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LEADERSHIP
WORD OF THE WEEK:
PERSPECTIVE
LEADERSHIP
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
"Both optimists and
pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents
the airplane and the pessimist the parachute." Gil Stern
"Those with the gift of administration sense accountability
for what happens, while those with the gift of leadership
make things happen." David Hocking
"You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note."
Doug Floyd
"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus." Dr. John Gray,
Ph.D.
MISSION MOMENT
Gordon H, & Laura Irene Smith
Some years
ago I purchased a book written by a Canadian missionary by the
name of Gordon Hedderly Smith, written in 1942. In his book
entitled "The Blood Hunters," Gordon details the exploits of he
and his family's mission work in French Indo-China from 1929 –
1941.
This year I
ran across a companion book written by Laura Irene Smith,
Gordon's wife. Her book was entitled "Gongs in the Night".
Laura's book encompasses the same time period but was written
one year later in 1943.
After
pouring through her book I pulled from the shelf her husband's
book and reread it. Both books were well written and followed
the young couple from their commission by the Christian and
Missionary Alliance, to their work in Cambodia and Viet Nam.
Both books follow the same time period and many of the exact
same instances; BUT, each book tells these exploits from vastly
different perspectives!
- He tells of
deeds done – She tells of relationships developed.
- He details long
days on the Jungle trail – She of long fearful nights alone
with the children.
- He talks of his
jungle vehicle – She describes her woven hut.
- He excites over
tiger and deer hunts – She obsesses over killing a
poisonous snake slithering towards the baby's rattan crib.
- He explains the
building of a travel trailer – She details how she decorated
the hut to make it "like home".
- He thrills at
building new churches – She at teaching women in the new
villages how to sew.
I could go on, but it is not necessary.
You get the picture. I was laughing as I
compared the two. She sounded like my wife and He sounded like
me! Both went through the same experiences, both used of God,
but both viewed them through very different eyes.
SCRIPTURE
Romans 12:4 For as we have many members
in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5 So we,
being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of
another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace
that is given to us -
"Let us be reminded that others may see the same situation in an
entirely different
perspective than that of our own." JAS
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