Thursday, September 07, 2006
Meeting With Young Diplomat
Just finished Alan Hirsch's new book Forgotten Ways that will be coming out soon. It's the greatest book I’ve read on "missional" since Bosch! Nothing else comes close. His last chapter was the absolute best. Alas, someone defines community beyond just "hug me." He moves it from "support" to "engagement." My next book is dealing with that very issue--what does it look like to engage the world?
It was exciting seeing all of the officials and others in the delegation being able to see all that you've done, NorthWood. They were incredibly supportive and asking questions. Last night, one of the young diplomats called while I was lying down and told me he was bringing his wife and son over to meet me. We wound up going to a nice place with an awesome view and just talking. I showed him the chart we show on the "glocal" part of NorthWood’s web site that deals with the different domains of society. Then, I showed him all the projects under each area. "WOW!" he said. "I saw all your projects but didn't realize it was this much. Most people do one big project here and get known for that, but you do so many that are not as big--why?" Only recently have we acquired assets, buildings, etc. I told him first of all those things continue to grow. We don't do one thing but many which means some of them will grow significantly. Second, every project represented means that someone from the US out of our church is driving it. It isn't tied to money and me--it's people-to-people diplomacy. It's connecting domain with domain--society with society. It gives them meaning because it's their work, not an organization, and it impacts people relationally. Two dimensions are needed for all this to work--projects and relationships. It is community in action.
It was exciting seeing all of the officials and others in the delegation being able to see all that you've done, NorthWood. They were incredibly supportive and asking questions. Last night, one of the young diplomats called while I was lying down and told me he was bringing his wife and son over to meet me. We wound up going to a nice place with an awesome view and just talking. I showed him the chart we show on the "glocal" part of NorthWood’s web site that deals with the different domains of society. Then, I showed him all the projects under each area. "WOW!" he said. "I saw all your projects but didn't realize it was this much. Most people do one big project here and get known for that, but you do so many that are not as big--why?" Only recently have we acquired assets, buildings, etc. I told him first of all those things continue to grow. We don't do one thing but many which means some of them will grow significantly. Second, every project represented means that someone from the US out of our church is driving it. It isn't tied to money and me--it's people-to-people diplomacy. It's connecting domain with domain--society with society. It gives them meaning because it's their work, not an organization, and it impacts people relationally. Two dimensions are needed for all this to work--projects and relationships. It is community in action.
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