A few thoughts from last week's meetings.....
Leadership, Imposter Syndrome, & Flowers to people
Previously, the set of meetings from last week was simply called "Leadership Meetings". At some point in recent years it was changed to Koinonia. Do I have any Greek scholars on my list that know what this means? Even if I did, I suppose I should explain it to the others. According to a quick google search, koinonia means: Christian fellowship or communion, with God, or more commonly, with fellow Christians. So there's a new word for you to use! Though even with this fun new word, the week still has the stigma of "leadership meetings". As this kept creeping up in sessions, I often wondered about myself. Am I a leader? Do others see me as a leader? If I am a leader, then I don't think I knew that. I thought I was just in the office in Kampala, trying to do my very small part in this massive task of furthering the Kingdom. There are plenty of people from last week that even have "leader" in their title with how they serve. I'm not one of those people.
As the week went on, I would get hit with waves of feeling honored to be able to attend the meetings. There were two main speakers that both had great messages filled with ideas and concepts to ponder. Funny story: When I first saw a schedule a few weeks ago, it had James and Luke for different times each day. I thought we were going to study those books of the Bible. Nope. James and Luke were the names of the main speakers.
THOUGHTS
Though "leadership" is not the official name of the meetings anymore, leadership is still discussed from different angles. Someone stated that a leader's sense of identity & calling strongly impacts how one leads. Then he mentioned something called "imposter syndrome". Any guesses what this might be about? This term is used to describe those that have an inability to internalize their accomplishments as well as having a persistent fear of getting exposed as a fraud.
This concept really hit me hard as it speaks into one's identity.....which is what further discussion was about. We were encouraged to examine but not dwell. To focus on God's grace, not our own strengths and weakness. A favorite phrase for many was the phrase: Fill the gaps with grace. Let me know if you want to read any more about this or learn how we further explored this concept or other things I learned from the week.
. 
Left: Depicting maybe 1/3 of the room, this is where we gathered last week.
Right: What if.....
WHAT IF.....
This year AIM is putting emphasis/focus on the mobilization of Africans. As we talked about what this might look like, there was some time to consider "what if". There were no limits. People simply offered any what if statement that came to mind and we filled the board with ideas. It was a neat exercise in considering possibilities without boundaries. What areas in your life could you explore with this simple concept? I'd love to hear what comes of your dreaming as your listen to God for whatever is before you!
Keep reading for some thoughts on flowers and people.
AND if you still have time left, then keep reading further down for prayer requests.
Much love and thankfulness,
Katherine
View of the gardens from the entrance to the large meetings.
People from all areas of AIM ministry were at these meetings. We were just shy of 150 in total and I think it is safe to say that someone from every country AIM serves in was there. (Maybe not...but we had to be pretty close with that many people.) Anyway......I was usually standing just outside the door during the opening worship time so I could gaze into the garden area nearby. [See above picture] I was thoroughly enjoying the sun warming the side of my face, the breeze blowing through my hair, and seeing the variety in the garden area nearby. One day I noticed this patch in the garden of some white flowers....or so I thought. [See left picture below.] When I looked closer, I noticed that the white ones were actually dead with a brown stem and the "real" flower was red with the obvious green stem. [See right picture below.]
I started thinking about how this represents those gathered for the meetings. Some probably feel like they are at their lowest, struggling to stay up and maybe even facing/falling down. But looking at them you may not know just as I thought the flower was actually white. Others are blooming/thriving in what they are doing. They could be so caught up in the success that they are unaware of what is to come when they struggle or unaware of those struggling around them. And yet others may be in a dark place, just about to bloom. But they are hard to see as they are smaller and blend in with other greenery. Yet no matter where each person is in his or her ministry, someone looking in from the outside likely thinks that beautifully things are happening just as each phase of this flower has its own beauty.
Leadership, Imposter Syndrome, & Flowers to people
12.Feb.2018
Hello and greetings from Nairobi, Kenya!
Can you believe it is me? Less than two weeks ago I emailed you.
Hopefully you noticed in my previous message that I would be traveling to Kenya. It truly is a short journey (when you fly). It was less than five hours from my flat in Kampala to the venue in Nairobi. A year ago, I would easily drive many more hours than that in a day to get to where I needed to be.
{prayer requests at the bottom}
MEETINGSHello and greetings from Nairobi, Kenya!
Can you believe it is me? Less than two weeks ago I emailed you.
Hopefully you noticed in my previous message that I would be traveling to Kenya. It truly is a short journey (when you fly). It was less than five hours from my flat in Kampala to the venue in Nairobi. A year ago, I would easily drive many more hours than that in a day to get to where I needed to be.
{prayer requests at the bottom}
Previously, the set of meetings from last week was simply called "Leadership Meetings". At some point in recent years it was changed to Koinonia. Do I have any Greek scholars on my list that know what this means? Even if I did, I suppose I should explain it to the others. According to a quick google search, koinonia means: Christian fellowship or communion, with God, or more commonly, with fellow Christians. So there's a new word for you to use! Though even with this fun new word, the week still has the stigma of "leadership meetings". As this kept creeping up in sessions, I often wondered about myself. Am I a leader? Do others see me as a leader? If I am a leader, then I don't think I knew that. I thought I was just in the office in Kampala, trying to do my very small part in this massive task of furthering the Kingdom. There are plenty of people from last week that even have "leader" in their title with how they serve. I'm not one of those people.
As the week went on, I would get hit with waves of feeling honored to be able to attend the meetings. There were two main speakers that both had great messages filled with ideas and concepts to ponder. Funny story: When I first saw a schedule a few weeks ago, it had James and Luke for different times each day. I thought we were going to study those books of the Bible. Nope. James and Luke were the names of the main speakers.
THOUGHTS
Though "leadership" is not the official name of the meetings anymore, leadership is still discussed from different angles. Someone stated that a leader's sense of identity & calling strongly impacts how one leads. Then he mentioned something called "imposter syndrome". Any guesses what this might be about? This term is used to describe those that have an inability to internalize their accomplishments as well as having a persistent fear of getting exposed as a fraud.
This concept really hit me hard as it speaks into one's identity.....which is what further discussion was about. We were encouraged to examine but not dwell. To focus on God's grace, not our own strengths and weakness. A favorite phrase for many was the phrase: Fill the gaps with grace. Let me know if you want to read any more about this or learn how we further explored this concept or other things I learned from the week.
. Left: Depicting maybe 1/3 of the room, this is where we gathered last week.
Right: What if.....
WHAT IF.....
This year AIM is putting emphasis/focus on the mobilization of Africans. As we talked about what this might look like, there was some time to consider "what if". There were no limits. People simply offered any what if statement that came to mind and we filled the board with ideas. It was a neat exercise in considering possibilities without boundaries. What areas in your life could you explore with this simple concept? I'd love to hear what comes of your dreaming as your listen to God for whatever is before you!
Keep reading for some thoughts on flowers and people.
AND if you still have time left, then keep reading further down for prayer requests.
Much love and thankfulness,
Katherine
View of the gardens from the entrance to the large meetings.
People from all areas of AIM ministry were at these meetings. We were just shy of 150 in total and I think it is safe to say that someone from every country AIM serves in was there. (Maybe not...but we had to be pretty close with that many people.) Anyway......I was usually standing just outside the door during the opening worship time so I could gaze into the garden area nearby. [See above picture] I was thoroughly enjoying the sun warming the side of my face, the breeze blowing through my hair, and seeing the variety in the garden area nearby. One day I noticed this patch in the garden of some white flowers....or so I thought. [See left picture below.] When I looked closer, I noticed that the white ones were actually dead with a brown stem and the "real" flower was red with the obvious green stem. [See right picture below.]
I started thinking about how this represents those gathered for the meetings. Some probably feel like they are at their lowest, struggling to stay up and maybe even facing/falling down. But looking at them you may not know just as I thought the flower was actually white. Others are blooming/thriving in what they are doing. They could be so caught up in the success that they are unaware of what is to come when they struggle or unaware of those struggling around them. And yet others may be in a dark place, just about to bloom. But they are hard to see as they are smaller and blend in with other greenery. Yet no matter where each person is in his or her ministry, someone looking in from the outside likely thinks that beautifully things are happening just as each phase of this flower has its own beauty.
Prayer requests:
- Many thanks for all the safety for so many traveling. With that many, I'm sure there were logistical hiccups but as far as I know everyone was safe.
- Please pray for those that are in low areas of their ministry.....people in your life or those serving abroad.
- Pray for those that are thriving that they may be able to encourage all around them...people in your life or those serving abroad.
- Pray for another round of meetings that started this afternoon and will conclude on Wednesday. This is just people for the region I am involved with and is a much smaller group.
- Pray Colossians 3:1-17....I'll expand on this next time. But if you know/read it then you'll be able to pray those things for whomever. Today we spent some time discussing it.
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