The End Is Not The End
I am sitting in the Global Prayer Room (GPR) at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, with a big smile on my face. Yes, Lilly and Levi go to school here and I’m staying with them for several days, which is certainly a good reason to smile. The worship and prayer in the GPR is, as always, incredible, and that is another reason to smile. But my smile extends beyond those two reasons; it is the smile of seeing God work in some really cool ways in the midst of the two assignments that brought me here. While Terri and I may be in the midst of one of the bigger transitions in our lives - and I will continue to unpack that transition in the next few LINCLetters - the end of our time in Canby and the end of LINC seems to mean the beginning of even more smile-producing Kingdom assignments for us both.
Back in the late 90’s I was involved in a collaboration of national youth ministries under the banner of the Challenge 2000 Alliance. Our focus was on establishing campus ministries on every secondary level school in the country. Although we didn’t hit the goal 100%, we made significant progress before ending the Alliance at the turn of the millennium. Over the past several years, God has reconstituted the Alliance, and I’m once again a part of the mix. We met recently at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes headquarters here in Kansas City. It was a watershed gathering from my perspective, for two reasons: (1) prayer was embraced as a primary value like never before; (2) a subset of the Alliance, consisting of a half-dozen folks with prayer ministries, came to the larger group with a conviction that God wanted the Alliance to focus this year on establishing a prayer covering over every campus in the country. Everyone signed off on that! There are some amazing people that are a part of that little Campus Alliance Prayer (CAP) Team, and it will be a privilege to facilitate this initiative in the months and years to come.
Since I was going to be in town for the Campus Alliance Summit, the National Network of Youth Ministries asked me to spend an extra day with their national team. That included a wonderful time of prayer ministry to one another, as well as an “immersion” experience I set up for them at IHOP consisting of a 30-minute “intro to IHOP” from Ryan Kondo, an IHOP staff worship leader and new friend, followed by 90 minutes in the prayer room, followed by a lengthy debrief and Q&A with me. They loved the “immersion” and were powerfully impacted by so many (a few thousand) radical teen and twentysomething followers of Jesus together in one place, worshipping and praying 24/7. A few commented that seeing the passion and zeal of so many IHOP kids is, in part, an answer to their long-standing prayers as youth workers! As a parent of two IHOPU students, I say, “Amen!”
There is a bunch of other wonderful ministry stuff happening, but I realize the need to continue to unpack the changes in ministry (from LINC to Sondance) and home base (from Canby to Carey). I’d like to do so by reviving an old, dormant (since 2006) LINCLetter standard, the Q&A issue with Question Man and LINC Man. If you are a newer reader, please bear with me on this . . .
Q: So LINC Man, nothing subtle about your last newsletter.
A: Nothing subtle about much of what I do, I suppose. It’s a formidable challenge to explain in just a few newsletters what God has been orchestrating for several years. So I’ll do the best I can between now and the end of the year.
Q: If this has been brewing for many years, you have been rather secretive of this move and ministry change.
A: Although we have known for some time that significant changes were coming (my Board has known for a few years) we didn’t know until this past year what those changes would look like. We still don’t know the exact timing of our move to Idaho, but we are moving.
Q: So does Sondance start when you move, or earlier? And what, in a nutshell, will Sondance be about?
A: Sondance starts on January 1, 2011! Here’s the Mission; you will notice some similarities to LINC, but also some differences:
The Mission of Sondance is to serve Christ, His Church, and His Kingdom through a ministry of teaching, training and mentoring, emphasizing:
1. Prayer
2. Kingdom living and the whole gospel
3. Community transformation
4. Hope for the fatherless
Q: That makes a lot of sense, given your ministry history as well as your present passions. But why Idaho, of all places?
A: The biggest reason is simply that God has clearly and unmistakably directed the move. We have a sense that many of the reasons will become even more clear after we get there. That being said, we do know this much: Our home will be a spiritual retreat base of sorts, where leaders present and emerging can come for refreshment, renewal and recreation. We will actively engage in our community, where we have already established significant relationships. The area has a huge Mormon population, I was raised Mormon, and we both have a great love for Mormon people, so that will be a significant focus. Beyond that, as the new Mission implies, I will continue to serve as an advocate for youth ministry in the prayer movement, and an advocate for prayer in the youth ministry movement. I will continue to deploy my “three sharp arrows” of character (holiness), prayer and unity at every opportunity God provides within youth ministry and beyond. The one major ministry assignment that God is releasing me from, the founder and director of the Portland Youth Foundation, will be replaced by a new focus on the issue of fatherlessness: To help bring hope to the fatherless through new Kingdom strategies and collaborations that focus on supernatural healing, biblical mentoring, and spiritual parenting. This issue is a very big deal both in society in general and in youth ministry in particular.
Q: OK, but why can’t you make the move and ministry adjustments under the banner of LINC? Why the new nonprofit?
A: A very good question! While keeping LINC would be legally doable (although rather challenging), we have felt God saying that He wanted newness: a new home in a new state, a new ministry focus, a new ministry name, a new nonprofit, and a new Board of Directors. Four Board members have been with LINC for 18 years, and the other two for 16 years; that longevity in the nonprofit world is almost unheard of. They have been absolutely amazing, and I will miss them greatly. But I believe that my new Board, who I will introduce to you soon, will also be amazing.
Q: What’s up with the Sondance name?
A: It’s certainly not random; it was given to us by God and has much spiritual significance. More on that later.
Q: Can I assume that something not new is your need for prayer and financial supporters?
A: That is a very, very good assumption. Sondance will be a nonprofit like LINC, just in a different state, and it will have the same need for significant prayer support. More on that in the next LINCLetter. Financial supporters will be able to write checks to LINC until Dec. 31. In the past, donations postmarked after then were accrued to the next year; this time around, anything given after Dec. 31 will have to be returned. BUT, starting Jan. 1, all donations made out to Sondance will be gratefully accepted! Our posture when it comes to raising financial support for Sondance will be the same as always: we will make our financial needs known on occasion through our newsletters only, and we will trust God as our Provider. His track record is, well, perfect. Yes, we have lost donors in the midst of the economic recession; yes, we are going to likely need some new donors, as well as some current ones to increase their commitment level. But now you know that, and our responsibility is to pray, thanking Him that He will supply all of our needs!
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