Catalysts

Acts 9 is a pretty amazing story of Paul’s conversion and launch into ministry. And where would we be if Paul has not been obedient to God’s calling on his life?

Paul’s testimony is so dramatic it’s easy to overlook the role of Ananias – the one who obeyed God, went to Paul, and prayed with him to receive the Holy Spirit. Ananias was the catalyst who launched Paul into an amazing ministry. Both men had life-changing and life-giving roles to play purposed by God.

This weekend we welcomed our Ignite Mission Team – 3 wonderful ladies excited to share the love and hope of Christ! Jaime began our first day of Relationship Evangelism by teaching us how Ananias’ seemingly small act of obedience had a significant and eternal impact. Our prayer for the next 2 weeks is to be used by God in similar ways.

As we go where God sends us, build relationships, serve and pray, the Lord is sure to do incredible things in and through us. We have great expectations for this trip.

• To be stretched by God and become bolder in fulfilling the Great Commission.
• To serve people in need as the hands and feet of Christ.
• To hear clearly from God as we step out of our comfort zone and rely solely on Him.
• To sharpen and encourage each other, as we each have unique gifts to share and roles to play.
• To be the catalysts that God uses to encourage, edify, and equip others.
• To expect the unexpected, after all God has more in store for us that we’ll ever know.

While we have great expectations for this trip, we’re sure the Lord will exceed them by far.

Please pray for us. And please ask yourself, how does God want to use me today?

Snow Day

While friends in Michigan are sweltering in 90-100 degree heat, we just had a freak snow storm in Harrismith, South Africa. Did you even know we had winters here? We sure do, and being near the mountains we even get the occasional snow. Winters average 20-30 in the evenings, and as high as 50-60 if we’re blessed with a sunny day. But people are saying this has been the coldest winter in a long time - many of our nights have been in the single digits.

Now you Michiganders might be saying Boo-Hoo! That’s nothing! But we don’t have things like central heat, heavy boots and coats, snow shovels…and it’s as cold inside as it is outside, usually even colder. I have a new appreciation for warm weather States that basically shut down when it snows. You just wait it out…

As we hunkered down to endure the freezing temps, blustering winds, and several inches of snow next came a major power outage leaving the entire area dead in its tracks. Eish! Thankfully, our nearby truck/traveler stop (called the One-stop) had a generator so we hung out at Mugg&Bean for most of the day. Thank God for great food, hot filtered coffee, and free Wi-Fi.

As we drove through Harrismith we saw kids and adults alike enjoying their unexpected snow day. Snowmen were a bit hit given that it rarely snows enough to make one. Also interesting is that our small town became a parking lot for truck drivers stranded during the height of the storm. Trucks were parked everywhere – along the streets, in open fields, in empty lots. Wild!

Anyways, we survived and have some cool pictures to boot! But please, stop hogging all the warm weather and send some our way!!

Life for Dry Bones

Imagine walking through a valley where lifeless bones are strewn about. Sounds kind of eerie and scary, doesn’t it? In Ezekiel 37, the Lord led him through such a place. Back…and forth… so he’d see just how many dry bones were all around. Then the Lord asked him “Can these bones live?” and Ezekiel didn’t know the answer. “Sovereign LORD”, he replied, “you alone know.” That’s when God told him and showed him that if he spoke out God’s Word Ezekiel could bring life himself. There is power and life in the Word of God, and we’re called to proclaim it.

This past Sunday Pastor Abram and I attended Pastor Shadrack’s church service. Pastor Shadrack is active in our Enrich program, working hard to grow as a leader and lead his church well. (In this picture are Pastors Shadrack, Abram and David).

As Pastor Shadrack taught from the story of Ezekiel, I was gripped by what it means for us here and now. There are dry, lifeless bones all around us – people suffering and struggling in different ways. Sickness, pain, poverty, addiction, abuse, hopelessness…spiritual and physical death.

Isaiah 61:1-3+ says the Lord has anointed me (you, us) to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom to captives, and to comfort those who mourn – basically to speak life to the lifeless.

Pastor Shadrack encouraged his church to reach out in Qwa Qwa. Please pray for them as they do. And please pray for me also, as sometimes the needs seem so overwhelming I can lose perspective on what God has called and equipped me to do – proclaim the life-giving Word of God.

Gods Vision for His Church

The Lord has an incredible vision for His Church, with each local church having a unique and instrumental role to play. That’s why it was such an exciting blessing to teach local pastors in our recent workshop - “Achieving God’s Vision for Your Church.”

As I prepared, I gobbled up advice from Bill Hybels in his book “Courageous Leadership.” It’s a great book! One that I read long ago, but I’m re-reading with new eyes as I try to help local African pastors put sound leadership principles into practice.

Bill defined vision as “a picture of the future that produces passion”. Both components are critical. While the picture of the future reflects where you are going, passion fuels the action needed to get there. Vision is the most powerful tool a leader has. Vision is what unleashes the power of the local church.

During the workshop we trained pastors in how to define and communicate vision, maximize their receptivity in hearing from God, and then turn their God-gifted vision into action through strategic plans and measureable goals.

Plans, metrics, and goals…Oh, my!

Someone once told me that they didn’t want to run their ministry too much like a business, and I’ve often wondered myself if this is possible. How much is too much? Especially when working with rural churches that are significantly smaller and less resourced than churches like Willow Creek and Kensington Community, or companies like Ford, Chrysler, and GM.

Along those same lines, Bill reflected on the following questions. “With our emphasis on leadership are we at risk of strategically planning the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit right out of the church? Or can and should church leaders learn from the best leadership minds and best practices in order to do God’s work with excellence?”

I loved his answers! Answers that I totally agreed with, shared with the local pastors, and they whole-heartedly agreed as well! That God has given them an important vision. That whether or not they achieve that vision matters. That their success or failure impacts lives, not only today, but for eternity. That the local church is the hope of the world. There is no other company, organization, or government that can accomplish what God has called His Church to do.

All that said – we clearly need to do everything we can to lead God’s churches well, with vision and passion, with diligence and effectiveness, maximizing our God-gifted leadership potential.

Based on feedback, our local pastors clearly left equipped to carry out God’s vision for their churches… but more importantly, they left feeling inspired knowing that God has called them to bring His hope to the World. Please say a prayer for these local pastors as they do.

Rebuilding

I’m thankful that the Lord is with us through trials, redeeming them through His mercy and grace. Like Nehemiah, I’ve been praying earnestly for the Lord’s wisdom, guidance and favor as we rebuild – our temple, our walls, our city, our nation. We’re 8 months into it, and it has been an incredible journey!

Rebuilding our temple.

I think of our temple as our spiritual foundation, a foundation that crumbles when leaders stumble and fall. With Ignite South Africa, we have the opportunity to learn from the past, to ensure a solid spiritual foundation, and to prioritize protecting it moving forward. There’s wisdom to be gained through the redemption of past mistakes.

As leaders we all need build-up our temple, our faith, our worship, our spiritual disciplines – first individually, then collectively. It’s the critical first step, and one that doesn’t end there. Ongoing maintenance and growth will always be needed.

Rebuilding our walls.

Like Israel, our first need was for survival – somewhere to live and work, a new “mission base” so to speak. We also had rubble to move out of the way; processing, healing and planning to do. Then we began rebuilding our walls as the Lord directed.

Nehemiah prayed for favor with the king. We too prayed for favor with the King (big K) because He cares about the details big and small, and knows exactly what we need to survive. I’m thankful for what the Lord has faithfully provided beginning with our home, office, and other needs. It’s remembering examples of the Lord’s faithfulness that gets me though moments of doubt or fear and keeps me moving ahead towards His purpose.

Rebuilding our city.

After the walls were built and folks felt safe, Nehemiah raised up leaders, and people started resettling into their hometowns. Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but here I think of rebuilding and restructuring our departments, embracing the Lord’s fresh vision, and poising ourselves for future impact and growth.

We’re praying, dreaming, and planning for the future. We’re excited to rebuild God’s ministry – spiritually, physically, strategically, and tactically. Our home, office, and programs; our coaches, schools and youth; our local churches, pastors, and villages...That’s my city.

Rebuilding our nation.

Rebuilding our temple and walls will meet our needs for survival. Rebuilding our city poises us for significance and eternal impact. Rebuilding our nation is the next step in achieving it. It’s our God-gifted mission. A mission that hasn’t changed but is ready for fresh vision to move it to the next level. And I’m thankful that the Lord has invited us to be part of His plan.

Nehemiah led for survival, and once that need was met he led for significance. How can we do the same? And who wants to come with us? I’m excited!!

Shout out again to “Becoming Nehemiah – Leading with Significance” by David L. McKenna

Haunting Last Words

Nehemiah faces another crucible in chapter 13. He has to report back to the king so he entrusts various responsibilities to others. When Nehemiah returns, he finds far-reaching corruption beginning in the house of God. Everything that Nehemiah had worked so hard for stood in jeopardy, and he had to turn things around - again.

As his role changes his attitude does as well. He continues to seek God and pray, but he also takes some pretty aggressive, angry actions as he tries to clean-up all the corruption. Threats, curses, beatings, banishings. He even pulled out people’s hair. Per Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” great leaders look into the mirror for blame and out the window for credit. Nehemiah does the opposite; losing the edge of greatness he had risen to.

So why does Nehemiah act so out of character?

Granted Nehemiah made a HUGE mistake in appointing Eliashib as a leader and we can learn a lot of from his experience… But Nehemiah is the only one responsible for his own reactions and actions.

One speculation is that Nehemiah burned out and became distressed feeling like all of his work had been in vain. Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Like things were hopeless? Like efforts were futile and it didn’t matter how hard you tried?

I hate to admit it, but I’ve felt this way. It sounds so - I don’t know … “unspiritual” - given that I’m a missionary, but I’m also human. Ministry is hard work! Sometimes prayers aren’t answered the way we expect. Sick people die instead of being healed. For every person saved and every student reached, there are tens of thousands more to go. And sometimes one grievous mistake can undo 5, 10, or more years of hard work.

Perhaps Nehemiah was in over his head in terms of competency. Perhaps he needed to learn more about selecting and training leaders. Perhaps his faith weakened and he lost sight of God’s presence and calling. Feelings of futility are a red flag that tells us we’re burning out and need to take immediate action to restore ourselves and our relationship with God.

I’ve often heard it said that character is what squeezes out of us when we’re pressed. In Nehemiah’s case it became some pretty yucky stuff. His words haunt us at the end. “Remember me with favor, o my God.” It’s like he knows he’s far off track and in need of favor, even mercy, grace and forgiveness.

What can we learn from Nehemiah’s example about heeding the warning signs and staying on track? I know I’m learning a lot.

Making Melodies

This week I visited 2 school assemblies – what a hoot! Our FlashPoint coaches did such an amazing job!

Great singing, funny skits, powerful testimonies, such a special way of relating to the kids, all topped off with a wonderful talent for teaching God’s truths in ways young people can understand and get excited about. Kinda like a Triple Threat of ministry (if there is such a thing). And judging from kids responses, everyone had a great time!

Our assemblies are ½ day events for schools that do not currently have FlashPoint classes. It’s a way we can teach and inspire even more youth about God’s purpose for their lives. This year our goal is to reach 3500 kids.

We begin with a group assembly for all 7th- 9th graders filled with singing, testimonies and skits to teach valuable lessons. “Making Melodies In My Heart” was hilarious with the goofy motions. Even the teachers got into the action. Next Coach Thapelo shared about his struggles growing up poor and feeling like poverty would prevent him from achieving his goals and dreams. Thapelo shared how discovering God’s love, purpose and help changed his life, and how God will also help each young person become who they were created to be. The skit reinforced that lesson in a funny, memorable way. Afterwards, the kids divided into classrooms for a 2 hour lesson about Living on Purpose – one of our FlashPoint curriculums.

These assemblies have a great impact with the students, and the educators as well. We spoke with the principals and they were excited, thankful, and honored that Ignite South Africa came to their school.

Please join us in praying for our assembly schools – that these kids make godly decisions in their lives and that someday we’re able to expand with weekly classes for them.