Above all else

In my last post on the series of 20 signs, I shared about how God made a way for me to take leave I didn't have, from a job I had just started, to go on a mission trip.  With a start like that, how could the actual mission be any less amazing? :) Since that first trip to BBB, I have returned twice more, and I hope I will go again soon.  Each time is a learning experience! I remember being particularly excited about that first trip to BBB - I had gone on a mission trip before, but not one that involved going out into rural areas.  I eagerly attended every preparatory session, but to my puzzlement, none of the preparatory sessions actually seemed to involve any planning.  We would pray for each other, figure out what to bring, have some vague conversations about how some Bible terms should be translated into the local language, and that would be about it. By nature, both my wife and I are scrupulous planners.  Each day and each hour is mapped out - ...

A wise friend recently shared with me his thoughts on leadership.  Quoting from "Leadership: Magic, Myth or Method", he explained that a leader is - a person - involved in a process - of influencing and developing - a group of people - in order to accomplish a purpose - by means of supernatural power! I love that.   Everyone , wherever we are, in whatever situation we are in, and whether we have the label of "Chief", "Head" or "Leader", can be a leader.  Because we can all get involved in the process of spurring each other on towards a purpose. The last line also speaks to me - by means of supernatural power !  A leader who leads merely by force of personality or towering competence... will eventually falter.  Because there are human limits.  But with God, nothing is impossible.  Even better news is that God actually works best with flawed people. As I've quoted on this blog before - if God can use Jacob who was a liar, Mose...

So this week, a colleague asked me if I had ever done any mission work overseas and if I had any advice. So I asked in response, where are you planning to go?  He said, oh this place you've probably never heard of called BBB. !!!  So as it turns out, I have been on 4 mission trips in my life, and 3 of them were to... BBB!  So of course I shared all the stuff I knew about the place. And if you've read my last post, you know I'm planning to recount at least 20 signs from God for each year that I have been His friend.  So here are a few more... I first heard of BBB from my pastor sometime in 2006.  The previous year, I had just taken the family on our first mission trip to Japan, which was mostly spent in the suburbs around Tokyo.  The kids were then only 1 and 3 years old, and now, one year on, I thought we could ramp up the difficulty level! But at the same time, I was also just about to leave the first and only job I ever had after a good 7 year...