Associating with the Associates!

This week, I’m writing this blog from Orlando, Florida where I’ve been invited to participate in the semi-annual board meeting of Wycliffe Associates.  Although I’ve known about WA for years, the past few months of starting to work with this mission in a part-time consulting capacity has given me a new appreciation for the amazing way they are impacting the world for the cause of Christ.

Not to be confused with Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) ,the organization that raises Bible translation funds in the US, or the Wycliffe Global Alliance, the international network of Wycliffe groups or SIL (Summer Institute of Linguists) the cadre of professional linguists who do a lot of the translation work, or even the Seed Company, the more recent newcomer that mobilizes indigenous, grass-roots Bible translation teams, WA is actually an independent organization, that is fully dedicated to support all of the above.

Co-located alongside WBT on a beautiful pond-filled property generously donated to the mission, WA has become second to few in its ability to mobilize volunteer men and women into second-career ministry work. Every year, some 3800 men and women (mostly over 55) all across the US become engaged in one way or another with WA, a huge number of whom will actually travel overseas to teach school, construct a new facility or install a generator. On top of that, WA raises virtually all of the funds necessary for these stalwart volunteers to accomplish their task—some thirteen million dollars worth!

Since my friend and former MAF colleague, Bruce Smith took over the CEO reigns of WA, this ministry has generated not only enough capacity to respond to the needs the various Wycliffe groups mentioned above, but now has room to spare for other national, indigenous church organization that are committed to translating God’s word into a language that needs it. As a result, WA has five full time Area Directors managing over 160 projects in their respective regions of the world.

One noteworthy example was last year when WA volunteer specialists installed over 70  satellite communication devices in places like Nigeria giving remote, national translation teams affordable, daily communication with their language consultant specialists in other parts of the world. University professor, Dr. Roger Morhlang, shared with me how this simple improvement alone has literally shaved months and maybe even years off of the Old Testament project he is consulting on with one of those Nigerian teams.

What will my role be with WA? To explore the organizational development needs of the most needy indigenous translation agencies and then mobilize some key professionals from among those 3800 volunteers who can provide training and coaching for those that can use it.

I wish I could share more of the stories I heard in the meetings today,  but I trust that this quick report stimulates you to learn more about the significant, behind-the-scenes efforts Wycliffe Associates is performing in the world of mission endeavor today.  (Check out http://www.wycliffeassociates.org/)

A New Season of Ministry

This blog has been silent too long!

But the silence has not been reflective of a life that has been still and static.  Far from it! The past few months have been an amazing experience of watching God at work crafting new opportunities and relationships for Anita and me so that now, we see ourselves emerging into a new season of personal ministry.

One of the best experiences a few months ago after stepping down from my CEO role at Partners International, was to accept the challenge of a friend to sit down and write out a new personal mission and vision document. “Whatever you do,” he said, “be intentional about pursuing what you’re both passionate about and good at doing. Say ‘No’ to everything else.”

Following that advice and then watching God open up unexpected doors of ministry involvement, I find myself launching into a ministry of “advancing servant partnership networks in the global Christian community.” I’ve labeled my endeavors Servant Link. 

Already I have coaching and consulting opportunities that will help national ministry leaders:

·         Build greater capacity for their ministries through organizational development training

·         Create greater effective use of strategic resources such as mission aviation and IT services

·         Start using exciting new ministry technologies that utilize social media for evangelism and discipleship

·         Receive biblical stewardship orientation that could create a whole new era of local fundraising.

As a ministry foundation for Servant Link, I am happy to announce Anita and I have just been accepted by OC International (www.onechallenge.org) as new staff members. This will allow us to work out of our home office, continue receiving personal support donations through OC while becoming part of a team of highly gifted men and women known for their passion of promoting partnership in missions.

As we venture into this third chapter of our ministry career, I’ve decided to make this blog a window into the mission world.  My personal goal will be to have a regular, weekly blog post with a brief presentation of the most interesting and/or exciting thing I’ve heard about recently happening in the mission world .  My hope is that this can become a means for all to share in the global adventure that is occurring as God’s servants faithfully pursue His Great Commission.

Under His wings,

Jon