I had the opportunity to interact with a ministry class on our sea to sea initiative.  This experience reminded me of our need to let our future leaders speak into the sea to sea context. 

The questions were asked:  If Canada is a mission field how do we respond as future leaders?  Where should be go?  How do we prepare?

Ideas:

a)     reaching the native community (areas of need)

b)     how do we do the ONSITE program in Canada? The territories, the inner city

c)     how do we tap into the community resources to address the needs within the multi-cultural community?

d)     we are a denomination of old white guys…we need multicultural leadership, etc.  We also need more female workers.

e)     make intercultural stuff normal (female-led stuff normal)

f)      be faithful with the resources and people in your setting

g)     start mobilising the people of the area, whether bible studies, discussion groups, online resources…etc

h)     some of us have to MOVE in to an area together

i)       how do we fund our “Sea to Sea” ministries (to finance the teams)

j)       we ordinary, flexible people, who have the degrees or education necessary to get a job in the neighbourhood

k)     do we need to have a trades school or faculty of nursing or social work or partnerships with other institutions who offer education in these areas? 

By the way…..  When a student emailed me the recorded responses, I thanked her for her time.  Her response, “Thanks for taking us seriously.”  I continue to realize that Sea to Sea cannot be managed from the top down, but must have ownership at a grassroots level.  A class in the bible college reminded me of individuals who are already implementing sea to sea and preparing to lead our churches.  The ownership of students like this class will move sea to sea beyond another program.  

At our January Regional Meetings in Ottawa and Toronto we discussed the 4 priorities of Sea 2 Sea.  They include a Visionary Environment, Leadership Development, Research and Discernment and Delivery Systems.

We asked our church leaders for input on the challenges and opportunities within these four priorities.  Here are some of the responses.  

Observations and Comments on Delivery Systems…

Set new models around the working of God.  That is where there is tons of evidence of God doing something over and over, with practically no effort on our part – This is worthy of positioning as a new model.  Some examples of this are:

• Get near to the least, the very least, the lost – so near that you are misunderstood by church people.  Get near to them on their turf and help them.  Such ministries will not lack workers or finances.  There are many examples of such ministries flourishing – but they are hard.
• Give ministries to the youth and young adults as much as possible.  God is doing new things among this generation and they will carry the gospel faithfully!  They need to be trusted with responsibility.  God is on them.
• Partnerships are very significant model to embrace.  Don’t do things alone.  Join with other congregations, other organizations, others of like mission – do works in partnership.  God is into that and blessing such efforts all over the place.  Definitely worthy of encouraging as a model.

To read the rest of the input check out the page www.sea2sea/dave/53

Here is the link…

seatosea-jan-09