My Mentoring Pattern: Ebenezer, Yahweh Yireh, Kingom Advance

I have become convinced that one of the greatest needs for world mission today is for faithful mentoring of leaders.  Actually, I don't think the big thing is for me to teach others from my vast stores of wisdom.  No.  The stores aren't all that vast.  Rather, I believe that the best way for me to mentor is just to walk alongside someone a

s they pursue the calling of God on their lives.

More and more, I'm finding the fulfillment of my own vision and calling as I stand behind and with other sisters and brothers who are passionate about the Kingdom.

But let me move right into sharing my mentoring pattern.  

The Basic Idea

Essentially, this is all about letting a conversation unfold between myself and the leader I am mentoring.  I really just need to know what God is saying to them and what God is doing in and through them.  Then, I just get involved in that and help amplify that voice.  This literally is accomplished through regular conversations -- about monthly.  During the conversation, we talk and hang out as normal people, pray and may talk about Scripture.  However, the primary focus is on three words:

1. Ebenezer (1 Sam. 7) - I want to know where they are right now.  How far has the Lord brought them?  What can we give thanks for?  And based on all of that, what does immediate obedience look like.  Here is the specific question I ask: 

Based on what you sense the Lord calling you to do and what it will take for you to be obedient to his calling right now, what should you do and what should be accomplished during the next 3-4 months?  (List several specific goals.)

2. Yahweh Yireh (Gen. 22) - I want to know what we should be praying for.  Based on that present sense of calling and what obedience entails, there are definitely some things for which we must pray. Specifcally, I am asking:

As you walk in obedience right now, you are praying for specific fruit to result.  What specific manifestations of the reign of Christ do you expect and hope to see in the next 6 months? 

3. Kingdom Advance (Matthew 11) - Finally, since we are Kingdom people and the Kingdom is advancing always, we can expect tangible expressions of the Kingdom.  So, I want to know what that vision is.  If God answers all our prayers and makes our dreams come true, what would that look like? Here is the question: 

God is developing a vision in your heart as you obey his calling and pray for his Kingdom to come.  What does that vision look like? From where you stand right now, if that vision becomes a reality, what will it look like?

I hope it is obvious that the real power in this pattern is consistency and relationship.  I have attempted something like this before but failed on those two fronts.  But, I believe this can be very adaptable for many kinds of Kingdom workers.  Right now, I am using the pattern for church planters, coffee shop managers, and agricultural workers.

Also, I think knowing your capacity is important.  I'm focusing on the number 12 as a key for me.  I think I can meet monthly with 12 leaders face-to-face.  I think I can add another 12 leaders to meet with remotely (like via WhatsApp or Skype).  

Finally, it is extremely important to me that this is memorable and easy to learn.  I want those I mentor to mentor others who will mentor others.  It's about the Kingdom, so it must be comprehensive.

I think I like Pastors

The past two days, I've been crashing some networking meals that our state Baptist convention has organized for Chicagoland pastors.  Lunch yesterday mostly with Korean pastors.  Dinner last night with a bunch of (mostly) Hispanic pastors.  Today was lunch with about a dozen African American pastors.

As I drove home today, it just occurred to me that I really enjoyed the gatherings.  There was something kind of sweet about the time together.  You know, I've actually been in ministry for 16 years now.  That's not much compared to some, but neither is it anything to sneeze at.  And really, I only bring that up to say that I've been around a lot of pastors and I know that a lot of them are real jerks.  And, I can say that because I know that I am sometimes a real jerk.  No kidding, sometimes I'm very difficult to be around.

But, well, I am just saying ... I've enjoyed being with these Chicagoland leaders during the past couple days. I like the old guys who have put in decades of service and who look confused when you talk about "retirement plans".  I like the young guys who feel pretty sure that God can do anything and probably will through their new ministries.

One guy today mentioned that he had just turned 40 and had two sets of twins.  Another had to leave before the meal so he could be at the hospital when one of his church members was taken off life support.  Another said he retired at the age of 80 but began pastoring again at 83 because a church essentially begged him to take the pulpit.

These are kind of remarkable people.  I'm not talking about the crooks with the mansions and the bling.  That's not most of them.  And, I don't know where I'm going with this.  Just rambling, reflecting . . .

Master-less Plans of Global Evangelism

Image Courtesy of EMQ

In case you have missed it, my article from the July 2013 issue of Evangelical Missions Quarterly is now available for free at the Billy Graham Center website.  It is always an honor to be published in EMQ, and a double blessing to see that the BGC felt it was important for a broader audience to read.

I think this brief article can be described as the inner wranglings of a 30-something missionary who is perhaps seeing the last vestiges of his naivety die away. I am not, however, losing my idealism and conviction that we can and should do better.

So, the article is called "Master-less Plans of Global Evangelism" and you can check it out at the link below.

Hot Off the Evangelism & Missional Presses | Wheaton:
EXCERPT: To what extent can mission leaders today say that if God doesn’t keep his promises, then our plans and ministries will utterly fail? Have we created strategic fail-safes that allow us to progress toward or even accomplish our organizational goals even if our prayers go unanswered and God does not do anything particularly interesting? Have we become functionally atheistic in our mission praxis today?

Crayon Exegesis (Or Paint)

Photo by JD Hancock

And now for something completely different . . .

Actually, I was looking for some notes on an activity that I remember doing back in grad school a few times. I remember it being called "crayon exegesis" but it may have just been called "painting exegesis".  I will give credit to my friend and mentor, Rob Gallagher, but he may have ripped it off from someone else.  Who knows.  Anyhow, since I can't find it on the web anywhere else, I shall put it here.  Enjoy!

Instructions for Crayon (or let's make it finger paint) Exegesis:

1.  Set up -

• Prayerfully choose a passage of Scripture ahead of time.  A narrative passage will usually work better for this exercise.  
• Provide participants with printouts of the passage.  I recommend that the type face is as large as possible. Consider printing on larger sheets of paper like 11X17" or even larger if possible.
• Provide participants with plenty of crayons, markers, or finger paint.  Colored pencils are boring.

2.  Begin your time together with prayer, worship, and one or two readings of the chosen passage.

3.  Explain to the participants that the purpose of this time is to reflect deeply upon this passage of Scripture, to begin to exegete it and to listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to them.

4.  Now begin to guide the group through a few readings of the text (alternatively, you may group the following into a single reading).  Be sure to insert prayer and silence as you go.  It is probably best to wait until the end before allowing any discussion.

First Reading - All participants will read silently and use the following colors to shade, highlight, or otherwise mark themes:

Red = passion, blood, anger, sacrifice
Orange = youth, immaturity, insanity
Yellow = happiness, friendship, ease
Green = Growth, nature

Second Reading - Again the participants will read the text and shade, highlight, or otherwise mark the following themes:

Blue = peace, serenity, quiet, purity
Purple = royalty, stature
Black = death, threat, darkness

Third Reading - Participants may now choose any other color and as they read silently through the passage again, mark the text with the following symbols whenever they observe:

Strength = I (vertical line)
Rest or Death = __ (horizontal line)
Growth or Nurturing = @ (swirl)
Action = / (forward slash for "advance" and backslash for "setback or failure")
Movement or Vibration = ~~ (wave)
Unity or Wholeness = O (circle)
Separation = Y (fork)

Final Reading - Leader should slowly read the passage aloud to give participants one last chance to reflect.  They may want to make additions based on the previous instructions.  They should also be encouraged to choose one last color and make any kinds of markings, drawings, short comments or phrases, or whatever they like.  

5. Supply participants with tape and post the creations all around the room.  Give everyone a few minutes to walk around and look at one another's pictures.  End with the following discussion followed by prayer for one another:

• What new insights or observations did you see today in our passage?
• What questions about the text do you have?
• What do you hear God saying to you in His word today?

Cody's Scatterings: My Journeys • At #NAYLG12 - Unreached People Groups work group....

Please Check this out for immediate prayer!!

Cody's Scatterings: My Journeys • At #NAYLG12 - Unreached People Groups work group....:

What has happened to commitment in missions?

Yesterday, I was in a board of directors meeting for a mission organization that I love.  One of the discussions we were having had to do with how we can be more effective at engaging the younger generations in mission service.  How do we mobilize volunteer and student missionaries to commit themselves to long-term ministry?  It seems to be the trend that the generation of missionaries who served 25 or more years with the same mission organization is going the way of the dodo bird and is being replaced by a generation that views mission commitment more in bite-sized portions of 1 - 5 years.  Now, I tend to be among those who buck this and see this as just a bad thing, but today at Member Care Radio, a discussion was posted on this very topic that is very insightful.  Here's a quote from Colin Buckland:


If I'm a man in my late 50's, early 60's and I've lost my job, I'm completely at sea.  I don't know how to view the world, but the younger generation is saying, 'Well, we can't even do career like that anymore'.  The effect is that those people think in shorter pieces.  They look at life in a series of jumps and so a career, now, one would expect to go through something in the region of 13 changes in a lifetime, maybe more.  I think it's getting this way more and more as the days go by.  There's a massive change there. 


I this is a topic that interests you, I recommend listening to the whole conversation.  Go on over to Member Care Media now and check it out.  http://membercaremedia.com/267.html

Without Thee, I Cannot Live: A Theology of Nominating Committees

Today I was praying for the Nominating Committee of our local association of Baptist churches and a thought or two came my way.  Do you know what a "nominating committee" is?  Basically they are the group in an organization responsible for getting other people to agree to fill voluntary positions and offices.  It's a rather thankless task to be sure.  On another level, however -- on a more spiritual level -- there is something else going on.  Something that I think we do well to ponder.

There is under-girding and thus birthing and sustaining the existence of such a thing as "nominating committees" in Christian circles a truth so central to our lives that it seems all other truths may just hang on it like ornaments on a tree.  It isn't the same thing which gives rise to "nominating committees" outside the Church (or at least it shouldn't be).  Outside it is this, "There are jobs which must be done and positions which must be filled; we need a group whose sole purpose is to berate, guilt, or sucker people into filling those posts."  No! In the Church it is another thing:

"Without Thee, I cannot live!"

Say again?

Consider:

"'Without Thee, I cannot live!' Whatever our small practice, belief, or experience may be, nothing can alter the plain fact that God, the Spirit of spirits, the Life-giving Life, has made or rather is making each person reading these words for Himself; and that our lives will not achieve stability until they are ruled by that truth." (E. Underhill)

Can the follower of Jesus doubt this? Without God, we are hopelessly lost are we not?  Is not our complete and utter dependence upon Him perhaps the uppermost reality governing our lives?

Sure, but what has that to do with "nominating committees"?

Well, only the truly loyal readers have made it this far in a post about "nominating committees" (which is really about God), so let me reward you with a parable:

A little girl goes to school.  Her lunchbox in hand having been lovingly prepared by her attentive and thoughtful mother.  At lunchtime, the girl devours the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, small bag of Cheetos, pickle spear, oatmeal cookie and juice box.  The banana, however, gets tossed into the garbage.  Same as always.  The girl isn't a fruit lover.

And this is a picture of us.  Saying we need God; saying in a voice of triumphant piety, "Without Thee, I cannot live!" Then proceeding to open the lunchbox of what God has prepared.  We pick through and consume what we desire and chuck the rest. We never stop to consider the far greater wisdom of a Parent who has prepared these things (all these things) for us.

So . . . "nominating committees"?

Ah, yes.  Here we are. Well, what exactly has God prepared for us?


1Co 12:7-19 ESV  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills . . . .  For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?

And also . . . 

Eph 4:4-7 ESV  There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

God has provided a Body.  The Church. And my point is simple (though I've certainly taken the scenic route to get here).  When we presume that we do not need the Body, when we arrogantly cut ourselves off from noses or fingers or kidneys,  when we foolishly set out to conquer the world as solitary ears or hair follicles or even as a covenanted coalition of knuckles,  then we (to brazenly mix metaphors) are chucking items from the lunchbox carefully and lovingly prepared by our Parent, the Father.  We may say "'Tis but a speckled banana," or (switching back) "merely an ear lobe" but in the act of chucking we are not simply saying, "I don't need bannanas or ear lobes or church planters or Christians who care about the homeless or ESL teachers or "black" churches or "white" churches or Pentecostals or Calvinists or __________ -- No, we are saying something far different. Something much more serious.  We are saying, "Without Thee, I will be just fine!" For when we reject what He, in infinite wisdom and love, has prepared, we reject Him.  But really, we are dead without Him. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, "Without Him, we cannot move an inch!"

So it is upon this foundational truth that all great Christian "nominating committees" through the ions of salvation history have been built.  Or, at least, should be.  Why? Because it is the noble task of the "nominating committee" to say to the Church (or to their little corner of it anyway),

"Everyone, this is Sam. He's a deacon down at XYZ Church. God has given him such and such gifts and experiences.  You need him and Sam needs you, and we'll all be richer, fuller, healthier and happier with him in the lunchbox."

Over and out.

By Committee Procedure or By Crucified Prayer

The following struck me as being quite fitting for me just now.  It is from the book Victorious Praying by Alan Redpath.  Enjoy:

     We say, "Thine is the glory," but if we do not get a bit for ourselves, we resign. And we seek to do by committee procedure what can only be done by crucified prayer.  By that I mean praying which turns aside every other concern, and which is so desperate that it refuses to let go until God blesses. 
     The disciples waited and the power came.  We do not wait, and the power does not come.  The disciples witnessed unto Him -- we witness to our program, and the program becomes an awful burden.  We speak to others of our talent and our ability, and we lose the battle.
     It is impossible for me to get alongside you each one personally -- God knows how much I wish I could, but I would urge upon you to wait upon God until you know again His power in your own soul.  I urge upon you to refuse to plan a program until you ask yourself, "Can the world see anything about me to commend Him to others?"
     D.L. Moody was told, "The world has yet to see what God can do through a man fully yielded to Him." And the world has yet to see what God can do through a church or a Christian who refuses to take the glory to themselves.  Oh that God would give us crucified men in the leadership of our churches, in every part of the work, on every committee! May everyone who has a voice of authority be a man who has died to his reputation, a man who is dead to himself, a man who can look up to the Father and say, "Thine is the kingdom -- thine shall be the power; thine shall be the glory."

Why Emma Sullivan Should Apologize

Not sure if you have seen the news story, but the other day an 18-year-old high school student by the name of Emma Sullivan became an overnight celebrity when she tweeted the following regarding her state's governor, Sam Brownback:

"Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot"


As I write this post, Sullivan's following on Twitter has surged to more than 12,000.  Significantly more than mine, of course.  And even quite a bit more than Gov. Brownback (Kansas) himself (about 3,000).  Sullivan uploaded the tweet, it seems, while she was in the audience listening to the Governor deliver a speech.  Sullivan was a part of a program known as "Youth in Government" which is apparently designed to give students interested in government and politics hands-on learning experiences.  


As the story goes, the Governor's staff found the tweet while monitoring the web for mentions, news stories, and discussion about Brownback.  This, of course, is the first point at which critics are firing away at the governor.  Writes Ian Millhiser, "If nothing else, one would think a state governor’s office has better things to do than troll the internet looking for young dissenting voices they can intimidate." But that's just a very silly thing to say.  Trolling the internet is what a lot of us do.  It is simple enough to set Google Alerts for a name or use an app to follow specific topics on Twitter.  I do that myself and that's without a staff.  Of course elected officials engage in this, they must.  Heck, I must and I'm just a lowly missiologist.


Next, the Governor's staff contacted those responsible for organizing the Youth in Government field trip and let them know about what one of their students had posted online.  This is apparently what Governor Brownback has now publicly apologized for.   He has stated, “My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms. I enjoyed speaking to the more than 100 students who  participated in the Youth in Government Program at the Kansas Capitol. They are our future. I also want to thank the thousands of Kansas educators who remind us daily of our liberties, as well as the values of civility and decorum.  Again, I apologize for our over-reaction.”


I suppose that was what Brownback had to do.  However, if I had been organizing such a program as "Youth in Government", I would hope that those students who participated in it would conduct themselves with much more "civility and decorum" than what Sullivan displayed.  I'm sorry, but saying that an elected official "sucks" does not exactly rise to the level of mature and thoughtful criticism.  Since, Sullivan's school principle apparently responded to the news by reprimanding her, people have been rushing to cry foul regarding the student's freedom of speech.  But freedom of speech isn't the issue at all.  Had Sullivan tweeted an actual critique of Brownback's policies, this would have never been a story.  For example, she might have said, "Gov. Brownback's defunding of education sucks." Had she done so, I have a feeling she'd still be hovering around 60 followers.


The point is that Sullivan made a comment that manifested deep ignorance and immaturity along with an inability to articulate her dissent respectfully.  And when adults do that, when we put our feet in our mouths, we apologize for it.  This isn't about freedom of speech or government censorship.  It is about mature and respectful engagement with other members of a civilized society.  We say something stupid.  It gets out.  We apologize and try not to be such an idiot in the future.  Self-censorship is a mark of humility and maturity -- an essential mark of good leadership.  Crassness may suddenly jar an audience and stir a flash-in-the-pan following, but it isn't worthy of long-term attention.  It isn't capable of dealing with the realities of the troubled world in which we live.  


Well, Sullivan apparently isn't aware of this.  When asked during a CNN interview if she would like to apologize to Gov. Brownback or perhaps have a chance to have a direct conversation with him, Sullivan replied, "I wouldn't mind maybe voicing my opinions to him. I'm not a politician myself so I can't sit down and tell him, 'This is what you need to do for this, this, this and  this, you know, different policies or what he needs to do to help our education system'.  But I wouldn't apologize for the tweet itself because, like I said, that was aimed toward my audience. That wasn't aimed towards him.  I wasn't talking directly to him. It was to my high school friends."


Ahh yes, the myth of a personal Twitter feed rehashed.  Perhaps Sullivan should be made aware of the Twitter feature that allows one to lock his/her tweets.  It is a kind of cancer of the new wireless society that we live in that people feel that they can post whatever they want online for all the world to see and if anyone ever calls them on it simply duck behind a line like, "Hey that was between me and my friends."  People, look, it doesn't work that way.  Public posts are open for public critique.  If you can't handle it, don't post it.


Bottom line, Emma Sullivan should apologize because her tweet was disrespectful and actually mocks the complicated reality of the times we live in.  With her tweet, she has effectively become the unofficial representative of Kansas's "Youth in Government" program.  In which, I would guess that there may be at least a few other students, who would rather their political insights and opinions not be reduced crass comments about whether given political figures either suck or blow.

Let me end with a couple questions:

1. What will Emma Sullivan's following on Twitter peak at?  Where will it be by January 1st?

2. Has anyone actually investigated whether or not Sullivan's tweet was true?  She claims that she told Gov. Brownback that he sucked "in person".  Did she?  I haven't found any story addressing that.

The Process of Raising Up and Appointing Spiritual Leaders

Spending time today thinking through the subject of raising up leaders. In particular, I'm taking notes and formulating ideas for a process of licensing and ordaining pastors/elders. Below are some links that I've found helpful and high-quality today. If you have your own thoughts, please do share in the comment section.

My own experience left a little something to be desired. When my first church licensed me to the ministry (on my 18th birthday), it was pretty simple. I was asked to preach my first sermon. Did that. Got a license. While I am certainly grateful for my old church's confidence in me, I'm still looking for something a bit more substantive.

1. Here a simple blog article by Kevin DeYoung that briefly describes some "Requisite Skills" for pastors.  I like this and, having done this now for nearly 15 years, agree with his points.

2. J. Hampton Keathley has written a more expansive article on the qualifications of elders and deacons at Bible.org.  Also good stuff here and pretty thorough.

Pew Survey of Evangelical Christian Leaders from Cape Town 2010

The Pew Forum was on hand at Cape Town 2010 conducting a survey of the participants from around the world.  Since the survey was conducted during the most diverse gathering of Christian leaders in history, the value of the results could not be higher.  You can check out the results here:

http://pewforum.org/Christian/Evangelical-Protestant-Churches/Global-Survey-exec.aspx

But before you do, I just wanted to highlight a couple things that seem to haven't received must attention in the executive summary that is presented at the above link.

1. 4% of respondents do not believe that Christianity is the one true faith.
2. 2% believe that the Bible is NOT the word of God.
3. 3% believe that life evolved via a process with which God was not involved.
4. 7% believe that God will grant health and wealth to those who have enough faith.
5. 3% believe that it is not essential to follow the teachings of Christ in order to be a good Evangelical Christian.
6. 4% say that believing in reincarnation is compatible with being a follower of Christ.
7. 5% say that it is okay to believe that Jesus is NOT the only way to salvation.

Just a question ... WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?  How did people who don't believe that the Bible is the word of God get selected as participants to the congress?  Did they lie on their application or was the application simply ignored?  And besides that, why on earth would they even want to come?  Why does someone who doesn't believe that Christ is the only hope for the world desire to attend a congress on world evangelization?

Pretty crazy if you ask me.

Lausanne Younger Leaders Team: Cape Town Convictions

Okay, today I wanted to share with you a little known document that has arisen out of Cape Town 2010.  It is called "Cape Town Convictions" and was produced by the Lausanne Younger Leaders Team.  I have posted it in full below with a few of my own comments in highlighted italics.

Lausanne Younger Leaders Team: Cape Town Convictions

The Lausanne Younger Leaders Team (YLT) celebrates the faithfulness and grace of God that was displayed at Cape Town 2010.  It was an amazing gathering of global Christian leaders, and we are excited for the future of the global church with great hope for growing unity, humility, truth, passion for Christ and His mission, compassion for the lost and hurting, and partnership toward the whole church bringing the whole gospel to the whole world.

We particularly rejoiced over the fellowship in Cape Town of the 1000 leaders under the age of 40 from around the world. [Well, we did rejoice, but let's not overdo it. I mean young leaders are not the Messiah or anything. We also rejoice in our elders. In fact, we want to ask them to invest in us, to pour themselves into us more and more.] We not only represent the future of the global church, but all of the issues, challenges, and opportunities discussed and prayed about in Cape Town will impact our generation and our world more than any other generation represented at the Third Lausanne Congress.

Cape Town 2010, however, was an event, and we have a sober and hopeful conviction that the event did not exist for itself but rather to serve the vision that the Lord has given to Lausanne and to the global church. Therefore we invested a significant portion of the week of the Congress together in discussion, prayer, and consultation with younger leaders, older leaders, and valued counselors and mentors toward the goal of leaving Cape Town with a unified understanding of and commitment to our calling, our values, and our plans for the post-Cape Town years informed by what we learned and experienced during the Congress. [Wow, that was a tough sentence to get through. I think the reality is that most of us don't feel that there was enough prayer, but okay. And I'd rather us be talking about leaving Cape Town with a "unified understanding of and commitment to God's calling, God's values, and God's plans ...".]  Here is a summary of those convictions.

Our Calling -

1)    We reaffirm our calling to advance the purposes of God through Lausanne towards the goal of world evangelization and the whole church bringing the whole gospel to the whole world [Amen. Though I wish there was less dissension among the younger leaders as to what "evangelization" actually entails.]

2)    We have deep conviction about the stewardship we and the Lausanne Movement have been given for global younger leaders who represent both the present and future; Cape Town will impact the younger generation more than any other; it will impact OUR world [Well, okay. I know what is meant here, but come on. It isn't "our world". It is going to be the world of those over age 40 for a good half-century more. Let's not float them out on blocks of ice just yet.]

3)    We commit to participating as a vital part of the Lausanne Movement as movement - not to exist for our own perpetuation or to set up inflexible organizational structure but to facilitate relational links, facilitate dialogue & partnership, and seek to connect the greatest needs of global younger leaders with the best resources (people, ministries, information) [This is a good affirmation. To keep Lausanne like it has been from the beginning, a light-on-its-feet movement.]

Our Values -

1)    We reaffirm our commitment to displaying Christ-like humility and joy in words, attitudes, and actions

2)    We reaffirm our commitment to Christ-honoring relationship building within the Lausanne Movement both inner-generationally and inter-generationally; in particular we commit to and ask for your continued commitment towards developing deeper trusting and entrusting relationships with the Lausanne Board and the IDD's (International Deputy Directors).

3)    We reaffirm our conviction that God has called our team to trust Him first and foremost, to also trust the leadership that He has placed over us, and to ask also for the trust of the Lausanne leadership to pursue by faith the purposes and passions that He has given to us

Our Plans -

1)    CONNECT

We rejoice that the Lord has provided an amazing network of global younger leaders.  This YLN (Younger Leaders Network) consists of YLG '06 (Younger Leaders Gathering 2006) alumni, regional YLG alumni, Cape Town 2010 alumni, and even the possible inclusion of GlobaLink alumni.  We feel a call to connect this YLN through:

a)    Utilization of a younger leaders section of the Global Conversation that we hope can be a source of on-going connection and cooperation post-Cape Town; this will include the establishment of subgroups for regions, ministry area foci, and other affinity groups in multiple languages [I applaud this, but haven't seen it take place yet. Wish people would engage the GC more.]

b)    Continued organizing of national and regional YLG's with IDD support focused on gathering starting in 2011 through 2014

c)    Prayer and planning towards the Third Lausanne YLG in 2015 [Well, this would be fun. The Global Diasporas Network is also looking at 2015 for a global consultation. I wonder how many other organizations are planning something during that year. I'm hoping there won't be a conflict.]

We affirm that we are not event focused, but events contribute towards the depth, breadth, and richness of the movement and its purposes. 

2)    INFORM

There is an evident eagerness and desire among the younger leaders to get more involved in inner-generational and inter-generational activities of Lausanne.  There is also a general lack of awareness of what people can get involved in and how.  Towards that end we will focus over the next year in systematic introductions of Lausanne working groups to the YLN.  These will likely start with the LDWG (Leadership Development Working Group) and other groups particularly focused on and relevant to younger leaders.  This will take the form of consultations with various working group leaders and clear descriptions of the vision, activities, and opportunities of these working groups for younger leaders.  One working group will be highlighted every 3-4 months.

3)    EQUIP

We cannot do everything, but we can focus on the most important things.  We choose to focus our efforts for younger leaders in the areas of mentoring and partnerships.  Mentoring is a priority as it is crucial towards the healthy spiritual development of younger leaders.  Partnerships and collaboration training and facilitating is crucial towards the connecting, mobilizing, and collaboration of younger generation leaders for the purpose of the fulfillment of our vision to see the whole church bring the whole gospel to the whole world.  We will focus in the years to come on three areas: [Yay! Mentoring. Note this http://codylorance.blogspot.com/2010/10/from-younger-leader-to-my-elders-thanks.html]

a)    Mentoring through the development of the Lausanne Younger Leaders Mentoring Partnership.  This will be a program sponsored by the YLT and facilitated by MentorLink and other similar ministries with potential for 1000 younger leaders partnered with 200 mentors.  A dedicated website will be developed with the possibility of new research and technologies being developed to aid in this endeavor. [At Orlando 2011, the desire for mentors was among those top-tier requests given by younger leaders. So, this seems to be a very important point.]

b)    Collaboration Implementation Training (CIT) will be offered as a part of the regional YLG's.  This will focus on training younger leaders in how to move from vision/passion to the building of strategic ministry partnerships, all towards the goal of the whole church bringing the whole gospel to the whole world.  In addition a core network of global younger leaders will be trained to mentor younger leaders who are currently in their teens and early 20's.

c)    Resource mobilization towards the goal of world evangelization efforts in our generation.  We will pray and work toward the development of a culture of generosity and stewardship through Biblically-based teaching and the strategic deployment of resources.  This will be supported in partnership with the Resource Mobilization Resource Group of Lausanne and other similar groups/organizations.

We, the YLT, ask for your prayers, counsel, and support towards these endeavors.  The future is at stake, and we rest assured that the future is in God's hands. 

"Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.  They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn - for he has done it." (Ps 22:30-31)

Michael Oh (coordinator)

Grace Samson   

Adel Azmi

Gabriela Gencheva

Jacob Isaac
Marcell Steuernagel
Mark Kolo
Rike Huettmann

Remo Paul

Larry Russell (advisor)

Henri Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus

I've been meaning to throw up a quick blog in reference to Henri Nouwen's great little book, In the Name of Jesus. I know it isn't a new and cutting edge kind of thing, but you'll just have to get over that with me.  I don't often read books when they are hot-off-the-press.  I prefer to let them steep awhile.  Well, Nouwen's book has had plenty of time to do so.  The full title is In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership and is taken from a presentation that Nouwen gave on "Christian Leadership in the 21st Century" on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the Center for Human Development in Washinton, D.C.
The book is a quick and weighty read, providing reflections on Jesus' post-resurrection encounter with Peter -- his so-called "reinstatement". Nouwen reflects on just a few phrases of Christ warning his readers against oft-overlooked temptations of leadership and challenging them to pursue the spiritual disciplines of contemplative prayer, confession and forgiveness, and theological reflection.  I've actually read this book twice -- a rarity for me -- and loved it both times.  It is the kind of book that really demands to be read and re-read again and again.  It is a call, really, to a spiritual leadership.  As Nouwen puts it,
"The central question is are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word, and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?" (p. 42)
And . . .
"It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life. Jesus asks, 'Do you love me?' We ask, 'Can we sit at your right hand and you left hand in your Kingdom?'" (p. 77)
So, here's a hearty thumbs up and recommendation of Henri Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus. It is an excellent careful read for any Christian leader.