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December 15, 2016

DS Tom Newsletter – HAITI REPORTDan Reiland Leadership Articles, District Pastor & Spouse Ministerial/Retreat (attached)

Good afternoon. Just thought I would send a Haiti report following my recent experience traveling to Haiti last week in a day by day format. Pictures are at the end of the letter.Wednesday November 30, 2016

I departed from Detroit airport early in the morning after being chauffeured by Brian Zeigler and what great hosts the Zeigler family is! It was great to visit 37 North Ministry the night before in Southgate where Joy is Lead Pastor.

Arrived in Port Au Prince to beautiful 80 degree weather about 3:00 pm and welcomed by Pastor Jacques, Pastor Friends and Police Inspector Maturin (friend of Pastor Jacques). Jayme Hazen arrived about the same time as I did. Traveled to Petit Goave and reached Pastor Jacques Guest House after 9:00 pm. (pic 1 – Guest House)

Thursday December 1, 2016 We walked down a few blocks to the city main street and discovered a

tremendously busy area. I am always amazed at the number of people selling produce and product. Moto drivers (motorcycle transport) are more than willing to give a ride to your destination.

In the afternoon joined with 30 Haitian pastors at the Wesleyan Compound in Petit Goave for some Leadership Training/Interaction for 4 hours. They were very receptive and asked many questions. (pic 2 – Wesleyan Compound)

Evening spent with Guest House members and community. Always about 20 people of all ages at the Guest House.Friday December 2, 2016

I shared four hours facilitating a leadership training and pedagogical session with 40 teachers and Sunday School Administrators.

Evening spent with children, teen agers and young adults who were teaching me Creole and wanting to learn English.

Get’s dark about 5:30 pm and often the electricity is no longer available but the sky is bright with stars and the moon.

Mama Meance roasted coffee beans, ground them with wooden poles pounding into a wooden vessel made for that purpose and brewed some very fresh coffee. Tres tres bon!

Saturday December 3, 2016 In the early morning I finished preparing for the weekend up

on Palm Mountain top at LaFond Wesleyan Church and LaFond School.

Traveled for 1 ½ hours by moto (3 of us on a motorcycle) up to LaFond. It was probably the most treacherous travel that I have experienced so far in my life but also exhilarating and beautiful. (pics 3 & 4 traveling up the mountain)

North Michigan District of The Wesleyan Church

Vision: Transforming people through Christ. Empowering an expanding number of churches to be missionally healthy, to passionately transform diverse cultures for Christ.

Mission: Exists to equip, enrich, administrate and communicate to pastors and laity in redemptive ways to accomplish the Great Commission

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Arrived up to LaFond in the afternoon and began to visit with school children, Pastor Doucette (Haiti National Superintendent), people preparing for Sunday Dedication, and experiencing the beauty of the mountain top. There was lots of energy and excitement. Activities for school children, prayer time for adults, food preparation by many women, some attention to preparing the new church for the dedication, worship practice and found a place to sleep.

Sunday December 4, 2016 I experienced the cold water to clean up for the day (3 of us slept in a 6’x10’ space). I finished

preparation for my part in Sunday dedication sermon and service. Walked down to the school a little after 7 am and

fellowshipped with some of the people getting ready for the day.

8am walked to the church and was ready for the ribbon cutting and dedication service to start. Just before 9 am the ribbons were cut and the dedication service began. The next four hours were filled with singing, praising, testimonies, Word of God, praise offering, amazing worship, dedication and preaching. (pics 5 &6)

Viewed the location of the new gardens for the school. I spent the evening with many of the children, teens and

young adults talking about ministry, Zambia and serving God

Monday December 5, 2016 I helped brother Frennel (project manager for putting in the

water collection tank and mason) determine the placement of the water storage collection project. (pic 7)

Visited homes being built that were destroyed by Hurricane Matthew and spent some time at the pre-school.

Most importantly I spent most of the morning with the children during recess and visiting classrooms.

Talked and showed pictures of Zambia with 4 class rooms. (pic 8)

We traveled down the mountain to Petit Goave by moto. This trip was less difficult as the rain had stopped Sunday evening and the wind had helped dry up the red clay that is prominent on the road.

Evening spent with teens and young adults.Tuesday December 6, 2016

We travelled to meet with pastors who serve churches that need new roofs. Fond Doux has school ministry to 430 students and has a church that serves the area. The church building foundation and walls are constructed but is in need of windows, doors, roof and finishing. Toushoushoe pastor told us about his church having the foundation and walls constructed and in need of a roof, windows, doors and finishing.

In the afternoon seven of us went to Grand Goave beach to swim. We ate fresh fruit and freshly prepared conk. It was a great time to be with Pastor Jacques and his two sons along with a couple other young men who spent a lot of time with us the past few days helping out.

Again the evening was a time to spend learning Creole and sharing with the students that were in the guest house community. (Pic 9)

Wednesday December 7, 2016 I finished packing and we traveled to Port Au Prince Visited a sandal, leather and rubber tire entrepreneur business that provides

jobs and economic help to a couple dozen Haitians.

Thursday December 8, 2016

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Arrived at Detroit Metro Airport about 10:05 am and greeted by Joy & Andrew Zeigler who brought a warm car and sent me on my way home.

Arrived home after 3:15 am and was glad to miss the snow storm that caused many accidents later in the morning.

To see more pictures or to have a LaFond presentation please contact Jayme or me.

Information on REACH OUT LaFOND, 1670 Sandpiper Lane, Midland, MI 48640, www.ReachOutLaFond.org989-600-2464 or email Jayme Hazen jaymom2my3@gmail.com or reachoutlafond@gmail.com

Reach Out LaFond ministry needs: Final Cost of building church and roof replaced following Hurricane Matthew - $6,000 Completing Cistern providing water for school students and school garden - $2,000 Building a house for a family that lost theirs in the hurricane - $1,500 Sponsor a child to provide school uniform, daily meals and supplies - $15 per month per student Sponsor a child with medical needs - $50 per month Help sponsor the cost of meals and supplies at the school – Donation of your choice. Helping replace a goat, garden or provide food supplies following the hurricane – Gift of love

Funds for completing the church building and roof or completing the cistern water project can be sent to the District Ministries Treasurer Orson Deemer, P.O. Box 39, Lake Ann, MI 49650. Questions? Contact Jayme visit ReachOut LaFond for LaFond support. About the trip to LaFond and dedication ask Pastor Tom.

NEXT REACHOUT LaFOND MISSION TRIP is February 26 – March 5, 2017. If you want to schedule a church group mission trip to LaFond or maybe a family mission trip to LaFond then please contact Jayme.Also contact District Missions Coordinator Todd Deuling, haititodd@gmail.com, for information about Haiti as he has served as a missionary there for a couple years and taken more than a dozen trips leading mission teams.

DISTRICT MINISTERIAL RETREAT AT THE SHACK (See attached brochure)Register today for a fantastic Ministerial Retreat at The Shack January 27, 28 & 29 with Rev. Santes

Beatty, Multi-Ethnic Director. Santes and Nicole will be arriving from North Carolina to share with us. Rooms available are Fireplace rooms $370 and $410 for a fireplace/hot tub room. This includes two nights lodging, 5 meals, 2 banana splits. Registration needs to be in today December 15, 2016. Call the District Office 231-519-5939 and leave a message if Denise or Marla are not available. Also please see the attached brochure.

DATES TO REMEMBER: 2016-2017 Dates December 17-31, 2016 – DS Tom and Denise on vacation.January 3, 2017 - Leader Connect by ZOOM 9:00 am or 7:00 pm (Possible afternoon time)January 4-8, 2017 – DS Tom and Denise at DS Institute in FloridaJanuary 27, 28 & 29, 2017 – District Ministerial Retreat at The Shack near White Cloud with Santes Beatty,

Multi-Ethnic Director of The Wesleyan ChurchJanuary 28, 2017 – DBMD Student Leadership Day at The Shack with Santes Beatty.February 7, 2017 - Leader Connect by ZOOM 9:00 am or 7:00 pm (Possible afternoon time)February 26 – March 5 – Haiti ReachOut LaFond Mission TripMarch 7, 2017 - Leader Connect by ZOOM 9:00 am or 7:00 pm (Possible afternoon time)April 4, 2017 - Leader Connect by ZOOM 9:00 am or 7:00 pm (Possible afternoon time)May 2, 2017 - Leader Connect by ZOOM 9:00 am or 7:00 pm (Possible afternoon time)June 24, 2017 – District Conference is scheduled to take place at Houghton Lake

Praising God for His unending love, mercy and peace!

D.S. Pastor Tom

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4 Factors to Interpret an Increase in Giving by Dan Reiland (December 14, 2016)I had a conversation with a pastor last week who told me that the giving in his church was on the rise and he asked how he should interpret that.

That’s a sharp pastor.

Normally, we only do an analysis to understand what’s going on when the giving decreases. That’s necessary and can be helpful, but it’s mostly playing defense.

It’s better to know how to interpret giving when it’s increasing, so you can understand it in the moment and lead accordingly.

If you understand the momentum, you can lean into it.

You might consider this semantics, asking, don’t we use the same factors to understand giving regardless if it’s increasing or decreasing? Yes, to some degree that’s true. But deliberate cultivation of generosity when it’s increasing is the wiser stewardship because it’s proactive rather than reactive.

In other words, it’s like attendance. When a leader says to me, “My overall church attendance is increasing rapidly, but I have no idea why,” he or she can’t learn from or leverage the momentum. They are so excited and grateful, they receive the attendance as a gift and think,

“I don’t know why I’ve received this gift, but I’m sure happy about it.” That’s a great attitude, but not the best leadership.

More importantly, if you don’t know why it’s increasing, you are less likely to understand why it’s declining, (if or when it does), and therefore, it takes you longer to change the course of giving.

If you only know why your attendance is decreasing, you are always reacting and playing catch up to a problem, rather than seizing the power of momentum. It’s the same with the giving in your church.So, here are the factors the pastor and I discussed to help interpret an increase in giving.

1) A positive response to the vision.It is rare that giving increases in the absence of strong and clear vision. If your giving is up, take a look at what you have been doing to communicate the vision and how the congregation is responding. Ask yourself why it’s working. Learn from it, ask questions of key leaders to discover how they are responding as well. Continue to refine and bring clarity to the vision and how you communicate it. A real test of vision is whether or not the congregation takes action.

2) Maturing of faith.We know that giving follows in tandem with the increasing spiritual maturity.

As believers learn to trust God and obey His word, giving is part of a natural expression of faith. It’s rare that a nominal believer consistently practices percentage giving. When giving is increasing, be keenly aware of the spiritual dynamics in play from the prayer life of the congregation to their hunger for the Word.

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What practices seem to be increasing and why? When can you learn and leverage to help people continue to mature in their faith?

3) Confidence and trust in the senior pastor.In general, people will not give to the church where they don’t have confidence in the leadership of the pastor. And they certainly don’t give if the pastor is not trusted.

The more extreme examples need no explanation, but this is often difficult to discern in the more moderate illustrations. For example, if the pastor is liked, but doesn’t seem to have a clear direction of where the church is headed, the confidence of the people is likely low.

Strong giving is not only an indicator of mature and obedient believers but also that they have confidence in the leadership of the pastor. If you are not sure, one of the best ways to know is to ask several trusted leaders and confidants in the church, such as board members, prayer partners, and one or two key staff.

4) Relationally connected with others in the church.People always feel more connected when they share meaningful relationships with each other as part of the congregation.

There are two primary long-term points of connection. They are small groups and serving.

Small groups carry a strong sense of community and belonging as people open up, get to know each other, pray and support each other in their everyday lives.

Serving teams often carry an even stronger sense of community because of the bonding that takes place when people serve together on a team focused on a particular goal or mission.Generosity toward the mission is nearly always higher as small groups, and serving teams are healthy and thriving.

There are obviously other factors at play when it comes to increased giving such as the possibility that a single large gift caused the offering to increase substantially that month.

We learn different things if there are a few additional significant contributions or if there many smaller ones. It’s important to understand why a large contribution is given, but it’s more important to understand trends.

I’m more like the pastors who are just grateful when God blesses. I have caught myself saying, ‘You know, I’m not sure why the giving is so strong, but I’m very grateful.” That’s obviously not a bad thing, but the leader in me needs to be grateful and have a good understanding of God’s blessing. That enables me to lead farther and extend God’s Kingdom to the greatest potential. That will help you too.

Which Kind of Smart Are You? By Dan Reiland (December 12, 2016)There are different kinds of smart. Academic smart. Street smart. Business smart. Relationship smart. Math smart.

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There are more, and let’s not forget the smart-alec!What I’ve learned is that being smart doesn’t equate to behaving smart.

In fact, there’s an interesting book titled, Why Smart People Do Dumb Things, by Mortimer Feinberg!

There is a difference between smart (intelligence) and wisdom. Wisdom integrates knowledge, experience, discernment and common sense. Wisdom is knowledge in action for God’s purpose.

God is the source of all wisdom, and He invites us to use what He gives us. I love the book of Proverbs and Chapter 2:6-11 is one of my favorites.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

As Christian leaders, we are not asked to “manufacture” our own wisdom. God provides all we need. However, we are required to process Godly wisdom in a way that helps us lead people for their good.

To make the most of God’s wisdom, we need to put it to practice. The following three steps will be helpful in that process.

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1) The discipline to think.Thinking is not automatic. I love asking leaders when they think. The standard response is “All the time.” We know that is not true. Candidly, not even close. It is easy to be very busy serving others in a local church and not take the time to think. But to lead, we must carve out dedicated think time. It’s hard work!Thinking is the intentional process of reasoning, evaluating, considering and coming to a conclusion that you did not have when you began the thought process.

The most common form of thinking for a leader is problem solving. It often starts with a dilemma of some sort, with options, and you aren’t sure what to do. The greater the stakes, the greater the pressure. Fear of making the wrong decision often paralyzes the thought process, and we attempt to delay, dodge, or have someone else deal with it.The good news is that we never have to think “alone,” God invites us to ask for His wisdom, both directly from Him and through the wise counsel of others. However, a kind caution to you as a leader:

Don’t pick up the phone and seek wise counsel to skip your own thinking process.

Take time to think. Write your thoughts down. I find my best clarity when I write it out. How about you?

2) The desire to do the right thing.God’s wisdom calls for moral character. Wisdom is never in a vacuum. The “smart” God gave you is subject to interpretation. That’s what makes leadership so complicated. The “right thing to do” is not always clear. There is nearly always more than one way to handle a situation the “right way.”

We know this to be true with scripture alone. Biblical scholars have maintained strong differences in their interpretation of certain passages and theological bias for hundreds of years. These biblical interpretations make a huge difference in what you think, the decision you make and how you lead. When you add other factors from your culture to your personal experience, the right thing can be difficult to discern.

It comes down to your heart and purity of motives. Each of us must do our best to discern the mind of God, and what He wants in each decision. If your desire is to please Him, and you do your best to align your thinking with His standards, no one can ask more of you.God’s wisdom calls for moral character.

3) The determination to take action.You can devote time to thinking and desire to do the right thing, but ultimately you need to possess the courage to act.I’ve found myself in this situation more than once. I thought it through and certainly wanted to do the right thing, then froze up at the point of action. Or I slowed it down to delay the inevitable.How about you? Do you have a tough decision to make? Do you have a tension filled confrontation that needs to happen? Perhaps God is asking you to stop a ministry that will ruffle feathers, but it will help focus the church. Whatever it might be, taking action is essential.

Leaders must have the courage and determination to take action.

God gave you intelligence. He made you smart.

What you do with that gift is up to you. You can leverage it to the greatest capacity by taking the time to think, never wavering from doing the right thing, and taking action.