Making a Difference
August 23rd, 2010
Last month, members of our India staff completed training with a group of Christian leaders. At the last session, those who attended shared what they learned. We have removed names and locations for security reasons, but here some of their reflections on how they have grown:
“This has been one of the most meaningful times in my Christian life. Through these meetings, I was able to get my true identity as a child of God. I had a problem with anger. The Lord changed my attitudes. My wife testifies that I am changed. There is a significant change in my behavior. For the first time I started helping at home. Before this I was like a Maharaja at home.“
“I have made a plan for my spiritual disciplines. I am making progress in that area. I want to see my church growing. I am teaching this to my church. My pattern of teaching has changed to interactive method. We will do evaluation of our ministry from time to time. We have made a mission statement. We will review it again. My heart is really burning with love for God. Please come again to help us.”
“My personal life has changed upside down. I am able to spend time with God and my listening has improved significantly. I have learnt what God wants me to be and to do. For a long time I was busy in ministry. But now, slowing down, listening to God and relaxing in His presence has become very important for me. Christ is central to me. Growing in friendship with Christ has a strong impact on my church.”
“Many of us have purchased white boards for our churches. This is an indication that our teaching method has changed. I find value in spending time with a small group of people studying the word together. What a joy to build them up and grow together. Earlier, I was lazy to prepare sermons. I used to look for old notes on a Sunday morning. Now I am preparing good teaching of the word. I used to think that I have no time. Now I have plenty of time. I have a growing testimony in my outer life and inner life. I am growing as a lover of God.”
“I learnt afresh the need for spiritual disciplines. Worship is what God desires from me, not mission. I found such blessing in delegating responsibility to others. We have many teachers. You have touched our hearts. This teaching will make a difference for my land.”
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DAI UK now online
August 4th, 2010
DAI UK, the UK office of Development Associates International, has launched a new website specifically for UK users: DAI UK Online. This site contains information about DAI UK’s work throughout the world, specifically in Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda.
DAI UK Senior Consultant, John Rogers, is pleased to have this focused online presense. “It’s really great to have DAI UK’s own web-site launched, because it means we can communicate more directly with DAI’s UK supporters and focus more specifically on the work of the Ministry Centres and areas that they have a keener interest in.”
Visit DAI UK and let us know what you think!
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Ministry Spotlight Podcast Features DAI
July 13th, 2010
Ministry Spotlight, an organization which exists to help connect people with ministries that match their passions, recently featured DAI on a podcast about leader development. Co-founder Henry Kaestner interviews DAI President Jane Overstreet about the impact of leader development around the world. Click either of the links below to listen!
About the Ministry Spotlight Podcast: Every week we interview ministry leaders from around the world about their area of expertise. Ministry Spotlight exists to help connect you with ministries that match your passions, and also to help you discover and deepen your passions for ministry. This podcast brings you into conversation with the experts and helps you learn from their experience as we discuss different models, impact and movements in ministry. Find out more at www.ministryspotlight.org.
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Lausanne Leadership Conversation by Jane Ovestreet
June 25th, 2010
DAI’s note: The following is an excerpt from a Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper by Jane Overstreen on behalf of the Leadership Development Working Group. Read the full article, and join the conversation at the Lausanne Conversations Website.
Lausanne Editor’s Note: This Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper has been written by Jane Overstreet, on behalf of the Lausanne Leadership Development Working Group, as an overview of the topic to be discussed at the Multiplex session on “How To Build a New Generation of Christ-like Leaders.” Resp
onses to this paper through the Lausanne Global Conversation will be fed back to the author and others to help shape their final presentations at the Congress.
We Have A Problem! – But There Is Hope!
Results of a Survey of 1,000 Christian Leaders from Across the Globe
Introduction
We have a leadership problem! And it is a problem that must be solved in order for World Evangelization to flourish! Too often evangelism is done successfully, a church is planted and begins to flourish, but then a leader is appointed who sadly destroys everything that was built, and the fruit is lost. While there are many variations on the story, its theme is much too familiar. The Lausanne Leadership Development Working Group was created to respond to this need for Christ-like leaders. The working group is made up of a cross section of global senior leaders in the Body of Christ, many of whom are specifically involved in leadership development. We started with a survey of Christian leaders. We asked them to tell us about their experiences with Christian leaders, what they thought Christ-like leadership should look like, and what they thought was most effective in building Christ-centered leaders. We collected responses from 1,031 leaders from across seven continents. Those surveyed included a wide range of ages, types of leadership experience and quantities of leadership experience. Approximate one-third of those surveyed were women. We conducted the survey in five languages to try to get a wide range of opinions. In the process of conducting the survey, one thing became frighteningly obvious—we have a leadership problem! First we will see how our respondents defined the problem, then how they defined Christ-like leadership and finally how they described the best methods of developing leaders as a partial solution to the problem.
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Forming Leaders Part II: Indigenous Christian Leadership Formation in Africa
June 18th, 2010
Leadership formation in Africa falls into three types according to my own personal observation.
First is a formal leadership development training run through institutions, seminars and workshops, where current, potential or emerging leaders are brought together to be lectured by “experts” for a period of time with the motive of improving their performances and effectiveness usually for the benefits of the institutions they work for and for their own benefits of raise. The content, mode of delivery, the philosophy and pattern of leadership emphasized in such trainings are mainly Western, not purely indigenous. This is true whether with purely profit-oriented institutions, the political institutions and even the Church.
The second type of leadership formation I have noticed is an adaptation of the first type, though still in training “centers” or “bases, and are shorter in terms of the period or duration. The curriculum is to a greater extent similar to the former, but there is more adaptation in the content and mode of delivery. More indigenous ideas and examples are injected into the content and more informal styles of presentation are employed.
However, there are some encouraging examples of what might be regarded as authentic African models of leadership formation in some traditional institutions of leadership, trade-crafts, and indigenous Christian groups. Such models as I have seen them are closer to the model of leadership formation which the Lord, Jesus Christ espoused, namely, apprenticeship and mentorship.
This third type of leadership formation in Africa is popular among the traditional leadership institutions whereby successors are groomed through apprenticeship and mentorship. They learn on the job through “instruction”, “supervision” and “practice”. This is also the method by which traders, family business networks, craftsmen, artisans, etc, perpetuate their professions, produce successors and expand their sphere of control and influence. The so called “African Independent Churches” spread faster than the very structured and more orthodox ones. Their (the AICs) method of leadership development is more by mentoring and apprenticeship than formal training. It is usually the followers or apprentices of the senior leaders that branch off to start a new center from which other apprentices will emerge to start new centers.
No wonder it was the same pattern of leadership formation that Jesus employed in Mark 3:13-15 which eventually produced the leaders after His kind who perpetuated the mission He came to accomplish after His return to heaven.
However, the argument about quality in terms of the effectiveness of the products of the various types vis-à-vis the content and the duration of the training, as well as the “academic background” of the ‘trainers’, still rages. But my own submission is to look at the testimonial in Acts 4:13-22 of the products of the Lord’s School of Leadership Formation (Mark 3:13-15).
Reuben Ezemadu is the Ministry Center Director for DAI Nigeria, International Director, Christian Missionary Foundation and Continental Coordinator, Movement for African National Initiative.
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Forming Leaders Within The Emerging Mission Movements
June 11th, 2010
It is a well known fact that new mission movements are emerging particularly in the Global South and in the fringes of the older missions and denominational structures. These new ‘wineskins’ will definitely need “new” leadership styles and structures that will sustain the drive and enhance the cutting edge potentials of the new movements.
Whether movements remain so or fossilize into monuments depends on the type of leaders that are involved in the various stages of their evolution. Who raises such leaders and how they are raised are very critical to their (leaders’) effectiveness and success of the movements. Therefore in discussing ‘Leaders Formation’ especially in the context of emerging mission movements, special consideration is given to, in the first instance, the kind of leadership that will maintain the purity of the ‘new wine’ and sustain the flexibility of the ‘new wineskin’ in the hands of the Holy Spirit, as well as how such leadership evolves. For this purpose, my focus is on “the Sheep-fold and Good Shepherd” metaphor drawn from both the story of the shepherd-boy who became the leader of the post-Saul era in Israel, the teachings of the Lord in John 10 and how He called and “formed” the twelve disciples (Mark 1:17; 3:13-15) who later became the leaders and progenitors of the then emerging ‘new testament movement’ – the Early Church.
In David’s example, his effectiveness depended on who trained him, how he was trained and the evidence (impact, outcome) of the training (or equipping) he received. In Psalm 23, David revealed who trained him, how he was trained and the outcome of his training. Psalms 78:70-72 indicated the same and brought out more clearly the outcome of the training in his leadership: heart of integrity (character) and skillfulness (effectiveness). Psalm 32:8 reveals the way the Lord equips us: instruct/teach, guide, and show. David also acknowledged that it is the Lord that teaches his fingers to fight battles (Psalms 144:1)
In Mark 1:17, the Lord’s recruitment invitation reads thus: “Come….after me and I will MAKE YOU TO BECOME Fishers of Men” (KJV). When they responded (3:13-15), “he ordained the twelve that they SHOULD BE WITH HIM, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons”
From these two passages, we deduce three things about Forming Leaders:
- The Process – The “Making” – and the context – “Be with Him”.
- The Product – The “Being” – What they eventually BECOME
- The Proof – The “Doing” – The Evidence of who made them and with whom they have been – the source of their credentials (note the testimony of their detractors in Acts 4:13 “…they took note that they had been with Jesus”)
If we compare the process, product and proof of the way Jesus ‘formed’ the leaders He used to kick-start the ‘new testament Church movement’ with the ones of the 20th century Christianity, we would observe very striking differences, hence the dire need of revisiting the process of forming the leaders that will be like the ones the Lord Himself formed at the inception of the ‘New Testament Church’ and guarantee that the Church of the 21st century and beyond will get the job done in the same spirit, zeal, character and power like the first century leaders of the Church.
The particular aspect of the ‘forming’ we need to revisit is the process/context. In the case of the twelve, they were ‘resident’ with the Master. They were close with Him and with one another. He imparted His life, zeal, passion, knowledge in them in very close range. He instructed them by words, yet He modeled the principles by His own real life examples. They watched Him, saw His actions and reactions from close proximity, heard His voice while reading His lips and observing His countenance. They felt His pulse and wondered at His zeal and passion for divine purposes. They experienced every demonstration of His love, care and commitment to people in need. No wonder they were infested by the same zeal, love, compassion, and commitment to the same purpose which, in the midst of persecutions, threats, opposition, made them to declare “ For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20 – NIV). John in the introduction to his first epistle said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life….We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,…” (I John1: 1-3 NIV).
It is obvious then that the kind of ‘forming’ that will make emerging leaders to ‘become’ radical kingdom-minded leaders in the 21st century Christianity must not be done from a distance, must not be in words only, must not be done for a crowd but for a select few (and at best on individual or small group basis).
Below is a summary of the various means we can glean from the above examples and some contemporary insights into how cutting-edge leaders are ‘formed’.
Different Dimensions of the Forming Process
- Guiding: the process of directing an individual or a group along the path leading from present state to a desired state
- Showing: throwing light on something that is seemingly hidden from ordinary /casual sight; unveiling a somewhat hidden fact, illuminating
- Coaching: helping another person to improve awareness, to set and achieve goals in order to improve a particular behavioural performance
- Teaching: helping an individual or group develop cognitive skills and capabilities
- Mentoring: helping to shape an individual’s beliefs and values in a positive way; often a longer term career relationship from someone who has ‘done it before’
- Counseling: helping an individual to improve performance by resolving situations from the past.
- Modeling: being an example to others in words, character, conduct, in such a way they can unconsciously imbibe the desired behavior we intend them to have.
The emerging missions movement needs leaders like David who was a servant before he became a king and therefore remained “a servant leader”, who was shepherded by the Lord before he became a shepherd of the God’s people, shepherding them with a heart of integrity and led them with a skillful hand. The 21st Christianity needs leaders who are good shepherds, not the hirelings (mercenaries) that have dominated the ministry. The Church needs leaders who have been with the Master, sat at His feet, learned from His life and teachings, experienced His tender mercies and on a continuous basis, being formed and conforming to His own image. Such leaders cannot be produced in the kind of training programs and institutions that dot the Christian landscape today nor by the popular (conventional) methods that we employ in our training efforts these days. They also cannot be produced by many of the “teachers” that we have today because they themselves have not been ‘formed’ by the Lord and therefore can only produce their kinds.
We therefore need to go back to the Lord’s method of forming leaders in order to ensure the emergence of the ‘new wine skin’ that will both preserve and faithfully serve the ‘new wine’ which the Lord is now restoring to His Church.
Reuben Ezemadu is the Ministry Center Director for DAI Nigeria.
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DAI CONNECT Volume 13.1 now available
June 7th, 2010
The latest edition of DAI Connect is now available. Below, Jane Overstreet introduces the new issue by discussing the two keys to transforming leaders.
You can download the entire newsletter here.
“You must concentrate on the issues of the heart as well as skills,” said one of our Indian board members in the early years of DAI, “or you will just be training bad leaders to get more bad stuff done!” At nearly the same time a pastor in Russia told us, “I know the keys to spiritual growth, but when there is no one who can count the collection or help me plan what direction to go, it doesn’t seem to be enough!”
DAI’s mission, to enhance the integrity and effectiveness of Christian leaders, focuses on both areas of a leader’s life. By integrity we mean all of the interior and spiritual issues, the issues of the heart. By effectiveness we mean all of the core leadership and management skills a leader needs to carry out his or her role.
Watching a leader grow spiritually as they find more ways to open themselves to God’s Spirit on a daily basis is an unbelievable privilege. And so is seeing a leader recognize for the first time how to take the vision God has given him and put legs on it so that it will actually succeed!
In this issue of CONNECT you will hear testimonies from leaders whose lives and ministries have been changed through taking one of DAI’s core courses, Spiritual Formation or Strategic Thinking. One focuses on the heart and one on skills.
Read and reflect on how desperately leaders need both areas of their lives to be strengthened. When that happens their impact is nearly unstoppable! And that is what DAI is all about: enabling Christian leaders to bring the transforming power of the gospel to their own communities.
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Pray for DAI – Togo
June 3rd, 2010
“I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, Go throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matthew 21:21-22
- Pray for all who are involved in DAI’s work so that they may continually seek to be like their Leader, Jesus Christ.
- Pray so that the non-formal education and MA program may bring development and changes in the lives of the beneficiaries so that the impact may become a reality in society.
- As francophone Africa is behind in various domains, pray for DAI programs to have means to bring changes in the countries.
Simon Pierre Gatera, Ministry Associate, Togo, Africa has seen a radical transformation among church leaders and a remarkable impact into the community through teaching informal DAI workshops over the past three years.
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Intro to Spiritual Formation Course [VIDEO]
May 27th, 2010
David Fraser and Chris Hall introduce students to the Spiritual Formation course.
Thanks to Eastern University Media Center.
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DAI Latin America Update
May 6th, 2010
When I hear or use the term “DAI Latin America” I hesitate. It sounds more like the name of a corporate branch than describing an exciting new arena of ministry that DAI has been called to. But it really is remarkable what God is doing and how he’s lead DAI to work in Latin America.
Over the past few years, DAI has received periodic questions as to if/when we would begin doing something in the region. Jane Overstreet, our President, received several inquiries from organizations that had benefited from DAI’s ministry in other regions. There was just that sense that in God’s timing, something would happen. In my own life, while working with HCJB Global in Ecuador in 2006, God used a Scripture passage on the life of Jacob to start a process that ultimately lead me to DAI and being asked to initiate and direct the work in the Latin America.
To my surprise, when I first started traveling and meeting with people in the region, the response was lukewarm! Not because there was a lack of interest or need for the type of training DAI offers, but because DAI was virtually an unknown quantity in the region. Whether in business or ministry, decisions in Latin America are made primarily around relationships, not content. That’s not to say that content doesn’t matter, but the value of the content is always understood in the context of the trust one has in the messenger. Belonging definitely comes before believing for most in this culture.
So the first year was primarily a process: building relationships, repeated visits, discovering mutual friends and helping people connect the dots to build trust and credibility. Today that picture is changing drastically. The response to the introductory workshops held in Brazil and Argentina was tremendous. Here are a few things participants said afterwards:
“What God has done through these three short days for us is nothing short of miraculous and I want you to know it.”
“Everything you covered was so important, the way it was organized, the principles, the themes you covered. As leaders we often believe that we know it all, I realized that there is so much we need to learn. Personally, I hope that we are able to have more of these workshops.”
“What was of greatest value to my ministry was the integration – showing the many facets of leadership and suggesting a revision of outdated concepts and practices.”
“It was a unique opportunity, because I had never had attended a seminar focusing on Christian leadership that linked it to Biblical passages.”
These events led to subsequent workshops in Peru and Ecuador, now followed by invitations for follow up training and invitations to Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica and Cuba. The calendar is filling up fast!
David Johnson is Senior Consultant, Latin America for Development Associates International.
Tags: dai, Latin America, Leadership
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