Today I’m boarding a plane  for Togo Africa.  I’m excited about this amazing opportunity to do leadership training with a group of pastors who are serving in a very tough territory.  I’d like to ask you to pray for us during this trip.  Here are a few specific requests:

• Pray that the pastors we’re training will be encouraged, inspired and learn practical leadership skills that will increase their leadership influence.  For several years now Seacoast Church has partnered with Pioneers Togo to support their efforts of planting churches for unreached people groups.  These pastors are truly on the front-line of ministry and our desire is for God to use us to energize and encourage these men.  Pray for those accompanying me @jasonsurratt our Missions Pastor and @ernestsmith our Young Adult Pastor.
• Pray that God will direct us to one or two specific communities that He wants to do a special work in.  As part of our mission we will be identifying a couple of communities that are in need of clean water.  Water Missions International Kenyan Country Director will be joining us to help assess where the greatest need may be.  Once the community is identified we will work with the local church there to install a water system so they can use it as an opportunity to share Christ with their community.
• Pray that God will keep us safe and protect our health.  We’ve had our 5 shots and are ready to go.  
• Pray for open doors of opportunity for God to do what He wants to do.
• Pray for Pastor Francis who heads up Pioneers Togo.  Francis is one of the most amazing leaders I’ve met who has a passionate heart for God and the gospel.  Here is a video where he shares more about his ministry.

I had the opportunity to hangout with Eric Swanson on a recent trip to Leadership Network.  Eric is Leadership Community Director and LN and the author of The Externally Focused Church.  He also has a new release coming out in March titled The Externally Focused Quest .  In this video Eric talks about the measures of an externally focused church.  See my Take Aways below.

TAKE AWAYS

• Externally focused church measures their effectiveness not by how many people they have on Sunday morning but by the transformational effect they have on their community.
• In Matthew 22 when no one showed up at his son’s wedding banquet the king augmented his strategy from an “invite” strategy to a “go to” strategy. 
• When you ask a pastor how his church is doing he typically answers in terms of INPUTS (size of budget, staff, etc), ACTIVITIES (number of services, specific programs, etc) and OUTPUTS (# attending, # serving etc) .  But we can’t stop there we have to move on to OUTCOMES (measured in terms of changed lives)  and IMPACT (the collective result of multiple changed lives over time)
• Who’s life is different because your church is in the community?
• “Every non-profit exists for one purpose, that’s to bring about changed lives”  Peter Drucker
• Outcomes and Impact answer the “so what” question.
• Don’t try to be the best church in your community, become the best church for your community.

What Outcomes and Impacts does your church need to begin to measure?

We are looking for 2000 people with 10 friends to make a New Year’s resolution that will change the lives of thousands of people. Interested?  Here is the challenge:

On New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day connect with 10 friends and ask them to join you in a toast on behalf of the nearly 1 billion people who lack access to safe water.

“I Raise My Glass” – 2010 Toast from Water Missions on Vimeo.

 Simply raise a glass of fresh clean drinking water and offer the following toast:

 I raise my glass to the nearly 1 billion people who lack access to safe drinking water and make a New Year’s resolution to do all I can to help those without in 2010. 

If you are willing to be one of the 2000 would you please:

1. Let us know by signing the New Year’s resolution. (We will let you know by email how we are doing.) CLICK HERE

2. Ask your friends to make a simple $10 donation on behalf of those without. They can donate on-line or they can donate $10 through a simple text message.  CLICK HERE

The funds collected by this initiative will provide safe water solutions for people in communities that have been waiting for someone to help them. We have assessed more than 150 communities where hundreds of thousands of people are just waiting for someone to help them get safe water. Our goal is to raise enough by January 30th to bring safe water to more than 20,000 people. If we can get 2000 people to ask 10 friends to give $10, we can do that!

Please Retweet this post and spread the word!

As many of you know my family and I serve with Water Missions International on a regular basis.  Our friends George and Molly Green, founders of WMI  have an enormous heart and vision to address the worlds water crisis.  WMI’s vision is that no person should perish for want of safe drinking water or an opportunity to hear the “Living Water” message.

Today marks a big opportunity for WMI.  The Willow Creek Leadership Summit kicks off today and word has it that Bill Hybels is going to be talking about Water Missions in his opening talk.  This could open many doors for WMI.  So I ask you to pray for them today that God will open people’s hearts to give to WMI’s efforts and join our cause. 

Also I want to encourage you to check out WMI’s new website called www.whatifthechurch.us  and look for ways you and your church could get involved.

 In the following video I  sat down with Jerry Miner from Water Missions International and we discussed the work of WMI.

What would you do with 5.2 Trillion dollars?  The possibilities are unfathomable.  Well none of us as Americans have 5.2 trillion dollars, but ALL of us do together.  That’s how much wealth Americans control.  Now consider this…many of the people that control that 5.2 trillion dollars go to our churches.  What if  we could influence how they gave it?  What if God wrecked our hearts for the poor?  What if  just a portion of the 5.2 trillion went to help the worlds poor?  What if  we caught a vision to make a difference? 

These were the type of questions running through the minds of the leadership at Cross Point Church in Nashville Tennessee where Pete Wilson serves as the Lead Pastor.  I had the opportunity recently to hang out Cross Points Executive Director Jenni Catron and discuss an idea they have implemented at Cross Point, an idea that could literally change the world. 

Check out this video and begin to ask yourself the question…What if…?

I was with Reggie McNeal recently and had the opportunity to ask about his new book Missional Reniassance.  Reggie is challenging churches to get in on the fresh movement of God and develop a new scorecard.  In the video below Reggie explains a few of the changes that need to be taking place in today’s church culture.  (A big thanks to Eric Swanson who did some outstanding, creative flip video work on this one.)

Reggie McNeal from Maclake on Vimeo.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Jodi Felty, Mobilization Director for Willow Creek Community Church.  I asked Jodi to share some keys to helping small groups get involved in serving both locally and globally.  Check out this video and hear what she had to say.

Jodi Felty Missional Small Groups from Maclake on Vimeo.

What are you doing at your church to help small groups be more missional in your community and in the world?

Two years ago I met Joel Holm, author of Church Centered Mission. Joel turned my thinking about global missions upside down. He says over the past 40 years the church has changed the way it does youth ministry, worship ministry and discipleship. Yet we are still operating under the old paradigm of global missions.

Last week I was at Willow Creek Community Church and had the opportunity to catch up with Joel. As you watch this video I pray that you will hear Joel’s heart and catch his vision.

Joel Holm from Maclake on Vimeo.

To learn more about how your church can focus it’s missions efforts check out Joels book, Church Centered Mission.  I have read it twice and it challenges my thinking each time. 

Share this video with your team and discuss the following questions:

• Are our global missions efforts strategic?
• Are the missions efforts we’re involved in a reflection of our churches DNA?
• What are the strengths of our global missions efforts?
• What changes do we need to make to our global missions efforts?

I’m breaking away from the 7 Components of Jesus Leadership Development Strategy for the day to let you know about an exciting movement that starts in seven days www.5daysinmay.com. 

A little over two years ago I was invited to have lunch with George Green, founder of Water Missions International.  I was deeply moved by George’s passion to provide safe drinking water for the under resourced in our world.  During that meeting I learned…

• One in six people don’t have access to clean drinking water (Over 1 billion people)
• Everyday over 25,000 people die from a lack of safe water and sanitation
• Every 15 seconds a child dies from water related illness

Since that time Cindy and I have been on three international trips with George and his wife Molly.  We have witnessed the impact of this ministry first hand.  I love Water Missions Strategy.  They partner with the indigenous church to provide clean water for their community – thus allowing that local church to show the compassion of Christ to their friends and neighbors.  

The need is huge.  The opportunity is great.  By making a little sacrifice for 5 days in May together we can make a BIG impact for those who need safe water as well as the Living water of Jesus Christ.

Here’s how you can get involved…

• Go to www.5daysinmay.com to learn more
• Commit to a 5 day “beverage fast” May 1-5 by drinking only water
• Save the money you would be spending on soda, milk, specialty drinks and juices.  (My friend Shawn Wood who started this movement says, “On average 30 cans of soda equal $15.00, 3 trips to a commercial coffee shop equal $10, and five fountain drinks equal $8.75, totalling $43.75 spent on beverages by the average American in one week.  According to Water Missions International that same dollar amount of $43.75 could give 5 people clean drinking water for the rest of their lives.”
• Join the discussion on Facebook (http://ow.ly/3vyD) during those 5 days.  Also follow on Twitter @5daysinmay.
• Donate what you saved to Water Missions International and together we can make a big impact for the kingdom.

Join us as we drink water to give water.