LEGACY IN MOTION

Equipping diaspora leaders to build healthy intergenerational churches that honor heritage and empower the next generation.

Challenge & Opportunity

Many immigrant churches in North America are navigating a critical crossroads. First- and next-generation leaders often face cultural and language barriers that make collaboration difficult. Leadership transitions can be tense, marked by unspoken power dynamics and uncertainty about the future. Many ministries lack clear structures, vision, and a shared sense of missional direction—while few contextualized models exist to guide diaspora and second-generation ministry in practical, culturally grounded ways.

Legacy in Motion exists to meet these challenges head on. This is not a generic leadership training—it’s a diaspora-focused journey, rooted in the immigrant experience and tailored to realities often overlooked. It’s mentorship-driven: built around guided coaching, peer learning, and intergenerational mentoring. It’s vision-clarifying: helping leaders discern where their church stands in its intergenerational journey and what steps to take next. And most importantly, it’s transformational: leaving participants seen, equipped, and empowered to lead their communities forward as one family in Christ.

Pastor Samuel Teka - Cohort Facilitator

“My heart longs to see the diaspora church in North America united, equipped, and empowered to live out the heart of the gospel.”

Pictures taken at the 2025 Diaspora Network National Conference

Legacy in Motion Cohort Topics

  • Understanding the history and patterns of immigration in North America and how they have shaped the diaspora church 

  • Examines how cultural values—including communication styles, honor, community, and spirituality—shape both first and second-generation experiences in the church.

  • Addresses the unspoken wounds carried by immigrant families and the mental health pressures faced by next-generation leaders, offering tools for healing and healthier relationships

  • Equips leaders to build trust and honor between older and younger generations, fostering shared ownership, collaboration, and unity in ministry

  • Developing the ability to bridge and navigating multiple cultures at once so leaders can serve with wisdom, flexibility, and cultural intelligence

  • Provides guidance for navigating leadership succession with clarity and humility, reducing tension and preparing both generations for healthy handoff

  • Focuses on raising, empowering, and discipling emerging leaders with culturally aware and context-specific strategies

  • Covers the unique financial realities of diaspora churches, including stewardship, transparency, sustainability, and preparing for future health

  • Helps leaders assess where their church is in its intergenerational journey

  • Explore ministry models that fit their city and neighborhood and have an impact beyond just Sunday morning

OUR VISION

“We hope to see diaspora churches become thriving intergenerational communities that are rooted in humility, unity, and mission. We envision churches where the first generation’s legacy is honored and the next generation is empowered to carry that legacy forward through disciple-making and church planting.”

Join the Legacy in Motion Community

Interested in learning more about what it’s like to be part of the Legacy in Motion learning community (cohort)? Fill out the form and get in touch!

Note: The cohort begins with an in-person opening retreat/kickoff event tentatively on January 31, 2026, (10a-4p) followed by virtual sessions via Zoom, Wednesdays 5:30 pm-7:00 pm CT weekly for the remainder of the program.

Diaspora Identity Journey Questionnaire

As Orlando Crespo writes, embracing our ethnic identity in all its complexity becomes an opportunity to witness to God's greatness and minister to the people around us.

This questionnaire is a tool for self-reflection. It's designed to help you explore where you are in your cultural and ethnic identity journey. The goal is to grow in self-awareness so you can better understand your story and how God might use it.

Take the questionnaire below and discover where you land on your identity journey.

Take Questionnaire Here

 FAQs

  • Legacy in Motion is a cohort that equips diaspora leaders to build healthy intergenerational churches that honor heritage and empower the next generation.

  • The cohort runs for 14 week (3 months).

  • It is completely free of charge.

  • The cohort is led by Samuel Teka. To learn more about him, visit the About page under Staff on the Diaspora Network website.

  • Each participating church must have both first and second-generation leaders committed to walking through the program together and completing the cohort.

  • The cohort begins with an in-person opening retreat/kickoff event tentatively on January 31, 2026 followed by virtual sessions via Zoom, Wednesday’s at 5:30 pm-7:00 pm weekly for the remainder of the program.

  • We aim to include up to 6-10 individuals total—in pairs of first and second-generation leaders from each church.

  • You can, but we strongly encourage participants to complete the full cohort for the best experience and impact.

  • Applications open every September.