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Highly motivated competent people are fun

March 1, 2007 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Our measurements conference is going great! It is so fulfilling to work with a team of highly-motivated, competent people who are seeking to honor God by creating systems to help count what God is doing. Here we are in the East Asia Area of Affairs office. Click the photo for a larger version. I’ve blurred some faces for security.

We are a multi-national team working together globally on local needs. We are a team from Singapore, Indonesia, U.S., Hungary, Mali, India, and the big east asia. We have needs to measure ministry results in each area. We have banded together to solve the problems for all of us by working for each of us. This is an amazing way for a global technology group to work. Normally, information technology (IT) solutions are developed top-down and rolled out to users. We are working middle-up and middle-down to develop a flexible solution that meets needs but also everyone feels ownership.

It’s amazing to see the things internet technologies are allowing us to do. One night, I was sitting in a local Singapore McDonalds with some of these team members. It was a noisy place, but they do have free, high-speed internet! Tom (who lives in Hungary) was watching a U.S. television show via a Slingbox device on his dad’s TV in Orlando. Mark (traveling with me from Orlando) was talking to his family via Skype internet telephone. I called my dad on his birthday (in Texas) to wish him happy birthday (by Skype telephone).

I was also responding to seekers who are exploring how to follow Jesus. I corresponded with 14 seekers that night. While on a business trip to Singapore. Sitting in McDonalds. Talking about Jesus with Vasantha in Sri Lanka, Ed in Ohio, Ntando in South Africa, and IriNe in Indonesia.

While here in Singapore, I met with Rev. Jeong Insoo the director for our East Asia area of affairs. East Asia AOA includes Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and maybe a few others. Huge populations. Huge economies. Huge need to know Jesus. Signficant barriers to overcome.

We plotted together how technology can help. I invited Insoo to speak at our MinistryNet 2007: Bangkok conference in April. His area is sending a number of participants to learn to use the internet for effective ministry.

I enjoyed time with Richard Lim, the technology leader for this area of affairs. He is helping lead this significant area of the world. He is also on the planning team for MinistryNet 2007: Bangkok.

This has been a very fruitful trip. God is giving us bits and bytes. He is giving us communication and travel opportunities that have never existed before. It is a blessing to work with this group of highly-motivated, competent missionaries who are blending years of ministry and technology expertise to advance the gospel and help fulfill the Great Commission.

Thoughts on counting

February 26, 2007 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

I am in Singapore at Campus Crusade for Christ’s measurements conference. This is about 20 leaders from every area of the world who are working together to create and implement a measurement system.

My boss, and the Vice President of Operations Roger Bruehl, shared his heart with us yesterday as we opened this week together. He pointed out that measurements are important to God. Some of his thoughts:

There is an entire book in the Bible called Numbers.
Twice the Bible records huge feedings. But it doesn’t just say that a crowd was fed. It records 4,000 were fed and 5,000 were fed.
There are 14 times in the book of Acts where a report was given.

I remember something I heard from another Campus Crusade leader in the Middle East. He was addressing the issue of measurements, counting, and reporting. He said, “We in Campus Crusade count people because people count to God.”

Roger asked us to break up into small groups and answer two questions.

Why are measurements important to God?

Our group had these thoughts:

We are encouraged when we see growth. God already knows. Counting is for us.
Measurements bring clarity. Measurements require us to be specific and precise. What should be included in the count? What should not be included in the count?
They provide a testimony to future generations. They document the works of God for the next generation.
Counting shows us the personal nature of God. He sees people as individuals, not just a crowd. He knows the number of hairs on our heads, not just the color of our hair or lack of hair!

I especially liked the thought that counting shows us the personal nature of God. That is powerful! He doesn’t just see us as a group — as Christians, as a local church, as Campus Crusade for Christ. He sees each of us individually. He knows me as an individual.

Why are measurements important to helping us in Campus Crusade accomplish our mission?

Some of our thoughts:

They help us determine and use fruitful methods.
They help us separate results from activity.
They build our faith to trust God more when we document what is doing.
They help us be effective stewards of the donations God entrusts us with.

I’m looking forward to more today!

Off to Singapore

February 23, 2007 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

How well are we doing?

That is a very important question that we in Campus Crusade for Christ want to become better at answering. We want to know how we are doing in building local movements everywhere. We want to know how we are doing at helping everyone know someone who truly follows Jesus.

We are serious about our mission of

helping fulfill the Great Commission
through winning, building and sending
in the power of the Holy Spirit
so that local movements of evangelism and discipleship are established among every nation, every tribe, every people, and every language.

So I’m off to Singapore to meet with our leaders from around the world to help plan a measurement system to help us keep our finger on the pulse of movement-building around the world. This is a complex issue because we operate in over 140 countries, many languages, different cultures, similar but sometimes different priorities. In fact, the more I learn about Campus Crusade for Christ globally, the more I am amazed that we work together so well. It’s a testimony to God’s grace and his call on our lives. I don’t think it would work without our strong emphasis on walking in the power of the Holy Sprit.

It’s kind of like the way the church works!

Please pray for the following things:
1. For each of us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sensitive to His leading
2. That God would bind us together in unity even as we discuss difficult issues
3. That we would stay focused on the task at hand and leave with clear objectives
4. That God would lead us to His creative solutions to complex problems and opportunities

I’ll keep you posted…

Step up by stepping down

February 19, 2007 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

Kay and I attended Highland Baptist Church with Jonathan and Meredith yesterday. Their Sunday School class is studying the gospel of John. Yesterday, the focus was John 13 where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.

The focus of the discussion was how Jesus’ stepped down to serve the disciples. The Philippians 2 kind of stepping down, out of eternity, not clinging to his divine nature. Here’s the trusted rabbi, the great teacher, the Lord washing their feet. Peter verbalized everyone’s feelings with “Lord, you are not going to wash my feet!” That’s how I’ve taught this passage before also.

But yesterday, I had another thought.

John 13:1 sets up an important background thought: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”

Here is the thought I was captivated with. What if Jesus did not step down, but rather stepped up to serving the disciples? What if serving in a lowly way as an expression of “the full extent of his love” is actually up?

God has this amazing way of turning down into up. Of turning harm into good. Of turning sacrifice into blessing.

Down to up: 1 Corinthians 1:27

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

Harm into good: Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Sacrifice into blessing: Romans 12:1-2

I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. … Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

So, we can step up into a higher/deeper/broader/fuller understanding of love by stepping down to serve others.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Safest places to live

February 10, 2007 by Keith Seabourn 5 Comments

I grew up in tornado country. One of my vivid childhood memories is my dad driving us a couple of miles from home to a vantage point where we watched a tornado go through downtown Dallas (1957) and praying for my mother who had not yet returned home from working downtown. 6 year olds remember stuff like that.

Tornadoes are unpredictable, hit very fast, can do tremendous damage, but are confined to relatively small areas and are over quickly.

A few years ago, I moved to Florida just in time to experience the new upswing in hurricane activity. 4 hurricanes in 1 year rapidly introduced me to plywood over windows, stores of food and bottled water, and long hours sitting inside while wind and rain build, peak, and then subside. Since I live in Orlando, the tremendously destructive winds are not nearly as severe as on the coast, so mostly, hurricanes are boring.

Two weeks ago, Floridians were reminded of our second wind danger. I learned that I’m back in tornado country.

I’ve never lived in earthquake country. I really don’t care too. But a friend in California told me that he’d much rather live in earthquake country than hurricane country. His analysis: you don’t have to prepare, it happens quickly, there is really nothing you can do, you survive or you don’t. That’s actually a healthy perspective, particularly if you are prepared for death and have confidence in your destination for eternity.

So I found this map interesting. Looking for a safe place to live? There are not a lot of choices!

Looks like Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan are best. Or way out in West Texas. But then there are other issues like cold, snow, heat, and no rain. Oh well, guess I’ll stay in Florida.