Saturday, May 19, 2007

Leadership that Changes Lives


Isla Negra is a small city on the coast about an hour and a half from Santiago. It is best known for one of the homes of the Nobel prize winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. Besides being a great poet Neruda was also involved in politics. He was a socialist who owned three luxurious homes. True servant leadership is really hard to find. And Latin America has had some (and currently has some) very poor leadership.

Mario Bloise, the Continental director, came from Argentina to serve our staff and students for the weekend. The content of the weekend was centered on being leaders that serve, bringing positive change for others. We had a great couple of days with the students. A high percentage of those who came were new students and non-Christians. Most of us were just acquaintances when we arrived, but we left having started new friendships. During the past couple weeks those relationships have continued to grow and we have had gospel centered conversations.

The students were challenged to develop their character and other leadership skills. Mario challenged them to establish clear convictions, to figure out what they are living for. He shared how following Jesus has transformed his life. I had the privilege of speaking to the new students at the close of the conference. By addressing several of the common presumptions that guide how we figure out our purpose in life I hoped to help us consider how we could live extraordinary lives of integrity... living to glorify God by enjoying Him as our greatest treasure, and helping others live this extraordinary life by faith.