The Seabourns

Stories

The brotherhood of the traveling shirt

by 4 Comments

Erik’s shirtI’m participating in an interesting twist on what “global” means. I traveled from the U.S. (Florida) to Bangkok, Thailand. A friend named Erik travels from Singapore to Bangkok. We ride together in a cab to a local tailor named Pinky. We both order shirts. Erik leaves to return to Singapore. Erik’s shirt is delivered to my hotel in Bangkok. I carry Erik’s shirt to Bangalore, India where I meet another friend from Singapore, Ric. I pass Erik’s shirt to Ric who carries it back to Erik in Singapore. Did you follow that transaction? 🙂

Wow, that’s a global shirt purchase! I guess we’re the Brotherhood of the Traveling Shirt.

Actually, the shirt is a silly example.

Kay and TipOne of the amazing things about being part of a global mission organization is getting to know co-workers around the world. Kay and I met Tip on this trip. Tip has served over 10 years on the Thai staff of our ministry. She has ministered on campuses in the northeast of Thailand. She has served in the northwest of Thailand. She is now part of the Human Resources team in the national office in Bangkok.

Although Tip is Thai and we are Americans, we share a common “culture” of helping build movements everywhere. We share a common culture of bringing glory to God by introducing people to Jesus Christ. We know what it’s like to minister on campuses. We understand and teach the basics of knowing Jesus and growing as his followers. Although we have little in common from a world perspective, we have much in common from a Kingdom perspective.

Last night in the car, a friend Mark was explaining to Tip that a common Thai friend had accepted Jesus. Tip broke out in spontaneous song:

Praise the name of Jesus.
Praise the name of Jesus.
He’s my Rock. He’s my fortress,
He’s my Deliverer
In Him will I trust.
Praise the name of Jesus.

Global is great. The Kingdom of God is even greater. Laboring with friends like Tip and Erik and Ric and Mark is a tremendous blessing as we help everyone know someone who truly follows Jesus.

Sobering week

by Leave a Comment

Today was kick-back-and-relax day. A week of conferences is over. We depart Thailand about midnight tonight. I spent time reading, including reading and watching some of the Virginia Tech stories.

Campus Crusade for Christ has a website relaying up-to-date information of what is happening at Virginia Tech through the Campus Crusade movement there. It is interesting to hear how students are responding.

My friend Shannon documents two amazing stories. You must watch these news clips from ABC and Fox. Their stories are amazing, but it’s even more interesting to watch the TV news commentators trying to grasp the spiritual solutions these two people are displaying. In the first one, Molly Donohue, the first to find the bodies, talks about the role her Bible study group is playing in her recovery. In the second one, Lauren McCain’s father talks about the importance of forgiveness.

There are also sobering news clips of interviews with Molly, a VT Crusade student who was the first to find the dead bodies on her dorm floor. In all, four Crusade students have died. Please pray for the VT students and for the Crusade staff as they minister during a time when they too are reeling from shock and sadness themselves. There are excellent articles that you might find helpful in ministering to your friends who are shocked and confused by the tragedy.

These are must-view clips.

We also received word this week that 3 Christians were found in eastern Turkey with their throats slit. The worked in a Christian publishing house.

At our MinistryNet conference, we were asked to pray for a large number of Christians in a Southeast Asia country who have been arrested for “defamation of Islam”.

I am excited to see our internet ministries learning to take advantage of opportunities that God gives us to interact with hurting, seeking people. At our conference this week, someone shared that crises are God’s opportunities to help people come to know him. During crises, people often realize that their worldview does not work very well. They become open to seeking how to make sense of the crisis, and it often leads them to God.

Ira Glass on Storytelling

by Leave a Comment

I just watched 4 short videos by Ira Glass on storytelling. If you write prayer letters, if you make presentations to supporting churches, if you teach Sunday School, or if you just want to improve your speaking and writing for whatever reasons, I encourage you to view these short videos. Here are my short notes for these short videos.

The basics of a good story
Two basic building blocks: (1) The anecdote. A sequence of actions. (2) The moment of reflection. Reflecting on the meaning of the story.

Finding great stories
The moment you write the story on paper or record it to video, it is trying to be a bad story. Get rid of the boring parts. Be ruthless in editing.

On good taste
The first stories you write and videos you produce will not be very good. You have good taste and want to do good work, but your skills are not honed. Persevere.

Two common pitfalls
(1) Be yourself. Don’t try to mimic others’ speaking or writing. (2) Don’t talk about yourself. Don’t turn someone’s story into an autobiographical time to talk about yourself.

I recommend these to anyone wanting to improve their storytelling, writing, or videos.