What does "Ruach" mean and why did we decide to call the neighbourhood church network, Ruach Neighbourhood Churches?
Firstly, the word ruach (pronounced roo-ark) is a Hebrew word found in the Old Testament. (The New Testament was written in Greek and the equivalent word there is pneuma).
According to the Strongs Exhaustive Concordance, the word ruach means:
"wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation...air, anger, blast, breath...".
It is used to speak of the Spirit of God. In Genesis 1:2 we read that "...the Spirit of God (Ruach) was hovering over the waters". There are constant references to the Spirit of God "coming upon" people or, coming "mightily upon" or "began to move him". The same Hebrew word is often translated "breath". E.g. "His breath is like a rushing torrent", Isaiah 30:28.
You get the impression from these and many other verses, that the word ruach is quite a forceful word. In fact if you pronounce it complete with Hebrew guttural it even sounds forceful. It is an active powerful word that speaks of life, new things coming into being, activity, power and even judgment.
It is this name, Ruach, that the Lord gave to Baden Wynn, David Ball and Ian Freestone back in 1990 when he first started leading them in the direction of cell church. They sensed God was saying at that time, "This vision that I am giving to you regarding having church in the home and growing the church from the inside out, is birthed by Me and so is to be sustained and empowered by Me." And so "Ruach Ministries" came into existence.
There are a number of implications for us as a movement if we wish to use the name Ruach with any sense of integrity. We need to be a people led by the Spirit. We need to be a people of prayer, corporately and privately. Only then can we bring the most honour to the Lord Jesus and be effective in the vision He has given us. That is, "to see people of all ages and cultures come to faith in Christ and to grow as Christians through the life of multiplying cell church communities across the nation and beyond".
Ruach Ministries
Ruach Ministries is a company limited by guarantee with a board of directors. It allows us to operate extensively and legally in a number of different capacities. Ruach Neighbourhood Churches is the central activity of Ruach Ministries. A team of "Governors", together with the founding visionaries, keep watch over the vision and the integrity of the ministry.