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Entrusting others

November 30, 2013 by Keith Seabourn 2 Comments

I hugged Kay goodbye outside the Orlando airport and walked inside. This adventure I will have alone. I’m in JFK airport in New York on my way to Cameroon, West Africa via Paris.

Ahead are 65 Cru staff and local pastors from 16 French-speaking countries. Some countries have exotic names like Burkina Faso whose capital is Ouagadougou. Some countries are known by their initials like DRC and CAR (Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic). Some have been broadcast into our living rooms through horrible events their populations have sustained like Burundi or Mali.

In spite of their different names and locations and governments and economies, these countries share in the plan Jesus announced 2,000 years ago when he said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

We will be together for 10 days preparing and training in how to build His church. Participants will return to their countries and churches as trainers who will multiply themselves into the lives of others.

One of our goals is finding 2 Timothy 2:2 people: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” We are looking for leaders who will make a heart commitment to be a reliable person who determines to qualify himself this week to teach others. When we identify them, we entrust.

I think the key to this verse is the verb entrust.

What are you entrusting to others you are leading? In your ministry? In your family?

Seeing with God’s Eyes

September 6, 2013 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

The morning sky looked clear with low clouds on the horizon making for a beautiful ocean sunrise. The horizon changed brilliant shades of orange and red as the sun illuminated the clouds. Chris Tomlin’s worship songs lifted my soul as I sang along.

After the sun actually broke above the horizon, I noticed that the sky above me was not clear at all. It was covered with cirrus clouds.

There were more textures. I thought everything to see in the sky was over at the horizon. But above me were more designs that began to illuminate.

How interesting. More light had revealed things more clearly.

That’s why Kay and I are taking this sabbatical time. We are allowing God to shine his light. We are asking him to help us see more clearly. We are celebrating our last 12 years. We are asking him to reveal the next years. He is shining his light. We are being intentional about seeking him. We are not seeking just his plans, but seeking him. He will reveal when he is ready.

Just like the sun revealed the clouds in the sky at the right time, God reveals at the right time … and the picture will be beautiful.

A new chapter in our journey…

August 28, 2013 by Keith Seabourn 3 Comments

In a few days, Kay and I will shake hands, hug Stefan and Marie, and pray with them. Then our 12-year journey of pioneering the role of Chief Technology Officer and founding the Global Technology Office will be over and their journey of leading into the next phase will begin. And we could not be more pleased or more excited about what God is doing.

As we began this global leadership journey 12 years ago, I wrote down 4 things I sensed God leading me to focus on. One of these was:

Identify emerging leaders with a pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit who are willing to claim a part of the technology world for Christ

For 12 years, Kay and I have identified and trained emerging leaders who are stepping into significant leadership roles. About 18 months ago, I felt God saying it was time to turn over my role to an emerging leader. Kay and I talked and prayed. I informed my boss, the Vice President of Operations. We launched a transition process that selected a new leader from many highly qualified people. Stefan is that new leader.

Stefan and Marie are from South Africa, so there have been many things that had to happen for them to exit their ministries and lives in Pretoria and move their family to Orlando. They have two children, Kenneth (grade 5) and Monica (grade 3). We have seen God’s hand of provision in their arrival this summer.

Stefan is not a replacement for me. Marie is not a replacement for Kay. Stefan is a new leader with new ideas and a new calling from God.

So, here we are. Saying goodbye to our team that has journeyed with us. Reflecting on dreams fulfilled. Reminiscing with friends. Moving out of our office cube. Processing emotions that come with change. Anticipating the future.

What will we do next? Kay and I are asking this same question. We are in conversations with a number of Cru ministries who are offering us amazing opportunities. We are taking September to pray and evaluate where God is leading us.

Kay and I value your prayers. Please pray with us as we seek God’s wisdom and leading about our future. Like a two-part episode, this story is To Be Continued…

Feeding a Missionary Soul

April 29, 2013 by Keith Seabourn 2 Comments

Even missionaries do it. I did it last Monday.

We don’t take advantage of opportunities to talk about Jesus.

I have long said that the airline seat assignment system would be God’s appointment system for me. So last Monday, why didn’t I take more initiative to talk with the man from New Zealand about Christ? Flying to Dallas, he was talkative. We talked about the economy (he is deeply concerned). We talked about political instability in Nigeria (he has done business there).

But we didn’t talk about Jesus. And I didn’t even get his name. I was not very friendly or engaged!

After the flight, I talked with God about it. I told him I felt unable to turn the conversation to spiritual things. I haven’t felt that unable in a long time. Kay and I have been traveling together most of the time lately so I’m not engaging another seatmate. I must be out of practice.

So with a renewed dependence on God’s empowering, I took my seat on this morning’s flight home to Orlando.

And I had a wonderful conversation with A—. She grew up an active follower of Jesus and even thought of mission work but has become engrossed in her career since college. She no longer attends church. Her parents have split up. She told me she is drifting.

But in her story, I heard a heart for Jesus. Her eyes danced when she talked about a missionary friend’s emails from Ghana and a college friend’s job in Kenya.

I left her with a challenge—find an accountability partner who will ask her hard questions to help her stop the drift, someone who will hold her accountable to find a group that can feed her soul. I challenged her to save $3000 and join a mission trip to Ghana or Kenya and come back a changed person because she’s seen God at work in a place very different than she’s ever experienced.

To give her something tangible to feed her missionary soul, I showed her the Jesus Film app on my mobile phone with films in hundreds of languages. As we taxied to the terminal, she had already downloaded the app and eagerly showed me the app on HER phone.

A— is reconnecting to a seed God planted many years ago. The worries and cares of the world have been growing and choking it out. My prayer is that the garden tending of yesterday will help the seed to grow and bear fruit.

And once again, the airline seating system provided a divine appointment, as long as I’m willing to talk about Jesus!

Who can you talk about Jesus with today?

What makes Good Friday good?

March 29, 2013 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

What makes Good Friday good? I like this cartoon from BC cartoonist Johnny Hart.

Good friday cartoon bc

Good Friday is good because of the forgiveness, love and freedom we experience. This video is from the Magdalena Jesus Film, a version of the Jesus film prepared especially to reach out to women. It was inspired by a colleague while visiting Afghanistan. He saw the women covered head-to-foot in burka dress. His heart was broken by their isolation. He asked God how could these women hear about the freedom and love they can have through Jesus. The Magdelena film was a result.

What makes Good Friday good for you?