Vision and Teaching

In addition to catching you all up the great things that have been going on, I wanted to give you a glimpse of my upcoming months and invite your prayers...

As I think about who I am and the mission I've been charged to lead, I'm seeing that my my two primary callings are to function as a visionary and a teacher. These are the things that give me the most life, that call the most heart, courage, and passion out of me, and which consistently prove to be the most fruitful activities of my life; the more I vision and teach, the hungrier I become to do them exceptionally well, so I'm asking for your prayers toward that end.

Teaching
In the next few weeks, I'll be speaking at William Penn (10.2), Central College (10.3), Grinnell College (10.9), Drake University (10.31), and again at Central (11.7). As such, I'd like to invite your prayers in two ways.
1. Pray that I would speak with power, authority, and wisdom: that my teaching would cause students to encounter Jesus in life transforming ways.
2. Pray that I myself would encounter Jesus in life transforming ways as I prepare. (Teaching is usually one of the ways I learn most effectively).

Vision
At the same time, I'm going to be continuing to lead our area in a strategic visioning process. I am so pleased with the work we have done so far, but as I mentioned above, the more I taste, the hungrier I become! Please pray:
1. That God would aid us in the creation of an organic, adaptive team culture that is marked by four pairs of values: "Innovative and Visionary"; "Communal and Interdependent"; "Joyful and Celebratory"; "Healthy and Mature".
2. That God would entrust us with a vision that would make us gasp because it is so compelling, gripping, and "heart-enlisting". (You can pray too that we would have the courage to follow Him!)

Thanks in advance for your prayers and partnership. I look forward to sharing the fruit of our (yours and my!) sacrifices!

With Expectation,
Jon