We assembled a team of 5 volunteers to go and serve on this project. The team consisted of: Brett Rogers, Stephen Rugg, Josh Erquiaga, JP Babiera and Fady Eldeiry. We joined Jeff Hazard, Dave Tilly, Greg Yost, two students, Daniel and Kevin and some help from the hospital staff next door.

It was a wonderful team of talents, gifts and great character. The purpose of WePartner is to network people together and make gifts translate into good work. To re-discover the passion that each one has to do the work God called each to do. It was a great picture of team work and watching miracles happen when we all focus on the purpose of the work.

I want to thank each and everyone who worked on this project. All of you were a great testimony to each other and to RVA. You’ve given so much of your energy, gifts and talents, and character. You’ve focused on your work and had a great attitude, even though the work was much and the time was few.

Thank you to all the wives who let us all spend so much time away from family, and for your support this week. It was a great view to see you being part of the team with your support, encouragements, smile and just being there. God bless all of you and your families.

Fady Eldeiry.

Any successful sports team has these characteristics:

Well organized: Disciplined, everyone knows their role, work together in harmony (teamwork). You can learn some organization from home. When I was your age, we had to take our own dishes to the sink after we ate, we participated in cleaning our home and fixed our beds. I discovered that these exercises helped me understand the importance of being organized, even though, at the time, they felt like punishment! I discovered they taught me self respect and self dignity, to keep my home clean and take pride of how nice it looks! As a family, you are a team that works together to have a healthy and strong relationship with each other, and everyone in the family has a role.
Well trained: A well trained team, requires a good leader and a good self leader.
The coach is the leader: Your leader will guide you and mentor you. He/she will lift you up and encourage you when you’re down. They will teach you new ideas, they will challenge you in your thinking, they will show you how to train your mind. Examples of the coaches in your life are: your parents and your teachers here in school.
Self leadership: You will learn so much from your leaders, but you have to make choices all the time throughout your lives: do I do my homework or not, do I make my bed or not, do I make my family relationships a priority or not? Making a good choice, requires the exercise of self leadership. When nobody is looking! You will have the discipline and self-control to make a good decision. The more you train your mind, the better you’ll get at making good decisions. Just like exercise, it’s hard in the beginning, but it gets easier with practice! I know a little bit about exercising, it’s hard! I don’t like it sometimes! But I have to do it, because of that the choice I made.
Accountability: You will not make the good decision every time in your life, so take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Your coach (parents and teachers) can help you. They can hold you accountable. I’ve learned that trusting my coaches is very important, because I learned that they care about me and love me, even if it doesn’t look like that sometimes. Love brings trust.

So talking about exercising! I have some exercises for you to start out with:

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always, protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Matthew 5:44
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Ephesians 4:1-3
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Remember, the more you exercise, the more you’ll learn new things. Just like your muscles, they grow stronger each time. And remember exercising is very hard!!! But it always feels good at the end of each session of exercise. And, in time, you’ll extend your exercise to stretch yourself even more. Just like when you’re able to do 20 sit-ups, you start a new goal of 30 or 40!

The children of God and children of you father in heaven: just like when an elder looks at you and says, you act just like your father or mother! It’s the same way here, if you make peace, love your enemy, and keep the unity, you do just like God, the ultimate leader of your life!

Love your enemy! Make peace! Keep the unity! Become a child of God!

أي فريق رياضي ناجح عنده هڈه التخصصات

منظم: منضبط، و كل شخص بالفريق يعرف دوره، و بالتالى الفريق يعمل مع بعض فى وئام. يمكنك أن تتعلم عن النظام من خلال بيتك و أسرتك. لما كنت بسنكم، كان لازماً علينا أن نأخذ صحوننا للحوض كل مرة بعد الطعام. كنا نساعد فى تنظيف البيت و نرتب السرير. اكتشفت ان هذه التمارين ساعدتنى على التعرف بأهمية النظام، حتى و أنهم فى ذلك الوقت كانوا فى نظرى كالعقاب، اكتشفت انهم علموننى احترام النفس و كرامة النفس. ليكون بيتى نظيف … كعائلة أنتم فريق يعمل معا لغرض علاقات صحية و قوية مع بعضكم لبعض و كل عضو بالعائلة له ضوره

مدرب جيدا: الفريق المدرب جيدا يحتاج الى مدرب جيد و أيضا كل عضو يحتاج أن يدرب نفسه

الكوتش (المدرب) للفريق هو القائد. القائد يدللك فى الطريق و ايضا يشير الى نقات مهمة فى مسيرتك. القائد سيرفعك و يشجعك عندما تكون محبط. هو أو هى سيعلمك أفكار جديدة. سَيَتَحَداك تستعمل طرق جديدة للتفكير. سيعلمك كيف تدرب زهنك و مخك. أمثال للمدربين فى حياتك هم أبك و أمك و معلمين المدرسة

قيادة النفس: ستتعلم الكثير من قادتك، لكن يجب عليك أنت وحدك أن تختار أولوياتك فى الحياة. (أعمل واجب المدرسة ولا لأ، أوضب السرير ولا لأ، أهتم بعلاقتى مع أسرتى ولا لأ؟ الإختيار الجيد يحتاج للتدريب على قيادة النفس. لما ما يكون أحد ينظرك ! سيكون لديك الإنضباط و ضبط النفس لتختار الطريق الصحيح. كلما دربت زهنك، كلما بقيت أحسن فى إتخاذ القرار الجيد. مثل التدريب الجسدى، التدريب الذهنى صعب فى البداية، لكنه يبقه أسهل مع التديب المستمر ! فى بعض الأيام لا أحب التدريب لكنى يجب على أن أدرب نفسى لأتمم الإختيار الذى قررته

تحمل المسؤلية: فى بعض الأوقات لن تختار الطريق الصحيح، فانتهذ الفرصة لتتعلم من أخطاءك. قائدك (أباك و أمك و معلمينك) يمكنهم أن يساعدوك فى الطريق. يكمنهم أن يساعدوك فى تحمل المسؤلية الذى أخذتها. تعلمت أن الثقة بقادتى مهمة جدا لأنهم يهتموا بى و يحبوننى، حتى و ان كان هذا لا يرى فى بعض الاوقات. المحبة للآخر تنمى ثقتهم فيك.

بما أننا نتكلم عن التدريب ! عندى بعض التدريبات لكى تبدئون بها، تدريبات من الإنجيل

غلاطية ٥: ٢٢

وَأَمَّا ثَمَرُ الرُّوحِ فَهُوَ: الْمَحَبَّةُ وَالْفَرَحُ وَالسَّلامُ، وَطُولُ الْبَالِ وَاللُّطْفُ وَالصَّلاَحُ، وَالأَمَانَةُ وَالْوَدَاعَةُ وَضَبْطُ النَّفْسِ. وَلَيْسَ مِنْ قَانُونٍ يَمْنَعُ مِثْلَ هَذِهِ الْفَضَائِلِ.

١ كورونثوس ١٣: ٤-٨

الْمَحَبَّةُ تَصْبِرُ طَوِيلاً؛ وَهِيَ لَطِيفَةٌ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَحْسُدُ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَتَفَاخَرُ وَلاَ تَتَكَبَّرُ.  الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَتَصَرَّفُ بِغَيْرِ لِيَاقَةٍ، وَلاَ تَسْعَى إِلَى مَصْلَحَتِهَا الْخَاصَّةِ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تُسْتَفَزُّ سَرِيعاً، وَلاَ تَنْسُبُ الشَّرَّ لأَحَدٍ.الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَفْرَحُ بِالظُّلْمِ، بَلْ تَفْرَحُ بِالْحَقِّ. إِنَّهَا تَسْتُرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ، وَتُصَدِّقُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ، وَتَرْجُو كُلَّ شَيْءٍ، وَتَتَحَمَّلُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تسقُط أَبَداً.

متى ٥: ٤٤

أَحِبُّوا أَعْدَاءَكُمْ، وَبَارِكُوا لاَعِنِيكُمْ، وَأَحْسِنُوا مُعَامَلَةَ الَّذِينَ يُبْغِضُونَكُمْ، وَصَلُّوا لأَجْلِ الَّذِينَ يُسِيئُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَيَضْطَهِدُونَكُمْ، فَتَكُونُوا أَبْنَاءَ أَبِيكُمُ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ

متى ٥: ٩

طُوبَى لِصَانِعِي السَّلاَمِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ سَيُدْعَوْنَ أَبْنَاءَ اللهِ

أفسس ٤: ١-٣

أُنَاشِدُكُمْ أَنْ تَسْلُكُوا سُلُوكاً يَلِيقُ بِالدَّعْوَةِ الَّتِي إِلَيْهَا دُعِيتُمْ، بِكُلِّ تَوَاضُعٍ وَوَدَاعَةٍ وَطُولِ بَالٍ، مُحْتَمِلِينَ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاً فِي الْمَحَبَّةِ، مُجْتَهِدِينَ أَنْ تُحَافِظُوا عَلَى وَحْدَةِ الرُّوحِ بِرَابِطَةِ الْوِفَاقِ.

إفتكر! كلما تدربت كلما تعلمت أشياء جديدة. مثل عضلاتك، يبقون أقوى كل مرة. و إفتكر ! أن التدريب صعب جداً! لكنك دائما فى نهايه كل تدريب ترضى بنفسك ! و بعد عدة مرات ستتعلم أشياء جديدة و سيعوزك أنن تتعلم أكثر و أكثر ! كما فى التدريبات الجسدية ستبدأ بخمسمئة أمتار و بعد ذلك كيلو و اثنين و اربعة !

أَبْنَاءَ أَبِيكُمُ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ و سَيُدْعَوْنَ أَبْنَاءَ اللهِ: كما يراك الناس و يقولون أنك تشبه أباك أو أمك، ستشبه الله حينما تصنع السلام أو تحب أعدائك. الله عنده هذه الصفات

أحبوا أعدائكم ! إصنعوا السلام ! حافظوا على الوحدة ! تبقى ابنا لله

]]> http://wepartner.org/?feed=rss2&p=371 0 http://wepartner.org/?p=309 http://wepartner.org/?p=309#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:43:53 +0000 Fady Eldeiry http://wepartner.org/?p=309 Ephesians 3:19-21; “…and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
It is with great pleasure that I’m able to come and serve here at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi. I haven’t been to the heart of Africa for over 7 years now, and I miss it! It felt really good to arrive at the airport and come out smelling Africa! The ground is Africa Brown. You could see the color of it everywhere! Malawi is a country in southern Africa, surrounded by Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.

On our way from the airport, we passed by a gas (petrol) station, and there was a line on the street about 20-25 cars long! There’s shortage in diesel, and people have to wait in line forever to get a fill-up!

I met some wonderful people here in Lilongwe. People who are passionate about their calling to serve Africa. Stella, who’s on staff at Willow Creek, lives here and she’s the one who brought the Summit to Malawi. I met Ernest, who is on the committee that organized the summit, he was the do it all person, the man who knows how to get things done in Malawi. He and his wife are heroes, when we had no power on Saturday, his wife found 10 litres of diesel for the generator to power the GLS for us. She reminded me of the women who poured all her fragrance on Jesus’ feet; with Malawi’s shortage on fuel these days, it was a wonderful gesture to give diesel for the Summit! Funwayo is a pastor from a city 4 hours away! He came and helped with powerpoint and other technical help. Grace was the glue! She has a wonderful smile, great attitude and a final exam on Monday! She was waking up at 2AM everyday this week to study, then she goes on to work on GLS work during the day.

I saw the love that surpasses knowledge this week in all of them. They obeyed God’s calling for them, and He delivered His message using them. So, while we couldn’t imagine a video and audio signal that is professionally displayed for the conference audience. While we couldn’t imagine power coming out of the generator on Saturday. While we couldn’t imaging even powering the generator itself with diesel that requires drivers to spend the night in front of gas stations, just to get their cars filled up. God did “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

There’s a common life between all of God’s people, bringing Hope to the world. I’m inspired to keep focus!

Our common goal was laid out right here; to keep the unity, be humble and gentle, patient, baring with one another in love….  There’s so much in this little passage!  Again, only the Holy Spirit can help us do all this.

Jesus’ prayer in John 17: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. ²⁵“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Jesus knew we would not be unified all the time.  We have to spend so much energy on this, it’s not easy, but with the Holy Spirit, He’ll make us one if we ask Him.

God bless everyone who wants this and give you strength.

Leaders who are passionate about their people will work hard to follow this teaching.  I realize that, as people, we cannot do much of that by ourselves, but with the Holy Spirit in us, the passage says that we need to listen to Him.  ”Do not grieve the Holy Spirit” means to me that I should listen to Him and follow His prompting.  Trust me, I don’t do that all the time either!

Reconciliation is a grace gift that God has given us.  It comes from Christ’s redemption to us.  He has reconciled us first, and that’s the grace He’s given us.  I can’t imagine that God, who’s alive and loves us, who created us, reconciled to us.  But then, I think the reason is just that!  He’s alive, He created us, He loves us.

If I make a computer program, or setup a network, I want it to be alive and working!  I don’t want viruses all over it and see it crawling to death.  I will do everything to get it back to the vibrant life it was, when it was born.  I think God has reason to bring us back to life.  Why?  Because He’s alive and wants the relationship.  We always want our loved ones around us, especially when we’re sick or have problems.  We want the relationship, we don’t want to be alone.  God wants us to hang out with Him!

Finding common ground among Christ’s body is an important task we MUST work on.  We can’t go around spreading rumors about each other, or work independently of each other.  Leaders need to wake up and realize that time is not on their side.  Life is short, people die everyday and leaders must hold each others’ hands and work together for the common ground, taking care of people and growing the Church.  The more leaders connect on the common ground, the less rumors will be out there.  People will be together on the same team, which will make community grow and trust will be born out of that.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

¹⁸I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

When God gives us vision, His power is also available for implementation.  Energy is required to do anything, and He’s got that energy covered for us.  We just have to dream His dreams, and He will provide the vision, plan, people and the power!

Bureaucracy says: Privileged information, we only share what we think is appropriate
The Internet says: share information, and you get better feedback

Bureaucracy says: We control the Presidential debates. Find influencial high powered people to ask questions.
The Internet says: You can record your own question on YouTube and we’ll answer it.

Bureaucracy says: We make decisions, you follow
The Internet says: You can give your opinion and we listen. We dialogue about solutions and decision making processes.

Bureaucracy says: It’s Mandatory!
The Internet says: I realize the importance of it and will attend…

Bureaucracy says:

“Neither,” he replied… Joshua 5:13

Neither. When I read that, I realized that God is not the enemy of anyone! Whether we love Him or want to fight Him, we’re still not His enemy. When we commit to a relationship with Him, we get closer and closer to Him. We start dialogging with Him more and hear His voice. It’s amazing to realize that God doesn’t want to fight anyone, but wants us to all focus on Him. He’s the constant that will make us focus on Him and not fight with each other.

Starting in Acts 11:19, the Bible tells about the confused and multi-culture people who reunited in Christ. “The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” So, Christ brought back the world to reconcile them to God, and as a result they reconciled to each other as one People who belong to God.

Like Willow Creek says, “Only God” can do that! The miracle of reconciling people together happened when Jesus was recognized as their Lord. It’s awesome to see how God can gather people from different languages, cultures and beliefs; to form one family that worships Him.

God gave her a vision to help the poor, help the people she’s living with and not worry about her status. She believed that when she cares for them, she cared for Jesus Himself.

The Bible talks exactly about that. Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ” Matthew 25:34 (NIV)

When the priest finally met with her, he came out and said, “Who are we to stop the pencil of God?!” I love that! When God gives a vision, He will give the resources to get it done. He will also tell others that this vision is from Him. He will open the doors, as long as, we keep the faith that He wants us to do this, and that ‘it’s not about me’!!! It’s an excersice to always remind ourselves that it’s about God. The more we remember this, the more we give Him space to do His miracles.

I’m excited about using the pencil of God! Hold the pencil and watch Him write!

It reminds me of how we forget about God’s faithful when we run into crisis. That’s the age old issue that makes us sink into our current problems, get overwhelmed and forget how God has been faithful to us during our last crisis.

I know about short-term memory, my calendar has to be stuck to my phone, which has to be stuck to me at all times. If I don’t have that phone, I forget most of what happened during my day; I need to email myself quick notes in order to remember. I have to write down numbers, so I don’t forget them by the time I get to my destination to type them somewhere! That’s another reason I like technology, because it enables me to overcome some of my issues!

I’m very excited about the times we’re living in, where we can have hope that freedom will bring respect and human dignity to all. I like the statement Obama made about telling leaders everywhere, “your people will judge you by what you build, not what you destroy.” You bring it to yourself, by making poor choices of power that are selfish and forget about the people you’re leading. It’s like that saying that helps us when we’re down, “when Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!” Leaders with integrity think of others before they think of themselves; they think of coming generations and their future. They’re selfless.

The reward of someone taking care of others has always proved high. Jesus’ reward was resurrection and life! That’s His promise to us also! That’s freedom!

I’m proud of America today and I’m proud to be an American.

“For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:5 (NIV)

• Jesus sets us free, which means we’re not anxious about life’s mysteries, emergencies or surprises, because we know He’s in control and He’s faithful. The deeper our relationship is with Him, the more we experience His faithfulness.
• Living in the USA, I learned more about freedom, human rights and respect, the economy and living together from many cultures and nations.

Living in this time as history is being made is an amazing experience. To see the events unfold as they are is a gift from God. Jesus said in John 8:31, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He introduced authentic freedom. It’s our opportunity to embrace His teachings and believe in His faithfulness to be in charge of our lives.

Martin Luther King, Jr carried on that message and believed in the freedom Christ gives us. He had the courage to go out there and tell people about what freedom looks like. It was a dream, but he knew it could be true one day, because he believed.

This week, we watch a huge part of this dream come true. It’s a great honor to be part of this time to watch America respect all people from every culture and ethnicity. Regardless of whether we agree with the politics or some of the beliefs of Obama, America has gained a huge symbol of democracy all over again. America has told the world this week that democracy and unity is a great value that is enduring regardless of all the issues that are challenging our times.

I pray for President Obama, that he have the wisdom that only God grants to keep the country united, peaceful and advance us to the next level of freedom.

Earlier in 2008, we officially started WePartner, a non-profit organization, to help with project management on projects that impact a local community and help build new relationships. That in itself has been an adventure of faith and excitement of what God can do when He puts a vision in front of people!

We were asked by the Camp to setup a phone system for them in their new building called “The Hotel”. From its name, it’s designed like a hotel, to host coaches from all over the world to help with sports camps for the children and youth of Egypt.

Team Phones

There are 66 rooms in the hotel, plus the reception, some offices, etc… Our team met weekly over gotomeeting for about 2 months to pray, eat, discuss plans, purchase equipment, assign tasks and think of whatever we could think of to accomplish this project. It was a great experience of bonding, building trust, building relationship, and building community!

When we arrived in Egypt, they spent 5 days working very hard to setup the whole system. We had 6 local professional electricians waiting to work with the team, which helped so much in the implementation. They had run cable for us already before we arrived. They also fixed whatever wasn’t testing successful. It was great to have them for prompt response.

Terminating Wires

Cultures Building Community

It was great to have a local team work with our team from the USA. Building community among them was an awesome experience. They learned from each other new skills in technology and electrical. They learned about each others’ cultures and built relationships among each other. They communicated with skill, since they didn’t speak each others’ languages! It was such a great experience to see the relationship being built that way. It was great to see that it’s not just about technology, or cables and phones…

The team that went from the USA was a mix of people from different backgrounds and different skills. What was common between them, was that they saw the vision and followed to the fullest of energy that they had. It was a great pleasure to get to meet each and every one of them and work with them on this project. When you travel across the ocean with people, you learn so much about each other and you take the risk of trusting each other. I would travel with them anytime!

I want to thank Jeremy Hoff and Brett Rogers for their extra dedication in leading the team and setting up for the project. I want to thank everyone who donated for this project, the team volunteered their time and paid their own way all the way to Egypt and back! The sacrifice they gave was outstanding! Also, there were individuals and organizations who donated money and equipment to accomplish this task. Thank you!

Globalization was at its fullest pre-Genesis 11/9. In fact it’s never been like that since. People spoke only one language and with a common speech; no other language even existed, and there were not even different dialects. They lived in peace, worked together for a common goal. The problem is that their goal wasn’t very godly! So, God confused their tongues and scattered them all over the earth… He actually divided them!

I’m not a theologian, but here’s what I’m thinking. It’s almost 2009, we have the Internet (common language), most of the world can speak English, we have so many goals in common, like the global economy. We depend on each other so much that if a bank crashes in the US, another follows in Europe and China and other places… There’s also scrambling and scattering: Viruses, Internet security, multi-platforms, all the bad stuff we use the Internet for, terrorism, hatred, people just don’t understand why others are doing what they’re doing… and on and on!

What I’m learning from all this, is that we need to make sure God is in the center of all this. If we’ll learn from history, which I think we try to in general, this is a good lesson to learn from. If we only depend on each other, and forget God, we’ll stay scattered and confused. That’s what happened in Genesis 11/9… He binds us together.

We can use technology for so much good, and God has given us a perfect opportunity to use it for good. So, we have so much work to do!

Got a lot o’ work to do! Bye now!

Usually, one would expect peace to come with an event like that happens. But 9/11/2001 came and the threat against peace showed up! Has it been there all along, or did it just show up? It has been there, but it didn’t have to be. Working with technology, I see the benefits of globalization. Using the Internet to share and spread information is a wonderful ability that we didn’t have before. Before the Internet and Satellite TV, we relied on local TV, newspapers, the telephone and the postal service! Remember these days?

It’s amazing how fast information travels now, and how sensitive and important it is to use the Internet wisely. When we send emails, they travel at the speed of light! Before the Internet, when we would discuss a subject, we had time to process and respond. Now, with the Internet and email, if we don’t think wisely, we respond a lot faster and sometimes it’s too late! That email went out and it can’t be recalled! Matthew 12:34 says, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” When we give our hearts time to respond, our thoughts can be one of a peacemaker.

These days, we have to think so fast to keep up with the pace. Some of us are adapting to that, and others are resisting…

The Willow Christmas service is amazing this year. It’s about The Light, who came to the world, and about us as light of the world. Christ’s light brings reconciliation between God and people. Relationship is restored and people can actually experience God first-hand. Also we can experience reconciliation with each other first-hand, because God first loved us and reconciled. He is our model.

I just experienced reconciliation with a friend today and I feel refreshed! It was overdue, and I’m glad God is bringing healing. I can’t imagine how God feels everytime someone reconciles with Him!

I’m still excited!!!! This is actually happening! It’s great when leaders share with other leaders what they learn and dialogue on how to make ‘The Hope of the World’ bring real hope!

On November 7 & 8, we had an amazing event that made up for any stress I had this year! After more than a year of preparation, we had our first Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit in the Middle East! It was an event that I’ve dreamed about way back in August of 2001, when I first attended a Summit at Willow. The first time I attended the summit, I said to myself, “I’ve never heard anything like this before! We’ve got to take this to Egypt and the Middle East!” I learned so much that day, it was overwhelming to me. I was working at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena at the time and was struggling to learn about leadership and how to make technology a ministry that works for the Church and ministry.

GLS Egypt 2008 - Bill Hybels

Growing up in Egypt, I never heard the teachings of leadership the way I heard them at Willow. I decided to make it commitment to attend the Summit each year, and haven’t missed it since. Having the previlidge of working at Willow some 4 years later, I had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the Global Summit and share with them the vision of taking the Summit to Egypt. We started the Journey in the Summer of 2007, and in November 2008, we had 460 registered leaders from Egypt and other Arab countries.

We had the honor of Bill Hybels’ presence, who through his humble spirit and his valuable leadership lessons, gave us 3 sessions that were outstanding. Bill Hybels is an amazing leader, he has a Jesus heart that just listens to people and learns about their situation. He delivers talks that make people learn why they were assigned by God to do His work in the Church. He makes you just want to go back and start serving right away and not waste any more time! He is very passionate about Christ and seeing the Church be the Hope of the World, he is very contagious and inspiring!

Preparing for the Summit took so much energy, but because God is good and is in control, He lead us to the success of the event. I’m so honored to have worked with the WCA staff, Willow volunteers and KDEC staff and volunteers who have given so much of their time, finances and energy to make this event a success!

I’m looking forward to next year where we can expand the opportunity to more people. Leadership is a valuable lesson and life to learn. People anywhere should be excited about learning how to lead with integrity and skills that can advance the church and advance the community and advance government.

I still like the British people! Just not sure about British Airways…

I like the British people, they’re very polite and are very culturally sensitive. They do it naturally and you feel respected when you’re dealing with them.

The experience from the delay? What can you do, but I think British Airways needs a little kick in their “systematic” systems! Last night, we stood in line to get a hotel voucher, they had 5 queues, which was about 30 minutes wait. Once you got to the agent, she gave us the voucher and said to go stand in that line over there to get a bus voucher!!!! That line over there was ONE line for everyone and all you needed to do, is get yet another voucher! Tell me again, why didn’t the first agent give us both vouchers at the same time and save us the headache? Nobody knew… Except one lady who said it’s a systematic process!

I thought that was the whole point of having systematic processes, so we don’t have to stand in two lines for the same purpose. Bureaucracy at its BEST!

Well, we’ll see today how long it takes to get out of here…