Task Oriented or Relationship Oriented?

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Lily waving and saying "Hi horsey!"

Would you consider yourself more task oriented or relationship oriented?  Meaning, given the fact that there is a job to do, are you more likely to focus on just getting the job done or are you more concerned with who will be involved in the job, how they'll work together, and how we'll get along during the process?  What about the culture that you presently reside and serve in?  Is it more task (time) oriented or people oriented? 

For a few months now I've been asking you to pray for my meetings with the leaders at the local Baptist association.  Last week I was able to sit down with them and discuss about my idea to launch sermon prep groups for some of the bi-vocational pastors in our association.  They were both very positive toward and liked the idea.  However, implementation poses some significant challenges, which will likely only be overcome by prayer and relationship building, which takes time.  We spent some time discussing a number of ways to initiate working relationships with some of these pastors, and I'll go back in a couple of weeks to flesh out some of those ideas for the summer.  Right now, I'm in the relationship building phase with these local Baptist leaders, and that too takes time.  They have offered to let me teach a seminary extension class in the fall semester, which I'm very excited about.  Seminary extension is a 5 year, non-accredited pastor and church leader training program using a seminary model (lecture plus lots of homework).  While I still think that seminary extension as a program has some significant drawbacks, I am looking forward to teaching again and serving where I’m asked.  Everyone here agrees that the need for pastor training is huge, and I'm excited for the opportunity to begin helping.   I'm confident that over time the Lord will provide even more opportunities. 

Anyone who has been on a team with me would, without a doubt, tell you I'm task and time oriented.  I'm a people person, but I want to get things done, now (or yesterday).  I came to Tennessee with an agenda and a timeline (without consulting anyone else, mind you).  It should therefore come as no surprise to anyone but me that the Lord saw fit to place me squarely in the middle of a relational culture where who is involved is far more important than any timeline or agenda.  The last few months have been challenging for me as I've had to readjust my thought processes and begin to adapt to a slower, more relational pace of life.  By "slower" I do not mean less busy.  Everybody's busy.  It's simply a different kind of busy.  What I mean by slower is less task/agenda driven.  Rather than sitting down in a meeting with an agenda, talking through all of the bullet points, and then developing a plan with target dates and charging off to get it done, there's a lot more just talking, visiting, and sharing.  Folks here won't work with people they don't know, and the "getting to know you" period is quite a bit longer than I expected.  (I now know 6 months was unrealistic by anyone's standards.)  It's been humbling in a lot of ways, and I know the Lord is using this time in my life to refine out some of my pride and impatience, to teach me gentleness and the importance of listening. 

In the meantime while I labor to build the relationships necessary to launch a full blown pastor training ministry, I'm thankful for the upcoming opportunity to serve in the seminary extension.  I'm also thankful for the daily opportunity to serve our benevolence ministry here.  More on that in a future post.

Things you can be praying for this week:

1.  Praise the Lord for the new financial support he has provided.  We're still not fully funded, but the Lord has been very gracious in answering your prayers by providing new and additional support.

2. On Tuesday the 27th Mountain Vision is hosting a group of 34 high school students from Boca Raton, FL at our Storehouse.  They'll be helping clean up, reorganize, unload furniture, and serve clients.  Please pray that the Lord would open their eyes to the needs around them and give them a heart to serve the poor, the widows, and the orphans.

She found the shade.

She's calling the horses over by shouting "Horsey! Horsey!"

It worked, because they came over to say hi.

I wouldn't let her get close because of the barbed wire, so she just sat down to watch them.

Twice a week, one of our partner churches in Kingsport prepares meals for the homeless and needy.  This started out as a part of Mountain Vision, but we've recently transferred it totally over to the church!

Last week a group of college students from Denton, TX spent their spring break serving with Grace Fellowship Church in Kingsport.  Here, a couple of them are loading meals for needy families.

Last week, rosebuds started blooming all over the place here in East Tennessee, and the countryside turned purple!  Praise the Lord for spring color!