Saturday, October 25, 2014

Global Leadership Summit Highlights 2014

Once again the Global Leadership Summit lives up to its reputation of being a premier leadership event, delivering world class leaders from the church, business, government and non-profit organisations.  This is my 10th GLS and as in previous years I have come away inspired, encouraged and challenged to 'lead with all diligence' in my leadership context.  


Below are some highlights and key learnings that spoke into my leadership journey over the past two days:


Bill Hybels -- Hard-Fought Leadership Lessons
Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church

"We need to be as passionate about the spirit of our people as we are about the vision."
"The kindest form of management is the truth."
"Don't get too addicted to vision achievement that people feel like equipment."
"Find and develop leaders with a legacy mindset.  Legacy leaders pay the price to fix a broken culture."


Susan Cain -- Quiet: Challenging the Extrovert Ideal
Best Selling Author, Viral TED Speaker on The Power of Introverts

"If we want people to be at their best we need to create an environment where they can receive the right amount of stimulation."
"Stop the madness of constant group work...create a hybrid of self and group work to get the best of creative thinking and ideas and stop the conformity of opinions."


Joseph Grenny -- Mastering the Art of Crucial Conversations
Co-Founder, VitalSmarts; Social Scientist for Business Performance

"When conversations turn from casual to crucial you and I tend to do your worst."
"You will either talk it out or you will act it out."
"We often believe the myth that we have to choose between telling the truth or keeping a friend."
"Crucial conversations held well can become a trust building accelerant."
"Candor is never the problem - it is the intent not the content that creates defensiveness."


Patrick Lencioni -- The Most Dangerous Mistakes Leaders Make
Founder of The Table Group, Business Speaker and Best Selling Author

"Reason to be a leader - to sacrifice yourself for the well-being of others, even before you know whether there will be a return on your investment."


Don Flow -- A Grander Vision
Chairman and CEO, Flow Companies Inc.

"Love is what should animate Christian Leaders."
"A part of being created in the image of God is being able to imagine the future."


Wilfredo De Jesus -- A Grander Vision
Senior Pastor, New Life Covenant Church; TIME's 100 Most Influential People 2013

"You cannot let your budget dictate your faith."
"Once the moral condition of your community has been revealed to you you must move to action."
"What is sacred is the message not the method."
"If you are not going to do anything about the answer, don't ask."
"With revelation comes responsibility."


Ivan Satyavrata -- The Power Paradox
Senior Pastor, Assembly of God Church, Kolkata, India

Introductory comment to Bill Hybels, "Thank you for allowing God's whisper to grow to a crescendo so that the world can hear God's voice."
"A leader's power lies in her ability to influence people."
"How do we apply the power paradox to the injustice and evil in our world?  We use the kingdom power at our disposal to confront evil and challenge its structures.  On the other hand we are patient and resolute."
"The power paradox enables me to surrender to God the enigma of unconquered evil."
"Power paradox leaders are level 5 leaders who combine humility with fierce resolve."


Carly Fiorina -- Defining Leadership
Best Selling Author; Political Commentator; Business Strategy Expert

"Bureaucracy crushes the potential of people inside them and the people they intend to serve."
"The highest calling of leadership is to unlock the potential in others."
"Management is the production of acceptable results in known constraints and conditions.  Leadership is about changing those conditions."


Jeffrey Immelt -- Positioning Your Organisation for the Future
President and CEO, General Electric

"It is the horizontal strength that keeps teams together."
"Be around a crisis early in your career, because you can tell a lot about a leader when times are tough."
"In volatile times the best leaders go forward."


Louie Giglio -- Take the Step
Pastor, Passion City Church; Founder of the Passion Movement

"You don't have to know everything to get up the mountain to take the first step."
"The stakes are too high for us to die with a small vision."
"A leader has to be committed to the finish line."


Friday, October 24, 2014

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 13

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 13

JELAMBAR:  Our Mission Trip finished on a high with us visiting Jelambar Corps during a ten hour stop-over in Jakarta on our way home.  We served at Jelambar Corps with a team from our previous appointment at Noarlunga Corps on a Mission Trip three years ago.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 12

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 12

FUNERAL:  The Salvation Army in Palu takes funerals to a whole new level with seven services officiated over three days for Mr Oskar Hohoy!  It has been an incredible privilege to witness the proceedings and to be asked to speak at two of the services.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 11

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 11

AVAILABLE:  Today has simply been about being available.  Available to respond and connect where needed as Nyoman and Suni make arrangements for Oskar's funeral tomorrow.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 10

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 10

EMOTIONS:  Late last night I received a phone call from Major Nyoman Timonuli to inform me that our plans for today needed to change as the Elementary School Principal of Palu School and CSM of Towua Corps, Mr Oskar Hohoy, had suddenly passed away.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 9

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 9

CHILDREN:  Throughout this Mission Trip we have been blessed by meeting so many children in Salvation Army run kindergartens, schools and children's homes from one side of Central Sulawesi to the other.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 8

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 8

TEAMS:  After a much needed day of rest and with a couple of team members still feeling a little off colour, today we were given the option to divide into two teams.  One team would take a fairly strenuous trip back up into the mountains on motorbikes to visit schools and Corps in the Lindu District, while the other team would stay local visiting Corps and Centres in the Palu area.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 7

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 7

REST:  After a week of full-on mission activities and adventures taking us all around Central Sulawesi, we were all feeling a little weary!

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 6


ADVENTURE:  Our mission trip today took us on an adventure high into the mountains to the remote Tamodo Corps in West Palu.  Due to limited road access, we changed vehicles half way up the mountain at Dombu Corps, climbing onto the back of motorbikes with local riders for the last hour of the trek along very rugged, steep and narrow roads.


Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 5

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 5

REVIVAL:  The much anticipated Youth Revival Meeting commenced at 10.00 am with youth from six Corps and seven Outposts gathering in the Pantolobete Corps hall for worship. 

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 4

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 4

RFA:  Our day started early with a long trip to West Palu for some more school visits enroute to the Lalundu District Youth Camp, where we stayed the night.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 3


CONNECTIONS:  The words of Don Moen's song, "My soul follows hard after thee, early in the morning will I rise up and seemed apt as we arose very early this morning to get ready for the 6.00 am Holiness Meeting at Towua Corps.


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 2

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 2

CONTRASTS:  Today we hit the road for a visit to three schools run by The Salvation Army in the East Palu Division.  Our trip took us along some pretty windy and rough roads into the mountains where our senses were overloaded with unfamiliar sights and smells of rural Central Sulawesi. 

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 1

Mission Trip Reflections: Palu Mission Trip - Day 1

RECEPTION:  Our mission trip to Palu commenced with a series of overwhelming welcomes from the staff and children at the Palu School.

Read more about our Mission Trip...

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Palu, Here We Come!

Tomorrow, together with our mission team from the Cranbourne Corps, we embark on an exciting adventure to serve our friends and colleagues Major Nyoman and Captain Suniati Timonuli at The Salvation Army school and Towua Corps in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.  

We trained together with Nyoman in Melbourne 18 years ago and this will be our third mission trip serving him and his family in their ministry context - Denpasar in 2009 and Jakarta in 2011 with the Noarlunga Corps mission team and now Palu with our mission team from Cranbourne Corps.


We will be engaged in a variety of mission activities, including - preaching, teaching, pastoral visitation, prayer ministry, school ministry, youth ministry, painting and assisting with a building project.  Most of all we get to partner with other Salvationists in advancing the kingdom of God in their part of the world, building relationships and encouraging each other on our faith journeys.  

We are passionate about serving God through the international vehicle of The Salvation Army and are excited about joining in with what Holy Spirit is doing through Bala Keselamatan in Palu, Indonesia.  If you would like to follow our mission activities while we are away between the 9th and 23rd October, you can read my mission trip reflections at the following blogspot:


Tuhan Yesus memberkati anda!