Returning to Liberia

This Friday afternoon (November 15th), I will be heading back to Liberia (West Africa). Some of you may remember that I visited Liberia last February to teach Lead Like Jesus. Since returning to the US, several of the pastors have asked me to come back and to help them learn more about the principles of servant leadership that Jesus modeled for us.

So, after the positive feedback that Luke Kuepfer and I received from the pastors that we trained in Uganda this past summer, I contacted the pastors and agreed to go back to Liberia to begin the same four-year development process that we started in Uganda with a group of 20-25 pastors there.

I will be traveling to the city of Ganta, which is located in northern Liberia near the border with the country of Guinea. Pastor Alexander Freeman, and his wife Fannia, will be my hosts. The people that I will be working with are very, very poor, but they love the Lord and want to build His Kingdom.

I have posted my schedule below. It lays out what I will be doing each day. Thank you in advance for your prayers and I would ask that you especially pray for the pastors that will be attending the training. I plan on updating the blog every evening, beginning on Sunday evening (as long as the electricity and internet connections cooperate). I will do my best to post a few pictures for you.

Blessings!

Fred

Lead Like Jesus - Liberia

Leader Training

 Schedule

Friday, Nov 15                     Depart US for Monrovia, Liberia @ 5:45 PM

Saturday, Nov 16                 Arrive at Monrovia airport @ 7:15 PM

                                                Remain overnight in nearby hotel (TBA)                                         

Sunday, Nov 17                   Travel to Ganta (Time TBA)

                                                Check into hotel/prepare for Monday’s training

Monday, Nov 18                   LLJ Training                                               

                                                8:30 am - Depart hotel for church

                                                9 am-10am - Introduction/brief 4-year process

                                                10 am-1pm - Lead Like Jesus Encounter

                                                1 pm-2 pm - Lunch

                                                2 pm-5 pm - LLJ Encounter, continued

Tuesday, Nov 19                  LLJ Training                                            

                                                8:30 am - Depart hotel for church

                                                9 am-11am - Complete LLJ Encounter

11 am-1pm - Facilitation/teaching lessons/tips
(divide leaders into 2 groups)

                                                1 pm-2 pm - Lunch

                                                2 pm-5 pm – Facilitation/teaching lessons/tips

 Wednesday, Nov 20            LLJ Training

                                                8:30 am - Depart hotel for church

9 am-1 pm - Practice teaching (Group 1)

1 pm-2 pm - Lunch

                                                2 pm-4 pm - Practice teaching, cont. (Group 1)

                                                4 pm-5 pm - Review and feedback

Thursday, Nov 21                LLJ Training

                                                8:30 am - Depart hotel for church

                                                9 am-1 pm - Practice teaching (Group 2)            

                                                1 pm-2 pm - Lunch

                                                2 pm-4 pm - Practice teaching, cont. (Group 2)

                                                4 pm-5 pm - Review and feedback                                   

Friday, Nov 22                      LLJ Training and discuss Next year 

                                                8:30am - depart hotel for church

                                                9 am-10 am - Conduct debriefs/answer questions

10  am-12 pm - Planning for the next steps:

     - Discuss commitment to teach LLJ to other
     - Handout study guides and other materials.
     -  Set up quarterly leader huddles/meetings.
     -  Discuss plans/agenda for next year's training.

1 pm-2 pm - Time of prayer and thanksgiving

2 pm - session concludes                                               

Saturday, Nov 23                Depart for Monrovia and Return to US 

                                                9 am - checkout of hotel and depart for Monrovia

                                                6:30 pm – Check-in at the airport

                                                8:50 pm - Depart for US 

Sunday, Nov 24                   Arrive in the US 

                                                2:35 pm – Flight arrives at Cincinnati airport

Share Your Faith App – The Easy Way to Share Christ with Others!

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Sent from my iPad

God uses our tough times

Do you recite your woes more naturally than you do heaven's strength?  No wonder life's tough. You're assuming God isn't in this crisis.

Isabel spent her first three and a half years in a Nicaraguan orphanage. As with all orphans, her odds of adoption diminished with time. And then the door slammed on her finger! Why would God permit this innocent girl to feel even more pain? Might He be calling the attention of Ryan Schnoke sitting in the playroom nearby? He and his wife had been trying to adopt a child for months! Ryan walked over, picked her up, and comforted her. Several months later, Ryan and Christina were close to giving up, and Ryan remembered Isabel. Little Isabel is now growing up in a happy, healthy home.

A finger in the door? God doesn't manufacture pain, but He certainly puts it to use!  Your crisis?  You'll get through this!

From You'll Get Through This

By Max Lucado

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Thank you God

If you feel the world owes you something, brace yourself. You'll never get reimbursed! Henry Ward Beecher said, "A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves."  The sky is never blue enough, the steak isn't cooked enough, the universe isn't good enough to deserve a human being like you.

Pursue gratitude.  The grateful heart is like a magnet, sweeping over the day, collecting reasons for gratitude. Thank you, God.  Your lungs inhale and exhale 11,000 liters of air every day. Thank you, God. For the jam on our toast and the milk on our cereal, the blanket that calms us and the joke that softens us and the warm sun that reminds us of God's love. Gratitude leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what morning sun does to valley mist. It burns it up!

Thank you God.

From Max Lucado.

Sent from my iPad

Verse of the day

Romans 1:16 ESV

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.com/59/rom.1.16.esv

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God is good!

When the cancer is in remission, we say, God is good. When the pay raise comes, we announce, God is good. But is God only good when the outcome is?

Most, if not all of us, have a contractual agreement with God. I pledge to be a good, decent person and God, in return, will do what I expect.  Save my child.  Heal my wife.  Protect my job. Yet when God fails to meet our expectations we're left spinning in a tornado of questions.

In such times, remember that God is sovereign.  James 1:17 tells us He does not change like shifting shadows. God does permit evil.  But He doesn't allow Satan, the father of evil, to triumph. Isn't this the promise of Romans 8:28?  "In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." The ultimate culmination of God's purpose is good even when the specific details are difficult.

From Max Lucado.

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UpWords · 09/02/2013

God can use our disappointments and difficulties for our good. Our journey through life has many bumps, detours, and even road blocks. But as we learn to trust God in every situation, he uses our trials and troubles to bless us and to build His kingdom.

Fred

From: MaxLucado.com <email@maxlucado.com>
Date: September 2, 2013, 7:03:29 AM EDT
To: <frwaggoner@hotmail.com>
Subject: UpWords · 09/02/2013
Reply-To: MaxLucado.com <email@maxlucado.com>

MaxLucado.com Weekday Email A Mess for Good  Today's MP3 Twenty years of marriage, three kids, and now he's gone. Traded her in for a younger model.  She told me her story, and we prayed. Then I said,  "It won't be painless or quick. But God will use this mess for good. With God's help you'll get through this." Remember Joseph?  Genesis 37:4 says his brothers "hated him."  Far from home, they cast him into a pit, leaving him for dead. A murderous cover-up from the get go. Pits have no easy exit. Joseph's story got worse before it got better. Yet in his explanation we find his inspiration: "You meant evil against me," he said, "but God meant it for good. . ."  The very acts intended to destroy God's servant, turned out to strengthen him.  The same will be said about you.  You will get through this!  From You'll Get Through This         09.02.13.mp3 UpWords Partners help make these emails & more available for free at MaxLucado.com. Spread hope worldwide · Free Max Lucado sermons · more Partner with Us UpWords · 12175 Network · San Antonio, TX 78249  unsubscribe | update subscription preferences