Remember What (and Who) It's About!

In the wake of the launch of the KONY 2012 campaign and the subsequent issues with one of Invisible Children's founders, a very important issue has been brought to the forefront of our minds once again: What and who are ministries, churches, and non-profit organizations about?

If they are Christian, they are (or should be) first and foremost about God and furthering His Kingdom through discipleship, service, mercy, and other acts.  And regardless of whether they are Christian, they are about fulfilling the organization's mission, period.  In any credible organization, one thing they aren't about is the people who run or work in the organizations - with few exceptions, if they become about the people within the organization, their mission is necessarily compromised and damaged in major ways.  If people see the leader or others in the organization as the organization or if the organization will fail if the something happens to the leader, that organization has some serious problems.  And this is a great thing because everyone who has ever led an organization and everyone who will ever lead an organization suffers from the same fatal flaw: he or she is human, and therefore is depraved and severely limited and flawed.

Unfortunately, our society often forgets this fact and places too much faith and importance in organizational leaders and/or spokesmen.  In the case of Invisible Children, I really hope that this doesn't happen.  Though Jason Russell's actions have definitely had a negative impact on the KONY 2012 campaign, I really hope and pray that people can look past his one-time behavior (which has proven to be caused by a condition that caused him to act way out of his character) and focus on the work that IC is doing in Africa to bring justice and shalom in an area that needs it in so many ways.  I pray that people can make their decisions on the work that is being done on the ground by IC, not on the flawed human beings that run the organization.  If we base our decisions on the day-to-day activities of the organizational leaders, we will constantly be disappointed and let down by them, and we will not get behind a lot of great things that God wants us to be involved in.  Trust me on this one - I'm one of those organizational leaders that will disappoint if faith is placed in me rather than in the only One who faith should be placed in.

Now I'm not saying that we can't look to the leaders as a marker of the organization's integrity and credibility.  What I'm saying is that a healthy organization is about much more than its leader, and we should not discredit an organization's impact and mission because of a human being's poor decisions or actions taken in isolation.  After all, we are all merely one bad decision away from being a negative headline - one bad decision that we are all capable of making (despite what we really want to believe about ourselves).

At Providence, we know this first-hand - we exist to inspire and equip others to love orphans, widows, and at-risk communities as God loves them.  Fortunately, God has placed amazing people in our organization that are working to fulfill this mission in many ways.  We are creating families for orphans, educating many children with excellence, providing medical care to all of Honduras, developing community leaders, and loving well in many other areas.  But we are also flawed human beings who make mistakes (some bigger than others), hurt each other, do stupid things, and . . . the list goes on and on.  If you don't believe me, just ask my wife, kids, and staff, and they'll give you a long list of ways I'm not perfect.  I'm just fortunate that my life is not under a microscope and most of my thoughts and actions are not on the 10:00 News.

Again, I'm not condoning Mr. Russell's behavior or saying that a leader's character should not be considered when evaluating an organization.  What I am saying, though, is make sure to look at the big picture, in context.  Make sure that you recognize that every organization has to be run by a flawed human being and that the organization, if it is worthwhile, is about a whole lot more than that person.  Also, and just as important, recognize that the person is about a whole lot more than one publicized act or statement taken in isolation.

Looking for Something to Read?

Some people have recently asked me for book recommendations, and I made this list in response.  In the spirit of sharing, I thought I'd post this list of some great books that I've read recently (a few of them I haven't read but have come highly recommended by people I trust (and are high on my list to read)).  If I'm missing any from your must-read lists, please add them to the list through a comment.  In the meantime, grab a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate and open up one or more of these gems:


Leadership
Spiritual Leadership (Oswald Sanders)
Leadership Jazz (Max De Pree)
Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success (John Wooden and Jay Carty)

Lincoln on Leadership (Donald Phillips)

Servant Leadership (Robert Greenleaf)

Quiet Strength (Tony Dungy)

Axiom (Bill Hybels)

Leading the Revolution (Gary Hamel)

Good to Great and the Social Sectors (Jim Collins)

Visioneering (Andy Stanley)

Leading with a Limp (Dan Allender)

Leadership and Self-Deception (The Arbinger Institute)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (John Maxwell)

Humility (Andrew Murray)

Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright (Richardson)

Better (Atul Gawande)


Communication

Made to Stick (Chip and Dan Heath)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)

Orphan Care
Home Away from Home: The Forgotten History of Orphanages (Richard MacKenzie)
Toddler Adoption (Hopkins-Best)
The Lost Daughters of China (Karin Evans)

Orphanology (Merida and Morton)

The Connected Child (Karyn Purvis)

Fields of the Fatherless (Tom Davis)

Fatherless Generation (John Sowers)

Red Letters (Tom Davis)

Father Fiction (Donald Miller)

Missions and Ministry
When Helping Hurts (Fikkert and Corbett)
Toxic Charity (Robert D. Lupton)

White Man's Burden (William Easterly)

The Next Christendom (Philip Jenkins)

Good News About Injustice (Gary Haugen)

Terrify No More (Gary Haugen)

Just Courage (Gary Haugen)

Not for Sale (David Batstone)
Generous Justice (Tim Keller)

Crazy Love (Francis Chan)

Defending Your Faith (R.C. Sproul)

Renovation of the Church (Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken)

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Freire)

Family and Marriage
How We Love (Yerkovich)
The Mystery of Marriage (Mike Mason)
What a Difference a Daddy Makes (Kevin Leman)
Sheet Music (Kevin Leman)
When Sinners Say "I Do": Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage (Dave Harvey)
The Silence of Adam (Larry Crabb)
Tender Warrior (Stu Weber)

Literature
Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) 
False Witness (Randy Singer) (mystery fiction)

The Brothers Karamozov (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)

Any of the Great Books of the Western World

Gospel-Driven Christian Life
Desiring God (John Piper)
Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)
The Prodigal God (Tim Keller)
The Reason for God (Tim Keller)
The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Mark Noll)
Christless Christianity (Michael Horton)
Bonhoeffer (Eric Metaxas)
The Gospel-Driven Life (Michael Horton)
Fasting (Scot McKnight)

Sabbath (Dan Allender)

The Valley of Vision (Arthur Bennett)

Windows to the Soul (Ken Gire)

Jesus Among Other Gods (Ravi Zacharias)

Unveiled Hope (Scotty Smith)

The Day Metallica Came to Church (John van Sloten)
Book of Common Prayer (Shane Claiborne)

Anything by C.S. Lewis

Soccer
How Soccer Explains the World (Franklin Foer)
Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby)
Bloody Confused! (Chuck Culpepper)
Soccer Against the Enemy (Simon Kuper)
The Beckham Experiment (Grant Wahl)

Education
The Thomas Jefferson Education (Oliver DeMille)
Your Child's Strengths (Jennifer Fox)

Miscellaneous
Freakonomics
Super Freakonomics
Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)

To be continued . . . (since I know that you have some great books, that I'm forgetting some and that there are many more to come in the future)

La Providencia Summit - Day 3

Today we were able to visit a farm in the local community that La Providencia is looking to partner with to bring the community closer to economic self-sufficiency.  This approximately 80 acre farm is incredible - it has coffee, flowers, vegetables, herbs, and its own gravity-driven water supply, which itself saves 20% on electricity since the farm doesn't need a pump to transport the water.  Another thing that sets this farm apart is that the man who started it was in deep economic poverty when he planted the first seeds in the '90s. Instead of thinking business success was impossible because he didn't have money (as many unfortunately think), he sought out some seed capital (pun intended) and got started on what now is not only producing a lot of revenue, but is also generated hundreds of jobs every year for local community members.

After visiting the farm and eating some great ice cream and "Chinese" food, the US team leaders and Douglas (from LP) met together to de-brief and work out some next steps towards making this summer one where short-term teams work together to bring La Providencia closer to self-sufficiency.  Despite the fact that we were all exhausted mentally and physically, the conversation was very rich.  We talked about how the teams could avoid being destructive at La Providencia and exacerbating our respective poverties of being (read "When Helping Hurts" to gain a deeper understanding of this concept).  A few of the highlights coming out of the meeting were the brainstorming sessions about how the teams can practically work together, the specific action plans we worked out to take La Providencia Academy to the next level, and the team's commitment to work hard to focus on things that the local community cannot do itself.  In practice, we ultimately confirmed that the relationship-building is the key to all of this because everyone needs relationships, and all of us can know how we can help each other grow if we really get to know each other.  We also came to the important conclusion that one of the critical aspects of teams is to see the Providence model in person, get to know its details intimately, and share the model with others around the world after their time at La Providencia.

Be praying that we all can continue our conversations over the next few months and that the conversations result in a bunch of summer teams that incorporate the things that we have discussed and discovered during our time together.  Also be praying for our staff at La Providencia and the local community members - that they understand their great skills, talents, and passions, innovate well, and work together to bring LP to economic self-sufficiency.

La Providencia Summit - Day 2

Today was another very interesting day at the Summit!  We were able to visit a high school that is essentially an agricultural charter school.  They are partnering with La Providencia on a project where the high schoolers will mentor our staff and children on gardening.  We are all very excited about both sides of the partnership, as LP will get some great gardening and the high schoolers will continue building their mentorship and leadership skills, and increasing work ethic.

We also met with the community leaders about the possibility of partnering with them to develop the community into one that is economically self-sufficient.  We learned that we have a long way to go until we reach that goal, but I know that today was a very important first step toward hitting the goal.  I look forward to seeing how the community goes from being extremely dependent on outside support to being completely economically self-sufficient and having each project be completely community-initiated and executed.  We all have a huge challenge in front of us, but I have no doubt that we're on the right track.

Looking forward to finishing up the Summit tomorrow with a trip to a local farm and a "de-briefing" meeting where we will set goals and practical next steps with each other.  Again, all prayers are invited and very much appreciated.

La Providencia Summit, Day One

On Wednesday afternoon, nine leaders from Providence partner organizations and churches around the USA arrived in Siguatepeque, Honduras for the 1st Annual La Providencia Summit.  The vision for the Summit is to work with the LP staff, the local community leaders, and each other to start discerning how we all can make summer teams at LP as collaborative, productive, and life-giving as possible.  Guided by our mutual experiences, the books When Helping Hurts and Toxic Charity, and, of course, Biblical principles, we are hoping to work together as "one team" this summer and beyond to move the La Providencia community closer to economic self-sufficiency.

Yesterday, during day one of the Summit, the US leaders were able to meet with the entire LP staff to listen and inquire about how teams have been destructive in the past, how teams have connected and positively impacted the community, how we believe we can build up each other's skills and assets, how we all can build relationships with each other through various projects, how the teams can encourage, sharpen, and train the teachers and other staff members, and vice-versa, and how we can work together to begin developing businesses and other endeavors to generate revenue in the community.  It was an incredible day of transparency and vulnerability that I have never seen from our LP staff.  They opened up about the benefits and pitfalls of teams, they shared some challenges and struggles with the project and with some well-intentioned teams in the past, and ways that team members can mitigate against destructive behavior in the future.

One of our teachers opened up about her story that mirrors so many of our children's stories, and it touched all of us in deep ways.  She grew up in the community surrounding La Providencia in a single parent home, and hopes that she can inspire her students to become a leader in their community as she has by relying on God and developing the incredible skills and talents that God has given each one of them.

We're still processing through a lot of the stuff that we covered yesterday, and likely will be analyzing it for weeks to come.  In the process, we hope to figure out more and more what God wants us to be doing together to continue developing gospel-driven leaders.  Yesterday was a great step forward in this process and we know today will be as well - we're meeting with leaders in the local community to hear about their dreams, goals, and assets, and how the teams can come alongside them to develop the community.

Your prayers for the Summit and all that it will bring are invited, encouraged, and very much appreciated.