Dear V-leaders, it's been so exciting to hear from you all as you are getting to know your teams! Most of you are in a flurry of activity right now, trying to do life and prepare for the summer at the same time. Your kids have a million questions, you only have a few answers, and some of you are feeling quite overwhelmed. Some of you are thinking, "when I just GET to Kenya, things will be so much easier!" But in reality, that's when the intensity really kicks in! The million questions are still there, they're just "there" in the form of a real live person standing two feet in front of you, asking for the zillionth time what they need to take with them to ministry that day!

So, our theme is "How to lead beyond SURVIVAL", and that can start right now. In actuality, your trip has already begun. You are getting to know the people you will lead this summer. You are getting to know your co-leaders. You are juggling all of the things you have on your plate. Sounds a lot like an Ambassador and Real Life mission trip!!!

In getting to know you, I've been thinking alot lately about my biggest struggles on the mission field when I'm leading a team. I have led mission teams to other countries for 13 years, ten of them with AIM. Before that, I did inner-city missions in the US. After all of this time, there is one thing that is still a struggle for me to do that goes a step beyond just surviving, and the more I talk to experienced leaders, the more I know that this struggle is real for many of us. It's the struggle to not just "survive" in my alone times with God, but to spend long moments just soaking in his presence. By myself. Not just in worship with my team, not just in those magic ministry moments when someone is coming to the Lord or being healed before my very eyes. By myself. Me, God, and a tree to lean back against.

It's in those quiet times that my mind seems to get busy. I'm bombarded with thoughts like, "Oh, the kids are quiet now, they are all doing their quiet times. It's a great time for me to work on our schedule for next week, or catch up on receipts, or go and talk to our host about so and so..." No one is in my face asking me questions. No one is currently puking from the latest African bug. No one is blasting DRIME music and practicing drama two feet away from me. No one is...

I have a choice. I can either press into God, or press into work, into all the expectations AIM has of me as a leader. What do I do?

It's in times like this that I think of my grandfather. Paw will be 94 years old in 15 days. He has been a teacher all of his life. He taught for 35 years in the school system, and even after retirement, never stopped teaching. To this day, not a season goes by without one of his former students contacting him. They somehow look him up and find him in Clinton, Ms. They call, write letters, stop by to visit on their way from New England to California. They go out of their way to find him. And every student says the same thing: You believed in me when no one else would. You were hard on me when no one else cared. I am who I am today because of YOU.

As leaders, we are teachers, too. Everything we do, whether purposefully or not, teaches something to our students. They watch us in ministry, and they learn how to hold orphans and touch lepers. They watch us in free time, and learn that it's ok to play Speed Scrabble and have joy in the Lord. They watch us in our discipleship times as we go through the Journey, and come to deeper realizations of God's plan for us. They watch us in our quiet times, and...

What do they see? Do they see us running around and trying to get things done? Or do they see us sitting before the Lord, soaking him in? Do they see us only feeding them, the team, out of our own strength, or feeding the team out of the overflow of our own full hearts?

My grandfather has never stopped teaching, but he has never stopped soaking either. He reads like a madman. He learns like a child, devouring anything he can get his hands on that will be useful to us younger generation. He has journaled every day of his life since he was a kid. He can tell you what he did on the second day of second grade, or on May 2, 1984. He can tell you, because he takes time to process. He takes time to soak it in. He doesn't miss a beat, because he takes what he learns, takes it all in, journals about it, remembers it, applys it, teaches it.

Sometimes when leading an AIM trip, it feels like it all flies by in one big rush. If I don't spend time with the Lord processing all that He's showing me, taking in everything I've learned, then I can't learn what He wants to teach me through the experience. I look back, and it's one big Indian or African blur. I remember the elephants, but not the words "I love you" that were whispered in my ear by the very mouth of God Himself when I was feeling lonely. If I haven't pressed into God in my alone times on the field, when I come home, it doesn't get any better. I get surrounded by friends, family, obligations. Life flies by in a blur again, and the precious moments of being taught by God are gone. I've missed the chance to sit at the feet of the greatest teacher who ever lived. I'm still in the same grade I was before, still in the same place. Without lessons learned, there's no growth.

So there's the struggle, but what's the answer? If you're like me, I usually have to struggle and lose a few times before the answer begins to get through my head. I pray that this is not the case with you guys in this situation; I pray that you "get it" now, that you begin to set a precedent in your lives this very minute. If you don't have an established, regular quiet time with the Lord, here are some things you can do to jump-start that right now: 

1. Set aside time to spend with the Lord BEFORE your day starts. Plan it like you would plan to have lunch with a friend

2. Don't be religious about it. This is not a command from your 7th grade youth pastor; we want you to do this as a discipline, as food for your soul, for YOU. Not to please me and Ben. You have a God who loves you and wants to spend time with you.

3. Be accountable. Start now as a leader team holding each other accountable for alone time with God. Ask each other what God is saying to you. Journal about it. Share your God thoughts or journals with each other.   

4. Once you arrive at training camp, let your team know that their quiet time is also your quiet time. It's a sacred time, not to be interupted. When they see you pressing in, their leader, it will encourage them to do the same.

What you do now, you'll do on the field. Me and Ben are praying that this busy season before training camps will be filled with rich times with the Lord. Just you and Him. Soaking in his presence. Learning everything he wants to teach you. Processing all that he's showing you. Hearing all of His whispers.