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We have made it to the beautiful city of Shanghai. It is far more modern, far prettier, far more advanced than I could have even imagined.
Some of my initial observations are comical. We stay with friends from Germany that are now hired in as engineering expertise. Part of the agreement with the host employer is that they have a driver at all times. Mr. Soon takes us around to various sites across Shanghai - always stopping in the street to make sure that I get the photo.
I have never seen more dedicated service - attention to your every whim when entering stores. If you stop and look at a product. Turn to the left and another employee is standing at your shoulder. Turn right, yet another.
On the street it is not much different. Street vendors with their wares are eager to peddle their colorful products.
The cuisine is absolutely fabulous. The only problem is my inability to use chopsticks. In that all that is served has been so tasty, I keep battling the two wooden sticks until my hand cramps. Sitting with me at the table and you would think that I have reverted to being a toddler, learning to eat. Table manners are simply gone. Disgusting what I have become, but everything is too delicious to care what others think.
One thing that has struck me is the curiosity of the locals. We have been followed a number of times by young and old alike - just wanting to get a better look. Too funny.
One of the restrictions is that Facebook is not available. Getting my Blackberry to hook up to wifi and the internet has been unsuccessful to this point. This makes communication really restricted.
We are off today to explore more of Shanghai.
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The bigger an organisation becomes, the more a leader has to prioritize tasks. That is not a news flash.
So what makes it to the top of your list in your role as a leader? Of all the things that you can do, of all the things that require your attention, what is it that you alone can do?
The main thing is your role as communicator. Giving information with clarity is job number one. Information is what keeps the team in-formation.
The past few days have required that kind of personal attention. Our church has a team of seven headed to Manila to explore the possibilities of finding transferable evangelistic principles in working with teens.
Creating a platform for internet communication, almost real-time reports for the church in Germany became a priority. Many secondary pleasures had to fall to the side in order to get ministry accomplished. In the coming days both this site and a new church site will carry blog updates.
What are you doing to keep your closest circle informed and providing the feeling of being connected?
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Being the oldest sibling, I have had the longest opportunity to view my mother up close. Let me just write a few lines.
She is the glue that holds our family together. Mom is of the persuasion that if you don't have anything good to say, you just keep it to yourself. And that has been something she has always done. I need more of that in my life.
Mom has this killer pork roast. It is salted and baked, then surrounded by sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. That was Sunday dinner growing up. I think it was the sauerkraut that made me want to come to Germany.
That home cooking is the cornerstone of family events. Tables are spread throughout the dining room and into the living room to be able to handle all the kids and grandkids; there are probably only four matched chairs, but there are always enough for anyone coming. Laughter fills the room, soon surplanted by merciless teasing when my brother and I get together. Some things simply don't change even after 40 years have passed. There is something healing about laughter.
The past ten months we have cried alot. One chair is empty now at family gatherings since my kid sister went to live with Jesus. But Mom's head is still held high, even when her heart is heavy. No self-pity. Somehow she goes on.
I never once heard her speak a sharp word to Dad. There was the 'look', but never a public dispute. Somehow I think she understands more about grace that I do.
Mom still lives in the same house - the first they ever purchased. The neighborhood has changed, and not really much for the better. It is not the classy side of town. But Mom doesn't care to move. She is the stable glue that holds us all together.
Her hair turned white - the kind that speaks of wisdom; the wisdom gathered from many years of highs and lows. My mother is a class act.
I love my mother.
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157 years ago a young 21 year old named Hudson Taylor arrived in Shanghai, China. The face of missions and missions work would be radically changed via the boldness of his life and work.
When you think of the term contextualization, Taylor epitomized it by example. Missions and missionaries in the 19th century from London had certain unwritten guidelines as to how things were to be done. It was Hudson who did the unthinkable and donned local attire and hairstyle - all to assist an adopted culture to focus their attention on Christ, rather than the oddities of what was a foreign culture to them.
Hudson Taylor was a maverick.
Hudson Taylor has been a guiding example and shaping force on my thoughts, on my life, on my ministry philosophy. Hudson Taylor is the man.
Get this - Debbie and I spend a week in his adopted cities beginning February 7, 2011. Really. Shangai. Hanghzou. Yangzhou. Tracing the steps of this man who became an unstoppable force for his savior.
"If I had a thousand pounds China should have it- if I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do too much for such a precious Saviour?"
No, there are no plans to grow a ponytail. But you can count on my heart racing as we take in the sites of the culture he loved so dearly.
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In a recent article Seth Godin speaks about the difficulties of breaking free and changing your direction.
The guy [Bill James] who revolutionized baseball stats had a simple insight: past performance is a good indicator of future performance.
Although we claim to enjoy our freedom and really struggle against anything that restricts our choice, are we really free? Theologians would indicate that although we have a will that can choose, we have a bent that restricts true freedom. Although all things can become new, until that pattern is set, past performance is often a better indicator of future performance.
Godin points out this trait plays out in the hiring process. When you put a team together for a project, getting the right people selected is going to be critical. It is not just a good interview that determines the outcome, but whether the team can count on each other. Especially in a non-profit environment, where it is volunteer service, without the enticement of the carrot or the motivation of the stick.
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