• 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!

Merci encore

Posted on February 17, 2015 by wtdavid

Those were the words that opened the email I received today from a young man who had led worship in our local French church on Sunday.  He “thanked me again” for taking the time to send him a brief evaluation or assessment of his leadership on Sunday, and for the encouragement that it contained.Stift Konzept - Merci!

Reading that note, I recognized again how vitally important is our stance, our approach to assessment.

First of all, I needed to have a developmental approach towards this young man.  In other words, I had to see him as God saw him, with all the potential that He had placed in him.  I needed to find ways to spur him on in further growth in his gifting.

Next, this young man needed to view assessment not as a criticism of who is and what he does, but as an opportunity to receive feedback that he could use to grow in his capacity and fruitfulness.  Sifting through the assessment given, he could then establish growth steps to help him in further development.

The Gospel helps us overcome our default approach to seeing assessment as judgment and criticism by reminding us again and again that our value is not found in what others think about us, but in what He has already done for us!  This frees us to accept assessment and evaluation as a means of ongoing growth in our journey with Him, strengthening us to give Him greater glory.

Filed under: Assessment, Encouragement, Gospel | 5 Comments »

Assess one another

Posted on February 13, 2015 by wtdavid

When we start talking about metrics or providing indicators that allow us to assess God given progress towards a vision or goal, many of us immediately assume some hidden motive behind the request.  For example, we might think:

  • Our work is going to be judged on insufficient criteria (just numerical indicators);
  • Our leaders are looking for a way to justify closing down our ministry; or
  • We as an agency are being overly influenced by business tactics

 

assessment-center1Rather than taking the perspective that others will be ‘judging us’, perhaps we could look at indicators as a healthy way to ‘assess one another’ and ‘help one another’; to work together as a global community to fulfill our purpose and vision in greater ways.

Indicators (quantity and quality) might show that there has been limited fruit in a particular ministry over the past few years.  A healthy assessment would engage dialogue over a number of questions.  The answers to those questions might reveal a limited prayer network for the ministry and a significant lack of people resources.

Do we fold the ministry?  No. We as a global community bring the resources that are lacking to this ministry, or we network the existing team to needed resources.  Any assessment reveals how a ministry is doing and what we might learn from them or how we might come alongside them with help.

Filed under: Assessment, Community, Resources | 4 Comments »

Assessing quality, counting quantity

Posted on February 5, 2015 by wtdavid

We exist to glorify God.  We as a World Team community exist to glorify God by establishing and facilitating communities of believers that give birth to other communities.  We work together to explore new ways to share the message of Christ in a contextualized manner, to build disciples and communities that will multiply themselves exponentially among those least reached with the Gospel.

The purpose, the vision,the focus is quite clear.  How will we know if we are actually fulfilling this vision?  Do we just ‘hope for the best’ spiritually speaking?  Or are there any indicators that allow us to assess God given progress?

quality_or_quantity-resized-600Each year, Rebecca and I sit down and decide what we will plant in our garden.  We have rented a plot about 5 kilometers from our house and we want to use the space well.  One crop we plant every year is potatoes. Two things are important with potatoes: the quality of the potatoes.  Not all potatoes store well nor can be used for a variety of cooking purposes.  And second, the quantity of potatoes.  If we’re going to take the time and energy to plant a particular variety of potato, we want to make sure there is a good return.  We will count the approximate number of potatoes harvested at the end of season.  We do this because we want to discover if there are some things we might need to change the following year to have a better harvest.  For example, different soil composition, more consistent watering, or being better on top of parasites that attack our plants could create a greater harvest.  Some things we have no control over, such as the weather, and we simply will do the best with the conditions we face.  Quality and quantity are both concerns.

There are surely a number of parallels between gardening and disciplemaking.  Any ideas?  We can share more about all this in another blog.

“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty … As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”  Matthew 13:8, 23

Filed under: Assessment, Metrics | 4 Comments »

Mutually supporting and openness … again

Posted on January 30, 2015 by wtdavid

Ginny shared these thoughts after reading my last post.  They are part of a devotional she recently shared with a small group.

“Proverbs 12:25 speaks to us of one of the ways of encouraging others.

One way to encourage, build-up, or stimulate one another is through the written word.  A letter or email sent with the right words at the right time can be greatly used in the life of someone else. We can also encourage by actions, by what we do.  As we walk in close relationship with the Lord, He then can enable us to be an encouragement one to another.

Recently I received a note from a friend who shared with me lessons of encouragement learned from a goose!  Geese as you know fly in a “V” geese in formationformation. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a “V” formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range then if each bird flew on its own.   This is quite similar to being part of a team, sharing a common direction to get where they are going.  The journey is quicker and easier if they are traveling on the trust of one another and lift each other up along the way. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go through it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the power of the flock. As a team member, we need to work together and share information and encouragement with those who are headed in the same way that we are going.

The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed.  Words of support and encouragement help energize those on the front line helping them to keep pace in spite of the day-to-day pressures and fatigue.  It is important that our honking be encouraging.

Finally when a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out, two geese fall out of the formation and follow the injured one down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is able to fly again.  Then they launch out with another formation to catch up with their group.  When one of us is down, it’s up to the others to stand by us in our time of trouble. We need to stand by each other and be that source of encouragement.”

Filed under: Community, Encouragement | 2 Comments »

Mutually supporting and openess

Posted on January 28, 2015 by wtdavid

Like most workers, I feel like I have a good read on life and ministry.  The reality is that I can easily be blinded to faults that bring pain and conflict into conversations, relationships and teams. We each see the ‘evident’ needs of others, but lack a larger perspective that shows us our own spiritual growth needs.  I, we, for the most part lack self awareness.encourage-one-another-hands

Being interdependent, being mutually supportive of one another is also a call to get involved in one another’s lives.

The TC4u document (found on the Hub under the Gospel Conversation Café) is one attempt to grapple with how such mutual dependence works itself out in our communities as workers in World Team.  I can talk about community and tell others of the importance of being part of one, but do I personally feel the need and model the need for such mutual support through community?

If you don’t see the need for community, for this need of open and honest sharing, you won’t go seeking it out.

However, if like me, you recognize your lack of self awareness and need of Christ, you will go looking for a group of like minded believers with whom to gather and offer that mutual support to one another; to work at living out community as described in the Scriptures:

  • Encourage one another: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
  • Build up one another: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
  • Pray for another: James 5:16
  • Speak truth (in love) to one another: Ephesians 4:15

Filed under: Community, Core Values, Interdependence | 2 Comments »

Mutually supporting

Posted on January 13, 2015 by wtdavid

One of the core values we hold as World Team global workers is interdependence. On our website, we describe interdependence in this way:  “Interdependence is evident in our conscious desire to embrace partnerships with others who share our passion for the unreached. It is lived out in our teams, networks of national church associations, and sending churches and individuals who make up the broader World Team family.”

That may be good missiological speak, but it doesn’t necessarily tell us what interdependence might look like in our lives and ministries. I kind of like thinking about interdependence as being mutually supportive of one another. It’s about being intentional in working together across team and agency lines.  In some respects, “it’s about all believers everywhere being united together and needing each other.”

Maybe a practical example would help.

The office where I currently work came about through just such mutual support or dependency.  During our first few years in France, I met Pierre (a European sent worker) who was 20150113_140056involved in a church plant near the city.  From our first conversation, I knew we were driven by the same passion.  We met a number of times and had deep conversations about reaching the community here with the Gospel.  One day, Pierre called.  He said that he had heard I was in need of an administrator.  He had someone to send my way.  It was someone from his church who had greatly helped him with the organization and structure of their church plant as it got off the ground.  That is how I met Olivier.  Olivier worked for me for about five years.  During that time, he introduced me to Jean Marc who owns his own business.  We had lunch with Jean Marc numerous times over the past number of years.  Last May, Jean Marc called and said that he had heard I was looking for an office.  He had one to rent to me.

A few things stand out as I look back over this timeline of mutual support:

  • ‘Mutually supportive’ workers were not afraid to share with others resources they had.
  • ‘Mutually supportive’ workers keep their ‘spiritual ears’ open to the needs of others and how they might be able to respond to those needs.
  • ‘Mutually supportive’ workers build networks or bridges between like minded workers

Filed under: Core Values, Interdependence | 2 Comments »

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