LeadershipConneXtions

Arriving Home This Morning From Santiago, Chile

I was down in Santiago, Chile the last four days working with some dear friends who are missional servants, committed to planting churches, making disciples, providing educational structures for children and teens, penetrating the culture with charity and development for the poor and margialized, training leaders, and involvement in global mission especially to unreached peoples.

It is a privilege to be in partnership with them, resourcing them with spiritual formation and leadership development tools and approaches.

This was a busy November for me.

Leading and forming the Conversations Community at LWCC, and working with a great team of co-leaders for this. Developing resources for our Spiritual Direction/Formation team at LWCC. Doing our November Leadership Forum.

And . . .

I was in Senegal, Africa for a week, doing an Exercises Retreat.

Then home for an intense and busy week since Thanksgiving made it a short week.

Then off this past Sunday.

Now back and home for the month of December. That feels very good.

Grace to everyone.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
brianrice@lcileaders.org 

Super Duper Busy

Hey Everyone:

I know I have been very slack the last week or so with posts, and that may continue. 

I am on some major deadlines with writing projects. I need every one of my spare hours I have for those writing projects. What that means is that I have less time (as well as creative energy) for blogging right now. I anticipate that will continue all summer long.

I am going to post on an intermittant basis.

One thing I'll do is provide some pdfs of good articles on leadership. For the next 7-10 days, I'll have some really good articles I'll provide as pdfs. 

When I do provide my own material, it will usually be much briefer.

 

I would appreciate your prayers for God's grace and wisdom as I ramp up the writing.

God is blessing in so many ways. So many good things are happening with the leaders with whom we are working.  Numerous open doors are there. Keep praying, it is making a difference.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

An Odd Couple (Mennonite Ministry in Paraguay)

 

Maybe you don't naturally think of Mennonites (German and Russian origins) and Latin America. And yet - if you go to Paraguay, there is a Mennonite presence there.

For political and economic reasons, there have been immigrations of Mennonites to the Latin American country of Paraguay. Many of these Mennonites are in the agriculture business and live in "colonies" throughout Paraguay. Some of the regions (especially the Chaco region in the upper north) where they live are very challenging (desert climate and terrain) and it is a struggle to "eke" a livlihood in these places.

If you are not familiar with the Mennonites, they are a part of the Anabaptist tradition of the Reformation. They were a counter-culture group then. They had different bibilical interpretations about the role of the Christian as they participated in the requirements of citizenship.

On the overly simple side, the  Anabaptist groups believed that the radical teaching of Christ were often at extreme odds with the requirements that "states" (princes, kings, i.e. political leadership) had for their citizens. The Anabaptists would choose the pathway of witness  against, resistance to and withdraw from the "state" when they felt their faith compelled them to do this.

On a historical note - the Mennonites were often persecuted for this. To make a very long story short, there were migrations of Mennonites to Paraguay, looking for political freedom and safety to follow their beliefs and also a place where they could be economically secure.

Yet here is where the Mennonites in Paraguay (seem to me) take somewhat of a different direction. These Mennonites are very involved in cultural transformation. That is what I normally expect to find in the more Calvinist inclined groups.

In Paraguay, the Mennonites are doing a lot of social service work for the poor and under-privileged. I visited a Mennonite Leprosy Hospital that also offers general medical care for the people of their region, along with basic surgical procedures. This hospital is getting involved in AIDS work as well. As I walked the grounds of this place, I felt a great sense of peace and love.  

(The bamboo was near one of the leprosy wards. My friend Paul is standing in front of a "clump" of bamboo. There were gardens everywhere on the grounds of the hospital.)

One of the parts of the hospital I toured was their shoe production facility. They make specially designed shoes for each different patient. 

There is also a large ranching and milking production associated with the hospital. They have thousands of acres of land for this.

Pictures below are:  shoe shop, tailored shoes for one patient, what the ranch fields look like, and the hospital chaplains.

 

There are many very successful businessmen running good companies in Paraguay. These leaders are highly intentional about what it means to have a Christian business and what the implications are for those whom they employ. My friend Paul is a senior leader in a Mennonite based ministry that provides chaplain/pastoral care for the workers at the different Mennonite businesses. They have a very well developed ministry for this. Quite inspiring as I hear what they are doing.

The Mennonites are seeking to train and develop Christian businessmen to make a difference in the culture.

They are (both in the past and continuing in to the future) developing a wide variety of ministries to meet the needs of Paraguayans. I visited a missions festival at a  German Mennonite church and saw the many ministries that want to bless those in need.

It was very encouraging to see what one Fellowship of God's People (the German and Russian Mennonites) are doing in their corner of the world to make a difference.

LCI is able to provide some resources to those who are involved in developing and spiritually forming leaders for this work. We are grateful to be a small part in this.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

 

Back From Paraguay

 

 

I returned from Asuncion, Paraguay on Saturday. I was there for a week for two main things. 

First, to teach Spiritual Leadership (The Counter-Cultural Way of Leadership) which is the same course I taught in Chile in April.

Second, to spend time with two friends (Paul and Hildi) whom I have known for many years and with whom I've had the privilege of providing leadership and spiritual formation resources. Paul and Hildi have long decades of experience in a variety of ministries and both have been developing leaders for many years. They see this work of leadership development as central to their ministry.

They have been my hosts for three trips, they have done translation work for the courses I teach (which is how I met them originally) and we have sensed a common spirit and calling where friends are also partners in the ministry.

This was my fourth visit to Paraguay, but the last time I was in Paraguay was in 2008! So it was great to be back and see some old familiar faces and to meet new ones.

I'll use some experiencs and reflections from the trip for the rest of the week's posts.

Here I just want to mention one thing.

In this program, they take four courses a year.  Each course is a one week module. They do reading before and after the course. They write papers on their reading and then they write a major paper assigned by the course instructor. 

One of the ministries of LCI is to resource Omar Gava and REG as they provide graduate education for pastors and missionaries. As you the readers of this blog know, the focus of LCI is leadership development and the spiritual formation of leaders.

As I talked with the participants in this course, they were telling me about previous instructors (over the last year). As they were doing this, they didn't realize that each of these instructors were friends and partners with LCI. I had a great joy as I heard about the impact of each of these instructors.

John Hillard taught a course on Mentoring (Developing and Multiplying Leaders).

Mervin Charles taught on Decision Making.

Roger Oliver taught on Organizational Leadership.

And then I taught on Spiritual Leadership.

I realized once more, they are getting a nice, well rounded graduate course on leadership. It is making a difference for how they lead. And I was grateful that LCI is able to partner with people like John, Mervin and Roger to equip these dedicated leaders.

Thanks for your prayers and interest in LCI..

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

 

The Bible on Leadership (Utterly Different, Enormously Difficult)

 

The Call to Deny Oneself,
Take Up a Cross and Follow Jesus
Applies to How We Do Leadership!

 

THE COURSE ITSELF:
This course is a new one (or maybe better, an old one that is massively upgraded) that we teach for R.E.G.'s master's in church leadership program.

Sometimes we call it:  Spiritual Leadership (not to be reductionistic, but to point to the fact that it is a way of leadership that will happen only as a profound spiritual transformation is taking place in us.

Other times I use the longer title:  The Counter-Cultural Way of Leadership (meaning it runs against prevailing models of leadership that are found in almost all the cultures of the world).

Occasionally I describe it as:  The Jesus Way of Leadership (although it is found all throughout the Scripture).

 

IMPORTANT BOOKS:
If you are looking for simple, very accessible, but also profoundly insightful books on this theme, check out any of the following. You will benefit from any of them.  (Skip over this indented section if you aren't interested in seeing about the books I use for this course.)

In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen (a short study of the temptation of Christ in the wilderness).

Leading With a Limp by Dan Allender (longer, but extremely important to get at the upside down nature of Christian leadership).

The Servant Leader by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges (very short and loaded with nuggets of devotional insight about this well known but little practiced way of leadership).

Leadership Divided: What Emerging Leaders Need and What You Might be Missing by Ron Carucci (which I often use in the Emerging Paradigms course, but which is really mapping out a new way of leading in our post-modern world that is so on track with the biblical worldview).

Leadership Reconsidered by Ruth Tucker (which is a very nice counter-cultural look and challenge, from a woman's perspective).

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton (which is not so much on the counter-cultural model as much as it is on the spiritual formation ways to become the kind of leader who can actually lead this way).

The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way by Eugene Peterson (this one is probably the more challenging, but there is almost nothing like it. It is a Jeremiad (almost) and is one of the most important books there is for biblical theology and spirituality on this subject).
 

THE BIG PICTURE
The curriculum I use is material I have in The Exercises Volume Five: They Had Been With Jesus. It is a study of leadership in light of a Creation - Fall - Redemption model. 
 

LCI partner, Mike Johnson taught this material in Argentina this past year and I just did it in Chile and will be it in Paraguay in May.

We look at the nature of power and authority (which is what leadership is), the source of power and  authority and the intended purpose (plus desires results) of the use of all power and authority.

We look at what power and authority were ORIGINALLY LIKE before the fall.

We then see what sin has done to power and authority.

We then see God's plan to redeem and renew power and authority.

First, through Old Testament Israel (who failed miserably and became just like all the other nations, especially in the terms of bad leadership)...

Second, through Jesus Christ who would be the servant of the Lord who leads in the spirit and power of Yahweh and always for the purposes of shalom and mishpat (peace and justice/righteousnes)...

Third, through the church of Christ as we are changed by Christ and as we imitate the way of Christ and are sent out by Christ...

Fourth, through the use of key biblical metaphors that flesh out what counter-cultural leadership looks like...

 

FINAL THOUGHTS
It is a great course and the reflection and conversation generated are pretty profound. Even though I wrote the material, have been through the material myself several times, and have taught this material at different times - God always speaks to me about what's gone wrong in my own leadership ways and he invites me to a closer patterning of my leadership after the Way of Christ.

There were ten of us (including myself) who were in this course (two are missing in the photo).

Rene (far right) was one of the amigos
who took me to the soccer game.

Jamie, who is immediately to my right was my translator. I have worked with Jamie many times in the past and she is simply wonderful as a translator. She and her husband Carlos are two of the leaders in the movement in Chile. Everyone who was in the course I knew except for one new student who had this as his first course. Several of the participants have also been through the LCI Exercises/Retreats we have done and are actively implementing this model throughout their movement in Chile.

I was deeply moved by how the participants in this module engaged with the material. Day after day I had a sense that God was with us, that he was changing our desires and framing a deeper, more authentic way to understand his call to leadership. This is what we want. We came away with a much better understanding of why it is so vital, how hard it is, and how much transforming grace we need to become leaders in the way of Jesus.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

 

 

A Week in Santiago

 

LEAVING ARGENTINA

After I was done teaching in Buenos Aires, I get a ride to the airport with one of the Christian businessmen (also a pastor) to the airport. We were accompanied by his university student daughter who translated for us during the ride and lunch. A delightful time with them. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds.

(By the way, here is an image that refers to the McDonaldization of the world, and how this kind of globalized culture is destructive of local indigenous cultures. I still enjoyed the food.)

I checked in and two hours later, Air Canada was winging its way across Argentina, over the Andes (this is always impressive for me) and into Santiago, Chile. I think I was one of the first to get through immigration and customs...my luggage was there waiting for me. And I was out in the terminal and waited about fifteen minutes for my ride to show up (my fastest time through the process yet).
 

NOW I AM IN SANTIAGO, CHILE.

I love Santiago.

I mainly love it because I love the people there. I have so many friends that I have made over the years as I have worked with different organizations in Santiago. I think this was my 7th or 8th trip to Santiago (maybe more??).

I love the heart of my friends there. Serious about following Christ, impacting their corner of the world, thinking about new ways to do church, and the same for missions. We had a profound week of leadership conversations about the counter-cultural way of Christ. I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

And I stayed at the house of some friends who were away on travel. I had a nice spot where I was about to do some writing almost every day.  (These days I just travel with my iPad and an external keyboard.)
 

But I had two firsts on this trip.

I had my first earthquake in Santiago. Southern Chile is one of the most unstable geographical regions in the world and earthquakes are common. Yet, for all my trips to Santiago, I never was in an earthquake. This trip would be different. 

It is 12:30 a.m. and something wakes me up. It is the house shaking. It is a noise of rumbling, a very loud and close train (that isn't a train). I wake up. I lie there in bed and I realize, we are having an earthquake. It lasted about a minute (pretty long) and was 6.7 (or 6.4 depending on who I talked  to) with the epicenter not that far away (in Valpariso). But since nothing was falling off the walls and breaking, I figured it wasn't that bad. So I stayed in bed until it was done.

I cant' imagine what it must have been like for those who were there for the BIG ONE in 2010 (8.8)!!! And it lasted 3 and 1/2 minutes!  

 

My other first was attending an international, professional soccer game. The University of Chile team (by the way, not university students, but professionals) played against a top team from Columbia. Now, I've been to a number of NFL games and the fans there are "mild" by comparison. We are talking rowdy, loud, and passionate. Oh yes, a week earlier laws were passed prohibiting fireworks, drums, etc. from being brought in to the stadium. So this was one of the first games under the new rules. Apparently it seemed kind of tame to my friends. I thought there was a constant earthquake going on as the fans never stopped jumping up and down. Their calf muscles must be impressive!

 

This picture is before the law went in to effect.

One of the great privileges I have about traveling is repeat visits that develop partnerships and friendships. I am greatly blessed by the relationships God has formed for me in Santiago. Sitting around in late night conversations, having good food and Chilean wine, were just the icing on the cake of a great week of ministry.

Some thoughts on the counter-cultural way of Jesus as he used power and authority are coming up in the next few days. That was the theme of the week long course in Santiago.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Buenos Aires and Emerging Paradigms of Leadership

 

A New City, A New Group of Leaders and a Favorite Leadership Course Taught Once More

 

The first week of my trip to Latin America was in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I taught a course in the master's program on leadership that is sponsored by Recursos Estrategicos Globales.

The course was one of my favorites - Emerging Paradigms of Leadership. It is a broad look at the changes taking place in our post-modern world and then specifically - what changes are taking place in the work of leadership.

You will find more than you need to know about Argentina at this site. Buenos Aires is the second largest city in Latin America and has a population of about 13 million people (city proper and the surrounding areas). Buenos Aires exemplifies the great need for leadership in our rapidly changing world. Like every great city in the world, it has both issues of regional and local significance as well as all the dynamics of global culture that shape it.
 

 

There were ten leaders (pastors, businessmen and missional leaders) who were a part of the class. We had a great time as we looked at the challenges and the opportunities facing the Latin American church. (Buenos Aires pictured.)
 

A local church is the host site for the master's program. They have a little guest house that is on the second floor of the church. I stayed there with a friend from Chile who was in to take the class for the week. It was quite comfortable and very convenient for us. 

The class was taught in the evenings from 6:00 - 10:30 and then all day on Saturday. During the days we went out and explored the city or worked on projects we had with us.

There are a few core Scriptures that shape the work we do in this course.

Isaiah 43:18-19 where God says he is doing a new thing and His people are to "forget what is past" so they can focus on what is to come.

Jeremiah 6:16 which is the famous "stand at the crossroads" passage and begin to see what is happening and make good choices about moving in to the future.

1 Chronicles 12:32 & 38 which is about the sons of Issachar who knew how to discern the times around them and know what God was doing.

Those three passages map out the nature of the work we would do for the rest of the week.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

 

 

Finishing Up a Two Week Trip in Latin America

 

I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a week, teaching a grad course on leadership for my friend Omar Gava and the REG master's program. (Emerging Paradigms of Leadership in a Post-Modern World)

I then flew over to Santiago, Chile and spent a second week teaching another course in the same degree program. (The Leadership Way of Christ)

(Ignore the flight lines on this map. I flew from Atlanta down to Buenos Aires, and then over to Santiago, and fly back from there to Atlanta.)

I had the opportunity to be with a number of good leaders. And some of them are people I have worked with for several years. Others were "first time" encounters.

I'll have some stories and pictures for you next week, and some observations on what God is doing in that part of the world and how LCI is working together with several really good missional organizations.

Wrapping up and getting ready to fly home.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT - Volume Two: Invitations is Published

Even though it is
Volume Two: Invitations
It is the FIRST volume now available for purchase!

Click the link below to go to the eCommerce Site to purchase a copy. 

The Exercises: Secure eCommerce Site

Many of you know that I have been writing (and field testing) a Five Volume spiritual formation for leaders curriculum. Many of you have used draft copies and given great feedback on the material and your experiences. It is now available for purchase and can be shipped anywhere in the U.S.A.

For that matter, if you want a hard copy anywhere in the world, it can be shipped overseas, it is just that the price of shipping internationally will be high.

We are working on the eBook format that will be available for Kindle and anyone using a Kindle app. That is a financial investment and it takes some time. So for those who are overseas and want this, you'll have to wait a little longer. These will be available at Amazon.com. 

We are using a professional publisher/printer who manages all printing and sales and they have a secure website. The link takes you to their website.

Once you fill out the required information (takes a minute or so) then the information is saved and will be there when you want to return to purchase future volumes.
 

You can help us by spreading the word to others who may be interested in their own spiritual formation. We are so grateful for the stories of people going through them as they tell us of the life transformation that is taking place. 


 

The Exercises seek to create a learning experience that:

1.  Engages the great biblical and spiritual themes that matter the most.
 

2.  Uses a process of formation that uses the best insights and tools of spirituality and learning.
 

3.  Moves toward the desired outcome of loving God more deeply, knowing  God more intimately, following God more nearly, and serving His missional purposes in the world He loves with greater faithfulness and fruitfulness.
 

4.  And, if you can do this journey with a few friends, you add to all this, the relational, community component where spiritual formation is meant to take place.

And please be aware that it is a challenging process that leads you into a deep engagement with Jesus and a full embracing of spiritual formation. This developmental tool is designed for mature followers of Christ who want to go a lot deeper and further on the journey.





And An Update About the Other Volumes


Volume Four:  What's Gone Wrong  will be available on this same eCommerce site within a few weeks. It will not be available as a Kindle book until we are able to recover costs from the Volume Two eBook.  (It has been an education learning about the publishing of eBooks.)


Volume Three:   The Focused Life  should be available early May. 


Volume One:  Conversations  has been a looonnnggg time in writing. I am making good progress on it. My desire is that it will be available mid-summer.  This volume will have so many of the insights on spirituality, the spiritual disciplines, the growth processes and biblical/theological themes that shape how we seek after God. I know many of you have been waiting patiently for this volume. (I am just helping you learn to persevere...)


And finally . . .

We are making good progress on our new website which will have so much more to offer you than what I am able to provide through this blog. When it is ready, I'll let you know.


Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com


 

A Few Quick News Items... and... Taking Still a Few More Days Off From Blogging...

A number of peope have asked me when I am picking back up with the blogging.

Right now, I am in a season of great writing activity as I am working on the Exercises in Spiritual Formation. I am doing this on my personal time and I am devoting as much time as I can to those volumes.  We have some publishing goals we are shooting for and a lot of work is needed to reach those goals.

I find that I only have a "certain number" of good words (not to mention hours a week) where I can write. And I have to devote that time, first to the Exercises project.

But, I will be able to start back up in January. What I think I will do is just provide some briefer thoughts on the blogsite that are receiving longer treatments in the Exercises.

*********

LCI partner, John Hilliard had a great trip to Asia, doing one of the Five Day Retreats (on the First Principle and Foundation material of the Invitations workbook). He also spent some time with another group of leaders who were going through the Invitation to Relationship exercises.

 

*********

LCI partners Mike Johnson, Garrett Lowe and Javier Valasquez and I travelled to Santiago, Chile to launch our first Five Day Retreat (a bi-lingual event) with some dear friends there who are doing a wonderful work of church planting, leadership development and missional service at a number of places both in Latin America and around the world. 

The follow up retreat is scheduled for March and that retreat will also have the "Mentor Training Retreat" going on at the same time.

THE PICTURES in order are:

Javier (our translator of the Exercises and interpreter for the week) with Mike teaching on The Examen.

Garrett (modeling the "lumberjack look" outside one of the cabins).

The group during a teaching session. We would do 15-30 minute teachings and then they would spend 90 minutes doing personal spiritual formation work.

***********

And I had the privilege of being in Charlotte, North Carolina for two days with my friends from United World Mission. They have really embraced the Exercises model and so many of their people are moving through this and becoming mentors, that they are really advancing it nicely throughout their organization.

 

***********

And not too far back in the late fall, another partner/friend - Mervin Charles went to Cuba to do another course for the graduate program in leadership that LCI partners with Recursos Globales Estrategicos (R.E.G. and Omar Gava). That program is headed up by a wonderful brother and friend in Cuba (I"ll keep him anonymous). We are seeing wonderful fruit in the training of these senior leaders who are then doing an incredible work around the eastern half of Cuba.

Another LCI partner and friend will be headed to Cuba for another graduate course in January.

 

**********

So it has been a fruitful time for us.

LCI is working on a number of new initiatives for 2012. I'll be sending out an email newsletter to those who are on that mailing list.

 

Grace to each of you.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Trip to Nigeria (Travel Reflections Part One)

It has been sometime since I have actually done one of my Travel Reflections after a missions trip. I thought I would do one about my recent trip to Nigeria (March 18-26).

(1)   It is amazing how much I don't know about Africa! I have traveled quite a bit through other parts of the world, but not so much in Africa. I believe someone told me there are 51 countries in Africa. I have been in four of them (South Africa, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria). Before the trip, if you would have showed me a map of Africa with no names of countries on it and asked me to identify Nigeria, I would have just guessed.  (See how quickly you can find Nigeria on this map...)

(2)   It is also pretty amazing to me how infrequently news about Africa gets much coverage in the USA. For example, right now there is a civil war going on in the Ivory Coast due to fraudulent elections and the established president refusing to step down after his opponent won. This barely gets a mention in our news. Yet, a number of students I had in Nigeria were working in the Ivory Coast and had to leave the course prematurely to go back and help the evacuations of missionaries from that troubled area. The one pastor told me he was in frequent contact with his family and co-workers and that rebels had come to the mission training center and thoroughly searched it. It was a scary experience for his family and team.

(3)   Here are some "facts" about Nigeria:

Population - about 175 million.

Size of country - about twice the size of California (which has a population of 37 million).

Nigeria has the 7th largest population in the world.

Nigeria has the largest black population in the world. 

Lagos is the biggest city with a current population of 15 million. The United Nations estimates that another 8 million people will be added to Lagos in the NEXT FOUR YEARS, having at least 23 million people by 2015.  (Lagos is tagged by WorstCity.com as one of the worst cities in the world. Lagos is pictured... and by the way, this is a picnic traffic snarl compared to what I was in...see below.)

I was teaching in Ibadan which has a population of 8 million people and will grow significantly as well.  To say it this way, in two cities, they have MORE population then is in the States of New York and Pennsylvania combined!

I was in the worst (and most frightening) traffic jam I have ever been in. I have been in some pretty wild traffic in the world (India especially) but never had the experience I had going from Lagos to Ibadan. I was sure we were not going to get there.  (I can't even describe what was going on... just think utter chaos, no rules, thousands of trucks parked on the highway for miles and every driver doing what is right in his own eyes... then multiply that by TEN and you have a sense of what I was in...)

Life expectancy for males is 47 and for women it is 50!

They speak 521 languages in Nigeria.

The 2nd largest film industry in the world is in Nigeria. It is called Nollywood.

The country is about 50-50 divided between Muslims and Christians and Nigeria is experiencing significant conflict in this division. More on this below.

(4)   I was in Nigeria, working with Development Associates International, an organization that does graduate level teaching in leadership in  quite a number of countries, Africa being a center of their work. This was my second trip for them. In March 2010 I was in Uganda working for DAI.

DAI provides graduate training for leaders - pastors, missionaries, government workers, NGO workers, teachers - quite a variety of people. Most of the students I had were pastors and/or missionaries.

I taught a course on Ethics for Leaders on this trip. Many years ago, I spent a lot of time studying ethics and particularly, quite a few ethical issues. But I was definitely "rusty" on this topic and spent a few months reading up on this subject.

(5)   I also knew I was going to be in a very different cultural situation where the ethical issues are manifest in significantly different ways. To help with this, I watched a number of films about Africa and its problems. I highly recommend these films:

          Cry Freedom.  The story of Steve Biko of South Africa and the white journalist/editor who told his story of oppression and murder. It is brutal, what the white government did to preserve its power and privilege. There is a scene at the end where it shows the police slaughtering black school children who were doing a peaceful protest. Heartbreaking . . .

          Hotel Rwanda. The story of the 1994 mass murder of the Rwandan genocide as Hutus took control and killed a 800,000 people from the Tutsi tribe in 100 days.  And the "western nations" did virtually nothing. In Bad Leadership, Barbara Kellerman says this was a major blight on the Bill Clinton adminstration.

          
           As We Forgive. A simply incredible story of the reconciliation that took place in Rwanda. Fourteen years after the genocide, the government releases 50,000 murderers in prison and sends them back to their communities. What do you do when the person who murdered your family is now living back in your neighborhood?  Powerful, profound . . . 

          The Last King of Scotland. A dramatic portrayal of Ugandan ruler, Idi Amin, who was crazy, despotic and murderous. 

          God Grew Weary of Us. A story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, which is another of the mostly untold, unfamiliar story of children refugees from the slaughter of Christians that was carried out by the Muslim government of Sudan. What these children went through is beyond belief. The movie is their story and follows the resettlement of just a few of them in the United States. That part of the movie is a powerful example of cultural shock.

These movies provided some of the stories of ethical issues we discussed in class.

(6)   We spend several days looking at the foundations of ethics, definitions, systems and theories, models, procedures, and problems. We also spent a day looking at how one uses a biblical worldview as a framework for thinking through ethical issues. We looked at the themes of Creation - Fall - Redemption and Consummation as a way of thinking about any ethical need or problem. We did a case study looking at the issues of Power and Authority in light of this worldview approach. For Africa has greatly suffered due to the misuse and abuse of power an authority. So what does ethical leadership look like in how it uses power and authority.

In particular, we talked about a distinctly Christian ethic as concerned with the themes of:

MISPHAT - or justice and righteousness,
SHALOM - or peace and wholeness,
HESED - or the lovingkindness of God (with themes of grace and mercy added here)
FREEDOM - and the theme of responsibility and obligation that flows out of freedom . . .

All of this was talked about in the context of the Kingdom of God and the transformative work of God that makes ethical leadership possible.

I'll finish with this Travel Reflection on Wednesday and tell some stories of some of the leaders that were in the Ethics course and add some pictures from Nigeria.
 

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typeapd.com

Doing the Exercises in Chiang Mai, Thailand with UWM

I have been in Thailand this week, in the northern city of Chiang Mai. This is the third visit to this beautiful city. There are a few places in the world I have visited that I think, "yes, I could have a vacation home here." 

I love the Night Bazaar, one of the best shopping experiences anywhere I've been (see picture below).

By the way, the Capetown area of South Africa is another and the area of Santiago, Chile is another also.

Anyway, I am working with some of the Asian leaders of UWM who are doing the Mentor's Retreat to learn how to do the LCI Exercises. I am slowly being able to introduce these Exercises to leaders's in different places globally, and having very positive feedback from those leaders. The Exercises are a process of spiritual formation for leaders and it is "loosely" based on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius.

See my blogsite, Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way for a longer explanation of the exercises.

United World Mission is the "experiment" to see how to introduce this model of spiritual formation and leadership development in a missional organization whose people are dispersed around the world.

My colleague and friend, John Hilliard and I were in Austria in August when we launched the first Mentor's retreat for the Europe leadership team of UWM. We were privileged to have our friend from Amsterdam, Miriam Philips join us for that adventure.

I plan on rolling out this developmental process at LWCC sometime in 2011.

I'll be leaving soon and making the loooonnnggg flight back home. 

Blessings to all of you.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

 

The Adirondacks and Grace Fellowship Church Men's Retreat

I was gone Friday through Sunday in the Adirondacks, doing a men's retreat for Grace Fellowship Church where I had pastored from 1996 - 2003.

It had been a number of years since I had been back and it was great to see many familiar and friendly faces, as well as meeting some new friends.

We used a SUNY Cortland facility on Raquette Lake, which was of of the Great Camps built by the wealthy industrialists in the late 1800's and early 1900's. We had to get there by boat. It was a cold, windy, rainy ride across the lake to the facility. 

To all the men of Grace who were there - awesome time being with you. You guys are some of the Crazy Ones who are going to turn the world right side up as you break a few rules along the way, marching to the tune of a different drummer, holding fast to the grace of Christ, fining your inspiration point, refusing to allow failure to define who you are and living out of the reality of Ephesians 2:10. Thanks for your great participation in the sessions and for the personal conversations we had. 

Hospitality was provided on Sunday night by my good friends Tom and Jean  W. Sorry I was a week late!  :-)

Had a little time to hang out with Dan H. and  Mike P. - two great brothers who have been a blessing to me personally and to the GCF as well.

There were so many other people I wish I would have had time to see. 

The icing on the cake for this trip was having time to be with Brian Newman. We've wanted to put our schedules together for sometime, but it just wasn't working out. Then it turned out that we were going to be in Cortland, New York the same weekend. Great being with you Brian. Exciting to hear about what is going on and where you are headed.  Brian did a Monday nite presentation on Islam in Europe, which I could not make. Check out Brian's blog here.

In addition, I finally had a chance to meet Pastor Mike Dunn, the new senior pastor at Grace Christian Fellowship. Great guy, strong leader, awesome heart... I'm glad GCF has a man like him to love them into the future. Blessings Mike.

And then on the ride back to York, I stopped over in Scranton to visit my buddy and LCI facilitator, Pastor Tim Adour of Church of the Revelation.

I got back home and had left over ribs, courtesy of Smokin' Steve's Barbecue.  

All in all, a great few days.

Brian Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Paraguay April 2010 Report (Tim Adour)

The little country of Paraguay is a place LCI loves to visit. We've done quit a bit of work there, usually doing graduate courses for REG/SATS. On a teaching trip last year, Tim Adour made good contacts there and he returned a few weeks ago, only this time going to a Training Center for pastors and missionaries. Here are a few comments from Tim about his trip.   -bkr-
 

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Having just returned home from a week in Paraguay, I would like to highlight a couple of things from the trip. 

 

I spent most of the week teaching young bible school students.  I have taught pastors, community and business leaders; however, investing in the leadership of the next generation brings a great deal of personal satisfaction.  If we can help them avoid some of the mistakes we made, how much more effective will they be?  

From there I went a border city of Paraguay and Argentina.  I taught that evening, but the most thrilling part of the day was a 15 secular radio station interview.  Through business contacts of one of the local pastors, I was interviewed by the morning show celebrity.  We discussed the difference between Transformational and Transactional Leadership.  

Soon after our discussion began this celebrity’s staff stopped working, came to the booth window and listen to the interview.  Immediately after we cut to a commercial the staff burst into the booth and started telling the host how he was a combination of both types of leader and how he needed to hear what I said.  It was funny and interesting at the same time. 

One of the lessons I had reinforced was to allow the Holy Spirit to have His way when I travel.  I taught almost nothing I had intended.  God has other ideas and as the week unfolded it was a blessing to see His hand at work.  
 

Tim Adour  
Church of the Revelation  
The Bronx, New York

Tim Adour Off to Paraguay to Teach at a Missionary Training Center

My good friend Tim Adour is heroic. 

He was willing to take off, right after a busy Easter weekend, to go to Paraguay to teach and train pastors, evangelists and missionaries at a training center located several hours outside of Asuncion.

Tim has a lot of travel ahead of him and several connections to make before he arrives at the training center. He will be down in the southeast corner of the country.Pray for his connections, for his health, for his teaching and for a real gifting from God to equip all those who are at the center.

 

 

Tim is going to be teaching the students who are at the center... he'll be doing a pastor's conference... and most likely some preaching at local churches as well.

When Tim goes on these trips, he basically tells the hosts - "work me hard, I am here to serve you." And they do and Tim does.

LCI has been privileged to be in Paraguay numerous times and we enjoy some longstanding relationships with leaders there.

Tim will give an update when he is back.

Please be in prayer for his time there.

Brian K. Rice  
 Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Mentoring Leaders in Puebla, Mexico (John Hilliard)

I returned last week from a training session on mentoring in Puebla, Mexico. This was my second trip to this part of the world and it was another enriching experience.  Each time I am able to share in Latin America I have a better appreciate for the beauty of the culture, the strength of their relationships and the hard work they are doing there, sharing the gospel of Jesus in a world that has a form of godliness but denies the power thereof.  

This was the fourth time I have taught this material in the Latino world.  In one sense I am more comfortable in facilitating this material but in another sense I am continually challenged to bring it to the students in their culture.  In many ways they are far more engaged in relationships than we are in North America.  They already have the relationship part down and they do it well.  Where we spend the greatest amount of time relates to things like accountability, spiritual formation, and sponsorship.  These areas don't seem to come as easily and we have great discussions exploring how that might look in the Latin American culture.  

A new feature that was added this sessions was a recommendation from my host and translator Roger Oliver.  The Pixar movie Ratatouille is entertaining in itself but there are some additional features which I had not seen. If you are interested in a practical example of mentoring I would highly suggested that you check out the extra interview with the film producer Brad Lewis, and the head chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry restaurant where they modeled the movie.  It is all about mentoring and has some excellent insights.  It had Spanish subtitles so worked well with these students.  

In addition to the movie clips we also explored 8 significant biblical mentors from Moses, to Paul, to Jesus. It set the stage for some excellent discussions about the role of a mentor in the life of the church and the transcendent purpose furthering God's kingdom.

John Hilliard  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Santiago, Chile (March 2010 Trip)

I will be in Santiago, Chile for a few days. This has nothing to do with the recent earthquake. This trip was planned sometime back for me to work with a team of missional leaders, helping them think strategically about their work of mobilization and to talk about leadership development processes in their organization.

The earthquake, of course, has changed things for that team and our original plans have morphed.

Pray that I'll have good connect time with the team there.

Thanks,

Brian

Puebla, Mexico Mentoring Course (John Hilliard)

I have the opportunity to travel to Puebla, Mexico to teach the Mentoring Module to a group of graduate students at The Puebla Bible Seminary. This will be my fourth opportunity in the past year to teach this course in Latin America.  The participants have great insights into the relevance and applicability of mentoring.   In addition to teaching this course I will also have the opportunity to spend time with my friends Roger and Marcy Oliver who give leadership to the seminary and who have a heart to develop and mobilize leaders.  (skyline for Puebla with volcano in the background)

I have been challenged and encouraged each time I present this material.  This course is designed to prepare the participants to be mentors in a ministry leadership environment.  The term mentor does not have a comparable word in Spanish so a good part of the introduction is devoted to a practical definition of what mentoring is about.  We use a number of biblical examples to show how important it is in the church context.  For us to have the right kind of leaders in the future it is critical for mentors to guide and direct younger leaders.  This includes six different aspects: spiritual formation, counseling, coaching, training, discipleship, and sponsorship.  When it is done well there can be a long lasting impact in the life of the mentee.

As I travel, I would appreciate God's favor in the travel portion, that all of my connections would go as planned without aircraft or weather delays.  Also pray that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance and discernment in bringing the topic in a way that the fits into the cultural context of the students who attend.  I also pray that the translation will connect the principles well.

John Hilliard  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com 

HueHue, Guatemala and Spiritual Formation for Leaders (Deb Bell)

My friend, Dr. Deb Bell is headed to Huehuetenago, Guatemala to work at a missions training center for the week. One of the significant missional movements of the last decade is the growing missions movement that is growing in Latin America and which mobilizes Latino missionaries for the 10-40 window. 

Click here to see the promotional invitation for this course.
Download CECAM Promo

Our friend and partner, Omar Gava (REG) resources these training centers that are found at different places in Latin America and he connected Leadership ConneXtions with the HueHue training center that is led by Jesuel Alves.

Deb wears many hats vocationally and in ministry. Her "day job" (i.e. a lonnnggg day) is she works as a family physician. Her other vocation is leadership training in a holistic way that gives great focus and attention to spiritual formation. (That makes for loonnngggg evenings.)

Deb has been a core part of the leadership/training team for the Leading Edge ministry at LWCC and does work in spiritual direction as well. Deb has also been on many missions trips of a wide variety over the years.

For this course, Deb says, "I will be teaching on the priority of continuing focus on personal spiritual development in leadership. Specifically, I will be covering the Jesus Model of Leadership which involves building an ongoing connection to Christ by Learning from Jesus, Being with Jesus, Becoming like Jesus, and Doing the Work of Jesus."

Deb ask for prayer for the following things:  

• Safe travels
  
• Staying healthy 
  
• Clarity of speech, mind and communication of concepts as I teach and train (for both myself and the translator)
  
• A receptivity and engaged participation on the part of those attending.
  
• For the Spirit of God to lead all the participants (and myself) in an ongoing transformation process.
  
• Building relationships with the participants.
• Being used by God as one more step in their preparation process for their future calling to serve the global purposes of God in the world.

In addition to the HueHue center students, area pastors will be attending the day training. Deb will also have the opportunity to teach and train in some local churches in the evenings.


  

Finally, Deb will be spending time with some good friends who live and work in Guatemala, doing some truly remarkable leadership development (the McCombs) who will be traveling with her and helping with some of the cultural orientation and contextualization of the materials.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com 

  

  

 

Brief Note about LCI Trips in March

This is a full month of trips for LCI.

Brian will be in Uganda teaching on Spiritual Formation for Leaders.

John will be in Mexico teaching on Mentoring.

Deb will be in Guatemala teaching on Spiritual Formation for Leaders.

Brian will be in Chile (3 days) working with an organization on leadership development and spiritual formation.

Brian will be in North Carolina (3 days) working with an organization on leadership development and spiritual formation.

So pray for LCI's work this month. There will be some prayer requests and brief updates about these trips throughout the month.

Brian Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Uganda Trip and Spiritual Formation for Leaders

I am in Uganda for the first time, doing a graduate course in leadership at the Ugandan Christian University   (the location) for an organization, Development Associates International (DAI).

DAI is a fine organization that has been providing graduate education in leadership at quite a few locations around the world. I was privileged to hook up with them through a contact who has been working with DAI for many years. After I went through their introductory training, they invited me to teach a first course with them.

The course I am doing is Spiritual Formation for Leaders, using the core approach and perspectives of Richard Foster. Foster is one of the leading writers on spirituality and spiritual formation. One of the main texts for the course is Devotional Classics. I read this many years ago. It is out in a revised and expanded edition and I am rereading that and really enjoying it.

There are about 25 Ugandan leaders in the course. We begin tomorrow. This post was set ahead of time. I hope I will have some decent internet connections so I can blog about the trip.

If you want to read about Uganda, this Wiki article gives a nice overview.

And here is a short article on Christianity in Uganda.

Here are a few prayer requests.

I have much less experience in Africa doing leadership development, so pray that I would have be able to discern some of the cultural issues at play and teach and mentor appropriately.

Pray that I would have the ability to be clear on the subject matter for the week.

Pray that I would make some good contacts, perhaps find some future partners and be able to resource Ugandan leaders.

Pray for DAI who is doing a very good work of providing graduate education to leaders around the world. It is a privilege to be partnering with them for this course.

Pray for good health while I am here and for when I return.

Thank-you for your partnership in prayer.

Gratefully,

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

LCI and Counter-Cultural Leadership

I had a pretty significant reflection about Leadership ConneXtions and our vision/dream when I was in Thailand, speaking at a UWM conference.

The reflection was launched by the interaction of two different things.

First, I was talking about a counter-cultural way of doing spiritual formation and leadership development. This is just some of the "main stuff" of LCI. It is core to who we are and what we believe and what we do. It is the guiding ethos for how we do leadership development.

Second, I was reading Seth Godin's book, All Marketers are Liars / All Marketers Tell Stories and while so many things i this book stimulated my thinking, here is one that was especially powerful.

Godin says that for a "story" to be successful, it must "fulfill the wishes of a consumer's worldview." Here is a paraphrase of that. For you to buy in to something, it must meet your needs/wants according to your core understanding of what life is all about (what your life is all about).

And that is what created incredible tension for me on that trip.

For LCI, at its core, is counter cultural in our thinking. We live in a "worldview tension."

On the one hand, we believe that Christianity has accommodated itself, far too much, to the dominant worldview of modern culture (forgive me for NOT going any further in explaining this, in this post). Therefore, our core message is not going to fulfill the wishes/wants/needs of the leaders we want to impact.

On the other hand, we believe that at a deep level, most Christian leaders who are trying to lead according to their culture's worldview and methodologies, know that it isn't working, that it isn't right and that it won't satisfy. Therefore, when we talk about a new way of leadership and a different way of spiritual formation, it does resonate deep inside. It does make sense. It does stir up a grander vision of life and leadership.  

But only to a degree, for most leaders experience the "worldview tension" within.

So I started jotting down some phrases that resonate with me and what I believe LCI is all about.  Pardon any narcissism.

Edgy, deep, different, really good but very hard.

Marching to the tune of a different drumbeat, or a different heartbeat.

It's not for everyone, just those who want to walk the narrow leadership road.

A new kind of leader.

An ancient-future kind of leader.

A company of friends surrendering our "selves" for the sake of Christ.

The best processes there are, but it is going to cost you something.

Hanging out with God and His Mission.

We're very good at what most people aren't, but which they need.

Make the investment in your growth, you are the only one who will.

The cost of discipleship . . . for leaders.


Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
Brian K. Rice  

Thailand Conference Update, Thursday 28th

One more day to go. We had a good morning... things are all coming together... the sessions build toward Thursday and Friday where the different themes are all converging.

It has been great to work with the UWM community here. Lots of desire, lots of insight on their part, it is a privilege to be together with them as a part of their journey into spiritually formed leaders who are working in many challenging contexts.

On the downside... I went to sleep last night at 3:00 a.m. and woke up at 5:00 a.m.  On the good side, I am getting a lot of work done at night and God is always awake and ready for conversations.

Pray for a good day of wrapping up on Friday and for putting stepping stones in place that will be useful for each one when they return home this weekend.

Grace and peace,

Brian

Thailand Conference Update, Wednesday 27th

Just a quick update.  The first two days of the conference went well. It is great working together with UWM president John Bernard as we do the morning sessions. John is doing some teaching through the Gospel of Mark in a spiritually formative way and then I follow up with sessions that are more focused on themes, models and processes. It is a great tag-team.

I am impressed by a few things in these brief days that are flying by.

I am full of gratitude and very aware that I am with some precious, dedicated, awesome people here this week. I am motivated just from being with them.

The task we have for missional engagement with the world is enormous, the needs are staggering, it truly is beyond us and we need God's power and strength at every step of the way.

And even more, we need friendship with God, where we daily experience His presence, join in with His work and listen to His Word/voice.

Continue to pray for us... for good times together, for wisdom, insight and that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened.

Thanks,

Brian

Thailand Conference Update, Monday 25th

Everyone arrived on Saturday and Sunday. Nice to see familiar faces and to meet some new people. Had some meetings yesterday, but today the schedule starts in earnest.

I could use prayer for my jet lagging. Normally I don't jet lag when I go to a location. I have been here three nights, the first night I slept 4 hours, then 3 hours and then last night 3 hours again.  I have to do an afternoon nap to get me up to about 5 hours.  

It is great being here and looking forward to diving into the meetings today.

Grace,

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com