stoves, as well as integrating the puppetry arts into their work.
More Details:
How CHE Works
When a CHE program is mature, volunteer health workers called Community Health Evangelists (CHEs) visit homes and work with families. They teach about both physical and spiritual topics. At their disposal are over 16,000 lesson plans covering a holistic variety of topics to help the villagers attack the problems particular to their situations. For example, they may teach about the importance of clean water and help families to sanitize their drinking water. At the same time, they open the Scriptures and teach about the Living Water. Those who come to Christ gather in small groups for fellowship, worship, Bible study, and prayer.
The CHEs report to a development committee made up of leaders elected by the community to manage the development process. The committee members initiate and manage projects of their choosing, such as immunization, water, sanitation, infrastructure, schools, agriculture, microenterprise development, and programs for women and youth. All the volunteers within the community (the development committee and the CHEs) are trained by “trainers”, who are usually nationals living in a nearby city or town that are equipped with simple strategies for raising awareness and mobilizing a community to work together. Trainers draw from lesson plans designed to guide the community in creating solutions to their own problems. These materials cover both spiritual and physical topics, bringing people to faith in Christ and establishing the church while improving the quality of life for the community.
The Impact of CHE Ministry
The purpose of CHE work is not just breaking the cycle of poverty or planting churches, though both are accomplished. The purpose of CHE ministry is a transformation in lives and communities that is as deep as the human heart, and as broad as the whole range of the human experience in the world God made. Through our work, Jesus is recognized as Lord over all creation, and our development activities bring glory to God by reflecting the depth and breadth of His Kingdom plan.
The desired impact of CHE ministry is the inside-out transformation of lives, families, and communities through the power of the Gospel. Transformation happens in the heart, one life at a time. Disciples are multiplied, churches are established and strengthened, health improves, and economies become more productive. Peace, justice, compassion, and righteousness are witnessed in the community and God is glorified.