Looking back on the last seven years (Part 1)

Looking back on the last seven years (Part 1)
April 29, 2014
 

Seven years ago, I was at one of those scary transition points.  DAWN Ministries was coming to an end.  DAWN (an acronym for Discipling A Whole Nation) was a remarkable ministry that had played an important role in seeing tens of thousands of churches planted in countries around the world.  It was at DAWN that I first heard the idea of fulfilling the Great Commission by seeing a church (Christ incarnated) within easy access of every person in each country.  (For more on DAWN, see http://www.sebts.edu/cgcs/images/DAWN-Vstatement.pdf 

I had worked in DAWN for six years as part of the North American Team.  I was comfortable there.  The larger organization handled things like administration and finances.  (Not my strengths!)  And, the North American Team worked together to develop and implement our strategy.  (I always felt I worked best as part of a team.  Not having to be “the” leader.)  But, all of this, for various reasons, was coming to an end.  “Lord, why is this happening?  What do I do now?”

Slowly, I began to feel that the Lord wanted me to start a new ministry that would focus not just on North America but the whole world.  The vision remained the same.  To fulfill the Great Commission by seeing a church (a vibrant family of Jesus) within easy access of every person in each country.  The new name was to be LK10 Ministries because it is in that chapter, Luke 10, that we see the clearest picture of Jesus’ strategy for the expansion of the Kingdom of God.

The prospect of having to start something new from scratch frightened me.  I felt very inadequate because I knew I didn’t have the necessary skills and gifts.  I felt like I was the last person who should be founding a new ministry.  And, yet, I also kept feeling that this was what the Lord wanted me to do.  Three things gave me courage to move ahead.  First, the Lord told me that all He expected of me was faithfulness.  Each day I was to listen for the few, small assignments He had for me and then, be faithful in doing those.  Just take the next small steps.  (See Lk 19:17 and Mt 25:21)  Second, my wife, Tamela, was supportive of this new direction.  And, third, my friend, Kent Smith (who had been part of the DAWN Team) was supportive.  He said that he thought this was from the Lord and that he would journey with me in it.

Recently, I surveyed our Regional Coordinators about what has happened through LK10 in their areas over these last seven years.  Their answers were quite amazing!  In my next post, I’ll share with you what they said.

John