The !deation Conference

Recently, I had the extreme pleasure of attending one of the most creative and innovative conferences I’ve ever attended. The name of the conference was The !deation and it was organized by a really sharp group of people led by one of the most industrious individuals I know, a guy by the name of Charles Lee @charlestlee on twitter.
Besides being a proficient blogger and utilizer of multiple forms of social media, Charles also teaches at a college in Los Angeles, pastor’s a church in Torrance, and co-founded a nonprofit that works to serve the poor and hurting both locally and globally. It’s called “Just One” and I recommend you check it out.
In his minimal spare time, Charles and his team put together an amazing gathering of non-profit leaders who worked toward realizing the tag-line of the conference. “Love Human. Do Good.” I arrived with Nuru’s CEO, and my old friend (and now boss) Jake Harriman on Monday April 5th for this two day conference, and although I had been to two other incredible conferences that Charles had assembled, I had very little idea of what to expect.
The environment of the conference was incredibly intimate. I think there were between 200-300 people in attendance, and this added to the very special atmosphere. But the team that designed the space really made that large group feel even smaller. From the arrangement of seating to some great opportunities for interaction in the space itself, it provided the perfect contect for networking with other likeminded people. In fact, the first night of the conference ended with a fashion show and mixer that allowed some very intense leaders from the non-profit world to relax a bit and interact with one another. I truly wonder what great organization and foundation connections were made under the umbrella of “loving human and doing good” at the ideation conference.
Instead of several days of long sessions from really sharp speakers, the !deation featured morning sessions that consisted of many influencers sharing their personal stories of getting involved in the non-profit sphere. There is something deeply soul-stirring that happens when you fill a room with people who have dared to step out in faith to help fight injustice in the world. There’s also something beautiful that happens when many of these individuals who may experience a bit of a rock-star status share from their mistakes and failings in an effort to help others learn from their experiences. I think the humility that I witnessed in the space was among the most touching aspects of the conference.
Each afternoon, there were a handful of “workshops” that consisted of someone who had done a great job in some aspect of non-profit work sharing his/her successes and failures as he/she guided a room full of passionate and idealistic leaders in ways that they could move forward in greater ways.
This was the first conference of its kind that I have experienced, and I hope it is not the last. Next year, I hope Nuru is among the non-profits invited back to participate in this wonderful event. I also hope that if you are in the greater Los Angeles area and you are interested in loving humans and doing good that you will make it a point to attend the 2011 !deation.

The Idea Camp

ICDC Behind the Scenes from The Idea Camp on Vimeo.


A few weeks ago, I had an awesome privilege of participating in a really cool idea that was created by my recently made friend, Charles Lee along with many, many others. The Idea, a FREE conference that would bring together some of the top minds in non-profits, churches, and social ventures to share ideas, to create, and to collaborate. The idea camp's tagline is "a collaborative movement of idea makers" and the conference experience is dissimilar to any conference in which I've ever participated. The theme for the idea camp conference in Washington DC I attended/participated in was "Compassion and Justice" and was hosted by a group called International Justice Mission

During the conference a group from Nuru International participated, and then Nicole Scott and myself "led" an idea session. The session was called Lessons from Silicon Valley: Innovation and Collaboration with "Competitors", and the discussion was centered around the idea of partnering with other organizations in one's area of focus to accomplish more and to do so in a better way. Click the link to find out more about the session, and some of the ideas that were generated during it.

That's one of the cool and different concepts around the idea camp. Rather than listening to a person talk for an hour and fifteen minutes, the facilitators share a brief introduction to the topic and then open the room up for questions and discussion from the entire group. This allows for people who are "attending" a session to participate, and to hear from each other. Not only that, but new ideas and collaborations form as people discuss an idea or concept in the session or beyond a session.

I understand that there is another Idea Camp forming in Portland Oregon on November 20-21st. The theme will be "Being Present with the City" If you want to find out more, check out the idea camp website.

I think there is a lot to be said about collaborating with other idea makers, dreaming big, and seeing ideas become implemented.

Teamwork

Teamwork, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

I had to write this. Simply because I’m astounded at what teams of people can do when they are united with one mind toward a cause that’s bigger than themselves.

First, I want to brag on the team that put on the 58 conference. None of us had any idea what a HUGE success the conference was going to be when we started planning it this summer. I’m in awe of what God did this past weekend through the efforts of so many of my friends. Lives were CHANGED. I entered into the work I’m doing because I wanted to change lives. I had no idea how much more powerfully that work is accomplished by working together with others. My friends at Chestnut Ridge Church put on one of the most phenomenal conferences I’ve ever been part of. I’m excited for our future teamwork on many more endeavors.

Second, I want to talk about the grassroots team that I’ve been able to work with to get the word out about Nuru. These men and women have helped mobilize thousands of people through facebook and other media. They’ve raised several thousand dollars to bring an end to extreme poverty one community at a time. And they constantly fill in the gaps amid my many flaws. There is simply no way Nuru would be in the place where it is without the men and women who make up our grassroots team.

Finally, I want to mention the kind of teamwork that happens when organizations work together. I’ve already mentioned my new friends Kyle and Conner with Dry Tears, but I loved the fact that this weekend we were able to talk about a few ways we might be able to work together to multiply the effectiveness of both of our organizations when it comes to mobilizing others to make change in the world.

Teamwork makes a huge difference, and there’s a synergy that’s created when we bring our gifts to bear together. Maybe that’s what Paul was getting at when he talked using our gifts. We were meant to work together. We need each other to accomplish anything of lasting significance. No one is an island.

Whatever you are looking to accomplish, we need each other. We need to be on a team. I think Jesus knew that, and that’s why he longs for us to be of one mind, but to each bring our unique strengths to bear for the ultimate goal—our lives completely used to be a sign of the Shalom of God in His world.

Dry Tears

Dry Tears, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

I've had a lot of stuff I wanted to blog this week, but I forgot my camera cable in West Virginia and I was in Michigan for a conference with GCM during the week (more on that later). For now, I'd like to introduce a couple of friends I met during the 58 conference . . .

As part of the 58 Conference I had the privilege of picking up a couple of people from the airport. These guys names were Conner and Kyle, and when Conner was a freshman and Kyle was a junior in high school, they started a non-profit called dry tears.

Yep, you read correctly. While they were both in high school, they started a non-profit organization. It all started when Conner was reading a magazine article that was talking about poverty. You see, he found out that there were kids in our world who were so dehydrated that when they cried they didn’t form tears.

Conner and Kyle thought there was something wrong with that, ]so they started raising money and paying for wells to be dug. So far they have been part of over a dozen wells being dug. High school students—changing the world. Can you believe it? They’ve raised thousands of dollars and partnered with organizations like Blood:Water Mission and Living Water International to see wells dug in Sub-Saharan Africa. We’ve already started talking about a future collaboration between them and Nuru International in Kenya.

Beyond changing the world, Conner and Kyle are a couple of really cool guys. Conner is a senior in high school, and Kyle is a sophomore now at University of Georgia. They are passionate about following Jesus and making a difference in our world. These guys are both articulate and intelligent, and they also stayed at my house with me and my roommates this weekend.

Over the course of our time together, we shared a lot of laughs and some great stories. There’s something awesome that happens when brothers dwell together in unity, and with one mind.

I’m glad my friend Tiffany with Invisible Children told me about these guys, and we were able to get them to come to Morgantown. There’s something really motivating to a group of high school and middle school students when they see a couple of their own stepping out to make a change. And that’s exactly what Conner and Kyle are doing. They are making a change.

I know my life will be different as a result of meeting them. They inspired me. Check out their website, and spend some time with them, and I’m sure you’ll be inspired too. May more of our young people (and our old people) awake from the sleep that tells us that our contribution does not matter.

May this note wake you up to the crises in our world and motivate you to do something about them.

58 Conference: Afterword

This past weekend, we hosted our inaugural 58 conference at Chestnut Ridge Church, and it was truly amazing. What was it like?

It was like mobilizing over 90 volunteers to serve and connect with middle school and high school students from all over the state of WV.

It was like seeing these students hang out, connect, and discuss some life changing talks during the weekend.

It was like impacting an entire city as students and volunteers joined together to step out in faith and serve various non-profit agencies across the city of Morgantown during an early morning FAITHventure.

It was like changing the way a generation thinks about issues like hunger, clean water, and wealth.

It was like watching a generation of young West Virginians step up to make a difference in God’s big World.

Yup, it was a life changing historic weekend for us at Chestnut Ridge Church. We will be thanking our Creator for it for a long time.

58 Conference

For the last several weeks, a group of us at chestnut ridge church have been working furiously to put together a conference that culminates this weekend. The 58 conference is a call to follow in the footsteps of God the Defender and Provider. the 58conference is a call to defend the defenseless and to provide for those in need in our communities, our state, our nation and our world.

the 58conference is a state-wide gathering of high school and middle school students in West Virginia passionate about standing up for those who cannot, putting our faith in action, taking seriously the words of God, spoken through the prophet Isaiah…

“is this not the fast which i choose,
to loosen the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the bands of the yoke
and to let the oppressed go free
and break every yoke?

“is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into the house
when you see the naked, to cover him;
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

“then your light will break out like the dawn,
and your recovery will speedily spring forth;
and your righteousness will go before you;
the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”

ISAIAH 58



In coordination with the conference, churches around the state have been participating in a state wide food drive to fill food pantries around WV.



Our goal with this conference is to see students come alive for God, and to see the great needs of our world, and God's desire to see them work toward bringing healing to the hurts of our world.

There are a number of great organizations who will be participating in the conference as well. These include,
Dry Tears--An organization dedicated to getting water to people who do not have access.
World Vision--an organization that works to bring compassion and justice to our world.
Nuru International--an organization dedicated to helping impoverished communities of 5,000-`10,000 people lift themselves out of extreme poverty for good.
Invisible Children--an organization dedicated to ending a 20 year civil war in Uganda.

If you think about it, say a prayer for us and our participants. The kids who are coming to this conference will be fasting for 30 hours as part of the conference, and we are praying for this to be a life-changing weekend for everyone involved.

Thanks!

Nuru Presents at Oxfam Conference

Nuru Presents at Oxfam Conference



Hey, I just posted a blog entry on the nuru website. It looks like you have to click the link above to see it. But go ahead and click it and check it out. Hope you are having a great day!

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Another Celebrity Encounter?

Well, seeing President Clinton was an auspicious end to the week last week, but then I had another wonderful experience this week. Monday I drove down with a group of friends and fellow staff members at Chestnut Ridge Church to a conference on church leadership being held in Atlanta, GA at Northpoint Community Church which is led by Andy Stanley.

The conference was amazing, and I may write at a later time about some of the conference highlights and takeaways, but as I reflected on my time seeing the former President last week, I thought--wow I just saw another celebrity.

Tuesday night, we had a special celebrity visitor to our conference--Jeff Foxworthy!!! I don't know if you are familiar with Jeff, but he's well known for "You might be a redneck . . . " and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Jeff is a Christian, and took time during his schtick to thank the many men and women who serve as leaders in their churches for the important work that they do. He also shared some funny stories from his life, and even from the Bible.

He pointed out that David killed a man with a slingshot, and said if you do that, "yewwwwww might be a redneck!" ;)

He then talked about how samson got fired up at his neighbors and tied about three hundred foxes together by their tails and then he lit them on fire and they just started spinning around and burning up all the houses in the village. He then said that sounded like something one of his relatives would do. ;)

Then he talked about the woman at the well. Married five times. Currently living with a sixth guy who isn't her husband. Then he said, "If there were trailer parks around Jerusalem, this lady lived in one!"

I'm sure it was funnier being delivered by him then it is coming across being written out, but it was definitely a night filled with laughter. Andy Stanley and the folks who put on the conference have "Fun" as a value, and they wanted to make sure that at least for a moment all of the 2200 people who came to the conference from all over the world would take time to laugh, to celebrate, and to relax.

I laughed so hard that I was exhausted at the end of the night. In the middle of a world where people are really good at being serious, may you find a moment or two to laugh and to smile today!