5 Questions to Consider as you Build Cross-Cultural Friendships.
Vanilla describes most of my childhood: Food was predictable, community was homogenous, and the exotic or unusual was reserved for travelogue shows on TV.
Vanilla was my ice cream flavor of choice. It was safe, predictable, and delicious. All those other flavors might not be as good…and risking ice cream disappointment seemed unimaginable to me. It wasn’t until my teens that I discovered the delights of Mint Chocolate Chip, Maple Walnut, and other wonderful flavours.
Mobi 101 Seminar from Simply Mobilizing Canada.
A short video introducing the Kairos Course.
Anybody who has visited my house knows I like to garden. A few years ago, my husband and daughter built me a greenhouse so I can start my plants from seed. Each precious seed is carefully placed in prepared soil and carefully nurtured to grow strong before being transplanted into the garden to grow up and produce a harvest.
Recently I’ve been rereading the Parable of the Sower (or maybe better called the Parable of the Soils) from Matthew 13.
What is startling to me in this parable is the complete disregard of the sower for all the seed that is wasted. No gardener deliberately throws seed on the path, or amongst weeds, or on rocky ground. Seed is reserved for fertile soil.
So why is this sower apparently happy to waste so much seed?
A testimony from a Kairos Alumna.
"I have realized that God is the one who controls and prepares everything. He has already arranged everything, and He is willing to patiently change and move me, such a trivial person, to prepare my heart and to take me step by step along the way to unlock the fullness of everything He has prepared."
A story of unexpected hospitality! A broken fence that led to neighbours showing mutual hospitality to one another...
I grew up in a Christian home, but as a child Lent was not part of my family’s spiritual rhythms. I have no history to fall back on in knowing how to observe Lent. It has been a process of discovery as an adult...
If you’re like me, when someone starts talking about the need to get more involved in evangelism, the first thought to come to mind isn’t ‘JOY’. Maybe its stress. Or guilt. Or shame. Or fear. Why do we feel that way?
And although many non-Christians are willing to engage in spiritual conversations, most Christians don’t start them. Why are we so reluctant?
With the recent upheaval in Afghanistan, the Canadian government has committed to accept 40,000 refugees. Lorna calls the church to step up to help settle Afghan Refugees.
She also shares about an opportunity to suport the Jesus Network team, who have evacuated over 500 Christian Afghans and are working to bring these Christian Afghans to Canada as privately sponsered refugees.
I do not belittle the challenges facing the Church today, or each of us personally. Disputes arise because issues are deep and complex, but our posture in disagreement affects our witness to the world, and our relevance to our cultural context.
The story of Kairos' momentum is startling, but it relies on activating ordinary Christians with a shared passion to lead in ways that they have never led before.
Here are 5 simple questions that Simply Mobilizing utilizes as they equip non-professionals, with no public speaking experience to be able to stand at the front of a room full of people and lead a session or activity.
Interface is an invitation into an ongoing conversation about the call to join God in his mission in the world, starting in your neighbourhood.
Offered as a facilitated, video-based curriculum, pastors who have experienced the six-session Interface seminar and want to implement it in their church community, are coached by an Simply Mobilizing Mobilizer as they begin the journey with their congregation.
"What’s next?" is a big question. We may not know the next step, but do we know the right direction?
We will move ahead whether we are prepared or not. But what are we expecting? Is it only our wish to see the “old normal” resumed or is it to see God’s kingdom being “in operation” more explicitly? I would certainly like to see churches awakened to visualize God’s kingdom come, but in the midst of this I recognize there are both opportunities and threats.
Some of the most effective witnesses I've seen have surprised me. They don't look like what I imagine. They aren't necessarily well-educated, or financially stable, or well-established in society.
I've had the opportunity to work alongside some very fruitful witnesses, those who have seen many people choose to follow Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit empowered their efforts. Here's some things I've learned from watching them...
This Christmas, as our normal celebrations are shaken, may we press in to know the one who came as a wee babe, lived and died for us, and who now can hold us when all around is shaking.
Moving a course with a global footprint and a 20+ year track record from a face-to-face delivery model to an online one would normally be a considered, careful experiment, filled with caution, evaluation and review.
Making the pivot in 2 months, with no safety net, has felt at times like jumping out of an airplane into one of those big, black clouds.
When you are tumbling through the storm there isn’t much time to evaluate. But a few months on, still facing ongoing challenges, here are some silver linings that are beginning to gleam ever more clearly.
A story of momentum lost and momentum restored! The Kairos Course had huge momentum early in 2020. As the pandemic unfolded, the Simply Mobilizing team was forced to pause, pray, think and pivot.
A look at Nova Scotia during this present time, from a local who shares a prophecy & a prayer for Nova Scotia.
Better Together? What about when it is harder, and messier to be together? What is it really going to take to be better together?
Focus. There is one thing that is occupying the whole world's attention right now. The church is aware of another 'virus', one that we have been tasked with bringing the readily available cure to the world.
One morning in late October, while I was driving to the Outreach Canada office, a big rock chip got thrown into my windshield, which cracked and broke off a piece, and left a dent on the roof top.
I was totally shocked and, later on, left with anger.
"Why?" was the question I asked God, with anger and frustration.
The first Kairos Course in Canada was held in 2010. That start led to the launch of Kairos in Canada in late 2012 when the second class was held. From 30 alumni on January 1, 2013, today there are over 3000 graduates across Canada!