These past two days, hubby and I attended the Leadership Summit at a church in the area. It was indeed a breath of fresh air for us. We needed to be lift up and encourage. We needed to be mentored by various leaders both in the church and business side of things. It was a great two days with some speakers I liked more than others.
For example, there is that young entrepreneur who created a website so that people can give loans to people who can't have some from the bank. Entrepreneurs who want to do better for their families in countries where poverty is rampant. The site is KIVA.ORG . It's worth looking into it.
The other speaker I really liked was Harvey Carey who is the pastor at the Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit, MI. He pastors a church in the poorest zip code, in the poorest city, in the poorest state of the US (according to him). Anyhow, this guy predicted that he would be our expresso with no sugar or milk and honestly he was. WoW! So much energy. The story that impressed me the most is when he told about getting his congregation together to go camping and eat smores in from of crack houses. They did it multiple times and the crack houses are now close... *grin* Obviously people didn't went to buy drugs when you had a bunch of people singing Kumbala and eating smores in front of it... Or the three white ladies from the suburbs who drove to go in the are at 1 am to minister to prostitutes. WoW! One thing for sure - if we ever go spend some time in Detroit, I plan to visit his church. Thanks Harvey!
I really like the brothers Chip and Dan Heath who spoke about their upcoming book Switch. I had printed the introduction to their previous book Made to Stick. I'm impressed by what I read and heard that I want to get their books.
Bono was once again part of the group. Returning after 3 years. He shook the church by his interview back in 2006 and many churches stood up and did something for the poor. He was impressed saying "I didn't think it would wake up the sleeping giant and that the giant would run so fast." Still Bono is not attached to a specific church so pray that he will find is fit somewhere...
Wess Stafford - president of Compassion International... What can I say about him? He moved me to tears and I cried while he told his story. Mostly he was talking about pain. And many didn't know the abuse he experienced when he was young. Someone would think the abuse was from his parents but no.... it wasn't. His family didn't know about it for many years... He even didn't talk about it for decades before opening up. All the participants receive a copy of his book Too Small To Ignore. I am quite excited to read it.
Also on site,World Vision was there. We got a Poverty and Justice Bible where more than 2000 verses in it are marked. Verses speaking about poverty and justice. It's an interesting concept. Also in it, there is a special section where you can find Poverty and Justice in 3-D. They are devotional on specific verses with discovery about an issue, time to think about it and taking action as well. I intend to do some with the kids during the school year.
These were my highlights from the Leadership Summit. There were other good ones but these people touched me in way I wouldn't have expected. We also got a DVD about FIRING, HIRING AND BOARD MELTDOWNS. Since we have both a business and a church we thought it would be good to go through it.
I feel refreshed indeed in my soul.
As for the smell of paint... well when arrive on Thursday - the dining room and hall-way had a first coat of paint. Yesterday the dining room was completed. So it smell paint in the house... And we are not done. More to come! Like the hallway and kitchen today.
I'm blessed. I have the greatest in-laws in the whole wide world. Sorry guys! They are mine. And all their children are married....
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