Facebook

Hey guys!

I'm am not sure how many people still keep up-to-date with what's happening in my life through this blogsite but I want to let you know that I do most of my communication now through facebook.

Facebook is a networking website at www.facebook.com and I've found it a really wonderful way to keep in touch with freinds, family, and church while away from Australia. I try to regualry update my page with 'notes' about Cambodia and my life and lots of photo's. We can also keep in touch with quick messages. If you don't have a facebook account I'd highly recommend getting one, it's quick and easy and a great way to keep in touch with friends you might have not talked to in a long while.

If you are from NewLife Uniting Church please add me as your friend on facebook.

My name is, 'Stuart Herschell - Adair'

What have I been learning about leadership?

Leadership is… not the focus.

This is the most biblical thing I’ve discovered about leadership. Leadership is… not the focus.

I had a shocking revelation, in the ESV Bible the word leader is mentioned 23 times. 21 times in the Old Testament, twice in the New Testament. The word ‘leadership’ is mentioned once in the whole Bible (ESV translation). I can go through different translations, the numbers do change a little, but its not great. The Bible is a big book! The leadership is not the focus of this book.

Tonight I stumbled across one of the most elegant books I’ve ever read. Wiser than I can drink up at my young age. It’s called ‘A Tale of Three Kings’ by Gene Edwards. There is a life altering question in this book in chapter 15 (the few chapters leading to this build an intense platform): ‘What does this world need; gifted men, outwardly empowered? Or broken men, inwardly transformed?’

This book tells the story of King Saul and King David in a fascinating manner. Saul is gifted, yes. Anointed by the Lord, a fantastic leader of a nation who literally establishes a kingdom out of no such thing. He assembles an army, and the nation follows. This is a man blessed (it is highly significant to remember; ‘blessed’ by God) with outward power. A great king… though a raving madman indeed.

The contrast is David. A man who showed submission not authority. A great leader? No. Just a man with legitimate integrity, who cried a lot.

What am I trying to say? God has been crushing my heart. Why do we say ‘servant leadership’? Why do we need to tack the word ‘leadership’ on the end? The term ‘servant leader’ is never mentioned in the Bible! The Bible just talks about being a servant.

I am learning that leadership is not the focus. Though for most of my Christian life it has been. It is a word that comes up over, and over again. I think I want to walk away from leadership… it’s not the focus. This is an incredibly deep question. ‘What does this world need; gifted men, outwardly empowered? Or broken men, inwardly transformed?’ How earnestly I want to pray fervently, ‘Oh Lord empower me!’ this is an important shift I commit to make. That prayer must become, ‘Oh Lord transform my heart’.

CHINA

Tomorrow morning my team and I leave for a Northern provence of China where we will be staying for the next month. Please pray for us as we go there.

I will not be using internet while I am there but I'll have fun stories to tell when we come back!
Blessings.

Photo's from outreach!

We spent 3 days in a little village called 'war village' over the Cambodian New Year:








































































This little girl was my favorite thing in the village, she was so cute and fun!

DTS Gathering

Hey!
We're having a cool thing going on in B-town right now. There's a whole load of DTS's come to join us! People from Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Switzerland's, Australia, America, the UK, and Korea! Yeah so things are... ethnic...

Tonight we're having a 'cultural celebration', so us Aussie's are about to start cookin' up some damper. Fun.

Siem Reap

Hey!
We've been here in Siem Reap for a week now. Like I said before I love the team I'm with, they're a lot of fun. It's been a hard week though, we've been working with lots of different ministries and we're tired... for me I feel easily discouraged. I see the lots of work we do and feel like there is little result. I know how big God is and I just feel what I'm seeing isn't enough. We're trusting that God sent us here for a reason.

The focus of this outreach comes from what we believe God's been showing us in prayer: 'People in need'. So we've been working at a Christian handicapped center here which offers job opportunities to disabled Cambodians by birth or landlines, we've been working at a 4 Square church orphanage teaching English, dances, and songs, we've been at a little junior school in a poor area of town that a local pastor stared for kids who can't afford to study elsewhere.
All the time we are trying to love people, help people; I want as many people as possible understand exactly why Jesus came, what he taught, the life he gives. I want people to know how good this is! That with out salvation in Jesus we don't have life; that all the junk and sin in our life separates us from God; that we desperately need help. The only place we find that is in knowing Jesus... that's what Jesus said.

Love you guys. We'll be here until Friday next week then we head back to class in Battambang. Pray for us!