Blind Trust

Imagine walking through the woods. Blindfolded. Holding the shoulder of the person in front of you (also blindfolded). Being led only by someone’s voice. Sounds scary, right? But it’s also a lot of fun, and a great way to build courage and trust within a team – in this case it was with our fabulous team of Outreach Interpreters!

We had a great time hosting them this past weekend! Our interpreters serve such an instrumental role in supporting and equipping our missions teams. It was a blessing to celebrate the fruit of last year, and to relax and refuel for our 2010 Outreach season.

Together we enjoyed touring the beautiful property, doing team-building activities, watching movies and just hanging out. And God showed up in a miraculous way – with me cooking both dinner and breakfast for the interpreters AND interns and everyone survived! Halleluiah!!

Flashpoint

Have you ever experienced a “flashpoint”? A flashpoint is the lowest temperature that a combustible substance bursts into flames, but in a more general sense it’s also the point at which something or someone suddenly bursts into action.

Through Leadership Summit and our IMPACT youth leadership conferences, that’s exactly what we aim to do. Ignite a fire in our youngest leaders, bursting them into action in their schools and communities.

In February, we kicked off our 2010 Leadership Summit program with 95 classes and more than 4000 students. And on February 17th, we held our first IMPACT youth leadership conference called “Flashpoint”. IMPACT is where select leaders from the various schools come together for deeper learning, coaching and action planning.

Several coaches gave testimonies about their flashpoints – how Jesus changed their lives forever helping them through struggles such as teenage motherhood, drugs, alcohol, and abuse. It was clear that the students were gripped by the stories – by the candor and because they could relate.

The teaching afterward solidified the truth that Jesus loves us just as we are, but too much to leave us that way. Please pray with us for the students who attended IMPACT – that through Christ they experience flashpoints of their own.

Getting the Hang of It

I can’t believe they talked me into this…I only said yes because I wanted a picture for my blog. Crazy, huh?

Actually, I’m glad I tried rappelling this weekend. According to Wikipedia, abseiling, or rappelling, is “the controlled descent down a rope; climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection.” Had I read that definition beforehand I probably would have chickened-out.

Those of you who know me well know that I’m not all that outdoorsy or adventurous – so this was a bit of a stretch. But Lucas, our instructor, did a great job of teaching us step by step, and giving us encouragement along the way. It was scary at first, but once I learned to trust the harness and ropes, I got the “hang” of it and it was a lot of fun.

Nothing Off Limits

What are the biggest problems facing our churches and communities? What can church leaders do to face these problems head-on and reach people for Christ? We tackled these questions and more in our first Hand in Hand conference for 2010.

On Monday, more than 60 pastors and church leaders joined us to learn about Being Salt and Light – our theme for this year. Thrive Africa Director Amy Riep, and Pastor Abram Moloi taught how each of us are not only called to be Salt and Light in the world, but fully equipped as well. Abram then gave an example showing us how to dive into the Word of God to make critical decisions and tackle important issues related to Sex and Relationships – a difficult subject rarely talked about.

With the help of our Missions Interpreters and Leadership Summit Coaches, we then broke into small groups to talk more about the difficult issues facing our churches and communities. We were amazed at the bold responses. Divisions within the church. Promiscuous youth. Unemployment and poverty. HIV/AIDS. Counseling people in need. Financial stewardship. No topic was off limits.

Next we’ll use the feedback to develop future teachings for Hand in Hand. Our goal is to equip church leaders to be Salt and Light tackling the specific issues they are faced with today.