• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

More Lessons Learned

Posted on November 17, 2010 by wtdavid

The more I reflect on what I heard at the Lausanne Congress, the more I realize how many applications and take-aways there are.  But, I would like to wrap up with just two more at this point. 

One is: develop, mentor and release younger leaders.  This has been the subject of numerous posts in the past (see posts starting 05.06.2010), and it was also a major theme of Lausanne both verbally and practically.  Time and again, presenters encouraged experienced leaders to give of their time to engage younger leaders; to develop them as well as learn from them.  More than 700 participants at the conference were younger leaders.  As I said in a blog post several months ago: “We as well are faced with the difficulty of adequately trained (or prepared) workers to continue the ministry.  And it stems from a lack of mentoring or coming alongside new workers as they enter into ministry.  The mission we promote and serve is worth so much more than that of the construction business.  It is imperative that we re-evaluate our priorities and take the time to come around and support/mentor those who are stepping forward to enter into ministry.” 

Secondly, we should live humble, simple and authentic lives.  That is so easy to say, but the implications are profound.  Chris Wright in his presentation on Saturday of the conference ably framed the parameters of what this means for us today as “ministers”, “ambassadors” of God’s Gospel of reconciliation.  At the very least, it means that our lives should be characterized by a prayerful heart as we realize how the roots of selfishness and pride run deep in our hearts.  The result is reflected in the way we hold on to and use the resources God has entrusted to us.

Here’s my list so far:

Number❶ take-away: Preach, proclaim, and share the Gospel fearlessly. 

Number❷ take-away: Recognize that we are living in the 21st century. 

Number❸ take-away: Live out our identity. 

Number❹ take-away: We cannot accomplish the task on our own. 

Number❺ take-away: Develop, mentor and release younger leaders.

Number❻ take-away: Live humble, simple and authentic lives.

 

Would you join me in seeking to live these take-aways out in our lives and ministries and praying to that end?

 

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Humility, Mentoring, Partnership, Prayer | Leave a comment »

Going more “contextual”

Posted on August 26, 2010 by wtdavid

Going “contextual” can’t just be limited to the words one uses or hears.  Meaning and transformation is also conveyed through one’s life, actions and the frameworks that one uses to serve others.  This came home to me in a prophetic or transformational way recently at the house church/Bible study we attend.  Though I was part of the team that was at the origin of the current group, I had deliberately taken a more facilitative role, encouraging the others to assume leadership direction.

On the last meeting night before the summer break, the main leader announced that we should be praying about creating a second group in the fall.  I almost fell out of my chair.  This is what so many of us hope and pray for, that is, that a group catches the multiplicational spirit and actually moves to create other communities. 

I approached the leader right after the meeting and shared with him that I was willing to help in any way that I could in the launch of this new community.  Without even hesitating, he reminded me that I was too busy and my offer was a little unrealistic. Besides, he said, “What more could you do?  I just appreciate the fact that you’re around and I can talk through situations with you that come up in the group.” 

My pride certainly took a hit.  Who wouldn’t want to jump back in to working such a neat initiative?  But, the facilitative stance I had sought to take far outweighed my words, and had liberated this leader not only to move the group forward, but also to speak transformationally to my heart.

Filed under: Contextualization, Mentoring | Leave a comment »

Who Am I And How Are Others Receiving Me?

Posted on August 19, 2010 by wtdavid

In response to my most recent post (“A Developmental Mindset”), Noah made the following observation: It is our privilege in mobilization to foster a person’s awareness of their giftedness, in full recognition of their Creator and Redeemer’s authorship in their story. It is our privilege to point them to their Creator’s redeeming process in their lives.  That got me thinking.  We have been emphasizing the importance of other-centered development in several posts, but we should not neglect our own personal development as well.

One of the core elements for training in the Gospel Leader Profile is self-awareness, and one of the ways to describe it is as follows:

Self-awareness of one’s own need for the Gospel and personal development in relation to God, self and other team members.  A leader reflects a proper estimate of their own strengths and weakness and also seeks insights from others around them.  They keep a close check on their physical and emotional health in the varying seasons of life.  They seek to maintain healthy boundaries in relationships and on the use of their time.

Once again, if we ‘re-wrote’ this statement for all cross-cultural workers, we might come up with something like: “Self-awareness of one’s own need for the Gospel and personal development in relation to God, self and other team members.  A worker with a cross cultural heart reflects a proper estimate of their own strengths and weaknesses and also seeks insights from others around them.”  As soon as I put the statement that way, I realized that “insights from others” could come from a variety of sources, including short and mid-term workers whom I might be developing.

Then I began to wonder about my level (our level) of openness to receive such insights from others; to potentially be developed by others whom we are developing.  My own pride and self righteousness can stand in the way of that approach.  I realized I had missed a key phrase in what Noah had written: “It is our privilege to point them to their Creator’s redeeming process in their lives.”  And I would add, it’s our privilege to be pointed back to our Creator’s redeeming process in our lives. 

Self-awareness is that ongoing process where God shows us again and again our need to “first look upon His face, and then turn from contemplating Him to scrutinize ourselves.”  It’s Gospel self-awareness that we are ultimately after.

Filed under: Humility, Mentoring, Mobilization | 2 Comments »

A Developmental Mindset

Posted on August 17, 2010 by wtdavid

I’ve been trying to get back into a regular running routine; that’s my best exercise. Normally, I’m out three times a week with each run involving a different program (long distance, speed work, etc).  However, travel and most recently a bad case of shingles have set me back a bit in that routine.  As I was thinking about starting up again the last week of August, I found myself just beginning from where I left off.  In fact, I was even considering of adding some biking or swimming on the off days.  Obviously, you recognize as I did, somewhat more slowly, that the notion of “development” was missing.  There was no thought of how to slowly move up again towards the training level I was hoping to reach.  I simply wanted to get going now and not have to go through the different stages again to reach that consistent level of training.

Maybe that is why the development of others (see recent posts on short and mid-term workers) is complex and often wearisome because it involves walking with someone through the “stages” of development. 

Dr. Bobby Clinton wrote in his book, The Making of a Leader: “God develops a leader over a lifetime.  That development is a function of the use of events and people to impress leadership lessons upon a leader (processing), time, and leader response.  Processing is central to the theory.  All leaders can point to critical incidents in their lives where God taught them something important.”  Would the same hold true if we replaced the notion of leader with “cross cultural worker”? 

The statement might then read: “God develops a worker with a cross cultural heart over a lifetime.  That development is the function of the use of events and people to impress cross cultural lessons upon a cross cultural worker (processing), time, and cross cultural worker response.  Processing is central to the theory.  All workers with a cross cultural heart can point to critical incidents in their lives where God taught them something important.”

If that statement is in any way true, it should impact how I view the first day, week, month and year with a new worker.  And it should impact how I relate and “develop” that person.

Filed under: Mentoring, Mobilization | 2 Comments »

“In community”

Posted on May 31, 2010 by wtdavid

In re-reading a note from John Wilson on the topic of discipleship, I was struck by its relevance to the subject of mentoring, and in particular the idea of “group mentoring”. 

Here’s what John wrote: “I think this is something which is not fully appreciated today with the emphasis on “one-on-one” discipleship.  In a group there is a powerful dynamic for corporate values, and appropriate and acceptable character and lifestyle. I saw this in tribal life, where it is true that it takes a village to raise a child.  There is an aspect of discipleship in community which we have lost in the 20th century with our focus on individual discipleship.”  Thanks John for that insight!

Filed under: Mentoring | 4 Comments »

Multi-directional mentoring

Posted on May 27, 2010 by wtdavid

Wow, stay away from one’s blog for a few days and you can quickly lose track of the discussion.  Rebecca and I just returned from the States where I stumbled on an article which piqued my interest.  Normally, when I think about mentoring, I think of it in a one directional sense.  A recent post from blogs.bnet.co.uk talked about more multi-directional mentoring described as:“reverse mentoring” and “group mentoring”.

In reverse mentoring, the dynamic is changed by allowing the newer member to mentor or help the more senior leader.  The more senior leader gains access to information and training that might not otherwise have been available to him/her, and the newer member gains an opportunity to be immediately valued as well as to have immediate impact in the organization.  In group mentoring, several upcoming leaders can be mentored at one time, and the group then serves as a community to encourage and challenge one another in leadership development.  It would be interesting to hear what this looks like or might look like for some of us.

Filed under: Mentoring, Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

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