The Quality of a Leader

I mentioned in a previous post that we were blessed to spend a week at the Christian Community Development Association Conference, we had the chance to go and learn from people who have walked the paths we are walking.  It was encouraging to hear the testimonies of how God is moving in cities around the world. 

CCDA was started by a man named John Perkins, who along with his wife moved to Mississippi over 35 years ago to live out the gospel among the people there.  They founded CCDA which has grown from just 200 people to over 2000 people.  They are wonderful testimonies to people walking the walk, not just talking. 

Every morning we had the chance to participate in a Bible study with John Perkins. One morning he focused a lot on leadership and I wanted to share this quote with you:

  "We need to measure the quality of a leader by the amount of growth the people he is leading are experiencing."

That quote has really stayed with me since we left CCDA, and has really reoriented my thoughts on leading others.  I think oftentimes we look at the quality of a leader by what he gets done, or the amount of people who show up.  We don't always look at the potential fruit, or the growth that the leader is encouraging in us the followers.  I just wanted to share that with you and give you a chance to evaluate how you look at the leaders you follow and the people you lead. 

Kisses from Katie...

I have so much on my heart and there are so many exciting things going on in the community now, and I can't wait to share them with you as they unfold over the next couple of weeks.  This past week we went to the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference in Indianapolis.  It was a really great chance to get away with the staff of Mission Adelante, spend time together and learn about the Kingdom Work that is happening all over the country and around the world.  We flew to Indianapolis and I got the chance to read, which is something I rarely have time for. 

I read the book Kisses from Katie on the way to the conference and just had to share about it.  I had heard of Katie and her ministry in Africa before, and was really excited to read the book.  What got me even more excited was in the description on the back cover Katie talked about essentially living between two worlds and the struggles that go with that.  Being caught between the way you envisioned your life to be, and the plan God has for you.

The book did not let me down.  Katie was honest in describing the struggles that she faced.  Figuring out what was her new normal, and accepting the fact that the Lord's plan for her life was dramatically different than anyone, including her could have imagined.  Her story resonated with me in a very strong way.  The life I live now isn't one I could have ever imagined for myself, and even though I live in Kansas City, Kansas and not Africa I have some of the same feelings and struggles.  Feeling the same emotions of being caught between two worlds, and looking back at an old life that seems both foreign and comfortable all at the same time.  Yet, being able to rest in an unrelenting peace that the Lord has directed your steps in a way you wouldn't be able to imagine.   

So basically, I highly recommend this book and had to share with you my favorite quote from it. 

 It was Katie's response as to why she cared so much and why the Lord cares so much for us: 

"Because the Lord who created you loves you, because he created you for a purpose and He wants you to fulfill that purpose.  Because the God who knows every hair on your head desires to lift you out of the dust and in to His glory."

Katie's ministry: http://www.amazima.org/

The Lord doesn't waste anything...

A theme that our Missional Family has picked up lately is that the Lord doesn't waste anything.  He doesn't waste the wait, He doesn't waste the meantime.  He doesn't waste the easy and he doesn't waste the hard.  These past few days the Lord has made His lack of wasting so abundantly clear to me.  

This past Wednesday I had the chance to address the teachers and staff at one of the local elementary school.  This school has 7 or so of our kids, who make up about 15% of our Tuesday night program.  I got the chance to share with them a little bit about what it means to be a refugee, the process that these families go through, and a little bit about Nepali culture.  It was wonderful to get to share with the teachers who spend everyday with the kids, and help the teachers understand the kids better.  It was weird being the one presenting at a Wednesday in-service, when I spent a year on the teacher side. 

If you knew me during the year I taught in KCK you probably knew that I strongly disliked my job most days.  The kids were for the most part difficult, I didn't feel supported by my principal, and I was new back to Kansas City with few friends or connections outside of work.  I had no idea why the Lord had me doing what I was doing, most weeks I wanted to quit.  Now I know why I didn't.  Teaching in the district has given me the knowledge of what it is like to be there, as a teacher or student.  I know what our kids need to be successful, and how to build a bridge between teachers and my Nepali friends.  I could have never imagined when I was teaching how the Lord would use a time that was so difficult for me.  

This week the Lord didn't waste my illness(an upper respiratory infection).  He used it to give me a chance to tell a Nurse Practitioner what I did for a living, and how God works in my life and community.  The Lord then used that NP to teach me a lesson in humbly accepting help from others (in this case a free visit to the doctor), which has been a big struggle for me. But in this case all I could do was say thank you.  There was no way for me to argue about it, no way for me to say no, and nothing that this person expected in return.  The most I could give was a thank you.  The Lord used a cough to teach me to let Him bless me through others.  

I went to a private Christian College, the type of school notorious for marrying couples off shortly after graduation.  Obviously, I'm not a girl that fell into that category.  I would be lying if I said I never cared, sometimes it was tough to watch most of my close girlfriends walk that path, and wonder what the Lord's plan was for me.  Over and over I have seen God's answer to that question.  His plan was for me to be here, doing what I am doing and loving my Nepali friends.  He has given me the chance to serve them in a way that would only be possible as a single person.  He isn't wasting my wait on that one, he is using the wait and allowing me to see Kingdom life in action, in a beautiful way.  I feel so blessed that God filled me in on what He created me to do at such a young age.  

Look at your life, look at the good and bad, the easy and hard.  How is God using them?  

Remember that the Lord doesn't waste anything.