Month: June 2015

Engaging Local Governments for National Transformation in Uganda

Posted on June 30, 2015 by - Africa, Government, Stories

Last week, 117 political leaders gathered in Ntungamo, Uganda for a mini Global Leadership Summit event called “Engaging Local Governments for National Transformation”. The dream for this smaller, politically focused event and others like it, is to begin empowering political and technical district leaders with tools to improve stewardship, work ethics, integrity, patriotism, and servanthood in Uganda. These influential leaders gathered to learn from speakers like Condoleezza Rice, Carly Fiorina, and Allen Kagina.

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Each session provoked discussion on improving and changing the story for Uganda — Leaders were challenged to focus on leading the younger generation into harmony, despite varied political opinions. They were inspired by the fellowship and progress that could take place in peer learning and accountability forums. Leaders were also drawn to fresh ways to look at embracing change to transform Uganda for the better.

Continue to pray for the impact that the Summit is having on leaders in Uganda throughout the year. Leaders in Uganda see the Summit as more than an event, but a leverage for change.

“Leadership is not an end. It’s a means to an end.”- Joshua Lwere

A Dream is Born to Serve Inner City Indianapolis

Posted on June 30, 2015 by - Church, North America, Stories

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My heart has always been tender for “the vulnerable”—children and those in need. For many years I have been serving as a children’s pastor and have been involved in serving the poor, building homes in Mexico, etc. but that involvement has been sporadic and no long-term, relational endeavors emerged from those opportunities. 

Help Me Realign My Life to Your Heart

At the Global Leadership Summit in 2011, each attendee was given a piece of broken terra cotta pottery and we were asked to write on these sharp-edged chunks our prayers and hopes for things that God would do through us. My heart was deeply stirred after listening to the conference speakers talk about serving the lost and needy in our communities and the world. So, I filled my terra cotta shard with words and phrases like “Messy”, “People first” and “Help me find those in our community who need hope, help, rescue.” On the back I wrote “Help me realign my life to your heart.”  Sitting next to me at the Summit were two dear friends who were about to embark on a long-term mission adventure to Nicaragua. God’s Spirit fell on all three of us and we wept as we filled these clay pieces with prayers. That moment was the beginning of a four-year journey of praying and seeking God for how He might want me to live out those earnest requests.

I keep the shard of terra cotta pottery from the GLS on my desk and read what I wrote on it on a daily basis.

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A Two-Year Journey to Reaching Out

I’ve asked for authentic inroads for ministry to the marginalized in Indianapolis. It has been a two-year journey. A couple of doors opened last year and I was able to help my church body engage in inner-city ministry. They were two great events, but they were only events. I was challenged deeply to take risks to reach those who are truly hurting and in need. 

The Sunday after the GLS, we invited a homeless advocate for the city of Indianapolis to come and speak to our elementary children. He is a man who has chosen to become homeless so that he could help the homeless in our town. The children heard what it was like to be homeless and then they responded by packing 110 lunches for homeless children. The speaker delivered the meals to homeless kids at lunchtime.

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The children in our church are developing awareness for the life challenges that others face. They ask lots of questions and often have awe-struck looks on their faces as the reality of the suffering of others dawns on their understanding. Their actions toward helping others have been compassionate, generous, and authentic. After we prepare lunches for the homeless or pack snack bags for children who have nothing to eat over the weekend, the kids pray over all they have done. Their prayers are filed with statements that reveal they have really thought about someone else’s needs and are truly seeking God to help the recipients of their gifts.

Soul Food

Our Soul Food meal ministry is an on-site ministry where families can purchase, prepare, deliver and serve meals to one of the homeless communities in Indianapolis. This ministry just launched this year and parents are bringing their children with them to help serve food and develop friendships with the guests we serve. The children seem to be “color blind” when it comes to race and also don’t seem to really notice any exterior differences. They just play, laugh, serve and chat with the guests.

Tilling the Hearts of Our Children

Over the past several months, God has been placing the word “instill” on my heart. It’s a parent’s responsibility and also the responsibility of the church to instill compassion and mercy, wisdom and grace in the hearts of the children they shepherd. The word “instill” contains the word “till” and I believe that we must till up the ground of each child’s heart by providing real-life opportunities for them to witness the needs of others and then demonstrate to them how to respond in God-honoring, relevant ways to those needs.

We  will soon begin serving breakfast once a month at an inner-city health clinic on Saturday mornings and will also be a part of packing weekend snack bags for kids who would otherwise not have additional food on the weekend.  Also, in the works is a “sharing garden” where our church families grow vegetables in their backyards to share with inner city families and homeless who don’t have access to fresh produce. We are excited to take these steps forward in 2015. 

LoriMaurice-2014-300x175Why Would God Use Me?

Thanks for sharing about the Christ-centered bold dreams that others have lived out. Each story truly challenged me to action! The Global Leadership Summit brings together top-notch leaders in the world to share their stories. I’ve often sat in the chair as a listener and wondered “God might use them but why would He use me to minister to the homeless?” I’m just an average white woman in an average church in mid-America. It took four years of prayers for this ministry to launch. It didn’t come quickly, however, with faith and patience, God is birthing something beautiful. Prayers are being answered.

No matter who you are, lean heavily on the One who has the power to do anything, and wait patiently for His timing. He wants to use each of us to further His Kingdom and display His love and grace through anyone who inclines their heart to Him.

– Lori Salomo, Summit attendee, Indiana

 

Leaders, Give Yourself This Mirror Test

Posted on June 29, 2015 by - Articles, The Global Leadership Summit

What’s the number one quality a leader, at any level, can’t live without?

Intelligence? Charisma? The ability to see around corners? The possible answers are myriad.

But above all, I would argue, in good times, and especially in bad, it’s positive energy.

Nothing matters more. You can’t come to work with your head down, scared.  You might have a lot of fears about the competition, or what’s happening out there in the market, or you might have some problems at home.  Leave the problems at home, home, and leave the fears in the back of your head.

Now I don’t mean you have to be a cheerleader out there blindly cheering with the rain coming in the windows.  But you have to relentlessly exude a can-do attitude — “We can do it.”  “No matter what comes our way, we, together, can do it.”  You’ve got to be out there, all the time, saying that. “We’ve got to win!” has to be your mindset and you can never let go of it.

The last thing you want to do is be a bore.  When you wake up in the morning, give yourself a good mirror test.  If you look like you’re going to be a sulking, pouting bore, slap yourself in the face before you go out to the office.  Don’t come in to work with your head down, droning on.  It’d be like a football coach coming to a game — because business is a game, too — saying, “Well, we don’t have a chance. The other team is too good. They’re too strong.  I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

That coach wouldn’t be around long.  And you shouldn’t be around long as a manager either with that attitude.  No one wants to feel like they’re in the losing locker room where everyone has their head in a towel.  You have to create the atmosphere of a winning locker room where the champagne is being popped — as often as you can. You have to rally the team to come up with solutions — be they game-changing ideas or small innovations.  Now, you won’t have every solution, but you want your team coming in every day driven to find them and unwilling to let up until they do.  And it’s your job to make an example of the people who do that — highlight them, show them off as the type of person you want around.

Otherwise, you’ve lost the game — not to mention your team’s hearts and minds — before you’ve even stepped on the field.

For the original article and video of Jack teaching on this topic, you can go to his LinkedIn Influencer page.

To learn more about how Jack Welch’s MBA program can help you grow your leadership skills and accelerate your career, visit http://jackwelch.strayer.edu or call 1-855-596-5964.

Building Unity, Transforming Churches, Caring for Children, and Equipping Emerging Leaders in Namibia

Posted on June 25, 2015 by - Africa, Stories

namibia_toby_nel“My name is Tobi Nel, and I’m a pastor at Walvis Bay Community Church, Namibia, and I’ve been the GLS coordinator for our country for the past 3 years. I first came to the Summit because a friend, who is a business man and member of our church, took me with him to attend the GLS at Willow Creek in Chicago. We both felt this would be a fantastic event for the leaders of our country, so we contacted the Willow office in South Africa, and the team there played a huge part in making it a reality.

We hosted our first event for Namibia in 2008 and it literally changed our lives and our church. We experienced a “volunteer revolution”, and we knew that it had a great impact on the attendees. The GLS has helped a great deal in growing our leadership skills and it has become a non-negotiable yearly event for our leadership team. Since 2008 we’ve expanded to four GLS sites in Namibia.

The Summit Builds Unity Across Namibia

Because of the Summit, we’ve seen racial boundaries break down, people coming to Christ and others growing in their relationship with Christ.

One of the greatest impacts that I have personally experienced was when churches in our city started coming together. Before we had our first GLS, the different churches and denominations didn’t do anything together. We invited all the different church leaders and their teams to the GLS, and some of them came. The next year more came, and the next year even more. Now, it is scheduled into their yearly program.

We started to communicate with one another and formed what we call a “Pastor’s Circle.” Every second week we get together, share insights from the Word, pray for one another, have something to eat and fellowship as partners in the same Kingdom.

The Summit Transforms Churches

A few years ago Gary Haugen was one of the speakers at the GLS, and he said something that changed our lives:

“If you want your leadership to matter, lead in the things that matter to God.”

As a result of that, we started a trust that has the sole mandate of caring for vulnerable children in our community, simply because we know they matter to God. Today we feed close to 2,000 children a day, run a pre-school, do after-school classes, and we opened a foster home.

Building into Emerging Leaders Across Namibia

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I was talking with my friend, Robert de Villiers, who took me to Willow for the first time, about reaching more leaders with the GLS. We dreamed of having more events, although smaller “mini GLS” events, but reaching leaders that we would otherwise not necessarily reach, especially the younger leaders in our country.

We also wanted to make it very accessible to them by bringing the GLS to their location and without them having to incur any costs. For that to happen, we needed a substantial sponsorship. We did a proposal for First National Bank and they agreed to partner with us. We purchased the equipment and a trailer and we have a fully mobile setup. We have been doing MLS events for the last three years with programs varying between 90 minutes to half-day events. At this point, I would like to mention my awesome wife, Magda. She’s been doing the MLS events with us from day one and hasn’t missed a single event. She does the snack packs and décor and even helps with the technical setup!

Ultimately, our dream is to reach the young leaders because we believe they are the leaders of our future. If we can inspire and equip them now, they will be better leaders for the future.

We would like to show sessions like Gary Haugen’s, as well as others, to challenge students to get involved with social responsibility projects and other projects to serve the vulnerable in our communities. Last week, we held an event at a private school for 76 students, parents, and teachers, who were blown away by what they learned from speakers like Blake Mycoskie. As a direct result, the school plans to hold a local shoe drive for their community. And beyond that, these students are being equipped to be the leaders of the future of Namibia, and the GLS is an incredible tool in this year-round movement to transform Namibia for the Kingdom.”

-Tobi Nel, GLS Coordinator, Namibia