Friday Burn

::: Paraguay is the First Country in Americas to Eliminate Malaria in 45 Years
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::: Can This Cooler Save Lives?
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::: Working at Charity:water
No swearing and no lying.
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::: Leadership is disappointing your own people at a rate that they can absorb. - Heifetz and Linskey, via Tod Bolsinger

Photo: Congrats to Meghan for completing the Ember ProtoGuide experience.

Family Pictures

2017 Toyota 4Runner 4x4 SR5 Magnetic Grey Metallic. Photo by Joseph Yang.

Sheng Send

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings. - Goethe

Sending these two this week. Em flies on Monday with a church team for almost three weeks on a 'tour' of South East Asia, knee brace and all [long story.] Em will is also part of the Ember IG team so gets a few weeks at home before heading out again. Katie flies on Tuesday for a few weeks in Europe visiting with friends and then an internship in India for mid July to the end of August.

We are thrilled for them and trust what the Lord does in their lives this summer.

Friday Burn

::: The Most Successful Ethnic Group in the US
Link via Next Draft


::: The World is Running Out of Japanese People
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::: The 20%

the point of the article, and I’m not going to do it justice, everyone should read it, was that it was, effectively, directed at kids. Kids who are now adults. And it was an encouragement to spend more time with your parents because it said, effectively, by the time you leave high school and leave home to go to college, you’ve spent 80 percent of the total hours you will ever spend with your parents before they die.
Now, you can look at it the other way around. As a parent, by the time your kids leave high school or leave home, you will have spent or had the opportunity to spend 80 percent of the hours you’re ever going to spend with them together.

From a transcript interview between Tim Ferriss and Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race
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::: Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. - Corrie Ten Boom

Photo: The Sea of Galilee

Abuse and Misconduct Policy

Like many of you, I have been in disbelief as I have recently read about the sexual and power abuse that is happening in our culture. This disbelief has turned into anger as I've read about this same kind of abuse and power structures in our churches and student ministries. I am no longer in denial and you should not be either - we are only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this abuse issue in our churches.

To that end, the board of directors of The Ember Cast and I have just completed working on a policy for abuse, misconduct and leadership with minors. We don't have a good name for this policy but it encompasses a few of these issues altogether: abuse, sexual misconduct, reporting, and conduct for leadership with minors. As of a few weeks ago, we have implemented a new process which includes background checks for leaders and a required review and signature of this policy from each leader. Leaders with partner organizations may also be asked to review and sign this policy, depending on their existing systems for addressing these issues. Of course, some of the motivation behind this is providing absolute clarity for leaders surrounding these topics. Another motive behind the policy is the spirit of the document: if you abuse a student while working with The Ember Cast, we will turn over heaven and earth to put you in jail for as long as possible. [Yeah a little dramatic.]

Here is our policy if you are interested in requesting read access.

Other resources that were helpful included Brad Feld's post on this subject, Andy Crouch's post about power dynamics, and the Protect My Ministry and GRACE organizations. Also, special thanks to friends at Mosaic Christian Church and Grace Community Church for providing examples of their policies.

IG Team Meeting #16

+ Team field trip to Washington DC.
+ Museum of the Bible
+ Sharing Your Story
+ DC Food Trucks
+ The Lincoln

Friday Burn

::: Advice to New Graduates: Scale or Bail
Must read - thanks to Kathleen
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::: Missionary Attrition

Of the team/agency factors, the highest rated factors in the decision to return to a passport country as perceived by former missionaries were lack of missionary care, lack of integrity on the team, lack of freedom to pursue calling, team conflict, and confusion over role on the team.

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::: Vending Machines from 3018
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::: For too many, the opposite of fear is not courage, but conformity. - Alvin Reid via Justin Long

IG Team Meeting #15

Lots of meetings with this team, but they all love to spend so much time with yours truly.
+ Final set of videos on context.
+ Ember core principles - more examples.
+ Team member Shannon in real life.
+ Funding - this has stalled a bit. I'm not asking you for money but if you were interested, I would buy you coffee and invite you to partner with us.

Niall, Tommy, Emily, Deanna, Jolie, Sam, Audrey, Shannon.

To All My Anonymous Feedback

Never write what you dare not sign. An anonymous letter-writer is a sort of assassin, who wears a mask, and stabs in the dark. Such a man is a fiend with a pen. If discovered, the wretch will be steeped in the blackest infamy.

- Charles Spurgeon via Denny Burk. PS - I forgive you.

Friday Burn

::: Eastern Europe is Shrinking Before Our Eyes
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::: The Salesforce Tower and the Homeless
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::: 20 Takeaways - The Meeker Internet Trends 2018 Report
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::: Forever is composed of nows. - Emily Dickinson