Generally speaking we don’t tend to share feedback we receive on our ministry. I know others that do, and I’m not criticising that, but just recognising that generally I am uncomfortable to do so myself. I suppose you could say that is unfair since our ministry is done in a team and the other members of that team deserve to hear the encouraging reports as well. If that is how you feel, I apologise for not doing so more. At the same time I’m sure you’ll understand why it feels better to thank people for affirming feedback and not do much with it (other than keeping a file of some of it for when we are discouraged!) Anyway, I want to break our pattern and share something from a conference I spoke at a while back. It was great to connect with a worker in Asia who is the son of my Dad’s room-mate in Bible College. We really clicked and I couldn’t help wondering if that is what our Dads were like back in the day. Anyway, he shared with me a paragraph from his report on the conference. I found this really encouraging, and I hope you do too:
I think it is significant that at this technological mega-feast where we discussed the latest cutting-edge technology, what I came away with was not just the ideas, software, videos, presentations, etc. but instead, it was the stories that were told. The daily devotional session (Dr. Peter Mead) was spot on – reminding me once again how powerful storying can be when done with adequate preparation. As we get excited about the possibilities that technology offers us, may we never forget that it takes people to really reach people. Yes, there may be many other aids, but at the end of the day, God uses people – people like you and me.