Change is uncomfortable, but it is part of the life of every missionary and helps us to keep our eyes on Christ as our friend, companion and Father. This has certainly been a season of change, transitions, farewells –as well as expansion in Create International.
Following our Visual Media Strategy Forum, our Create International Global Leaders met. Carol and I always look forward to these events when we get to spend time with those we love and admire. When we see the sacrifice and labor of love through the efforts of the team that is leading this apostolic community, we have a renewed sense of confidence in the direction of the ministry.
After two full days of prayer, processing, updates, and planning we had an incredible commissioning celebration. We commissioned our first millennial Create team leader. Keegan is taking over for Penny as the leader of the Create International Thailand center. He is a gifted and capable young leader. It was a joy to pray over Keegan to take on God’s mantle for this new role, and to welcome him to our Global Leadership team.
Also, we are excited to be releasing a new Create International operating location in the Middle East and to lay hands on Penny and her team as she steps into her long awaited “promised land”. She has served Create as leader of our locations in Perth, Australia, Chiang Mai, Thailand, and now Create International in the Middle East. What a thrill it was to pray and anoint her with oil that came from the Middle East.
A couple of weeks after these meetings, the Lord spoke to Carol and I that it was time to release another one of our long-time leaders into her own ministry focus and vision. Myra is an Australian/Indonesian married to Jason who is one of our most creative film producers. Myra has served Create International over 17 years and is an incredibly talented graphic artist and skilled illustrator. She has had a heart to produce culturally contextual interactive books that share the Gospel message with children of the Unreached.
She is raising up a team of artists and animators to produce coloring books, cartoons, and animations in different languages for children who often are missed by conventional mission strategies. This new ministry will be called, “Create Seeds”, seeds representing children who although they are small contain great potential to change the world. We are excited to see what God will do as Myra and Jason walk together into the fulfillment of the dream.
Now you know why I am optimistic about the future of this ministry. As we looked back on the growth of this ministry, we discovered that we experience spikes in our numbers whenever the Lord released new teams and operating locations.
An apostolic leader would step forward and the Lord would draw people to their vision and focus. God has not only given us incredibly talented and wholehearted staff, but also apostolic leaders who are stepping up to the plate and saying, “yes” to God and His plans for their lives. The road ahead of them will not be without challenges. But the rewards of radical obedience to the Lord, with the trust that He can do it, will carry them through to the end. I am encouraged.
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