April 2013 Newsletter - the Uncut Version

When I write I tend to do it in the same way I talk ... without end.

My wife, fortunately, understands that few people have the patience to read through to the end (if I ever did get to the end) on something I write.  So she effectively edits.  And edits.  And cuts.  And edits.

In the largely misdirected idea that perhaps someone might be interested in more detail than can fit on the front/back of a newsletter along with lots of other pictures ... I'm putting the uncut version of all the articles here.

No, I don't really expect you to read all of it.  But if you want to you would make my heart glad... :-)

GENERATIONS

"Everybody get up, move your chairs around.  I want you sitting in a single row of chairs in order according to your age -- the youngest person over here and the oldest over here."  That was the politically incorrect way that Peter opened up a discussion on GENERATIONS during our recent field conference.  Once we were all in order by age, we divided into the 3 "named" generations - the Boomers (born from 1946-1964), the Generation-Xers (born from 1964-1983), and the Millenials (born from 1983 to 2001).  Surprisingly, we had only 4 Boomers and 3 Millenials -- the rest of us (15 people) all fell into the "Gen-X" middle ground.  For each of the groups we watched a brief video clip giving some generalizations about that particular group and then as a group we answered 3 questions as we thought about a new worker coming in from each of these generations:

1. Strengths - what does someone in this generation bring to the table
2. Weaknesses - what are the challenges we face with someone in this generation?
3. How can we set this person up for maximum effectiveness for the Kingdom of God - how can we make him/her successful?

It was a very interactive session with a lot of very interesting and helpful insights that will potentially make us much more effective as we move forward as the Balkan Focus Group.  Some of the best take-home points included these:

• Like it or not, we're unlikely to get a whole lot more Boomers.  We'd love to see more of that wisdom and life experience coming our way, but reality says not many will make the transition to the field at that point in their life.
• It's easy to criticize the newest generation to come along, but in the end they always win (the rest of us die off!) and so it's better to figure out how we can maximize the positives and "get with the show" rather than trying to stand in front of an unstoppable locomotive.  It's easier to provide an adjustment through a gentle, encouraging word than it is to try to stomp on the brakes from the back seat.
• Just because something is true in general about a particular group doesn't mean it's true for every individual within that group.  (Although the Gen-Xers in our group may have been a bit biased we decided that all 15 of us reflected the Boomer work ethic rather than the Gen-Xer stereotype of a work ethic... :-)  )
• "The way things are" is not enough reason to get stuck in a rut.  If my generation has unbiblical tendencies (work ethic or attitude towards authority, for instance) that doesn't give me the right to say, "that's just the way we are".  Each of us is responsible before God to overcome sinful or unfruitful tendencies that we have.
• In nearly every case the best strengths of a generation were also (when viewed from a different perspective) their greatest weaknesses and visa versa.  Perspective and choosing to think the best about one another makes SUCH a big difference in working together across generations in a team setting.

Times change.  As a team of Kingdom workers we need to stay light on our feet and prepared to change if we are going to continue being effective into the next generation.

Church Planting by Prayer

Now that the CCL is legally closed (despite what the tax office thinks) Melodye and I have begun working in other areas.  CCL's vision statement was "Stimulating Church Planting" and that's what we're doing now.

On November 20, 2011 Eagles Church opened her doors for the first time.  We had a Church Planting team of 12 people and another couple who was related to one of our team members who had already committed to coming.  For the first 9 or 10 months we held outreaches and taught about evangelism and basically did all we could think of to do to get our newly planted church growing and multiplying. We saw no growth.  Then we committed to 40 days of prayer and fasting ("serial fasting" where each person would take a day), praying specifically that God would bring us Fruit that would last.  Within weeks we had doubled in size and maintained that 25-30 attendance through the end of the year.  We have lots of ideas for bringing growth to our small church in 2013, but whatever we do it will be bathed in PRAYER first!

What's In A Name?

Sometimes people want to know about the name "Eagles" - what does it mean in Albanian?  Actually it is the English word "Eagles."  Just as often in the states a restaurant will have a French or Italian name to make it sound attractive, a name in English is often very attractive to Albanians.  In the Albanian language Albania is called "Shqiperia" which means "Land of the Eagles" and so we decided to take that "Eagle" theme and apply it to our church.  We often print Isaiah 40:31a underneath our name ("They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles.")

We covet your prayers for Eagles.  Our hope is to see 100% growth again in 2013, but that can come only if the Spirit will continue to act on our behalf. 

Eagles on Easter

Eagles Church attempts to be very intentional about Every-Person Evangelism.  We recognize that if a few people are involved in evangelism then we get a little growth added on each year.  If each and every person is engaged in personal evangelism and the new people who come in as a result also catch that DNA and become engaged themselves then we end up with a lot of growth and that most elusive of goals: multiplication!  

But how do you get everybody involved?  One way we tried was centered around our special Easter service.  For a month ahead of time we spent time each Sunday talking about the importance of evangelism.  And each Sunday we gave time to people to think about their own personal list of 4-5 people that they planned to invite for Easter Sunday.  We gave them paper to write down their list on and we gave them time and encouragement to pray for the people on that list.

Easter Sunday came and we ended up with 2-3 adult visitors.  We were hoping for ten times that number.  There were lots of invitations, but precious few that actually showed up.  On the one hand we can quote the truism that "slow is fast" when it comes to making disciples, but on the other hand if we are to see the kind of growth needed to get Eagles multiplying and reproducing WE NEED MORE PEOPLE!  So it's back to the drawing board for us.  We have chosen to be intentional about Every-Person Evangelism.  Now we need to figure out what the next intentional step is that we need to take.  Pray for us!

A Change in Role

On September 11, 2001 the world changed in many ways and one of those ways was that I (Peter) was appointed as leader of our work in the Balkans.  It's been nearly 12 years of working closely with a constantly shifting group of precious individuals bonded into a team to serve God in Albania.  Nearly 12 years of growing in friendship and unity.  Nearly 12 years of dealing with sin and conflict in what we hoped was a healthy and God-honoring way.  As Melodye and I discuss this period of our lives we realize that in many ways we grew up (are growing up?) woven in and through this leadership role.

But it's very easy for a leader to get used to the status quo and to cease being as effective.  While it's certainly possible to re-invent the leadership role and re-cast the vision, sometimes the simpler solution is the better one.  On March 26, 2013 during a business session at our annual conference I handed the baton of leadership on to Murray Horton to lead our work in the Balkans.  The intent was to model a healthy change of leadership at a point of strength and health within the organization.  There was no outside impetus for this decision - it is something we chose for ourselves for the good of the team.  We wanted to stop leading this group while we were still effective in our roles.

On the one hand this change in role makes little difference in our day-to-day lives.  We still love our team-mates and will intentionally keep up with them, invite them over, keep our open-door policy just because that's part of being a brother and a sister in the Lord with our particular set of giftings.  But on the other hand we are aware of a gaping hole inside ourselves left by this changing of the guard.

Ultimately our identity comes from our relationship with Christ, but it can sure get confusing sometimes!  Melodye may have said it best when she said, "I don't know where being Women's Ministry Coordinator ends and where being Melodye starts."  Although this change is something we have deliberately and intentionally sought and although we recognize the wisdom in it there is definitely a sense of loss and there have been many tears shed in our home recently.  Ultimately, regardless of any confusion or change in life, our identity comes from our relationship with Christ.  

Summer 2013

For the past decade or so we have returned to the United States every other summer for home assignment.  This summer will be no different, as we will arrive back in Virginia in the middle of June and then depart for Albania again in August.

As a couple and with our organizational leadership we have discussed the possibility of taking a Sabbatical with the opportunity to "hone our skills" with some classes and study time. But that would require more time than the summer and since we have ministry responsibilities resuming in September we are setting that discussion aside for the time.

If you would be interested in having us share with your church or small group, please let us know.