Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Andrew and Eric

Stunning post by Andrew, Ember 2010 intern.
When I first met Eric he greeted me with big handshake and a hug. It was clear that he would be somebody I was going to get to know better during my time here. He basically showed me the ropes of how the feeding program works, and answered every question for me that I could think to ask about Kibera. What I didn't know at the time was that he lived in Kibera himself. I didn't find this out until a few days later when he was showing me through all the streets and alleys of the slum. I think what struck me the most was that he was so overly giving, caring, and hard-working. Sometimes its easier to assume that people who are in poverty got there by their own means (i.e. they were lazy, addicted to drugs/alcohol, a criminal, etc). But I've found through the example of Eric and a lot of other people I've met in Kibera that this is simply not true. Some of the hardest working people can be found in the slums, but their efforts simply don't equate to what our efforts do because of their circumstances. What amazes me every day is that Eric keeps such a positive attitude about life, and he still gives out of his poverty, something absolutely biblical (Mark 12:41-42).
Four summers ago, he was an average suburban high school kid. Three summers ago, he traveled with a team I lead to Europe to hang with some cross cultural church planters. Last summer, his internship culminated with working with a stateside church plant and spending a week in the desert.
Captivate a high school kid early enough with how the world looks and how they could contribute and eventually, they might make decisions that will affect humanity.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Dream Year #1 - Money

The content on finances probably had the most impact on me at Dream Year. Now I'm no business guy but hearing Ben say that revenue must be more than expenses makes sense to me. =) These other ideas also resonated:
- Nonprofit is a tax strategy not a business strategy. Your idea needs to be profitable to be sustainable.

- Your idea might need other ways to create revenue.

- The 100% donor model might be endangered.

All of these ideas are certainly relevant to Ember. And they are just as relevant to how we prepare students to lead in the future - especially to those that might be interested in vocational ministry, specifically outside the traditional structure of a local community of faith. Granted, the 100% donor model, like other models, has a Biblical precedent, can invite a lot of others to be a part of your team and is a true faith walk. The other side of the equation is that we are seeing less and less career faith supported missionaries, in some contexts that status actually gives you more barriers to entry, and the global economic recession has not helped the situation. In today's global economy, you could study just about any field and there is a way that would help get you to the mission field.

Perhaps some of us need to give more flexibility to the emerging generation and their adaptability to bring different avenues of revenue to the future ministries and organizations they will create. For instance, I was told that it was unbiblical to host a poker party to raise money for a short term missions team. Poker is irrelevant to me, but you would have to agree that its a major subculture right now. The stigma of making money and being associated with 'nonprofit', 'missions' and 'ministry' should be end. [Lots more great stuff about this idea in the book Uncharitable.] I'm thinking about how Ember is going to experiment with this too - do you like to play poker? [just kidding...]

My bet is that similar to the many varied dreams I heard about this weekend, future global leaders are going to create ministries that don't even exist yet today. They will dream them, build teams to help run them, and more now than ever, they will need to create varied portfolios of revenue that help fund them.

Monday, June 06, 2011

Unpacking the Dream

Lots to unpack from the Dream Year weekend - I'm going to try to post some of my learnings and how they relate to Ember as a business in the next few weeks. I'm also anticipating that lots of ideas are relevant in how we prepare students to be global leaders in the future as well. Advance warning though - due to the nature of the Dream Year process, there won't be very detailed notes on the concepts covered in DY. [The pic is what was in my bag from DY...]

In the meantime, I can tell you that it was a pretty intense time of learning for me. I had maybe one business class ever so those particular topics were great for me and very much behind my motivation to attend in the first place.

The community of dreamers that was gathered was also amazing. It included church planters, pastors and coaches; founders of various nonprofits; some very talented media people and various others.

Special thanks to Ben Arment for doing this. Every one of my readers [yes you] would learn something from him.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Friday Burn

::: Married US Households Now in Minority
Link
You do think about this when it comes to student ministry, don't you?


::: Bilingual people are smarter
Link


::: Extremely granular HIV map
Link


::: The World's Most Livable City - Istanbul
Link


::: Your Stock Goes Up Even If You Fail
I can make the money back. I can get back on my feet. And I can try again. But I can never recover from what I didn't try at all.
Link
Loved this post and I will be hearing this kind of stuff all weekend at DreamYear - be jealous.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

June Kindling

+ Our summer camp outline is coming together pretty well I think. 3 days on site. Ah Florida.
+ Trevin has landed a part time position with Baltimore Serve the City. Love seeing the connections being made. Seems to be tons of momentum with lots of churches, npos and para service orgs.
+ Sent out 92 support email letters. Heard from lots of friends which was awesome. The walk to the mailbox is filled with anticipation.
+ Got invited to a birthday party. In Prague.
+ What's your cap on how you do fundraising? What's out of line - poker, gaming, cigar and wine bar?
+ Looking very forward to #DreamYear this Friday.
+ Even though I'm writing this last night, in one hour, I hope to have Hillsong United tickets.
+ 15 minutes in catching up with KellanD included how he flew to surprise his girlfriend in Senegal; what a remarkable experience in cultural distance that was; and info about a phenomenal internship he scored this summer in renewable energy. Tell me a career like that won't get him to the nations.
+ Participating in a little beta project with one of my virtual mentors. The project is fun enough but learning how he thinks is once in a lifetime.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Friday Burn

::: Predicting the Future - Look at Today's 14 year olds
Link


::: Andy Stanley does not know of a high profile leader in ministry that has not been in counseling
Link


::: The Theil's 20 under 20
Link

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Middle School Missionaries

Ember's been invited to do a little teaching about missions at a summer camp in June - you've probably seen some of the details. I'm really excited about this opportunity for multiple reasons: it's working with my friend Chris Marsden, Trevin and I are doing this together, and you know how the Sheng's love Orlando.

All those things are great but the core of this is the middle school kids that will be attending that week at camp. For too long, we've decided that middle school kids don't own the Kingdom, that they are too young to make a difference, that God will use them but not right now maybe in just a few years, that a middle schooler wouldn't be able to understand concepts we would teach to preparing missionaries.

Well, we aren't putting up with any of that this summer.

Image: Programming/scheduling ideas on a board - idea from Catalyst. On a map - idea from me.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Mobilizing from the Sofa

Ember celebrates a few bright spots this week with some amazing college students leaving the comforts of home to immerse themselves in other cultures and contribute to God's purposes around the world. I'm amazed at their courage, their ability to adapt and their willingness to change in light of these experiences. And these people were like this before they met us.

And of course, I would love to be traveling with them too. Some of my favorite experiences have been newly seeing a context through the eyes of someone else - watching a high school kid see the Grand Canyon for the first time, climbing the
Arc de Triomphe
with my family, watching my daughter swim in the Danube.

Sometimes, mobilizing is traveling with some of your favorite people, helping them process, engage and learn from amazing experiences. Other times, it's watching expectantly from your international office as those same favorite people blaze their own trail of adventure.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Supporting Ember This Summer

For those of you that might be interested in supporting some emerging global student leaders.... my 2011 support letter... sort of...

Dear Ember Tribe --

I'm delighted to give you a quick update about all things Ember - thank you again for your encouragement, support and investment in our efforts to connect and resource emerging global student leaders on their way to marking human history. Ember exists to reignite the Jesus fire in each student and to launch them out to serve a world in need and I'm always thrilled at your involvement with us.

2011 got off to a slow start in terms of work that actually stimulated student missions, but we've had some fun projects this spring, including two short term mission prep sessions [for a past Ember intern and his team going to Mozambique and for Bay Area Community Church's short term summer teams]; identifying and recruiting three high school interns for Fall 2011; and continuing to connect with like-minded allies of student missions.

Here are some upcoming projects in the works for which your prayers are coveted:
+ Ember has been invited to assist in teaching about the future of missions at Lake Aurora Christian Camp outside of Orlando at the end of June. The audience will primarily be middle schoolers and at least two of our team will attend. We are also supplementing this teaching with videos from some of our favorite people around the world, helping us teach about global realities and missional perspectives.
+ Potentially facilitating an inner city immersion for a team of college freshmen at the end of July, working with Serve the City Baltimore.
+ Some of our guides, board of directors and interns will be attending a conference hosted by The International Mentoring Network in Detroit at the end of September.
+ We've been asked to facilitate a leadership weekend in NYC this fall for student leaders from Salisbury University. This is a team we have worked with in the past and this group of students has an amazing history of initiating and sustaining community impact initiatives.

We estimate that our expenses for these next projects will be about $2000. If you feel led to support us financially, know that your support would be so appreciated and would go a long way in terms of empowering current and future global student leaders that are resolute about throwing fire.

There are two quick ways to send in support if you are so led:
1 - A check payable to The Ember Cast, Inc. You can send it to [get in touch with me]
2 - A bank transfer: routing code: [get in touch with me]
[3 - If you are local and want to give a donation, I will come to you with a cup of coffee.]
All your donations are tax deductible, you can expect a receipt within two weeks and we will never sell your information. And if you have a specific project you would like to fund, notate that as well.

Thank you again for joining with us. Throwing fire with you,

tony

[Related: Mission Support Letters: 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Friday Burn

::: You Version Creator - One of Fast Company's Most Creative
Link


::: 10 Reasons Not to Join a Board
Link


::: Poor People - increasingly found in middle-income countries and in fragile states
Link

Thursday, May 19, 2011

2011 on the move - part 3

These three have traveled with me here and there in the past.
Caroline - raising support to spend a year in Australia learning to be a midwife in the developing world. She was also on the very first student missions experience I architected for SPACE.

Michelle - a few more months in South Africa.

Tayest - traveling to Kenya with We Are Kenya. Incidentally, We Are Kenya is a NPO started by a group of people from GRACE. Tay is also contributing to our little video project - more on that later.

[part 2]

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Why I'm Going to Dream Year DC

Ok and one more... I'm attending the Dream Year Weekend in DC in early June. I've been reading Ben Arment's blog for years, starting when he had just planted History Church in a suburb of DC and then when he worked for Catalyst and now as he does his own creative projects. He's got stunning posts about leadership, teams and leveraging your gifts and talents. You should probably subscribe to his blog.

My wife gave me a requirement that before I started Ember, I take a business class. I ignored that which you know is a mistake =) But I'm pretty sure the Dream Year Weekend is a far better substitute [read through the Process.]

We are rubbing shoulders with probably the most entrepreneurial generation in history and their kingdom size dreams have the potential to do amazing things. I'm hopeful that I'll be learning some very practical stuff about bringing ideas to fruition and translating some of that to others.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

M 2011

To accelerate the spread of an apostolic ethos among future-oriented, Christ-following leaders like you.
Ember is taking a little team to this. Tell you more about it later. Would love to see you if you are there.

[Related: Humana2008, Humana2007]

Monday, May 16, 2011

2011 on the move - part 2

K&K&R - K, part of the 03, who I met in 1999, and his wife K and now their daughter R, are on the way back from North Africa later this summer. Mission is not only overseas.

Julia, also part of the 03, is helping lead a second team from Common Ground Church in Fredericksburg, VA, to Haiti. Big time intention on sustainability and partnership - they are working with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission, specifically the Neighbors Project.

My good friend Ben Cloud is working with Upper Bann Vineyard Church in North Ireland for a week this summer, taking a group of students to help them with some of their community impact ministry. Ben planted Amadeo Church in Queen Creek, Arizona in 2006. Before that, he had been cultivated partnerships with students all over the world - both in sending and hosting.
[This was the one I wished we could have pulled off this summer. Remind me not to think small again.]

[Part 1]

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday Burn

::: A USB PC for $25
Link


::: 10 complaints about American tourists
Very funny.
Link


::: Shaun King - The Leadership Lesson from OBL
Your living room or office would be a more functional global command center than the one we see Osama in. Your technology is more advanced, your television is bigger, your remote is better, your wires are better organized :-)
Link


::: Marko writes to his niece - who is going into professional youth ministry
Link

Thursday, May 12, 2011

2011 on the move - part 1

Part of the Ember tribe that is on the move this summer [I'm posting about this in parts...]

Jenny - serving in Quito Ecuador with an orphanage as part of a summer university service trip.
Andrew [Ember guide] - Nairobi Kenya with First Love ministries via Duke Engage
Ethan - five weeks in Sweden with Campus Crusade
John [Ember guide ] Mozambique with Iris Ministries.

Honored to hang with these types of people. They are on the move because God moves.

[Part 2]
[Related: 2010 on the move]

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

B to the

Ben is one of those long haul youth pastors - he's in it for a long time and knows that, perhaps, the fruit of his labor isn't going to be realized for 10-15 years down the road. Some catalytic reactions move slow and deep.

We chatted last night about indigenous student leadership, his family's cultural transition from Florida to Ohio, and what might be some good ideas to help prep a student team in the works to tornado ravaged Alabama.

Ben is the kind of leader Ember exists to connect and resource. Globally minded, passionate about the emerging generation, willing to lead his students into crossing another culture to make Jesus known.

Monday, May 09, 2011

One Simple Lever

Trevin and I spent some time working together this past Saturday. He's our first guide and as someone who is half my age, I rely on his perspective a good bit when it comes to engaging the emerging generation.

On this afternoon, we worked to clarify who and what an Ember guide is, nailed down some logistics for two possible Ember field trips in June and September and outlined core better practices we would like to share with others. Oh and we worked on some Chick Fil A and D's awesome guac.

Ember's fantastical board of directors is really interested in growth - their belief, like mine, is that there are emerging global leaders that are high school aged right now and engaging them is a simple lever that has the potential to change the world. Growth means finding more resources to help us pull that lever but we probably don't have an unlimited amount of time.

Yeah, you would like working with the team I work with too.

Photo: Trevin on the right, Kt my 13 year old on the left.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Friday Burn

A huge amount of stuff sitting in my Reader from a while ago. Enjoy.

::: 114 of the 184 best-paid athletes in the world play soccer
Link


::: Bob Roberts [glocal.net] notes from Q Portland.
My favorite line : "Serve not to convert but because converted."
Link
The balance between social justice and evangelism is a tension to be managed, not a problem to be solved. [see Andy Stanley podcast]


::: Praxis Labs
Developed in collaboration with Q, Praxis is a mentorship-driven accelerator program for social entrepreneurs & innovators compelled by their faith to advance the common good.
Tons to learn here. Like:
+ Sustainable enterprise or donor model
+ Focus on measurable impact
+ Our Fellows are natural leaders who balance vision and execution.
Link
Also, check out their A list of mentors.


:::: Justin on Generational Future of Missions
Long post - but I'm sure you'll get something valuable from it. Lots of futuristic stuff in here so you will either love it or hate it.
Link


::: Effectiveness of Short Term Missions
What makes a difference, according to virtually all studies, is pre-trip training, on-site mentoring and follow-up after the trip. But researchers found post-trip follow-up by team leaders, usually from churches, schools or mission agencies, falls short.
Link
Another missions cottage industry = facilitating post trip decompression.


::: 200 million minutes per day
Spent on Angry Birds. Wow - that's way worse than football in the Fall...
Link via Mark Riddle


::: Marcus Buckingham's Three Favorite Books
Link
So much more in here like leadership versus managers, why the Tipping Point is so good, and chess versus checkers when you are in charge.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Imagine Alternative Structures

All humans have at least a touch of what I call the maker instinct, but most leaders have a serious dose since they must make and remake the organizations they lead. The best leaders have always been tinkerers who imagine alternative structures and love to play around with them to see what new things they can create.
- Bob Johansen, Leaders Make The Future

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

The Future Missions Pastor

Last weekend, I watched Casely teach on being a good guest. Born in Ghana, married to Angela who is Ugandan, I heard him deftly address subtle yet significant concepts of crossing cultures. Stuff like how cultures interpret power, are you going to a time-controlled or interaction-controlled context, and the difference between the initiative of those with a self-help value versus a birthright value. Stuff that you and I - who were born and raised here in America - think we know. I was a little shocked because I thought I knew this stuff. You probably think you do too.

Casely represents the future of American mission pastors. In the future that's presenting right now, Christianity booms in the global south. Suburbs are exponentially getting diverse. The context for 'missions' is becoming a varied mix of global+local. An emerging generation natively understands diversity, inclusion and community. This is the future where our churches need a kind of leadership that deeply understands the developing world, has a pulse on the way the globe really looks and is able to walk their communities through deep engagement of being a good guest.

There's a handful of missions pastors whose work I know is phenomenal. But global Christianity isn't orbiting around America. So I'm hopeful that more and more Caselys take on this kind of leadership for their communities of faith.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

May Kindling

+ This summer looks a lot different and low key than previous ones. Some different kind of projects that are still at the core of getting students moving. But I get this strange sense that something is brewing.
+ Collaborating with one of Ember's biggest fans, Chris, to put some of our better practices
and favorite people doing some video teaching for one of his student ministry venues.
+ Also working with a small group of college kids for something probably local, urban and catalytic.
+ Dropped in on a Perspectives class last night. For all the great content that the class gives, there needs to be some kind of follow up on discerning God's call, what's next in training [taking the class doesn't mean you know everything about missions], and why teams function on the mission field exponentially times better than individuals. [maybe future post]
+ Short term missions team preparation could be a cottage industry.
+ Since it's May, I'm supposed to tell you that if you haven't done any team gatherings to help prepare your summer missions team, you are shirking your leadership responsibility. Email me for more abuse. And some help.
+ Last May was probably one of the worst months of my life. My mother was in major meltdown and I was grieving a loss of the life I had known. This May is much, much different. Better.

Monday, May 02, 2011

Missions Prep with Bay Area Comm Church

Short term mission teams are notoriously unprepared. This, however, is starting to change, especially among church based teams. I had the privilege to join Bay Area Community Church for their short term missions team 'one day prep retreat' over the weekend. Really fun time, here's some content and observations.

+ Sessions included the Biblical Basis for Missions, How Short Term Teams Fit in with the Task Remaining, How to Travel as a Gracious Guest, Staying Healthy on the Field, and Bay Area Logistics.
+ The first two sessions were led by two of the local ACMC guys, Dave and Joe.
+ My session was How to Make the Most of your Missions Trip, which included tips on before, during and after. See the notes here.
+ About 60 people, all ages. 1 team of college/high school students going to El Salvador this summer. The host there was a Bay Area member who moved there long term after going there on a short term team. Other teams included Poland, India and Mexico. Another team going to Ghana, but they weren't there today.
+ Bay Area has medical evacuation covered in their missions insurance policy.
+ They had a great resource table for missions books and every person got a copy of The Short Term Missions Workbook [you know how much I love that one right?]
+ Casely Essamuah is the missions pastor there. He was at Park Street Church in Boston for a number of years, before coming here. He's originally from Ghana and his wife is Ugandan and works as a medical doctor for the state government. He is the archtype of the Western American church missions pastor of the future [another post]. Here are some gems throughout the day from him:
- On time versus human interaction focused cultures: "Take off your watch the whole time you are in Africa, except for the last day, because on that day, we have to get to the airport on time."
- Home Depot is a cultural icon in America. It represents a can-do spirit.
- Do you know the independence date of the countries you are going to?
- On recent revolutions in the middle east: "How does a country that has a siesta every day do revolution?"
- On learning another language: "You can learn a lot of language if you practice on google for 5 mins every day for a week."
- On if you are left handed and traveling to a middle eastern country: "Depending on where you are going, you might need to learn to be right handed for 2 weeks".
+ At the very end of the day, Casely had everyone find out where their shirt was made from and we went around the room and told everyone what country. People would then respond with "God bless ." Amazing list of countries and incredible perspective.

Bay Area has done this type of thing the last 3 or 4 years for their summer short term teams. It requires a lot of work but the investment is worth it. [Related, but not really, check out the Sent Network, a separate but affiliated org they started focused on church planting.]

Friday, April 29, 2011

Friday Burn

::: Justin on the BRICS
Brasil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Like always, great, great info.
Link


::: Social contagion and the smart phone
Link


::: The Future of the Global Muslim Population
Link
via Ed Stetzer

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Decoding Culture on Vacation

A short while ago, the concept of engaging another culture was for career missionaries. Today, however, there are subcultures all around us and in order to be an effective leader, you've got to see deeply into those cultures around you. And this can happen even on vacation.

Dea and I just spent a few days in Aruba - yeah, rough I know. We spent most of our time in our resort, but did get a chance to get out a bit on a bus tour and walking downtown for a few hours. We also went into a grocery store too, which is always a must-do when traveling since it can easily highlight differences between the culture you are visiting and the one you come from. Here's some of my observations about decoding Aruban culture, even while on vacation.

+ 80% of Arubans are Catholic. On Good Friday, almost all business were closed. Compare that with religious surveys in the US and business productivity on Good Friday.
+ All Arubans learn four languages in school: Dutch, English, Spanish, and Papiamento.
+ The government owns all the land. Arubans lease the land for their homes in 65 year periods.
+ There is a dispora of Chinese that live in Aruba, we were told practically every grocery store is Chinese owned. Think global business opportunities driving tribalization.
+ 2 unreached people groups out of 8 total, 25% of people groups, or about .4% of the population, according to the Joshua Project.

Effective global leaders of the future understand that the present is full of multiple cultures, contexts and subtribes.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Permeable

But making a difference demands that we do, in fact, act. We can no longer outsource our security or our foreign policy the way we might once have. The line between our lives and the world is ever more permeable. In our comfortable cars and houses, in our wealthy-looking nations and our secure-feeling businesses, we can't delude ourselves about the facts: we're in history now.
- The Age of the Unthinkable

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

AW

Dea and I had a fantastical 5 days in in Aruba. Amazing time, highly recommended. Iguanas, flamingos, lots of beach and pool time, I've never had so many mixed drinks in such a short time [I became a Christian in the 80s...,] I went on a boat and I went snorkeling for the first time [those last two facts are unrelated.] [More pics]

And now, back to real life: work, school, our family in one house and significant mission that makes us human.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

No Time Like ...

Can I remind you again - it's an amazing time to be alive. Not only that, it's a once in a millennium time to be a Jesus follower.

I mentioned this to the 2011 interns during our time this past weekend. There's this amazing convergence of large, global stuff that stand alone, would be incredible. But it's all coming together and colliding and that is both daunting and very exciting. Stuff like the decline of the cost of information; the connectedness that technology is allowing; the movement of masses of people; the ease of global travel; the passion, entrepreneurship and responsibility
of the emerging generation; the challenge and therefore potential of generational leadership transition. It's all amazing.

I've got an even better front row seat, I think. Watching up close some of the emerging generation and the way they think, what they are dreaming about,
what they are learning about leading - that is an incredibly fun perspective.

So you might still love Medieval times. Or the challenge of the Vikings. Or Elizabethan literature and architecture. But let me try to sway you. Those times might have been fun and intriguing. You might have made a dent in doing something
noble if you lived back then. But we need you now, because, literally, there has never been a moment like now. 2511 will thank you for it.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Prepping the Mozi Team

Had a great time on Saturday with JTimmons and a short term mission team he is on this coming summer. [You might remember him as a 2010 intern]. John and 9 others are traveling to Mozambique this May with Iris Ministries.

Our task was to help John's team prepare for this trip, which included talking through the Myers Briggs test, a team building activity inside a racquetball court, and talking through culture shock/re-entry concepts. Like most teams I've worked with, lots of light bulbs went off when people understand and are able to community in common language about their personality and behavior - hands down, the MTBI is one of the most powerful tools to help teams prepare to work as one. Loved seeing John in this context; meeting their team leader Victor, who leads gently and firmly; and seeing a team already tightly knit from living in community together.

Again, one of the best resources - Short Term Missions Workbook. Notes here if you are interested. If you are leading a short term team this summer and haven't started preparing, you better get busy. If you need some help, contact Ember.

Two of our three Fall 2011 interns came along for the ride - excited to tell you more about them sooooooon. They took their MBTI test on the way. And we had to drive to James Madison University to do this... but like Dea said, sometimes the fire gets thrown a little ways away.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: How To Get A Real Education at College
By Scott Adams of Dilbert fame.
Best line - "By the time I graduated, I had mastered the strange art of transforming nothing into something."
Link


::: Fearless
The third edition of National Community Church's missions newsletter.
Link


::: 5 top books on poverty
by Rudy
Link

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Revolution

In a revolutionary era of surprise and innovation, you need to learn to think and act like a revolutionary.
- The Age of the Unthinkable

Monday, April 11, 2011

Youth Group Conspiracies

One of GRACE's high school small groups snuck their students away this weekend. I don't think that's too uncommon - leaders conspiring to have fun with their students. What was uncommon was their leaders conspiring with the boys parents to fly them to Boston for the weekend. While there, they worshipped with another youth group, participated with a local community in a service project, and did some sightseeing. Of course, there was much much more. [I got these details from Trevin, one of our Ember guides, who is also one of the leaders with this small group.]

Love how these youth workers aren't interested facilitating holding tanks with pizza.

Friday, April 08, 2011

Friday Burn

::: 11 Gap Year Ideas
I'm liking gap year even more and more for my own kids based on some interesting things I'm reading about college.
Link


::: India - population and growth rate
India's recently completed census shows that while its growth rate is slowing, its population is now bigger than the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined.
Link


::: Minorities among 3 year olds
In the U.S., census data shows that minorities are in the majority among the next generation - today's 3-year-olds. [Some of you reading this now might be leading this demographic in the future.]
Link
Both links above via JWT.


::: Crisis Response, Google Style
Link via Justin Long


::: Marcus Buckingham on 4 Levers of Culture
Ritual, Heroes, Stories and Informal Communication Network.
Via a series of tweets.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Leader Resource - Ben Horowitz's blog

Like rap music, run some kind of organization or team, and want to grow in your leadership skills? Read Ben Horowitz's blog. He's a technology executive and some of the stuff I've read on there has stunned me. Even if you don't like rap music.

He consistently visits topics such as leadership, communication, delegation, innovation, team cultures and organizational life. In fact, along the lines of organizational life, the posts are up there with Andy Stanley. Really that good.

Here's some recent posts I loved:
+ Managers must lay off their own people.
[Sidenote: I witnessed multiple rounds of corporate layoffs and as a manager, decided I was not going to be a part of this. But this post made me re-think that.]
+ Being effective in a company also means working hard, being reliable, and being an excellent member of the team.
+ ... the measure of the quality of a leader: the quantity, quality and diversity of people who want to follow her.
+ Training is, quite simply, one of the highest-leverage activities a manager can perform.

Read it. You will be thinking and you won't be sorry.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

It Takes Only One

One man with courage is a majority. - Thomas Jefferson,
quoted by Craig Groeschel

Monday, April 04, 2011

Future File : Ember 2011 Intern

I believe that the future is different because of me because I am not afraid to be alive in my faith and take risks. I know that with God leading the way, I have been able to introduce friends and strangers to the love of Jesus Christ. I know that I have left some kind of mark on certain people's hearts who I have met. I think the future could be different because of me because I have dreams of going and serving in other countries and cultures. It would be great to help lead an organization or lead a missions team or youth group at some point. I think that I have the ability to have an impact on the future and have an impact on some people's lives.
Yup. Sometimes, these kind of students emerge. And sometimes, they are erupted.

Friday, April 01, 2011

April Kindling

+ Today is the end of my first week on a new project for corp 1.3. Mentally exhausted. I'm not sure that Angry Birds helped.
+ Two mission team preps upcoming this month which is going to be really fun. Working with 2010 intern JTimmons and his Mozambique team.. Elements will include myers briggs, some crazy team building and watching movies about team collision. Also helping do a one hour workshop at Bay Area church for their summer teams.
+ April is a bit crazed - our family is doing some travel. Dea is flying the cukoos nest for a few days to travel with her mom helping take care of some of our southern cousins. Then there is Spring Break.
+ Got a surprising out of the blue third application for the fall Ember internship. Already excited for the two. Can't wait to show you the impact they will make.
+ Ember's board of directors are interested in a growth strategy. I appreciate the intentional stretch.
+ It is summer support raising time. Tell you more about the people in Ember's tribe and where they are headed to this summer soon.
+ The concept of missionary support is now more than just money. Dea and I are experimenting with this. On a real live missionary.
+ My mom moved into #grannyresort and seems to be adjusting well. Very thankful for that. We are slowly moving towards being slum lords for her house.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: Dan's got a great series on leadership in Detroit.
Here is part 3.
[Love a lot of the stuff that he is writing about and many ideas resonate with me]
Yet as a generation of gentle leaders come into the city to love and do good (including myself), we often forget that we are not just going up against poverty we are going up against

- Generational Sin
- Systemic Sin
- Bureaucracy
- Racial barriers
- Pride
- Already Established assumptions about the “Savior Leadership” mentality


::: The New Cities of 2025
Link


::: Why Eat at McDonalds When You are Traveling Overseas
Link

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Book Notes - The Art of Non-Conformity

[Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life you Want and Change the World] by Chris Guillebeau
Really fun read. Here are some quotes I loved.

When faced with a choice between abundance and scarcity, choose abundance.

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one." - Elbert Hubbard

The pain of making a change must become less than the pain of staying in the current situation.

Most remarkable people are not remarkable by nature. Instead, they made a few key choices along the way that helped them overcome their fears.

"Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: you have no one else to blame." - Erica Jong

No one else will be responsible for you or care about your well-being as much as you.

The One-Year, Self-Directed, Alternative Graduate School Experience including:
[some of my favorites and things I should do]
Subscribe to the Economist and read every issue religiously.
Memorize the names of every country, world capital and current president or prime minister in the world.
Acquire at least three new skills during your year.
Become comfortable with basic presentation and public speaking skills.

"The absence of fear is not courage; the absence of fear is mental illness." - Po Bronson

"Progress is a nice word, but change is its motivator. And change has its enemies." - Robert F. Kennedy

Your Own Small Army: Prospects, Followers, True Fans, Allies and Friends of friends.

Work toward financial independence, but never retire.

A good savings program also includes investment in others. It's not about guilt; it's about gratitude.

"One can resist the invasion of an army, but one cannot resist the invasion of ideas." - Victor Hugo

Monday, March 28, 2011

Context Switching

I'm starting on a new project this morning after just over 4 years on my previous one. Same company just moving to a new team and my job responsibilities as a database engineer are going to be relatively the same, from the purely technical details. What is going to be vastly different is cultural.

I'm joining a new team. I'll be working for a new leader. I'll be interfacing with other new teams of people. They will all have their own ways of getting work done, new things that are important, new habits and stories, new leaders.

Here's some questions I'm going to be asking this week:
+ Who is the leader by title and formality? Who is the leader by influence, informally?
+ What things are important to ____ and why?
+ What are things this team does when no one tells them to?
+ Who are the heroes and why?

Cross cultural experience, starting a new job, moving across campus - decoding your culture is all a part of engagement.

[Related: Culture and Career Notes 2007

Friday, March 25, 2011

One Sentence

I'm a big fan of Andy Stanley's Leadership Podcast. You should at least listen to a few of these - there is always one or two ideas that grab me. One of the concepts I love is the 'one sentence job description.' I haven't executed on it a lot, but I know it has a lot of value.

Those of you that have been here a while know that there was a very large transition with Grace's global missions in terms of the teams, vision and strategy. I'm serving in an advisory role - there are three of us in this role, giving guidance and support to Patti Hewat, the missions director [although she probably needs a new title.]

Here's the one sentence description she has given me:
Provide accountability and support to Patti, bringing your unique gifts of embracing current culture and the cutting edge, discipleship and passion for generational involvement.

If you influence people, you might consider writing one sentence descriptions for those you serve with.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: Google Building Better Leaders
Link
via JVD


::: Toddler Internet Usage
23 percent of parents with children under five say that their children use the Internet. Of those plugged-in toddlers, 82 percent reportedly go online once a week.
You know, you might be one of their youth pastors one day...
Link via JWT intelligence

[JWT is fast becoming one of my favorite blogs. You'll have incredible perspective on both the present world and the future that is already here if you only read JWT's weekly round up and Foreign Policy's Morning Brief.]


::: Third Culture Kids
Link - fascinating 8 minute video. via KGN.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Gen Y Bribery

might look like a facebook post for a free lunch at Wendys [I had to throw in a frosty too...]

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Favorite Ember Stories... so far

Had the chance to share with a small house church/home group last week about the vision of Ember and some of the students we've had the privilege of serving with. Here's some pictures from the stories that we told - some of you are in here. [Click on the image for full size.]

Funny demographic - all of the people in this small group were just about grandparent age. All growing in their global missions understanding, mostly due to the leader of the group, who has been inviting different missions people to come in and share. The best part, by far, was having some of them tell us how encouraged they were about the next generation. Every generation wants to have a reason to hope in the future.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Intern Possibilities

Met with two potential interns for Fall 2011 yesterday. Both amazing amazing kids - honored to have a chance to work with them. Both are already multi-talented and involved in lots of leadership opportunities. Like all of the students we've worked with, they've come to us with so many gifts, experience and passion.

The intern process is really at the core of what Ember does. Identifying and resourcing emerging global leaders at the high school level and helping those that serve them is really why we exist. It's by far the best investment of our energies, talents and experience and definitely the most generative. And because it's working with the next generation, we always learn a ton about the future.

I'm pretty sure they are both in [as well as the boyfriend of one of them, which we will just drag along to everything.] Excited to tell you more about them in a few months.

Friday, March 18, 2011

One of those emails

I got one of those emails yesterday that said, "there has been a horrible tragedy..." Not good. An old friend and coworker passed away suddenly. He was 43 and leaves behind a wife, two daughters ages 12 and 9 and a son who is 6. I'm still in shock.

Curtis was a Marine who had served in Desert Storm, an athlete who had finished an Ironman Triathlon, a solid database engineer who had worked with me for over 9 years in a very grueling telecom industry, a mortgage banker, and had recently returned to school to study physical therapy. All of that, but even more important, a devoted husband and father, and a guy who would bend over backwards to make your life better.

We should all live a life that full.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Skype with Teal

This is Teal, director of recruiting for Christian Associates. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that we admire CAI and have worked with them in 2007 and 2008. Love their DNA of church planting, urban centers, high impact leaders and creative, innovative expressions of Church. Teal and I caught up for an hour this morning.

Teal's recruiting role is new as of January 2011, although he was a corporate recruiter in a previous life. They are also about to transition from Aix-en-Provence, France back to the US. We actually met them first via their blog when the Internet told both of us that we would be seeing each other at Connect, their worldwide staff conference, in 2007.

Teal is one of those types of people that Ember loves to connect students to - experienced cross cultural leader, loves students, dreamer and executor, and leads himself and his family well.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

All Of Us

All men can be criminals, if tempted; all men can be heroes, if inspired. - G. K. Chesterton
quoted by Mike Foster [but I don't remember where.]

Outside of compliments about my family, this is about the coolest thing anyone has ever written about me. So flattering, hopeful and future-centric - helping erupt a global catalyst out of a high school student is one of the joys of my time with students.

The best question from that summer, "If the future of humanity were dependent on one person from your team, who would it be and why?" I don't think Trevin knows that his name came up as one of the answers. Uh until now.

I'll go one more step than Chesterton did - all of us [you and me included] can inspire.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Those Team Shirts

You know those team shirts.... the ones that student mission teams wear in the airports - when they are being too loud or cramming up the line at Subway or singing along to their iPods... yeah those. Don't wear them too soon.

All of us are trying to build a team identity. And a team shirt is one of the most effective symbols of who is in and who is out. But you should be building the team way before you wear the shirt.

Spend as much time together as a team. Go through some kind of team assessment where everyone gets to share what kind of personality or strength they have. Do a shared project together - whether it's a crazy team building activity or a community service project. Celebrate, laugh and have fun together. Imagine together the impact you could have.

After all of this, the shirt is just icing on the cake.

Friday, March 11, 2011

What Can Only You See?

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." - Arthur Schopenhauer
quoted by Brad.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: Balt/DC Church Planting Study Results
Part 4 from Ed. Really valuable info - I'm sure the next few parts are going to be even better.
Link


::: The Next 25 Years in Emerging Tech
By the time most of you readers are my age, be ready for webwear, programmable matter, retinal displays, and interplanetary internet. Love it.
Link


::: The Face of the World's Most Typical Person
You've probably already seen this. The question is, did it remind you of me?Link

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

A New Breed of Lead Pastor

There's a new breed of senior/lead/in-charge-of-everything pastor: they are taking a huge responsibility for the students in their communities of faith. They are in small to mid size churches, new church plants, hybrid congregations. They aren't youth pastors now but they spent a great deal of their experience as one. Although they are in charge of literally everything, they aren't willing to sacrifice the future of humanity by paying hirelings to do less-than-phenomenal work with kids that call their church home.

I commend them. Their passion is going to win.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

2011 Bright Spots

Catching you up with some of the bright spots in emerging global leaders that I've had the honor to serve with.
MichelleK traveled with us in a previous student missions life through Europe in 2007 and 2008 and went on to study International Development and Economics in college. She's currently on a study abroad program in South Africa [looks like fun huh?]. She's writing a blog about her experience. But of course, she can't help but try to inform the rest of us about her perspective about global food prices, questions Americans get, and international macroeconomic indicators.

Andrew, one of two 2010 Ember interns, is capitalizing on a summer cross cultural extension that his school offers called Duke Engage. The fun thing about this program is that although it's associated with school, the student gets to take the initiative to set it all up. In other words, you own it. Andrew is serving in Nairobi, Kenya with a ministry that our good friend KellanD worked with in 2009, which includes an orphanage environment, some educational opportunities and some sports ministry.

John, the second 2010 Ember interns, is putting some plans together to serve in Mozambique this coming summer. Tentative plans include three weeks in an orphanage in Pemba, along with outreaches to village communities outside of the city area. Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 187 out of 207 in 2006.

You've probably got some high school kids in your midst that might be interested in these kinds of global leadership concepts. Like these three, kids that care about global issues also probably care a great deal about their own culture. Give a high school student enough experience and exposure to global leadership and you might get something like this.

Monday, March 07, 2011

When You Were Called

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. - I Cor 1:26
A few people have asked me what kind of family did I come from. They assume that passion comes from environment. Let me be the first to assure you, my family history - as I'm finding out more and more everyday - was kind of a wreck. I've been kidding over the past year or so that I'm a 'miracle child.' It's partially a joke and partially true - among other issues, I came from a family that had 0 interest in Christianity. To see who I was when I was called and my experience up until now - no other explanation except to boast in the Lord [v.31].

Some of you are on this path written by the apostle Paul - you are incredibly wise for your age, you are influencing influencers, you are noble by your character. Don't forget to remember.

Friday, March 04, 2011

Leader Treks - The Student Mission Trip Greenhouse

Friends at Leader Treks sent me a copy of their Student Mission Trip Greenhouse prep guide, which is a fabulous resource for student mission team leaders. Absolutely love the greenhouse paradigm.

Lots of the material resonates with the stuff we've learned in the past, such as:
+ ... a mission trip is really a short-term Kingdom experience introducing and preparing students for long-term Kingdom living.
+ ... training sessions should be a requirement for all your students before they are even allowed on the team. Their level of commitment to the trip is clearly displayed if they cannot commit to the scheduled trainings.
+ ... the number one problem I see is adult volunteers who have no idea what they are doing on the trip.
+ If you raise the level of expectation, your students will rise to meet it.

If you've been around here for a while, you know I'm not a huge fan of pre printed curriculum. My opinion is that you could spend a little bit of time and create some great material for your students that is context and culture sensitive. But, this guidebook is a great primer to help jump start your team preps. Oh and it's free.

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: What The Census Tells Us About America's Future
More suburban, more diverse. And...love the title given to Joel Kotkin, "New Geographer"
Link


::: Learning customer service from the founder of Craigslist
Link


::: For the love of airports
Fun post with travel hacks, like always, by Chris - good luck on the airport code test.
Link

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

3 to watch

I'm constantly inspired and amazed at some of the people I've had exposure to who are the initiators and starters and the ones able to translate their passion into action. Not only that, these people seem to be on the leading edge of global issues - they and their orgs are reaching into the future and pulling the rest of us into the present.

Here's three I've been watching - you should too.

::: The Adventure Project
The Adventure Project is a non-profit organization established to increase investments in positive social enterprises around the world. Every quarter they focus on one humanitarian issue affecting global poverty and then present innovative, low-cost solutions to help.
Some of these innovations are going to have much to teach us.

::: Help End Local Poverty
To be a global tribe dedicated to ending extreme poverty by helping to rescue orphans, restore their hope and renew their communities.
Chris and I met about a little over a year ago when he spoke at an Ember immersion.

::: bluedoor.tv
Blue Door is the only organization in the world that exists to resource pastors in non-English speaking countries to launch online ministries.
Amazing journey that Dana and her family have been on. And a few years ago, this kind of ministry would have been unimaginable.

Ordinary people doing things that make them extraordinary.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

March Kindling

+ Summer mission team preps are upon us. My opinion - the best prep unifies your team through shared experiences. Let us know if you think Ember can help.
+ We are casting the net far and wide for interns for 2011-2012. The ideals: you are doing it for school credit, you are a high school junior/senior, you come highly recommended by someone I know and trust, and you live in another city. Not sure how it will work virtually, but I'm willing to expend a lot of effort to try. More info here.
+ A weekly small group of older adults has invited me and the fam to come over one evening and talk about Ember. How fun is that?
+ GRACE has 2 student teams this summer - DC and Tecate, Mexico. Lots of parents had questions about implied safety for the latter. Loved the response of one of the leaders: "You know, you don't HAVE to send your kid on this trip."
+ 2010 interns are making plans - one in Kenya and the other possibly another African country. The actual intended idea was that they would come back and work with me forever. Well, ok, maybe not.
+ I'm so enamored with youth pastors - I still think it's such a unique and holy calling with so much impact. I forget that sometimes, there are youth pastors who are getting paid to not do much.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Making Them

"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." - George Bernard Shaw

Friday, February 25, 2011

Elding

You know your elders because they eld. - John Wimber
So my elder boyz are almost through the process. What fun to see them near the end. I can tell you with full confidence that these guys are the real deal. They are solid in character, kind, love their families and take the responsibility of leading others seriously. Honored to have served with them for a season.

If you are a Grace person and know any of them, you should send in some kind of feedback.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: The Worst Rookie Travel Mistakes
"Our trip was very complicado"
Link sent to me via D


::: Coming Home
Love this video of a youth group coming home from a missions trip. How you release and how you welcome your students are so important.
Link


::: Useful Travel Skills
Not quite what you might expect... And Chris is dead on.
Link

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

T+365

My dad passed away one year ago today and it's been the most challenging time period of my life. I still find myself reliving those last few months - the last Thanksgiving he was at our house, the final time my girls saw him, multiple times in the hospital near the end, seeing EMTs in the living room where I grew up. It was a dreadful time.

I took this picture sometime the day after. I don't know why either - probably just thinking that it was a weird tension between what the balloons represented versus reality.

If you are going through something like this, give yourself lots of grace and time. It gets better.

PS - My mother is scheduled to move on Friday to a retirement community. Hoping it is the best for everyone.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

2011-2012 Ember Internships

Ember has a few spots open for 2011-2012 high school internships. Check it out below if you think you or someone you know might be interested. The info sheet is here as well. Would love for you to pass this on to emerging global leaders you might know.

Related: see what past interns have done [2010, 2008, 2006]

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Happy Birthday Deanna

Happy birthday to my wife Deanna. She's winning in the arcade in this picture, but the truth is that I'm the real winner for being married to her.

Love.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Redemptive Analogy of the Week

Lady Gaga at the Grammys, who emerged from an egg.

My friend Ben Cloud called it when he wrote, "like lady gaga being born again?" Remember, redemptive analogies are stories in the culture that reflect the Gospel.

Yes, the Grammys are still relevant even though your generation might not think so. My middle schoolers and her friends watched and talked about it. And yes, you can watch something like that to look for these analogies.

Image from MTV.com

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: Homelessness simulation game
Flash based simulation game that outlines some of the big issues facing the homeless. Really amazing - you should play this a few times.
Link


::: Middle east protests - country by country
Clickable map with demographics and summaries - really well done
Link


::: Rethinking Youth Ministry Retreat Planning
- Gone are the days where if a student went last year, had a great time, and even connected with God on the trip that they’d automatically sign up and bring a friend next year.
- Gone are the days where families could afford to send students to special retreats and functions with relative ease.
- Gone are the days where I am willing to roll the dice and sign random contracts based on faith and my "guesstimations".
Some great thinking in here.
Link

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

GLG - Starters and Initiators

Starters and Initiators
Global leaders work with teams. The most difficult part? Building them. Here's some food for thought about the kinds of people you are going to need to recruit to your teams.

Let's retire the term entrepreneur. It's outdated and loaded with baggage. It smells like a members-only club.
Instead of entrepreneurs, let's just call them starters. Anyone who creates a new business is a starter. You don't need an MBA, a certificate, a fancy suit, a briefcase, or an above-average- tolerance for risk. You just need an idea, a touch of confidence, and a push to get started. - Jason Fried, Rework

Building a team of enthusiastic and talented people is one of the greatest challenges for leaders. A resume gives little indication of a candidates true mettle. Rather than focusing exclusively on an individuals experience, truly effective managers instead measure a prospective employee's ability to take initiative.
When you stumble across an Initiator - someone who has passion, generates ideas and tends to take action - recognize your good fortune. Nothing will assist your ideas more than a team of people who possess real initiative. - Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happen

I'm posting some writing from a global student leadership guidebook that I'm working on. Let me know if you are interested in the progress of this project.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The 2010 Ember Cast Annual Report

Ember's 2010 Annual Report is now available. Special thanks for Leslie who worked on this from idea to execution.

Of course, lots of people made 2010 what it was for us, from supporters to participating students to partners to a fantastic Board to fans that are cheering. Read on and celebrate with us.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The 2011 Bill Gates Letter

Love this letter from Bill every year. Like always, it's a great read about some current global issues that you should probably be aware of. Lots of great learning in here, so take a dive.

Here's some stuff I learned for the first time:
+ About Polio:
- still exists in 4 countries
- like other viruses eradication is key or else it can come back with a vengeance, due to acquired immunity
- eradication energizes global health for fighting other similar diseases

+ Smallpox is the only successful disease eradication program ever

+ On childhood vaccines:
- Lives can be saved if we can reduce the costs of vaccines and raise enough money to buy and distribute them.... The most direct way of saying this is that every $2,000 cut in the most effective aid spending causes a child to die.
- The huge infectious disease burden in poor countries means that a substantial part of their human potential is lost by the time children are 5 years old... A group of researchers at the University of New Mexico conducted a study, covered in The Economist, showing the correlation between lower IQ and a high level of disease in a country. Although an IQ test is not a perfect measure, the dramatic effect you see is a huge injustice. It helps explain why countries with high disease burdens have a hard time developing their economies as easily as countries with less disease.

+ On malaria:
- Of the 99 countries with malaria, 43 have decreased cases of the disease by more than 50 percent.
- Turkmenistan and Morocco were recently declared malaria-free.

+ On AIDS:
- The best tool would be a vaccine for HIV. The scientific progress on this has gone well. The positive results of the trial in Thailand were a turning point for the field, and blood samples from the volunteers are being studied in depth for lessons about why that vaccine worked but only to a limited degree.
- There has also been an explosion in the discovery of antibodies that block HIV infection. Scientists don't yet know how to make a vaccine that will cause patients to generate lots of these antibodies, but there are several approaches that look promising and will be ready to go to trials in the next few years.
- The number of people dying from AIDS has gone down by more than 20 percent in
the last five years, to fewer than 2 million annually.

+ On agricultural development:
- When farmers increase their productivity, nutrition is improved and hunger and poverty are reduced. In countries like Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, investments in seeds, training, access to markets, and innovative agricultural policy are making a real difference.

+ On excellence in teaching:
Our project to learn what the best teachers do—and how to share this information with other teachers—is making significant progress...We're learning that listening to students can be an important element in the feedback system. In classes where students agree that "Our class stays busy and doesn't waste time" or that "In this class, we learn a lot almost every day," there tend to be bigger achievement gains.

Best quote: "Given all the lives that are at stake, I am impatient enough about this that I am willing to be viewed as a troublemaker by people who are happy with the status quo."

And sorry to those of you who I got my RT about this but in Mandarin. Maybe it's a hint that you should learn Chinese?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Thursday Burn

::: Books Andy Stanley thinks you should read
Link. [My wife found this on facebook.]


::: The Infrastructure that is Aviation
fascinating stuff about airports, global goods and infrastructure
Link



::: YPulse on MTVACT
As MTV ACT’s Jason Rzepka explains it, there’s a 1/9/90 rule: 1% of activists are highly engaged, starting rallies and leading charitable drives; 9% are involved in a limited way, signing petitions and sharing news articles with friends; and 90% are disengaged. It’s the latter group that MTV hopes to motivate.
Link

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

GLG - Movement Thinking

Movement Thinking
Most of us think in terms of addition. We are thrilled when one or two people chooses to follow our lead, someone gets excited about one of our initiatives, an individual donates to our cause. But global leaders banish this excitement about addition. Instead, they hold their breath waiting for multiplication.

For our leadership to really mark history, we must be about movement thinking. The rate of our leadership must be catalytic at an exponential rate - not just adding followers here and there. Consider the following statistics from the World Christian Database: in mid 2010, the percentage of Christians versus the total world population is 33.2%. The projected percentage in 2025 will be 33.8% - almost no negligible change as the world population increases by 1.5 million people. Addition doesn't help.

I'm posting some writing from a global student leadership guidebook that I'm working on. Let me know if you are interested in the progress of this project.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Platt and Tangible Rebellion

Our 13 year old has been reading Radical by David Platt. You've probably seen a ton of amazing stuff about him recently. I'm most interested to hear feedback about his closing talk at Catalyst West next month. My guess? The audience at CatWest is either going to love him or hate him. Kt loves the book - it might be fitting for middle schoolers because it's giving them tangible rebellion against their parents [in a good way.]

From the November/December issue of Mission Frontiers, some amazing stats about a megachurch doing some serious moving:
+ 450+ participants are immersed in Brook Hills' own Theological Education by Extension (TEE) program.
+ Demand exceeds capacity (over 2,500) for biannual 6-hour Secret Church Bible studies, modeled after "underground" church meetings, to prepare disciplers to train local leaders in mission lands. [See the blog about this via Ben Arment]
+ 70 families are currently helping meet the county's foster child and adoption needs, with 15 more in training.
+ 500 people have participated in Brook Hills short-term outreach, beyond their normal context, while several hundred more have gone with Brook Hills' Missions Partners.
+ 40 families are committed to exploring relocation to minister in inner-city Birmingham. Seven have already moved, and six more have their homes on the market.
+ Over 200 individuals are in various stages of preparing for long-term cross-cultural service.
+ 2010 budgeted expenses were cut by 18%, affecting everything from worship to Sunday School snacks, while general budget mission giving rose to 24%, on top of $1,000,000+ in designated mission giving.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Summer Missions Prep

Some of you probably have some short term missions plans starting to gel - the Super Bowl is over after all. Let me encourage you - first, your plans will probably change. Second, invest a lot of energy in preparing your teams.

Short term teams are notorious for being under-prepared. My three big areas to prepare in? Ministry skills [skills based on what you are actually there to do], missions inspiration [big picture of the world and why we are going there] and building a high performance team.

Ember might be involved in helping some teams prepare for the summer - as we started to think about some of that kind of planning, it reminded me of one of the biggest successes in my previous student missions role - the success known as Mission Advance, a 24 hour immersive experience involving all three of those above.

I'm also reminded that preparing our teams requires innovation and creativity - it doesn't and shouldn't look the same each year. In fact, one of our crazy ideas would have been to run Mission Advance in a urban context: transporting suburban students to the city, with a service project, ministry skills training and facilitators helping the team leaders. Context and culture lessons would have been front and center. That idea is free - take it and run with it if you want. [Here are some other ideas you might want to try.]

If you're interested in picking some of Ember's expertise in training student missions teams, comment or email. We would love to help your students get ready to shape human history.

Friday, February 04, 2011

Does Not Exist to Give You a Job

It brings me back to this: What is the highest priority? I've been a pastor here for 34 years, and I see a primary responsibility to constantly, constantly, constantly bring the church back to outreach. We are not here for ourselves. We are here for others. To the people in the church, I have to say, "You are here for the people that are not yet in the church." I say to our staff (probably too often!), "The organization does not exist to give you a job. You work here to fulfill the purpose of Jesus Christ for this organization. If at some point you can't do that, it's not that we're mad at you or you're a bad person. It's that we've got to go on, because we've got to stay focused on what we're all about." That's my job.
- Leith Anderson, as quoted in Cutting Edge, Winter 2011

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Book Notes - Cracking Your Church's Culture Code

I've heard lots of great things about Dr. Samuel Chand but never read any of his stuff until now. Cracking Your Church's Culture Code is a great read and has lots of insight into the intangibles about organizational and team culture. Long time readers know that one of our mantras is "context matters." More recent readers know that I've been involved in some significant areas of organizational change in the past few months. The combination of both concepts comes together in this book.

Dr. Chand writes in chapter 1 that this book is really for top leadership teams in churches and nonprofits - people that make the decisions at the top.
The commitment to value people all along the organizational hierarchy must be implemented from the top down.
He also cautions others about being agents of change, implying that unless it comes from the top, you'll be hitting a brick wall and will eventually need to leave the organization. I'm not sure that's completely 100% true, but no doubt his book outlines some great tools and perspectives for you to either be a great agent of change or a pain in the a** to the people you work for.

Here are some great snippets:

6 keys to culture:
Culture is the most powerful factor in any organization.
Culture is usually unnoticed, unspoken and unexamined.
Culture determines how people respond to vision and leadership.
Culture most often surfaces and is addressed in negative experiences.
Culture is hard to change, but change results in multiplied benefits.


Thresholds of organizational culture - cultures that are:
inspiring <-> accepting <-> stagnant <-> discouraging <-> toxic


About change:
Changing culture always creates conflict. When we choose respect instead of manipulation, and honesty instead of avoidance of issues, most people will thrive, but a few resist even healthy changes.


On graceful exits:
The hardest conversations are often with the top volunteers, many of whom know the struggles and have great compassion for the person leaving.


On processes of change:
Involves knowledge, attitude, behavior and institutional behavior. [no one talks about the last one]


On chaos:
I've seen leaders experience chaos in countless ways, but three of those ways stand out as unique challenges: redefining failure, creating a sense of urgency to take advantage of opportunities, and managing conflict.


On innovation:
Truly innovative leaders and their teams not only encourage people to dream new ideas and find solutions but also have found a way to transform the inevitable failures into platforms for future success.


On identifying mediocre staff members:
- stubborn and resistant to change
- reactive rather than proactive
- lazy and unprepared
- makes promises but seldom delivers
- shirks responsibility and blames others
- identifies problems without offering solutions
[Paul Idzik, COO of Barclays Bank]


Four areas on hiring or promoting:
competence - can you do the job
character - can i trust you
chemistry - can you fit in our culture
capacity - can you grow with us


He writes about the diffusion of innovations model, which I'm a huge fan of:
Leaders shouldn't have anyone on a team who is slower and more resistant than a middler. [early/late majority - 68% of the population]


On goal, task and control orientation:
Olan Hendrix, author of Three Dimensions of Leadership, observed, "Generally, religious organizations start with a goal orientation... deteriorate to a task orientation... and finally degenerate to a bottom-line control organization."


On the future:
Your effectiveness will always depend on your ability to see the future. To be an effective leaders, you must understand the difference between change and transition. Change is the event and transition is the emotional, psychological, and social response to that change.


Probably my favorite paragraph:
When leaders face transitions like those described in this chapter, they often instinctively ask, "How much am I going to bleed when I go through this?" But that's the wrong question. A better question is, "I know I'm going to bleed. How can I help my team get healthy as quickly as possible?" When a surgeon has to amputate a man's leg, does the man want her to use a scalpel or a butter knife?
Great book. Pick it up, prepare yourself for some organizational pain and then ask for the scalpel.

Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes.

Thursday Burn

::: Steve Addison on India
+ There have been followers of Jesus in India for 2,000 years. Today Christians account for less than 3% of the population, but they are directly involved in 20% of primary education; 25% of care for widows and orphans; 30% of work with the handicapped, AIDs patients and lepers.
+ 70% of India's 1.1 billion people live in its 600,000 villages, the rest live in the 5,000 towns and 380 cities.
Link


::: Newest country in the world - #193
The people of Southern Sudan appear to have voted overwhelmingly in support of independence: total turnout was about 97 percent with almost 99 percent of voters casting their ballots to create the world’s newest nation.
Link via KatieS


::: McKinsey report on cities
Link

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Salisbury Community Impact Notes

This is our gift to the future. Whether you are a church planter, a campus ministry leader or a nonprofit, this information should provide you a good snapshot of a moment in time - what did these areas near Salisbury look like in November of 2010? What did the community need back then and who could help them? What difference could the government, a few social entrepreneurs, and a highly committed group of students make? How could the Gospel redeem not only individuals but communities in Salisbury?
Our follow up report from the Salisbury Ember Cast experience in November of 2010 is now available. Click here for more.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

February Kindling

+ Big sigh of relief for the Leadership Collective flying like it did. Lots of initial positive response, which is great. I feel like most of the stuff I'm involved in isn't going to see real results for a good number of years - the Collective might fall under this as well.
+ You might have noticed I haven't been writing a lot about the interns this school year. The truth is, for various reasons and no fault of their own, their interaction with Ember has kind of fizzled out. Both Ryan and Donna are still involved with some good leadership opportunities and pulling them away would have been a case study in ignoring context.
+ Unfortunately, direct work with student global leaders is in a dry spell right now. Plan A for summer 2011 isn't looking good either.
+ This does mean I have some bandwidth so I'm eager about what ideas, connections and projects might emerge. I'm also doing a bit of planning for Fall 2011.
+ My mom is making a deposit on a retirement community this week. Hoping to get her moved in within this month.
+ Bought theembercast.org yesterday and waiting for it to go live. Didn't buy it for so long because I'm really cheap. But actually dreamhost offers a npo discount. Told you I was cheap.
+ I recently re-remembered that the 'primary role of spiritual leadership is to create and shape ethos.'