I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:6 As disciples, disciple-makers, goers, and team leaders, abiding is central to who we are and what we do. Often as team leaders […]
Category: Leadership Development
Leaders are critical in Great Commission work. Developing other leaders is an essential focus for every missions leader.
Almost nothing has a higher impact on team culture, health, and effectiveness as much as who you recruit to the team. A good team member will be a joy to the team and the leader, and be a strong contributor to the ministry. An unhealthy, underprepared, or poorly fit team member can cause conflict, distraction, […]
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How to Host a Vision Trip
“I don’t want to go to the unreached. But I also can’t ignore this conviction.” In 2012, I (Jenn) had journaled this sentiment over and over again. As we kept pursuing steps to move overseas, fears of permanent commitments and of wasting my life persisted. In the summer of 2012, we took a vision trip […]
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How to Cast Vision
Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. Habakkuk 2:2 I was 20 years old at Urbana 2009. A vision cast from a person I didn’t know, have never talked to, and have never met again, changed the course of my life. I had just gone to Thailand […]
Last month, Jenn spoke on the Velvet Ashes Legacy podcast on the topic of impostor syndrome and belonging, which can especially impact women in ministry or leadership roles. Velvet Ashes is ministry that serves and resources the network of missionary women all around the world. In this podcast, Jenn shares her personal experience with impostor […]
Clarity is kindness when leading a missions team. There are so many transitions, unknowns, and moving parts when new teams launch to the field. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a document that most missions teams have to provide clarity in the midst of those unknowns. We would define an MOU as a non-binding agreement […]
In our last few posts, we’ve talked about why men and women leading together on the field is important, best practices to do that, and specifics for husband and wife leadership teams. In this post, we’ll bring some guidelines for men leading women in missions settings. We think the ideal situation is when there can […]
Jenn and I (Steven) leading together got off to a rough start. One of the first things we did as a couple in ministry, before we were even married, was attend a support raising bootcamp with our Thailand team members. At the time, our team was both of us, four of my best friends growing […]
The line to talk to Jenn was 10 people deep. I (Steven), on the other hand, had one guy come up to ask a quick question and scuttle off. As an introvert, I was pretty relieved. Jenn and I had just shared the stage together to speak at a conference for aspiring goers. We shared […]
Jenn and I (Steven) fought nearly every day for our first year on the field. At the end of our first term of 2.5 years, we did a debrief and noted that second only to learning union with Christ, both of us said our marriage, and our co-leadership of the ministry and team together, was […]