Rwanda Day #2

Wow. Yesterday we learned about Rwandan history, specifically the Genocide of 1994 that was such a dark period for the Rwandese people. Today, we saw the future of Rwanda- kids. Spent time visiting with kids, staff and families at a Compassion project site in rural Kigali. We also visited the Compassion country office for Rwanda in Kigali, getting to sing, worship, fellowship and meet the 61 Compassion staff who work in Rwanda.  It's hard to put into words the change of emotion from yesterday to today. Today was filled with hope, excitement for the future, lots of smiles, children dancing, lots of hugs and really getting to see how Compassion is making a difference in the lives of kids in Rwanda. There are currently over 48,000 kids who are being sponsored through Compassion in Rwanda. We met around 100 of them at a project site just outside of Kigali. The great strategic part about the project is that it is truly a partnership between Compassion and a local Anglican Church and school. This is the essential component to a Compassion project location- there has to be a local church in the area to partner with. 

Working with a local church ensures community involvement, leadership, and a strong connection to spiritual development. And once you meet the kids who are part of the Compassion projects, you see the power of holistic development for these kids. Compassion is about releasing kids from poverty, but also very strategic in developing the child to be a confident and mature adult. 

Muraho- this is Kinyarwanda for HELLO. Said this alot today to tons of kids. They say Muraho and then wave their hand side to side. 

And even with a language barrier, a smile says so much. Meet a kid with a smile and they immediately engage you. Same with all the Rwandese people I am meeting. As Jeff Shinabarger posted today, Rwanda is the land of a thousand hills, but also the land of a thousand smiles. Smiles are everywhere. A sign of hope.

You can check out the full range of photos from the trip so far on my flicker site.

National Day of Prayer

Just a reminder, today is the National Day of Prayer here in the US. Please take a moment during the day to stop and pray. Check out this picture of the President signing the proclamation in the oval office making the day official. Also in the picture is Joshua Dubois, the White House Director for the office of Faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. Joshua is a great guy and becoming a good friend, and doing great things with the office, bringing together many voices to try and create solutions for communities and organizations across the country.   

 

 

1st day in Rwanda

Very sobering and quite memorable day here in Kigali. Visited the Genocide Memorial this morning here in Kigali. Over 250,000 are buried at the memorial due to the Genocide in 1994. After hearing so much about the Genocide over the last several years, it was incredibly eye-opening to see the Memorial and talk to those who were survivors of the Genocide. What is amazing is the way the country has recovered from such a horrific and terrible experience. Only 15 years removed, but the country has come a long way in redemption, restoration, and forgiveness.  This afternoon we visited a church in rural Kigali where over 5,000 Tutsis were murdered in April of 1994. All were inside the Church during the genocide, thinking they had found a place of refuge from the attackers, but instead became an easy target and were murdered- mostly women and children. It is surreal to see tragedy like this up close, even 15 years removed. We actually listened to the story of a women who escaped from the Church- she was 10 years old at the time. Fled into the forest and hid out for several days. To hear her recount the story was numbing. 

I grew up in a town with around 5,000 people. I can't imagine any situation where all of the people in my community would be murdered and slaughtered together in the same church within a matter of two days. It literally is hard to imagine. Seeing and hearing about this kind of tragedy is both painful and also frustrating, mainly because the UN and the international community at large stood by and did nothing, only sending in troops to assist once the killing was largely over. What a tragedy. Over 1 million Rwandese were killed during the genocide during the 100 days between April and July of 1994. 

But even with such a great tragedy and dark spot in history for the country of Rwanda and the entire international community, this country has rebounded in an amazing way. Hope is the key word you hear. Forgiveness is a key phrase. Putting the past behind and moving forward. This is an amazing story of a country recovering from an atrocity that literally wiped out 20% of the country's population at the time. President Kagame has done a great job of leading the country and re-establishing national pride and a sense of identity. 

More to come tomorrow. You can also visit Jeff Shinabarger's blog for updates and perspective from him.

Rwanda Arrival

We have officially arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. After 20 hours of travel and one bag still to arrive (of course it was mine), everyone is here. There are 10 of us on the trip. The flight from Atlanta to Brussels was good, and then from Brussels to Kigali was mostly sleeping.  When arriving at the Kigali International Airport, the first thing you notice is the banana trees and the quiet stillness of the airport. Very small. Our plane was the only one at the airport. Customs was quick, and then of course everyone got their bag except for me. Classic. The good news though is that i have enough clothes in my carry on for several days. Reminds me of when Ken Coleman went to Zambia and didn't get his bags- any of them. He had to wear the same clothes for three days straight! 

The drive over to the hotel was about 10 minutes. The sky is incredibly lit up by stars with very little light from the city. Lots of motorbikes, mopeds, and small economy cars. Seems that the roads and feel of the city is pretty peaceful. There were lots of folks walking around the city and hanging out in small little town squares in multiple locations on our drive. 

Just had dinner with the group. Lots of rice, pasta, and chicken, plus some very good dessert. We have a great group here- a musician and his wife, a couple from Minnesota that put on a large music festival, couple of other folks from Nashville, one from Colorado Springs, and then three of us from Atlanta. We got to meet two of the Compassion staff that work here in Rwanda- John and Eugene. They are great, hospitable, and have welcomed us well to their country. 

More updates tomorrow, with pictures and some video. For now, please continue to pray for safety and good health for our group, and a good nights sleep!

Headed to Rwanda

Leaving today for Rwanda. Several of us are going over with Compassion International to experience the country, see the work Compassion is doing, and understand how we might be able to help in fighting poverty and hunger for the people of Rwanda. And ultimately how we can be involved, even in small ways, in bringing hope to children in Rwanda and all throughout Africa. Really looking forward to this trip. I will be blogging and sending consistent tweets from the trip, so will keep everyone updated with pictures and posts. Appreciate the prayers!

Summary from Catalyst West

9 days after we wrapped up Catalyst West Coast, and I am still trying to get my hands around all that God accomplished during those three days with over 3,300 young leaders. It was an amazing experience. The energy was electric. The leaders in attendance were hungry for a memorable experience. Everyone there- speakers, staff, attendees, volunteers, musicians, entertainers- we all were anticipating something special. God showed up big time. Lives were impacted. Leaders were challenged. Collectively, there is now a group of young leaders who are inspired to make a difference. These leaders were already poised to be Catalysts in their spheres of influence; we just gave them a network and a gathering by which to be inspired.  It is so hard to thank everyone who needs to be thanked, so I am not going to try. But I am going to post a video later this week with some thoughts- instead of trying to write them all down, it's easier just to mention the thoughts and highlights in a stream of vocal production. So stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can visit Ben Arment's blog for summaries, as well as going to the post event website where there are a number of resources and ongoing connection points for the new network of leaders on the West Coast.

Shane Hipps at Q

Shane Hipps spoke last night to wrap up day one at Q and did a brilliant job. Talking on the "distraction of technology" and how it pulls us from being "present in the moment." So true. I find myself constantly checking twitter, email, facebook, safari, wordpress, and whatever else I have on my phone the minute I find myself bored or have at least a small window of margin in my time during the day. Is this healthy? Not sure. Does it help in creating true community? Again, not sure. Really wrestling with this. In many ways, we've become addicted and controlled by our phones, computers, and clocks. Shane argued last night that this is not healthy, nor is it Biblical.  Really excited about Shane speaking at Catalyst in October in Atlanta. Get ready to be challenged!

Catalyst West

Today was an amazing day. Hillsong United, Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Fee Band, Ravi Zacharias, Jud Wilhite, Guy Kawasaki, Catherine Rohr, Nick Voijic. Unbelievable! Incredible amount of energy among the leaders who are gathered here in Orange County- all 3,300 in attendance. This is the start of something big for leaders on the West Coast. More on that later.  For now, just a quick funny moment - we asked the entire room to give us a shot for Tripp's blog- everyone doing something together. Here is what we got:

The crowd turns on Tripp!

Thumbs down!

More updates and reflections to come. So many amazing leaders and strategic conversations and connections being made. Gotta get to bed for another great day tomorrow!

New Digital Magazine from Catalyst and Leadership Journal

Check it out. We have been working together the last several months on a new project with Leadership Journal. Here it is. Launching today. Brand new digital magazine - CatalystLeadership.  Big props go to Marshall Shelley, Skye Jethani, and Nate Johnson from the Christianity Today/Leadership Journal team for making this happen. 

This is a FREE digital magazine so that millions of young leaders from around the world can have access to great content and practical application. Check it out and forward to your friends.

Airplane Etiquette, Part Four

A whole new post regarding Airplane Etiquette, or actually lack of it, after a long flight earlier today.  New items to add to the list:

1. Tommy Turnaround- the guy in front of me on a number of occasions actually turned around and sat on his armchair facing me, sitting high and looking over the back of his chair. He was reading a book, but it was still creepy.

2. Larry Leaner- Someone may have already brought this one up, but again, had it today for 5 hours! Larry is in the middle, I am in the aisle, and he leans on me as he falls asleep. Multiple elbows, throat clears, and side swipes don't seem to alleviate the issue.

3. Wrong Way Wes- so you know how everybody stands up when the plane gets to the gate, even though you still have 5 minutes before you are even thinking of exiting the plane. So Wes decides to stand up, and then instead of facing towards the front of the plane like everyone else, he decides to stand and look in my direction, towards the back of the plane. Multiple minutes of trying to avoid eye contact at close range is a difficult task!

End of week items

- Check out this three part interview between Louie Giglio and Andy Stanley. This is part one, but go ahead and also download part 2 and 3. Great interview series.  - Article on Fast Company's website regarding Scott Belsky and the Behance Conference going on this weekend at the Times Center in New York. The conference is dubbed "the 99% conference," referring to the notion that making ideas happen is 99% perspiration. Scott is the founder of Behance and will be speaking at Catalyst in October. Really excited about hearing him. 

- An interesting take on business cards on Tripp's blog. 

- You need to read Seth's advice on giving a presentation. 

- Amazing stop motion graffiti animation in this video. Check it out. Thanks to Jeremy for the heads up on this. This is unbelievable stuff.

Podcast recording for Cat West Roadtrip Edition

a few pics from our Catalyst West Coast Special Roadtrip Edition Podcast recording. Special guests included Perry Noble, Carlos Whittaker, Aaron Keyes, Tyler Stanton, and Tripp Crosby, along with the Catalyst team. Getting geared up for next week in LA!  You can listen to the roadtrip edition here. And if you are heading to the event, listen in your car on your way to Mariners Church, about one hour from arriving! 

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Taking Risks

Yesterday was on a conference call with several leaders. One of the questions that was asked was "why do you step out and risk when you have a comfortable niche you are running in? Why change if things are going great for you?"  Great question. Had to think about my answer. Four things stood out to me on the whole issue of taking a risk:

1. Entrepreneurs and Type A Leaders are never satisfied with the status quo and the comfortable niche. They can't stand to sit still. Their DNA won't allow it. 

2. Stewardship- because what you are running or leading is temporary, and your responsibility is to steward it correctly, if others need it, and this requires changing or risking, then you need to step out and continue to push the envelope with what God has given you.  

3. Adventure and the power of the pioneer- we are wired to be pioneers. To go on an adventure. Pure and simple. 

4. Due diligence suggests it's time to move- do your homework, research, talk to people, and take very seriously the idea that you are risking. It's dumb to step out and change/take a risk if you haven't properly prepared and surveyed the landscape. But once you've done your homework and prepared, then go for it. Many people stifle the actual desire to step out because they spent too much time on due diligence.

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