Dubrovnik

Trogir

Taken from a boat. My 7th boat ride in 8 days - seven too many.

Šibenik

Plitvicka

Country 22

+ Croatia.
+ This is on the coast, overlooking Novi Vindolski.
+ Standing goal to get out of the USA every year - worked every year since 2005 except for 2010.

Pula

Venice

Friday Burn

:::A Summer of Hell is Coming to US Airports
Link


::: A US Missions Agency and Spain's Technology Hub
Link


::: There are Two Types of Airport People
Link

Congrats Emily!

Last Breakfast

with a high schooler. The days are long but the years are short.

Visiting Church of the City New York

We finally got to go to church in New York City this past weekend. I've long been fascinated with churches in this city - the most influential and strategic city in the world seems to be experiencing a resurgence in new churches lately. Katie has been there all semester but this was the first weekend where it fit for us to be in the city on a Sunday morning.

I was thrilled that we were able to attend Church of the City New York. I've followed Jon Tyson's work for a while now and no one has thought more deeply about spiritual formation in a place like New York: achievement oriented, fast paced, affluent, postmodern, post Christian, and pluralistic. Sure we say that about the suburbs but it's not even close. Unfortunately, Jon wasn't speaking but his Chief of Staff delivered a phenomenal talk on the topic of being an ambassador. And like I expected and appreciated, it spoke to this specific context and this specific city.

Other interesting observations:
+ They meet in 2 schools for 4 gatherings on Sundays - 2 at one school in the morning and then another 2 at another school in the evening. Portable church.
+ Before the time for the offering, they have a responsive reading focused on generosity and blessing. They don't pass out baskets but give time for people to donate electronically.
+ There was a few minutes at the beginning of the service when someone shared a personal story of their experience in trying to live out 'Kingdom Values' [their current sermon series.] Really makes the community feel connected.

And this quote from the talk:
When the modern world says to us aloud, "You may be religious when you are alone," it adds under its breath, "and I will see to it that you never are alone." To make Christianity a private affair while banishing all privacy is to relegate it to the rainbow's end or the Greek calends.
- C. S. Lewis

I try to read everything Jon Tyson has written. My other church on the short wish list was Hope Roosevelt run by my friends Dan and Amanda Sadlier but the timing didn't quite work out right.

Friday Burn

::: McDonald's Serves as Mini US Embassies
Link


::: Gladwell on How School Shootings Catch On
Link via The Weekend Reader


::: Crossing Cultures - The First 90 Days
Link

Photo: McDonalds, Vienna, Austria. July 2007.

Loren Cunningham

Founder of Youth With A Mission, started in 1960, which now has about 20,000 staff across 171 countries. Loren travels to 30 or 40 countries every year and has visited every country in the world.

Ember has lots of YWAM friends and of course we run into YWAMers all the time. What a gift to the world Loren is.

Friday Burn

::: Remembering Sabika Sheikh
The most powerful thing I have read in a long time.
Link


::: Algorithms, Human Rights Abuse and Justice
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::: Micromobility Will Transform Cities
Link

Photo: Ramadan July 2014, Aix-en-Provence.

Cultural Navigation in Chinatown

If you've followed along here for any length of time, you know that Ember highly values pre-field team training for any and all kinds of mission teams. The odds, statistics and anecdotes are true - the better your team is prepared, the better your experience. Leaders that ignore this step probably shouldn't be leading these teams.

Last night, some of our guides walked a short term team through navigating some areas of culture, specifically food, people and architecture. A lot of helping people understand culture is modeling how to be observant. Observe first, then interpret and then futurecast. It was a perfect night in Chinatown DC.

Remember, it's not too late to try to get your team ready.

The Ember Cast Sabbatical Year [Or Longer]

Later this year, Deanna and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage, I will turn 50 years old and both our kids will be living overseas. In light of especially the last point, The Ember Cast will enter in to a sabbatical year [or longer] starting sometime this summer. We will shutdown all operations and put Ember into pause - I don't think it is a full stop but we are leaving room for that possibility too. This is not spur of the moment or a reaction - in fact, plans for this have been in motion since the summer of 2018.

I started thinking about this last summer because I wanted to give room for Deanna and I starting to be empty nesters. It's a good time to take a break from the rhythm of working a day job and a passion project during nights and weekends. We also knew there would be some personal travel next year - an anniversary trip for the two of us and possibly visiting Emily on her gap year and celebrating Katie finishing university [I know, it seems like she just started.] We are also taking a 3 week family trip this June with some Ember Summer Sends joining us for the last few days of that.

I also remembered my old pastor saying that most people in their 50s are spiritually coasting. And I had lunch with a sage who gave me wise counsel on turning 50 and implored us to dream about the idea of legacy. And I was reminded of Isaiah 49:6 - it is too small a thing... So the Ember break gives us time to think really deeply about what we want to give ourselves to for the next season of our lives. I'm excited for both the break and the opportunity to consider big, audacious dreams for the Lord.

Special thanks to the Ember Board for their 9 years in this with me and helping navigate a new season. In the meantime, we have some good things to finish in the next few months.

GP Team Mtg #1

Our GP Summer Sends and I just started reading Underground Church. It's a good read but not for everyone. But these ladies are ready to think about the intersection of leadership, cross cultural service and different expressions of Church.

Highlights from reading 1 included:
+ metaphors for disciples, including sheep, missionaries and apostles.
+ prevailing frameworks for Church: a hospital, a school, an incubator
+ the nothingness of starting something new might be the essence of discipleship

Remember, young people are more than capable of engaging with this kind of material. In fact, many of them long for the opportunity.

Friday Burn

::: Inside the Secret Team Dinners that Have Built the San Antonio Spurs' Dynasty
Link


::: Facebook AI Powered Maps Help Vaccination Campaigns
Link via Justin Long's Weekly Roundup


::: The Pool - Charity: Water Engaging Tech Equity for Their Employees

...founders and paper billionaires from Uber, WeWork and Casper have pledged at least 1 percent of their shares to the new program, which Charity: water is calling The Pool. That all but guarantees that the organization’s 78 employees will share in the spoils from some of the most hotly anticipated initial public offerings in the history of Wall Street.

Link via Kyle Westaway's Weekend Briefing

Creative Revenue - Commissioned Art Work

The Ember Cast believes that missionaries of the future will rely on a 'portfolio of revenue.' [credit for this term goes to Ben Arment.] In other words, they will need to actually make some money outside of personal donations. Since 2013, our summer teams have been required to dream and execute a Creative Revenue Plan - a way to make some income based on their talents and gifts. This unique income will go directly towards 10-25% of funding of their missions experience. Prayer and financial support letters are also required.

We ask students to dream up these plans by helping them assess their talents, skills and networks, and this is done as part of their application to summer teams. I'm proud to say that over $23K of revenue has been made as part of these Plans over the past 9 years and it represents students growing in skills such as pricing their product, making a pitch, dealing with customers and lots of hard work. All skills that benefit just about everyone.

If you need some commissioned art, like you have a picture or photo but want it drawn by a super talented artist, one of our Summer Sends is doing this exact thing. Contact me and I will put you in touch with Kate - all revenue will go towards her efforts for travel to Greece and Poland this summer. See more of her work here.

Photo: Kate's birthday gift to her mom, who is also an artist.

Ember Founder - Freelancer Not Entrepreneur

When I started The Ember Cast, I had grand dreams of multiplying lots of leaders. It was like that Faberge shampoo commercial from the 80s: "And they told two friends...and they told two friends..." When Ember started, you could not be in the missional, missions, church planting conversation without understanding multiplication [versus addition] and therefore including something about multiplication in your strategy. I dreamed that Ember would reproduce like rabbits. We were going to throw fire across the world!

Except it didn't work. Every student that worked with us only stayed with us for a season. When that season finished, they went on to do greater, even more amazing things. John attended a missions school in Mozambique, Drew worked with a bunch of water filtration projects in Kenya, Shannon discipled high school girls and women in prison, Trevin became one of the brainchild behind one of the East Coast's most potent short term missions sending churches, Tess moved to Philly to teach in the city, Hope dug into recovery for victims of human trafficking, DK serves on a college campus. A few of our tribe have returned to join us for short summer teams and we have loved that.

In 2013, I listened to a series of podcasts by Seth Godin called Startup School. One of the first topics was the question of 'freelancer versus entrepreneur' and this 22 minute talk reframed the unintentional organizational design of The Ember Cast. Freelancers get paid when they work and are not focused on scale, while entrepreneurs are organized for growth and build companies that grow the work. That distinction put Ember into clarity for me - I was a freelancer. I wanted to be focused on the work of mentoring global leaders. I wanted to be intimately involved in every project Ember was engaged in. Whether it was ProtoGuides, a culture learning weekend, a short term team training event or a summer team, I wanted to craft each one of those projects. The clarity with this understanding brought great freedom. Nonprofit and charity work must scale but like Jan Chipchase says, it must be a 'meaningful sense of scale.' For my involvement with Ember, right now, it means more freelancer than entrepreneur.

The effort you are trying to pioneer might be dealing with the same thing right now. You might be dreaming of multiplication but still find the extreme joy in being an artisan in your craft. You love the idea of becoming worldwide even though your discipline is your accomplishment. Maybe it's time to forget growth and be clear that your job is to hone your gift. That bigger might not be better. That your tribe needs you doing what you do.

See more on this idea here.