Merry Christmas to all of you! Bertha and I (Ken) are currently in Taiwan for a few weeks and will be celebrating the birth of Christ with our son and his family.
A little over a week ago, I was at the M Consultation in the Philippines with 24 others from our teams around the world, learning about the amazing things God is doing among Muslim peoples and how we can engage them more effectively. So few of the Muslim  peoples understand the significance of Christ coming to earth as King and Saviour. In most of the places we work, we are seeing only a few becoming disciples of Christ. But we persevere in prayer and long to see the harvest that the King has been pleased to bring about in other places.
We had planned this M Consultation for well over a year, but despite all our planning, we saw significant challenges in the last few days that threatened to derail the whole thing - or at least undermine its effectiveness. Several key people needed operations just before the consultation, flights were canceled, one of our participants was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the week - but in the end, the King won the victory and the consultation ended with many good action plans created and networks formed.
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Time to think about your Growth Plan for 2020
As we head toward a new year, we want to ask each of you to spend some time putting together your Individual Growth Plan for next year. SEND U has put together the AMP and IGP Guide that may be of help to you. You can find it on the wiki on this page.
Again, I remind you that your IGP should support your ministry goals for the coming year. Your AMP (Annual Ministry Plan) is where you write down your new ministry priorities for 2020. Then your IGP (Individual Growth Plan) is where you identify what you want to learn in order to be able to accomplish your ministry plan more effectively.
In many professions like health care, teaching, law, accounting, and engineering, professionals are required to earn continuing education credits each year to maintain their licenses. They do so to stay up-to-date on what is happening in their field and also to hone and improve the skills they already have. Our work as missionaries is no less important than that of a doctor or an engineer. In order to be the best steward of the gifts and opportunities that the Master has given us, let us intentionally plan to develop those gifts and learn what we need to learn for ministry in 2020.
As you plan your IGP, don't forget about the various learning opportunities that will be available at your regional and area conferences in 2020. Asia, Eurasia, and Europe are all planning large regional conferences, and I am sure there will be training opportunities at each one. What other conferences (online or otherwise) would be places where you could nurture your spiritual life and new ministry skills?
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One great place to find high-quality content for your IGP and learning is RightNow Media. This organization ( https://www.rightnowmedia.org/) is the world's largest library of on-demand Bible study videos. You can watch videos by Francis Chan, David Platt, Matt Chandler, and Ed Stetzer as well as hundreds more excellent Bible teachers. Missio Nexus Leaders' Conference sessions are also found on RightNow Media. All SEND members have free access to RightNow Media through our organizational affiliation to Missio Nexus. Watch this video to understand more of what we have access to.
You may have received an invitation telling you about your FREE Access to a RightNow Media account a couple of weeks ago. Follow the links in that email to set up your account. If you did not receive this invitation, please contact Marcie Williamson ( mwilliamson@send.org). |
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Keep learning,
Ken
Ken Guenther
SEND U Director based in Kyiv, Ukraine
&
Beth
Beth Eckstein
SEND U Assistant Director based in Taichung, Taiwan
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The latest 5 posts to the SEND U blog:
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