Monday, May 11, 2009

God on the Move!

At 56 Francois and Monica will tell you I am entering the world of blogging with great resistance. But the God sightings I have encountered in the past few weeks need reporting.
We are the only re-entry model being asked to share at the national Kairos gathering. Kairos mission statement is "to bring Christ’s love and forgiveness to all incarcerated individuals, their families and those who work with them, and to assist in the transition of becoming a productive citizen." Kairos is now active in 33 states and 5 countries. The ministry is active in over 300 sites. Given our recidivism track record we have landed on their radar screen i.e., we have surrounded 50 x-offenders with spiritual families for one year or more in Tulsa, Columbus, and Cleveland and not one, not one has returned to prison. Go God!

I was blessed to attend the Catalyst West conference in Irvine, Ca. last week. 3,300 young (20 and 30 year old) Christian leaders from 48 states and 10 countries attended. And yes I stuck out, but my heart is warm with encouragement regarding the energy and deep faith these leaders bring to the body of Christ. It appears this will be an excellent distribution channel for SITG, these young leaders want to "do the Gospel."

While in Irvine I was blessed to have lunch with our SITG friend Dr. John Townsend and one of his pastors. We were sharing with the pastor the ministry model and why the church should implement SITG. It was kind of like having a color commentator with you—I would share the model and Dr. T would explain the "How People Grow" detail. By the way this church is interested and has over 700 small groups. WOW!

Similar to this California church we are working with the leadership team of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock. When I am with this team it is like being in a Fortune 500 board meeting. The mental capacity of this group is off the charts but they kindly bring it down to my level. Their mission statement is the most crisp, clear, and concise I have ever read: "to equip and unleash Christ followers to change the world through lives of irresistible influence."

I am about blogged out but one more God sighting. SITG-Oklahoma City. My dear friend Scott Manley started SITG under the umbrella of his non-profit Cornerstone Assistance Network last year. Scott first hired a very capable director Doug Mclerran. Doug, Scott, and I presented to 67 hand-picked churches in the 3rd and 4th Q of last year. There has been so much interest we have stopped our initial presentations and have moved into the church implementation stage. Doug is knocking the ball out of the park. Thank you Lord. I am sorry to report Scott at a young 69 years of age has gone to be with the Lord. Our loss.

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