What Is Global Action?
Our Heart
Global Action strives to engage and empower the global church, helping the church make disciples of all nations.
Global Action is a faith-based organisation, dedicated to serving alongside national and global partners to meet both physical and spiritual needs.
What sets us apart:
We are flexible, quickly responding to the needs of today's changing world.
We value and empower people, rather than building a bureaucracy.
We work through global partnerships to maximise human and financial resources, rather than duplicating efforts.
We are risk-takers -- passionate about seeing what God can do.
Our History
Global Action was founded in 1998 by the Swedish evangelical leader, Lars B. Dunberg (b. 1944). Dunberg received his theological training at William Booth College in south London and was greatly influenced by the Salvation Army’s nondenominational ethos and its passion for working with the poor. Lars went on to serve as an evangelist with Youth for Christ in the 1960’s, and eventually became the president of the International Bible Society, which is widely known for the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible.
Shaped by the vision of its founder, Global Action has remained committed to evangelical essentials, interdenominational cooperation, and the proclamation of the gospel to the poor throughout the world. It has been engaged in leadership development, disaster relief efforts, church planting, medical missions, and care for orphans and widows. Global Action has provided theological education for more than 11,000 pastors and leaders who live in the world’s least developed nations.
In an effort to respond to what Operation World is now calling one of the greatest needs in missions today, Global Action focuses most of its efforts on training leaders in the non-Western world to impact their communities. In the spirit of the Lausanne Covenant (1974), its leadership is committed to partnering with “the whole church, to take the whole gospel to the whole world.”
Global Action equips leaders in Central America, Cuba, India, parts of South Asia, Eastern Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is now laying plans to expand its work in South America, the Caribbean, and Central Europe.
Statement of Faith
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule as Head of the Church and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the person of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life, and to overcome the attacks of the Evil One, Satan.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, with equality across racial, gender and class differences.
The ABC’s of Global Action
Accessible
We believe that a theological education should be accessible to any person who has been called by God to serve the church. We do not believe that sound biblical training should be available only to the privileged few. Unfortunately, we live in a world where there is significant income inequality. A stunning percentage of the world’s population lives in poverty, which means that most ministry leaders in the non-Western world must often choose between caring for their family and pursuing theological training. Global Action is committed to making theological education accessible by offering module-based courses for ministry leaders to attend once a month within their own countries. Students pay a modest tuition fee, but most of our education is funded by the generosity of the global church.
Contextual
We believe that God loves culture and that he calls people to follow him from every tribe, nation, and language (Revelation 7:9). From the very first century, the church has always carried out its work in various cultures. We reject the view that Western cultures are superior to other cultures. We embrace the biblical teaching that all people are created in the image of God, that we are one in Christ, and that we are equal participants in the Gospel. We therefore work hard to be sure that the unchanging message of the Gospel is translated into every culture in the most relevant way possible. We employ non-Western staff members and scholars to assist us in this endeavor, translate our materials into many of the world’s languages, and only send instructors who have a deep understanding of cross-cultural work.
Biblical
We believe that the Bible is God’s Word written for us, which has the power to transform lives. We are committed to ensuring that our students receive a foundational theological education that is rooted in the Scriptures. Our core curriculum includes courses on important topics like: The Life, Ministry, and Uniqueness of Jesus, Introduction to the New Testament, Introduction to the Old Testament, Biblical Interpretation, Preaching so that people Encounter God, Solid Doctrine: Speaking the Truth in Love, Healthy Church, and Biblical Leadership. Our courses are practical because we believe the Bible is practical. Biblical grounding is essential to multiplying disciples, planting churches, and protecting the people of God from unhealthy teaching that is prevalent in the world today.
