Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Alberta Bound - Part 2

After months of dreaming, thinking, talking, planning and preparing, we are very happy to announce that Leading Influence will be launching in Alberta on the week of October 23.  Pastor Larry Lindoff will be partnering with us to provide chaplaincy ministry at the Alberta Legislature.  Larry brings a pastor's heart and tremendous political understanding to this role.  We are confident that God has arranged his path and ours for this very exciting partnership.  The timing is perfect in that Alberta has just had an election and the MLA's have all been elected to a 4 year term.  That gives Larry lots of time to build relationships and sow the gospel into their lives. 

Please pray for Larry and Leading Influence as we venture into Alberta.  We believe the time is right for a tremendous harvest!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

'She vs. He' Fall Fundraiser

Sometimes fundraising events are just so 'predictable'.  Chicken, roasted potatoes, steamed vegetables, a speaker and an appeal.  (Yawn...)  They work and have been effective for us in the past, but we've decided to put the FUN into fundraising this fall with our first ever 'She vs. He' Fundraiser.

Barb and I have been training for the Victoria Half Marathon that happens on Oct 6.  The challenge runs to October 31.  Barb and I will compete around who can raise the most sponsorships during that time.  If she wins I will be her servant for a day and wear the costume of her choosing for lunch at the Legislature. If I win, she will be my servant for a day (no big change there she says...) but she will also write and sing a love song for me on the steps of the Legislature. 

Here's how it works.  You can sponsor either one of us (but please sponsor me!) on a per km. basis (a half marathon is 21 kms) or on a flat rate for the entire event.  By way of example, a $5/km pledge will result in a $105 commitment.

Barb is light years ahead of me on an informal basis already, but who really wants to see me in a costume at the Legislature?  We'll add a thermometer to our side bar and Facebook page so you can see how it's going.  Click here to be taken to our pledge page!

Thanks for your support.  It's going to be a lot of fun hearing Barb sing.... (I hope)

What Do You Think The ....?

I've heard the question so often, I almost want to finish for the person asking it.  'What do you think the government's chances are for re-election?'  That usually launches me into a conversation about how Leading Influence is non-partisan and how that what we do is provide Chaplaincy services and that it's not prudent for me to make political comment.  And then they lean in and ask again... but what do you really think is going to happen?  The question is as tempting to me as I'm sure the fruit that the serpent offered to Eve was, but I still can't answer.I have my ideas about what could happen in the election and as fascinating as that might be to me, there's something that excites me even more. Let me tell you about it...

 PrayBC is the prayer ministry of Leading Influence.  It's the vehicle we use to encourage prayer for our political leaders and to communicate prayer needs to our prayer network.  During the last election, we became the largest prayer network in BC and had almost 2000 people praying with us on a daily basis that God would use the election to accomplish His purposes for our province.  We did it using a daily email. 

With the election 8 months away, we've been talking about what could happen if we pressed beyond email and dared to think and dream bigger.  So here's what we have in mind.  We want to spark a prayer movement across our province during the election campaign that will be bigger than anything that has been done before. We believe that as literally thousands of people begin to pray, God will hear us and respond in remarkable ways.  Our prayers will reflect who we are as a ministry and be non-partisan in focus, but the unrelenting cry of our hearts will be 'Let your kingdom come, let your will be done.'

Email is good, but its' limitations.  We'll certainly use social media, but we want greater visibility that we believe will result in greater participation.  Here's what we see.  We plan to buy signage on city busses.  The signs are protected from vandalism, cleaned daily and are constantly moving and are at windshield height.  We've got some other ideas too, but this is the big one that I want to share with you.

We'll need to raise $30,000 to do this the way we believe it needs to be done.  Before you check out and think that's impossible, let me say that our God specializes in doing the impossible and we are very convinced that He's eager to see this happen.  Our plan is to break it down into 'bus sized' chunks to make it easier for people to pariticipate.  We are going to need your help to make this happen.  It's bold, it's big and it's very exciting when we think about what can happen.  We'll be back with more information in the coming months.  In the meantime, pray for us.  We are going to need plenty of help!