• 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!

Just the start

Posted on February 25, 2019 by wtdavid

Earlier this week, each of us as members of the World Team Global community received a copy of our global outcomes.  Global outcomes are those faith-stretching desires we as teams long to see God bring about through us.

There are three facts we should keep in mind about these global outcomes.

First, global outcomes are not just about numbers.  They are about people, relationships, heart desires, and the call God has placed upon us as a community to see a multiplying movement of disciples and communities.  Numbers push us to think beyond ourselves, and they are a way to cause us to recognize that to accomplish this God given vision will require God’s work in us and through us. 

Second, global outcomes implicate all of us.  Global outcomes are the fruit of discussions we have had with one another.  These are not just objectives for one part of our community.  They are outcomes that call for each of us to get involved in some way in seeing them become a reality. 

Finally, global outcomes are not something we are going to ‘put in a drawer and forget about’.  This effort is not a ‘one off’, but a long term team effort we trust will lead us to see God do even more among us and through us.  One member of the World Team Global Alliance (WTGA), when he first heard about the global outcomes, commented (with much passion) as to “how these outcomes would unite all of the World Team community (WT workers, staff, boards, and partners)!“

However, we are just at the start.  Working our global outcomes means that we need to start now to more intentionally engage others with the Gospel.  It means that we need to begin now to prayer about and research those seven (7) new UPGs among whom we believe God desires us to work in 2021.  It means praying for one another now as new church starts begin each year (2019, 2020 & 2021); that these church starts would become viable communities of believers, capable of multiplying themselves.

Let us run the race together, keeping our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith!

Filed under: Assessment, Global outcomes, Vision, Working together | Leave a comment »

Want to be part of our team?

Posted on December 5, 2016 by wtdavid

We had friends over yesterday and they introduced us to a new game (let’s call it the ‘H-‘ game). The goal was to ‘create’ the best fireworks display ever.  The unique feature of the game was that everyone was working together on the same team towards tteamwork-1his task.  As part of the game, to start, we were each given four cards which we held in our hands.  The information printed on the cards, however, could only be seen by others as our cards were turned outwards toward the group.  Obviously, this made for a lot of fun (and confusion) as each of us had no idea of the cards we held in our hand.  We needed the questions and input of others to discover what pieces of the larger ‘puzzle’ we held in our hands.

Okay, I couldn’t help but make a link to the importance of teams. 

For one, working on a team can be just plain fun.  During the game, H-, we had some good laughs around the table as we tried to help each other figure out what cards each of us held in our hands.  A team should not be a burden, but a community where it is just good to be together with one another.

For another, working on a team can be harder than you think.  When you can’t see your cards, it’s hard to know where you ‘fit in’ the game, or to the team.  It takes effort to find one’s way into the bigger picture of the team.  Our default mode of ‘individualism’ often causes us to turn away from others, rather than work through the struggles of learning to hear others and work as a team.

Finally, once you know the benefits and blessings of working on a team, you start to tell others with the goal of inviting them to ‘join’ your team.  After playing one round of ‘H-’ with our friends, other friends happened to show up and we all started telling them about the great team game we had just finished.  We were ‘inviting’ them to join our team.

Okay, I couldn’t help but make a link to the importance of teams. 

How do I, how do you, share your excitement about our teams and invite others to become part of one of our teams?

Filed under: Teams, Working together | Leave a comment »

Collaborate, cooperate, work together, and act as a team

Posted on April 15, 2016 by wtdavid

Collaboration is a ‘misunderstood’ word in our culture. I have heard many people give different definitions to it.  At times, it serves as a buzz word that many of us enjoy using, but the actual working out of it can elude us.collaborate

The World Team Ministry Framework gives the following descriptor for this element:

“To accomplish our vision, we partner with like-minded ministries. These partnerships can involve sharing resources, strengths, expertise, and responsibility for overseeing ministry projects and programs.” 

‘Ministries’ could easily be interpreted as only agencies or entities outside of World Team.  However, we are talking about ‘organizational culture’ here and what should define our relationships with one another.  Organizational culture tells us what kind of atmosphere we will work in.  So, ‘ministries’ refers to other teams, other branches of World Team as well as partners outside of World Team.

Projects, programs and ministries in our World Team global community benefit in greater ways when teams and branches of World Team share “their resources, strengths, expertise and responsibility” with others; when we ‘work together with one another’ and act as a World Team team.

Once again, this is where the difficulty lies. Most of us are quick to offer help, but slow to ask for and accept help.  The result?  Many projects, programs and ministries roll out or launch as a ‘one man’ or ‘one woman’ effort.  Some of those projects, programs and ministries will gain traction by the simple perseverant attitude of the creator behind the project, program or ministry. Imagine though the synergy that would be released if that one person solicited help from others within World Team.

One of my first experiences in collaboration occurred in our early days here in Europe. We wanted to do some home repairs, and being the non-handyman that I am, the only option I could see was to ‘grit my teeth’ and try to figure out how to do those repairs on my own.  However, I quickly realized that if I asked others for help, my neighbors were more than eager to come to my aid.  I didn’t enjoy the asking part because, in part, it was an admission that I didn’t really know how to do the work. I needed the help, the expertise, the time of others in order to do the job.  Sure, I could have watched YouTube videos and figured out  how to do most things, but asking for help provided a resource base that I would not have had otherwise.

Collaboration begins by asking two questions. First, what are the critical action steps in this project, program or ministry?  Second, who has expertise, insight, wisdom and ability to help with any of those critical action steps?

Once we answer these two questions, the next step is to go and ask someone to collaborate with us.

Filed under: Collaboration, Working together | 4 Comments »

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