FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

What is MoveIn?
MoveIn is a movement of young people into communities of immense need. Check out our vision here and our purpose here.

Who’s involved with MoveIn?
MoveIn includes existing MoveIn teams, supporting mentors, the MoveIn coordinating team, the people behind this website, and our denominational (e.g., Mennonite Brethren, Vision Ministries and AGC) and missional (e.g., Operation Mobilization and Frontiers) partners.

What are the marks of a MoveIn team?
A MoveIn team is/means:
(1) Christians moving RIGHT into a predetermined neighbourhood patch.  (Consent must be given by the coordinating team if an individual/family is unable to move right into the patch as defined by that patch’s profile on this website.)
(2) A commitment to pray together for a full evening per week, and to have a high level of commitment to the neighbourhood.
(3) Part of the light but critical MoveIn accountability structure.

Is MoveIn involved with neighbourhoods outside of Toronto?
Yes.  We are involved in other cities in Canada - like Mississauga, Ottawa and Edmonton. We are also working in the context of needs outside of Canada.  We see before us two great challenges: our unreached/high-needs neighbourhoods here, and the least-reached and extreme-needs world internationally.  Our vision is “[Toronto] … to the ends of the earth.”

What kinds of neighbourhoods does MoveIn ‘move in’ to?
MoveIn focuses on unreached and high-needs neighbourhoods - usually apartment-building clusters in and around cities.  The neighbourhood ‘patches’ we move into are usually no bigger than 500 x 500 meters in area.  (Some are 200 x 200 meters.  As many as 10,000 people can live in this area.)  The size of these patches means everything is within walking distance.  By ‘high-needs’ we mean economic (e.g., percentage below the poverty line), familial (e.g., domestic violence rates), social (e.g., community spirit, safety, crime rates, gang activity), environmental (e.g., pollution levels, cleanliness), and spiritual - all relatively speaking. The degree to which a neighbourhood is “unreached” is also a very important factor.  Unreached people are those who come from nations which, relatively speaking, have had the least access to the good news of Jesus - both historically and recently.

What if there are existing ministries or Christians reaching out in a given neighbourhood patch?
Those who have gone before and are reaching out in the neighbourhoods we move into are our heroes. We desire to learn from and work with these people.  In essence, we are doing nothing new.  It is just the great commission that Jesus exemplified, and we are no experts.

What about suburban and rural areas?
While MoveIn focuses on cities, we are strongly supportive of those who ‘move in’ (physically or mentally) to suburbs and rural areas - to engage communities outside of the city incarnationally and in other ways.  Every community desperately needs Jesus.  (Check out our letter to a suburban pastor.)

What are the neighbourhoods?
Check them out at movein.to/patches, where we also have maps.

Where do the people who ‘move in’ come from?
Recent graduates, young couples, students, young families; these and others can be found on MoveIn teams.

What is the structure of a MoveIn team?
MoveIn teams  are team-run and are made up of regular Christians of all ages.  The commitment of a MoveIn team is to pray together for an evening per week for their neighbourhood, and there is a “facilitator” who organizes the prayer meeting.  Also, a “supporting mentor” (usually not part of the prayer group, and usually someone a little older) is chosen for each prayer group in dialogue with the MoveIn coordinating team - to provide support and encouragement.  In some MoveIn teams, a leader emerges who is affirmed by the team, the supporting mentor, and the MoveIn coordinating team.   But even teams with leaders are relatively horizontal; everyone seeks equally to love their neighbour.

How many people are there on a MoveIn team?
The typical team size is seven (e.g., three single guys living together, two single girls living together, and a young couple).  The soft cap is eight, and the hard cap is 10.  (Having more than 10 requires the consent of the MoveIn coordinators.)  If a team wants to grow (which is a good thing), it needs to be through new believer growth - seeing people come to Christ from the neighbourhood and join the effort.  We find that once a team becomes too big without new believer growth, it begins to lose synergy and focus, the temptation to just spend time with each other increases, and it begins to become about the group rather than about the neighbourhood.  So, by capping the size of the team at eight, we are dependent on God for growth in the form of new believers.  It makes us totally reliant on Him; hence all the prayer!

Do I have to raise support?
No, most MoveIn team members go to school or work full-time or part-time.  This is the default thing to do.  In contrast, some are commissioned to raise support–or reduce their work hours if possible–in order to devote more time to the neighbourhood.  Team leaders are the most likely to do this; or, in the event of a church plant–in dialogue with the coordinating team–to be supported by a particular denomination.

What do the teams do?
The main commitment of a MoveIn team is to pray together for a full evening per week.  So much of what they decide to do in the neighbourhood comes out of this prayer time.  The goal in the way we love our neighbours is whole-life integration; the integration of work, shopping, walking, home life; and, in reaching out, a ‘cup of cold water’ in one hand, and the good news in the other. We identify with the Lausanne Covenant and, more specifically, the Micah Challenge. As well as praying together for an evening per week, a team may choose to be a loving neighbour by, for example, drinking tea with someone next door; talking about stuff that matters; accepting an invitation to a meal; helping a family move; getting involved with a community association; praying for someone in need, in person; organizing sports for local kids; studying the Bible together; sharing or parting with something; meeting new neighbours; helping a neighbour find a job; ESL; local-school participation; being there in a difficult time; good-news give-outs; or free homework help.

What are some of the challenges of being on a MoveIn team?
If you join a MoveIn team, there will likely be times when the only thing that keeps you hanging on is knowing that God wants you there. Because it is such an impossible task to reach a whole neighbourhood for Christ, it can only be done by his power. You will need more patience than you can muster, more grace for your teammates than you feel like giving them, and more faith than it seems possible to have. Interpersonal issues, spiritual warfare, disappointment, personal or family problems, and just being in a place where you need God–unless you ‘check out’–will keep you dependent on Him. Personal time in the Word and in prayer are as needed as healthy times together as a team. Loving each other (John 13:34) is as important as loving the neighbourhood.

Do MoveIn team members go to church?
Every MoveIn team member needs to belong to a local expression of His body (i.e., a church) - to be committed to a specific group of believers.  Oftentimes MoveIn team members belong to different churches.  This is often one of the strengths of a MoveIn team because it contributes to interdenominational unity and dialogue; and raises prayer and awareness–within existing relationships and churches–for the MoveIn neighbourhoods.

Why do some teams become church plants?
When people start coming to Christ, the teams pray about how to disciple them.  Sometimes plugging them into a nearby church is the best option; sometimes there is no local church to plug them into; sometimes there isn’t a Bible-believing church in the neighbourhood; sometimes God wants to raise up another church focused on a certain segment in the neighbourhood.  It is a step-by-step, prayer-filled, walking-with-Jesus process.

If a church plant gets big enough, might it move out of the neighbourhood?
No. MoveIn is about being committed to a specific neighbourhood.  However, God will lead some families and individuals to new places - often, in many cases, to begin a new work or to intentionally move in as a loving neighbour in a new neighbourhood.  It’s all about “seeking first the Kingdom” (Matt. 6:33) and letting everything else follow.  We are also praying that many will be raised up from MoveIn teams in Canada to move into extreme-needs and unreached communities globally.

Why do you have to literally move in to be part of a praying team?
One of the elements of MoveIn is to see Christians be part of the neighbourhoods they’re reaching, as neighbours.  There are so many benefits to the “local-ness” of it.  This ‘presence’ means sharing in the same living space, grocery stores, schools, parks, and friends. It’s visiting your neighbour across the hall in socked-feet instead of scheduling something and driving somewhere.  It’s also something that the team does together, and this contributes to their unity of purpose.  Read the movein.to vision for more.

What are the qualifications for joining a MoveIn team?
Christ-followers from all backgrounds, walks of life, ethnicities and ages can be found on MoveIn teams.  For each individual team, it is up to the existing team - as a group.  For new teams, things happen in dialogue with the MoveIn coordinators. But, specifically, you need to be willing to (1) move in, and (2) go in with a high degree of commitment for the neighbourhood and the team - particularly the weekly prayer evening together.  If you follow Jesus and want to ‘move in’, we will try to do whatever we can to help you.

What if I am interested in ‘moving in’ for myself?
Email us and we’ll begin a conversation.

Questions about anything?  Interested in MoveIn for yourself?  Want to contact us?
Email contact@movein.to.