Hope While Learning and Launching

This is more of a personal update so feel free to move on and read something more interesting like saving the forests in places like Ethiopia.

As I reflect back on the past couple of weeks, I continue to be filled with hope but I’m reminded that “August is the new September”! In the midst of the summer heat and bygone memories of “lazy days” the motor is revving as we push up to the start line that is “Labour Day”.

These are the days of concentration and focus on top priority activities. These are the days that where we take full advantage of the long hours of daylight, add snippets of recreational activity in an otherwise fully productive period.

Craig Bauman is fully in his role as COO as this was a “form following function” appointment. Craig’s leadership and steady manner has been the rudder of our national operations for some time ... and there was a chorus of ‘amens’ with his role announcement.

On the partnership front, we had good meeting with leaders from Northpark Church, London ON. It was a great process of them putting us through an assessment for partnership potential, values and mission alignment and landing on a discernment process as our next step. Great stuff! Deepens my hope for long-term effective partnerships that empower widows, orphans and refugees.

We’ve been on the journey of partnership with churches around the world and the indicators are good if not powerful that we are on the right track. Better said, we are on the same track with many leaders and moving in the same direction. This week alone, we signed a partnership agreement, drafted the next level for another, had several requests for exploring new partnerships and turned down a couple that don’t fit with iTeams Canada. Wow ... lots of activity ... lots of decisions!

We had a BBQ at our place with the people who will be involved in a major project to help iTeams build on the growing interactive use of our online presence. (That was a mouthful of a sentence!) As we build, you will see more about our partners, get easy access to global projects and lots of information “flow” -- like news, what’s happening now, reports and plans. Our leaders and partners will have greater access and greater influence and that too gives me hope.

My great hope for this project based on recent results that tells us what “you” are looking for!

I had some great conversations with our leaders in places like Austria, Athens, Wales, US, Australia, Philippines and here in Canada. I met with a number of “old friends” or is that “long-time friends” on a variety of personal and organizational items. My soul takes hope in these friendships as I find that I receive more than I give. I trust my friends feel likewise.

Yvonne, Luciana and Nickie

And as a special treat, Yvonne and I had dinner and mini-holiday with our Brazilian friends Nickie and Luciana. They are a great couple and a wonderful addition to Canada. Nickie is working on his masters in Hydrology while Luciana has an extensive resume in marketing and has just been hired by Research in Motion (RIM) starting today! (Mon Aug 23). Bright, dedicated, young and ready to sacrifice for their futures, their families, their friends -- knowing new Canadians like Nickie and Luciana gives me hope for our country’s future.

For someone like me, taking time to reflect back and look forward brings hope. My spirit runs on ideas and inspiration and out these I work to create optimism and hope. I find that many people, hope is in short supply.

So my question to you is ... where does your hope come from?

I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains?
 No, my strength comes from God,
  who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
Psalm 121:1,2 The Message