In 1999 I was approached by a gentleman active in the Pro-Life movement who wanted help and guidance in developing a website. I took a senior role in a large project spanning four years, eventually writing half a million words, 1,000 pages and raising $150,000.00 in the process. Here are 40 lessons I learned from spearheading this project.
His intent was to help stop abortions. As a Christian, and as a father who had lost twin boys in the womb some years earlier, I had a natural leaning toward valuing life (what I found out during the project put me more in the "pro-life camp" than the pro-choice camp), but I disliked the strong emotional bias from both sides of the abortion debate, so the project interested me.
My advice was to develop a website that shared facts, case studies, commentaries and stories in a neutral but authoritative manner, allowing the facts to speak for themselves, and trusting that if people wanted to know the truth that they would work it out from the facts rather than being forced by either side to accept one or the other stance.
We developed expertise in dealing with contentious issues, finding ways to avoid making definitive statements, but rather presenting issues for what they were.
The project was a massive undertaking and was a test of faith - literally, as I came to see the project as a Christian ministry. While there were more than just me on the team, I was the driver and leader of the project.
The following are 40 lessons that I learned from spearheading the life.org.nz project. Many of these points relate to the challenge of outworking a Christian faith in the face of adversity, but others relate more to the personal development that occured during the project.
- The leadership and core vision from time to time (also ascribed to God's prompting) flowed out of a deep personal need, a time of searching, recognising that things were not right, or could be better, and a desire to do His will
- Any problem often became the key to the solution when we turned it over to Him
- The answer to the personal need was our human creativity but that was blessed by the Lord
- We have to start with what we have
- We have to work from where we are, today and day by day
- Not everything turned out the way we expected and some things we still don't understand, but the work was eventually done
- We never gave up, worked as a team and supported each other. When one was down the others carried us. When two were down one carried the others
- We were taught to "share the vision, share the vision and share the vision". When we did this, the doors opened
- The provisioning went to the wire several times and finances arrived at the 11th hour, sometimes just past the deadline
- The Lord has control of the Keepers of the Forest. We have the divine authority to ask unbelievers for Kingdom work. (This concept comes from the Old Testament where a supportive outsider - a King - with the means to support Nehemaiah arranged for his resources to be made available for the task undertaken)
- We required enormous patience to complete the work
- It was hard work, with many challenges, and joys, both valley and mountain top experiences
- We moved only in total unity. We all delayed moving forward unless we were in unity
- We proclaimed the work His at all times. (This was an important point in that while we never mentioned God, the Bible or anything religious on the website, the people always believed that the work was being undertaken for the Lord)
- In times of apparent conflict and tension, we commenced a meeting in prayer and He enabled unity and under strong effective leadership we developed a sense of teamwork against all apparent odds
- We placed the project in a Charitable Trust to be accountable to more than ourselves. Three individuals working for a common cause and structure
- We obtained maximum tax advantage with IRD Donee status
- We delegated work to the area of strength
- We worked ourselves out of a job, moving through stages and training others to carry the load
- We aimed to meet the needs of others, working for the greater good, rather than ourselves
- We required constant faith, which was constantly and repeatedly tested - the greatest area of personal and corporate challenge
- We learnt a lesson in the folly of presumption when delegating responsibility for a critical component to others without first seeking the Lord. Taking the easy way out lacked faith, but in repentance however we reclaimed His blessing and retuned to the correct and previously agreed operational structure
- Total obedience in faith brought forth completion of the task
- The message needs to be respected, regardless of the messenger
- Avoid being pushed into decisions - seek the peace of the Holy Spirit before during and after decision-making
- The Lord gave confirmation of relationships and roles as they developed
- The original vision grew in depth and matured over time, but the vision never changed, we remained faithful to it and the work was done
- We were effective at taking the opportunities as they arose, and this enabled faster progress and in the end in some ways this enabled us to achieve more than we had originally envisioned
- We chose to pay the personal price unhesitatingly - taking one for the team when needed - but set ourselves a fair remuneration
- Our fear of "missing the blessing" helped us to stay on track
- Avoid pride but take credit where credit is due
- We placed the work under the prayer covering of specialist prayer warriors and attribute a lot of the success to this prayer
- Upon completion a spiritual load was lifted from us all personally
- Prior to the completion of the work we experienced serious spiritual pressure
- Undertaking His work required bravery and courage
- Completion of the work is only the beginning
- It took time for others to understand the vision. Many needed time to mull over our vision and come to terms with it. Some, even our financial supporters never did.
- There are substantial resources available to us if we only know how to unlock them
- It is critical to understand our funders values, motives and own personal needs in order to build a two-way relationship. Everyone is different and this was hard work but critical
- In the process of completing the work there have been countless blessings, personal growth and relationships developed
All in all it was an unforgettable experience.
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