LeadershipConneXtions

Kim Rudisill and Life Long Learning

I have been friends with Kim and her husband Ken Rudisill for many years. They have both been involved in a variety of ministries and given leadership to ministries within LWCC over the years.

Kim was one of the facilitator/mentors for the Leading Edge this past year. Kim and Ken have been part of the Ethiopian / Sendafa outreach ministry of LWCC.  Since LWCC works with AIDS patients in the village of Sendafa, Kim decided she needed more training. Kim recently sent me an email.

Here are her words:

Hi Pastor Brian. I wanted to let you know about my journey in life long learning. One of the things I decided to learn more about this year was HIV/AIDS. Sendafa has become important in my life so I thought this would be something useful for me to learn more about.

I have been reading some books and today I went to a mini-conference on HIV/AIDS and the faith community. It was very informative and practical. Hopefully, some of the people I met will be a great resource for my continual learning.

I am putting the things I learn into a notebook so that it might be a useful resource for others.

Here are some leadership things I see in Kim:

• She has a vision and mission in life and part of that has to do with building relational ministry in Sendafa, Ethiopia. There is a great, heartfelt passion she has for this.
• She (and her husband Ken) are willing to pay a price to do this. It is neither cheap or easy to get to Sendafa.
• She is committed to excellence in her service, ministry and leadership.
• That commitment to excellence propels Kim into life long learning endeavors so she can continue to grow and develop.
• And she is doing something with what she learns. She is keeping a journal of some sort where she records key ideas and insights. She does this for herself, but also so she has something to pass on to others.

So - great leadership being modeled by Kim. Kim, thanks for your heart of service and for your commitment to being the best leader you can be.

Brian Rice

Embracing Adversity (Some thoughts from John Hilliard)

One of the significant metaphors of Chrsitian leadership is The Leader as Sufferer.

Now, I don't know about you, but this particular metaphor doesn't exactly thrill my heart. I don't wake up most days and think about the privilege of suffering for the sake of Christ. I prefer to avoid the idea that included in the "essence" of Christian leadership is the reality of suffering.

So, when my friend and Leadership ConneXtions partner John Hilliard shared some of his thoughts on suffering, I asked him to jot them down so we could share them with you. So, here are John's thoughts (just slightly edited):

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I have recently been touched, or better yet, nudged by God to consider the possibilities in "embracing adversity"... in actually welcoming those tough, challenging, frustrating experiences that I would normally fight or flee from.

As I have been mentoring leaders, I have sensed they share a common perspective of looking at difficulties as being bad. In working with them, God has prompted me to have them inquire as to whether there is a different way to see these difficult situations and relationships. When I do this, I see their confused looks and anxiousness.

As I have considered these things in my own times of silence, solitude and reading and study, I have become more convinced that "embracing adversity" is the way of servant leadership and the way to richer, deeper living.

I even came to the point where I asked God, "If you know that some adversity will bring growth in my life, I am willing for that to happen." I am not seeking for the adversity, but I am willing for it to happen in my life.

God is faithful and over the last three weeks, since I prayed that prayer, He has brought a number of difficult things into my life (many more than what would be normal in an average week). One of the key threads in all this is that these difficulties are ones that I cannot easily resolve in my own strength.

I am asking for three things from God as I go into this new season of my relationship with Him.

ONE:  How is God showing me He loves me in the midst of this adversity?

TWO:  What is He inviting me to experience in this process?

THREE: What is it that He wants to change in my heart right now?

It is an amazing new perspective in my relationship to God and a very new paradigm in my way of looking at that which I used to see as a negative thing to be avoided. If a leader chooses to go down this road of "embracing adversity," they will need to be prepared to encounter God and self in a new way.         

John Hilliard

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John shared with me a few of the difficulties that have come into his life in recent weeks. I was struck by his peacefulness about those things. He was not stressed out or anxious in light of these adversities.

If any of you want to read a good little book, one of LCI's Core Leadership Books, read Henri Nouwen's little book, In the Name of Jesus.

Grace and Shalom to all of you as you embrace the adversities that are a part of your leadership calling.

Brian Rice

A Really Good Day (That Started With My Friend Randy Turner)

I had coffee this morning with a friend  (Randy Turner) who is in minsitry and in leadership positions. As we were talking, I was really impressed by a number of things about him.

1. He was passionate about his purpose in life.
2. He was highly intentional about his learning processes.
3. His enthusiasm for ministry to a particular group of people was contagious.
4. He had enormous commitment to help that group of people.
5. He was waiting on God and not running ahead of God to make something happen.
6. He knew he had to be dependent on God for this ministry and that the ministry and his vision for the ministry was beyond his capability.   God had to show up for the dream to become real.
7. He was working with a team of people toward his life purpose.
8. He had experience of deep pain and suffering which empowered him for ministry to the target group. He had been in their shoes and shared in their experiences.
9. Integrity was core for who he was.
10. And to top it off, he was very diligent about the process of self-awareness!

This is the "stuff" of leadership. It is why my friend Randy will not be an average leader when the tally is added up at the end of his life. As he continues in this way, he will finish well and have a legacy that will mean blessing for many people.

It will be exciting to watch his story unfold in the years to come.

And then a little later in the day, my friend and colleague John Hilliard stopped in for a few minutes and in about two minutes of sharing some of his up-to-date story, I was really struck by his wisdom and perspective on life. (So moved that I asked him to jot down a few thoughts to share with you sometime soon.)

And then I had several other appointments today with really gifted leaders who are doing really fruitful ministry. It was just an "iron sharpening iron" collection of experiences today.

Then supper with the family, a walk with Becky and a little "garden tour" through our yard to look at all the emerging life!

It was a really good day.

Brian Rice

The Legacy of Wilberforce

Here is a great statement of the legacy of William Wilberforce. This legacy is etched on to his tombstone that is in Westminster Abbey.

Download WilliamWilberforceTombstone.pdf

It is all about leaders leading strong, being faithful for the long haul and ultimately finishing well.

Brian Rice

Success to Significance (a story)

Here is a very cool story of one leader who made the leap from success to significance.

Click here for the story. I hope this link will stay good for a bit.

Brian Rice

Worth the Wait and Goodie Goodloe

The Fusion Ministry of LWCC (for teens) hosted a Worth the Wait conference this past weekend. There were about 300 teens who spent Friday and Saturday listening to Goodie Goodloe speak to them about sexuality, holiness and God's missional plan for their lives.

On Friday evening (for about 30 minutes) Goodie spoke to the parents about how we can interact with our teens on the issue of sex.

In my brief encounter with  Goodie, I was hit by these things:

• He was deeply rooted in and committed to the Scriptures,
• He was a thoughtful and energetic communicator,
• His character goes very deep,
• He is committed to helping people experience the best that God has for them and he will be sensitive and direct in speaking to them.

After the conference I found out that Goodie is pursuing doctoral studies in leadership and is involved in leadership development work. Excellent. Unfortunately, he had to take right off to catch a plane. I would have enjoyed an in-depth conversation with Goodie.  If anyone wants to check out some more of Goodie, click here for Bluefish resources.

Thanks Goodie, for your ministry to teens and their parents this weekend.

And thanks to the entire Fusion Staff team (Aaron, Andrea, Melissa and Pete and their ministry partners) for all the leaderhip you invested to make this event happen.

Brian Rice

Zach Hunter - An Amazing (Teenage) Leader

Zach Hunter is an amazing teenage leader. At age 12, he learned there was still slavery in the modern world and he wanted to do something about it. Now, at age 15, he has his own organization, a great book, and he is inspiring a whole new audience of teens and adults to be a positive change for good in this world.

Here are several resources / links to check out.

To see some interviews by Zach click here.

To check out his book click here.

Zach is a modern day example of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 where God chooses the lowly, foolish, weak things of the world to challenge the things that are. With God, all things are possible.

Brian Rice

Partnering in Ethiopia for Developing Leaders

Mike J. is one of the facilitators/mentors/presenters who has a major role in the Leading Edge Ministry of LWCC.

Mike has a real passion for sub-sahara Africa. Mike has a couple of degrees, he teaches at Johns-Hopkins University, he has a leadership role at the university as well and he has his own consulting company.

And because Mike wanted to get even better at being able to develop leaders, he enrolled in a doctoral program in leadership and has started his studies.

Mike will be in Ethiopia in January. He will have two roles there. He will be part of a team that is helping to develop a holistic minitsry of LWCC in the village of Sendafa. And he will be working with LCI in a teaching course that Melese Wogu and Ethiopian Outreach Ministry is hosting for the purpose of developing leaders.  The course we will be teaching is The Perils (Dangers) of Leadership. We are going to use Clinton's typology of money, sex, power, pride, family problems and plateauing as our framework for this.

Mike (in the white shirt) is talking with another missions leader and good friend Steve N. who is also involved in mentoring leaders in his missions organization.

Brian Rice

Reinaldo and New Leaders and New Paradigms

I've already mentioned that the course in Paraguay was focused on emerging paradigms in both the surrounding culture and for leadership that will be effective in that culture.

One of the participants was a young missionary from Germany named Reinaldo. Reinaldo was very interested in these emerging models and had extraordinarily thoughtful insights and questions.

He is working in a more isolated part of the country where most of the pastors are seriously under-trained. He has developed a training institute to provide the training resources these pastors need.

I admired Reinaldo's heart, his passion and commitment, his vision and his intellectual curiosity that makes him a life-long learner.

Please pray for Reinaldo as he seeks to develop a training center/ministry in a region of pastors/leaders who are seriously under-resourced.

Brian Rice

La Fuente (Interviewed for a Leadership Magazine in Paraguay)

One of the frustrations of teaching cross-culturally is that there are so many conversations I would like to have with the class participants, but cannot, due to language barriers.

Leo (pictured above) was one of the participants who had pretty good English. One of the ministries that Leo is involved with is the monthly publication of a magazine for pastors and church leaders. The magazine is La Fuente and it contains inspirational articles, material on leadership and also insights on the  Christian life.

Leo gave me a copy of the November 2007 issue while I was there and one of the leaders featured in that issue was Ricardo (pictured to the right) who was in the class. That article was on the theme of improving administration in the context of the local church.

Leo interviewed me on my last day there. The focus was on developing leaders. I had the chance to talk about LCI and our approach to leadership development. It was a fun time. That interview will be featured in an upcoming issue of La Fuente.

Brian Rice

David - A Developer of Leaders

One of the old friends I saw again in Ascuncion, Paraguay was David.

David is a pastor and a teacher/trainer of pastor's in the central/south part of Paraguay. David is one of those leaders who has the heart of a pastor and the mind of a scholar.

He is a visionary and an entrepreneur and is building a seminary in that region which will provide resources for the training of the pastors in his own denomination as well as others who are interested in more training. (I saw pictures of the buiding which is nearing completion. It will be very nice when it is finished and a great place where God will train leaders for that part of His world.)

One of the core stragegies of LCI is to be able to train and resource leaders like David for their own work of developing leaders. We exist to develop the developers (train the leadership trainers).

Pray for David and for his work in training and equipping leaders in the church in Paraguay.

Brian Rice

Tom Brady: From Passed Over to MVP

OKAY!  I'm impressed.

The New England Patriots are having a great year and Tom Brady is one of the BIG REASONS WHY. You have to admire the guy! He is well on the way to shattering single season records for quarterbacking.

I came across a great description of Brady's incredible work ethic in the book Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward.

I copied it and have it attached as a great leadership illustration. For all you football fans (and leadership fans) you can download it just by clicking below.

Download from_passed_over_to_mvp.pdf

Brian Rice

By the way, I am still a Dallas Cowboy fan and think Tony Romo is also having a great year. And I am also impressed by Brett Favre's year! But with that said, Brady stands just out in this elite group as the best of the best.

Omar/REG/and a Portal to Latin America

Our good friend Omar is the one who has sponsored LCI into Latin America. Omar wears many hats. One of the hats is working with S.A.T.S. in Londrina and setting up extension sites throughout Latin America for master's programs in Leadership and also Missiology.

Chile was the most recent site, and we helped him launch the Master's Degree in Santiago, Chile.

Here we are (Brian-Omar-Tim) outside of a church where I preached at on Sunday morning.

The really funny thing is that Tim and I (along with a woman from the Salvation Army) had to sing a song for the congregation.

Talk about going outside a comfort zone on a missions trip!

Brian Rice

Tim Adour Teaching and Preaching

In most cases, when I travel and teach, I go by myself. On the trip to Cuba, I met up with Tim Adour, my good friend and former pastor at Church of the Resurrection in Syracuse. Tim is leaving that church where he pastored for 16 years and is beginning a new and promising chapter at Church of the Revelation in the Bronx.

Tim has been interested in leadership and in developing leaders for many years. And I've been interested in getting Tim overseas to do just that (Tim is also very passionate about missions).

Tim co-taught the course with me, he preached at a Pentecostal church on Sunday night, he spoke at a pastor's meeting . . . and every time he was a real blessing to the church and leaders.  Below are a few pictures.

Brian Rice

Instituto Biblico Nacional and Two Awesome Leaders

The location for the master's course on Multiplying and Developing Leaders in Chile was at the Instituto Biblical Nacional.

Pictured here are the founder (Pablo Hoff) and the current president (Orlando Duboys). It was a great privilege to meet both of them.

When Tim Adour and I were talking with brother Pablo, we realized that we were in the presence of one of those Hebrews 11 "hall of faith heroes."

And his successor, Orlando, is a wonderful visionary and loaded with leadership skills.  Here is how small our world is. Orlando is Cuban and knows the people I was teaching when I was in Cuba in October. Orlando is back in Cuba as you are reading this. Orlando is the one who will be responsible for the implementation of the Londrina/REG master's degrees at their seminary.

It was a privilege to be in partnership with them for the training of leaders in Santiago Chile.

Later this week I'll have a collection of many more photos for you to look at. More posts to follow in the next few days.

(Note:  Hey, I had posted a link to the seminaries website. Somehow ??? that link took you to a PORN SITE!!!  I don't know how that happened, when I cut and pasted it I took it directly from the seminary webpage.  My apologies to those who clicked it on. Fortuntely, there were no pictures, just the entry page for that site.  I'll have to double check what happened.  But for now, I took it off.)

Brian Rice