Category: Develop Partners (Page 4 of 4)

Unless you have been to the Botanical Garden in the last couple months you would never guess what filled these beds last week. There were plants the size of small trees which highlighted a lush landscape along the reflecting pool. Now it is a tilled bed ready for the next planting.

As I walked and prayed through the garden I stood and reflected over this empty bed. It led me to ask God if there were short term things he was calling me to invest my time in this season of developing partners for ethnic minority staff in InterVarsity.

Could you join me in asking God what’s next?

One of my favorite prayers of praise to God is 1 Chronicles 29:10-13. This prayer of David was inspired by the generosity the leaders to the work of God. As the people in this passage saw their leaders give so “freely and wholeheartedly” (including David) they started to worship, which caused David to worship and speak this beautiful prayer.

A couple questions that arose for our team as we studied this passage:

• Do we lead our communities with this free and wholehearted generosity to the work of God?
• Are we drawn to worship God like this as we receive notification of the generosity of our partners in another donation, a meal served to students, a student mentored, or a campus prayed for?

How about for you? What does it look like for you to give freely and wholeheartedly to the work of God? As you see ministry through InterVarsity go forward through the generosity of so many would you join us in this circle of worship to God?

A prayer tip: prior to asking God for that which is on your heart read this section of scripture out loud 5-10 times, then speak prayers of worship to God in your own words, and after that bring your requests. I find that this helps me first to connect to who God is which significantly helps me as I bring him my requests. 

The ideal in ministry partner training in my organization (and many others) is to help a staff learn to ‘ride on their own’ in developing ministry partnerships and send them off. Our problem – everyone does not come from a network that knows, has all the resources needed, or supports organizations like InterVarsity.

This year I am working to help staff not ‘ride on their own’ but in a group of other staff, like a peloton. I am focusing my work with the Missouri staff team and a group of staff reaching Latino students in Southern California. Please pray that I can take my learning from many years of developing partners and watching the Tour de France 🙂 to help us move forward in this area.

Many from my organization are also attending a day long gathering on partnership development and justice.