One writer quipped, “Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.” Humorous, but true!  Today ushers in dramatic adjustments for my family as I am approaching my final hours directing Food for the Hungry’s City Initiatives.

For the past several months my family and I have been wrestling with a decision to either continue our ministry with Food for the Hungry or transition to a position with Streetlight – a safe-house, in-part, developed from the City Initiative and ‘branded’ movement that will meet the wholistic needs of young girls rescued from child sex slavery.  Following much prayer, and far too many meetings, we have felt a clear call to help lead the growing and innovative movement to eradicate child sex slavery in Phoenix.  As of next week I will begin working with Streetlight.

In many ways this new venture only continues a vision started over 4 years ago.  City Initiatives was strategic in launching our 3-tier strategy – awareness, prevention, and aftercare – in combating this injustice.  Our dream of different sectors working together, of actually solving problems instead of simply talking about problems, of developing a movement of modern day abolitionists, and of having the Church lead the charge is coming to fruition with our Branded/Streetlight partnership.  We continue to believe that Phoenix could become an example to other cities in our nation and around the world of the enormous potential when different sectors of society work together to meet physical and spiritual needs.  Streetlight and Branded are examples of this vision!

www.streetlightphx.org
www.brandedphx.com

Also – as of Monday, March 8th, my new email address will be pat@streetlightphx.com

Jaime Farrant, a respected friend and native Puerto Rican, recently wrote the following blog for our Branded and Streetlight initiative.  Jaime established and directed IJM (International Justice Mission) offices in Bolivia and Guatemala.  He conducted groundbreaking investigative and advocacy efforts across the Americas which helped develop and maintain international relationships to advance human rights.  Twice the Bolivian National Police honored Jaime for his crime fighting initiatives.  Clearly, I am proud to call him my friend and fellow advocate against the violence and slavery inflicted on young victims both domestically and internationally.  Jaime wrote:

A series of recent events have led me to think these past few weeks about the things that I believe I’m passionate about, and how committed I am to them.  I read something recently on this topic that has not left my brain, and I would like to share it with you.  It’s from Francis Chan’s new book “Forgotten God”.  There, Chan writes:

“Did God lead you to where you are?  A lot of people in my church and in my travels tell me ‘I believe that God has called me to Simi Valley’.  Or Wichita.  Or new York.  Or Greenville.  Or wherever.  That very well may be the case.  But it could also be a cop-out because you like where you live.  You have a good job.  The school district is safe and has high ratings.  Your family lives close by (or perhaps far away, depending on your relationship with them).  It makes sense that you are “called” to be there, right?

And maybe you are called to where you live.  But if you say you are called to be in the place you are, a few questions need to be considered.  For example, how would you be missed if you left this place?  What would change?  Basically, what difference does your presence here make?  Or, as my youth pastor once asked me, ‘What would your church (and the worldwide church) look like if everyone was as committed as you are?  If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered? Or would it be weak and listless?”

These 2 paragraphs have really made me think about the things I claim to be passionate about, be it faith, politics, or anything else.  Think about what you’re passionate about.  Now think…what have you done about those things?  If you stopped doing what you have been doing, would a difference be felt?  Am I doing something or just thinking or talking about it and actually not doing anything?  Jesus said that “by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20).  What are your fruits?

Now, let’s say you’re passionate about ending human trafficking.  What would the world look like if everyone was as committed to this cause as you are?  What could happen?  Am I doing something to show how committed I am to this cause?  What?  If I’m not doing anything, why not?  What if the whole world did the same things I did?  Will things be better off?  Worse off?  The same?

What are you passionate about?  How are you trying to make a difference?  How can we change the world together?  How can we have recognizable good fruits?

Years ago, as a coach,  I adopted a practice from the great John Wooden.  At the conclusion of each coaching season I would note 3 key items I learned – These axioms became strategic in my personal growth.  Recently, I assumed this practice with City Initiatives and scribed 5 significant lessons I learned from my past 4 years of work.

1.  Steward what I do

• The reality is there has to be accountability in any organization; therefore; it is imperative that I steward my role with an organization by carefully measuring and revealing the value I, and my team, deliver
• Some call it “stewardship”, some “self-promotion”, and some refer to it as “accountability”.  What ever you call it the truth is that somewhere a board and/or leadership team, who may know very little about who I am and exactly what I do, is looking at the numbers to determine the organization’s ROI regarding my particular program.  If I fail in clearly revealing my “measured” value it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for those boards and/or leaders to make proper assessment of my program

2.  Leadership is crucial to start and maintain any initiative

• People empower those who clearly cast a vision and continue to “fill their bucket” with this vision
• Find the “sticky message” and speak to it again and again
• No matter how great an idea is on paper if the right person is not leading it will go no where

3.  Humility is fundamental for collaboration

• Learn, learn, learn – Never, ever believe you have arrived…always remain in that learning, morphing, growing stage
• There is something amazing about the person and/or group that continually says, “How can we serve you?” or “We want to learn”
• There is no such thing as an “expert”; only those further along on the learning curve

4.  If collaboration/partnerships were easy we would see more of them

• Collaboration does not naturally occur – Someone has to wake up every morning thinking “what can we do together that we could never do alone”
• Whoever “leads” collaborative efforts must be willing to be walked on and often “forgot” in the process of success
• Collaboration by itself leads to nothing.  Collaboration around an issue can rock the world. (My “intuitive leap” two years ago was “What if we actually solved a problem?”)

5.  Find the right people

• Any innovative idea needs an initial core group who will continually motivate, inspire, believe, and empower others toward that imperative “tipping point”
• If you do not have several “leaders” who inspire others or “influence the influencers” any initiative will remain stagnant, regardless of how many people “believe” in the idea

In June 2007 I facilitated a meeting with local sector leaders asking the question, “Is now the time to come together to meet the physical and spiritual needs in our community?”  (I recognize it is a rather dumb and obvious question.  When is it not appropriate to unite in meeting needs?)  It was during this meeting that I first learned of the child slavery that is rampant in my own neighborhood, city and country.  In the midst of our meeting a question was raised that continues to haunt my thoughts, “Where are God’s people?”  It is a question that rings true in our world – “Where are God’s people?”  In our nation – “Where are God’s people?”  In our own communities – “Where are God’s people?”  My dream is that we would answer this question so emphatically that it begins changing the cultural view of the church!

Last week I was interviewed with one of our vice officers regarding the collaborative efforts focused on combating child sex slavery.  During the interview the officer was asked, “In your 25+ years of service have you ever witnessed churches rallying around a cause like this and what has it done for those of you on the front lines?”  The officer smiled, laughed and replied, “No, I have not seen anything like this and it has given us hope – but I am waiting for it to end.”  Those words stung me and motivate me.  I don’t want people believing we will rally to a cause, stir up some dust, and move on.  For too long the church in the west has been known primarily for their passionate work on the other side of the sea.  Do not misinterpret my words – I rejoice for all that has been accomplished around the world.  I understand that there is so much more to do and recognize it is our MANDATE to go to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  But let us not forget our own “Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria”!  We need a GLOCAL vision that lavishes compassion, mercy, hope, and justice both locally and globally!

May we never lose sight of the tremendous needs across the ocean!  However, as my brother scribed so eloquently in his poem below, we have too often turned away from those across the street on our way across the sea.  It is not an “either/or” but a “both/and” – a GLOCAL vision incorporating those next door and those in another land and culture.  My brother’s poem hangs in my office as a powerful reminder of the need in our own backyard:

This Time In Between

“This time in Between

After my birth

And before my death

This time on your side of the sea.

What will you do, Christian?

Will you feed me and defend me?

What if I live across the street, not across the sea?

What if I have taken and beaten and used?

Will you lift me up and rescue me?

Or only those across the sea

.

This time in Between

After my birth

And before my death

This time on your side of the sea.

What will you do, Christian?

Will you shelter me and give me new sight to see?

What if I am dirty and full of disease?

And my sin is here and not across the sea.

This time in Between

After my birth

And before my death

This time on your side of the sea.

What will you do, Christian?

I’m right here in your way

To your work across the sea.

Is your only tragedy across the sea?

I’m right here in your way

To your work across the sea.

Please listen, Christian.

Is my rape less violent?

My hunger less painful?

Is my ravaged, addicted body

My suffering soul

Worth less than those across the sea?

This time in Between

After my birth

And before my death

This time on your side of the sea.

Please tell me

What will you do, Christian?

I’m right here in your way

To your work across the sea.

There is a subtle myth that slavery was vanquished in the 19^th century.  In reality it hasn’t been defeated and there are more slaves today than any other time of human history.  In fact, everyday, there are thousands of slaves across the United States.  Thousands brought in and sold for sex and labor.  In my years on this globe I have witnessed and/or read about numerous horrific events; however, I cannot fathom that humanity has created a crime more heinous than enslaving children in a system of rape for profit.

Sadly, there is an astonishing, well organized network of criminals victimizing women and children every day.  I have wondered why we, those fighting for justice, are unable to network with similar ferocity.  Why do criminals have structured systems and networks reaping havoc, while we continue creating “solutions” and systems that remain autonomous of one another?  Why can we not network?  What if different sectors of society could begin working together to break the chains of modern day slavery?  What if churches could unite and lead the charge against this heinous injustice?  What if a duplicable model of collaboration developed that became an example to other cities in our nation and around the world of the enormous potential when government and market place leaders, young people, churches, and thousands of modern day abolitionists wrestled, fought, and prayed against child sex slavery?  What if….

Over 40 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. painted a poignant vision with his “I have a dream” monologue.  What if today, in our continued struggle against slavery, we carried on his dream of abolishing slavery and created a UNITED effort working together to bring justice?  What if…

What if…

Go to www.brandedphx.com for more information about modern day abolitionists!

Mark Linfiel, Director of Planet Earth, stated, “There is no way that everything is going to work out all of the time, and if it does you are not trying things difficult enough.”  Certainly most of us nod with affirmation reading Mark’s insights.  However, if we assert the value in taking risks why is there an incessant avoidance of “walking the edge” with creative, innovative ideas?  Why do we not celebrate the lives of those willing to try something a little crazy?  Why are we always taming ideas?

My growing supposition is that our aversion toward innovation often relates to our self-conscious fear of failure.  Over time many institutions and organizations, birthed from an inventive ideology, develop necessary formulas and systems that eventually inhibit the very creativity that launched them.  Therefore, many organizations and ministries no longer trust the entrepreneur; they now trust the system.  Richard Watson recently posted an informative blog regarding innovation.  He shares, “Rules are precisely what innovators and other paradigm shifters break.  For example, 50% of all new pharmaceutical products launched in the U.S. a few years ago came from companies that were less than ten years old.”  Watson correctly asserts that children learn best as they touch and manipulate their world.  Their curiosity allows them the freedom to “make mistakes”.  Yet, so often the moment they enter formal education they are immediately taught that making mistakes is bad.

My point about failure is simply that it is a reality for all of us.  It is not “if” you will fail, but “when” you will fail.  One of our core problems is that we hide from this reality rather than embrace it.  I am certainly not encouraging failure, but instead motivating others to live lives that are so passionate and creative that, along with the unavoidable “bumps and bruises”, comes cutting edge, innovation.

“Fail Fast” is a principle Marc Kyle, my current boss, has instilled in his department (He probably wishes he had not shared this concept as I have taken the liberty to “fail fast” again and again!).  His leadership has created a climate of creativity and innovation that is often lost in established organizations and churches.  I believe Marc’s philosophy of leadership is based on the combination of his deep understanding of the Gospel and a realization that any institution that refuses exploration of new ideas is on a death march. 

Richard Watson concludes his blog entry with this inspiring thought:

“The point about failure is not that it happens but what we do when it happens. Most people flee…Does this mean you abandon your failures? Yes and no. Your idea could be right but your timing, delivery, or execution could be wrong. Who could have guessed, for instance, that the one-time AIDS wonder drug AZT had been a failed treatment for cancer or that Viagra was a failed heart medication that Pfizer stopped studying in 1992?  There’s a great quote by the English sculptor Henry Moore that sums this up pretty well: “The secret of life is to have a task, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is: it must be something you cannot possibly do.”

God created us in His image as inventors and innovators – don’t run from that audacious idea, and if you fail, get back up and keep going.  My suspicion is that a few of us are part of organizations, families, or churches that are ripe for “walking on the edge”!   

Below is an excerpt from Norman Maclean’s Young Men and Fire, the story of the Mann Gulch Tragedy.  On August 5, 1949 a crew of 15 of the United States Forest Service’s elite airborne firefighters, the smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness.  Less than an hour after their jump, all but three of these men were dead or mortally burned.  The disastrous story is essentially defined by 15 young men caught in a fire “blow-up” and running for their lives.  At one point the crew leader, Dodge, made a desperate decision to spark a backfire, run to the middle of the burn-out, lie face down and allow the enormous inferno to blow over him.  He ordered his crew to follow.  Instead they ignored his orders and attempted to scamper the remaining 200 yards to the ridge of the mountain – all but two died.  In the end Dodge’s wild and dangerous idea would have saved his crew, but as with many innovative thoughts his was rejected with tragic results. 

The quote below is Maclean’s description of Dodge’s desperate, pioneering inspiration. 

 “…Perhaps, though, his biggest invention was not burn a hole in the fire but to lie down in it.  Perhaps all he could patent about his invention was the courage to lie down in his fire.  Like a lot of inventions, it could be crazy and consume the inventor.  His invention, taking as much guts as logic, suffered the immediate fate of many other inventions – it was thought to be crazy by those who first saw it.  Somebody said, ‘To hell with that,’ and they kept going, most of them to their deaths.” 

Interestingly, Dodge’s desperate and innovative thinking is now common training for these distressed situations.  In the end, it displays the value of the entrepreneurial spirit.   Someone once said, “You can always tame an idea, but you cannot pump one up.  Wild ideas indicate creative thinking.”  THINK BIG!!!

Note:  The following explanation was taken from Chris Maddox’s blog.  As you will notice he is an excellent photographer - click here to check out his site and photography. 

More pictures of golf marathon under “family moments” and “wanderings”! 

“On Monday, after returning from the weekend in Mexico with Love God Love People, I woke up early to make it to Ancala golf course at 6 a.m.  The course was the location for the 1st Annual City Initiatives Golf Marathon with proceeds benefiting the Phoenix based City Initiatives program within Food for the Hungry.  I will be posting more on what/who City Initiatives is in the upcoming weeks, but it is worth noting that I am currently working with Pat McCalla, the director of City Initiatives, on a vision that would unite both City Initiatives and Love God Love People. To fully unfold this vision I’ll need more time, but essentially City Initiatives is in existence with a goal of uniting various sectors of Phoenix (Government, Educational Institutes, Youth, Churches and the Marketplace) with the vision of actually solving a problem. The first problem that this initiative has tackled has turned into a case study for what future initiatives will look like, that issue is underage sex trafficking in Phoenix. It is an unbelievably dark issue, and one that is not being allowed to stay out of site. City Initiatives and their many partnerships have instigated a movement against child sex slavery in Phoenix, “Branded”. This movement is named after a documentary which came out of this project and shares the same name.  I would encourage you to learn more by clicking here and visiting the Branded website.

The event was a great time of both celebration for what has already been achieved, and what still needs to be done. If you would like to contribute to the Branded cause or learn more click here.” -Chris Maddox

On a side note- the pictures behind me are images from the new Street Light safe house. It was born out of the Branded movement and will provide a tangible solution to assisting in the rehabilitation and restoration of these young victims.

In 2005 City Initiatives was launched with the vision of Phoenix becoming an example to other cities in our nation and around the world of the enormous potential when churches, city leaders, young people, faith based and non-profit organizations work together in meeting physical and spiritual needs.  Our objectives were to be used by God in connecting people, ideas and tools, form multi-sector collaborations, and influence the influencers.  Two years ago we began asking the question, “What if we facilitated a collaborative effort that actually solved a problem?”  Our belief was that one of our greatest testimonies to society would be a unified, loving effort that not only talked about issues of poverty but helped solve one.  Listed below are a few exciting examples how God has used City Initiatives these past months in advancing this vision:

Advocating and Speaking Out

• City Initiatives has directly reached 10,065 individuals via speaking in churches, colleges, and seminar events

Facilitating the collaborative effort to eradicate child sex slavery in Phoenix through ‘branded’ and our partner ‘streetlight’ – www.brandedphx.com

• Partnerships including 30+ churches, County and City Attorney’s office, Vice-Officers, 4-5 local non-profits and 1000’s of individuals
• 15 Branded Screenings to 2,500+ individuals
• 3,000+ Branded DVD’s sold or given away
• As of September 16^th viral marketing for Branded includes 400+ followers on twitter and 6,881 on facebook with an average growth of 100 per day