Orange
Ryan Reed
You Gotta Make It to OC17

One of the most important events on my annual professional calendar is the Orange Conference.

Why Orange? In sum, when it comes to a student ministry curriculum, I have not found one as powerful, versatile, comprehensive, and intentional as Orange. It cares for the middle school student just as much as the elderly aunt who takes care of him. Orange seeks to equip the entire family, not just the teenage kid, for both individual and familial faith. That simple.

As a user since 2011, I've continually been sold by how well it prepares me to share the Gospel with teenagers and build parent partnerships for faithful ministry in the home. 

You Gotta Make It to OC17
Leadership
Ryan Reed
The Important Role of Self Awareness in ...

This post originally appeared on the Orange Leaders Blog on June 22, 2016. 

What is the toughest question you’ve ever had to answer, and who asked it?

Given that somehow you made your way to this exceptional community called Orange Leaders, I automatically know a few things about you:

The Important Role of Self Awareness in Leadership
Leadership
Ryan Reed
Key Ingredients for a Thriving Ministry Recipe

Not long ago my wife introduced me to the best show on television... Chopped. I love it. Hands down noting beats it. A simple show in concept: four chefs compete against one another using a basket of mystery ingredients - yet so captivating!

Why? Because the ingredients equalize the playing field. Whether the chef be a novice out of culinary a school or a multi-restaurant owner veteran, each chef receives the ingredients at the same time and must respond to them. 

The ingredients are the star of the show. They call out the character of the chef. Not the other way around. It's the ingredients that define the path.

Key Ingredients for a Thriving Ministry Recipe
Church
Ryan Reed
May the Real Me Meet the Real You

Said C.S. Lewis, "The prayer that precedes all prayers is may the real me meet the real you." 

A great friend of mine from college once shared this quote with me. He and I served in Young Life together, leading high school students toward a growing relationship with Jesus. I can recall that he ended nearly every one of his ministry talks with this quote just prior to closing in prayer:

"May the real me meet the real you."

I probably listened to him share this quote with me dozens of times. I think I also used it. But quite honestly, I don't think I understood the meaning behind it until much later in life. Intellectually I understood it. It's simple in structure, but truly profound in its meaning. 

Perhaps I missed it time after time because inherent within this quote lays an assumption that you know the real you. 

May the Real Me Meet the Real You
Orange
Ryan Reed
Rethink Leadership Conference Day 2 #OC16 #RL16

CAREY NIEUWHOF INTERVIEW WITH JON ACUFF

Know your message enough to find the direction, but leave it open enough to let the Holy Spirit inspire new content. 

For humor, build the island, but then make sure that you make a sturdy bridge to and from the island. Satire is about an idea, but mockery is about an individual. We are not called to mockery.

Put handles on ideas so that we can carry them forward. We have enough ideas. Put a handle on them.  

Rethink Leadership Conference Day 2 #OC16 #RL16

Mission

How Should a Christian Respond to Power #loveGodloveMexico

How Should a Christian Respond to Power #loveGodloveMexico

If you follow Jesus, then what does a faithful response to power look like for you?

I want to think about this question with you for 2 reasons:

First, during our time in Mexico together, we confronted a countless number of situations where all of us felt either powerful or powerless. And those feelings shaped how we related to others in Mexico, as well as our faith in Jesus on a personal level, and I believe that this same dynamic holds true for us no matter where we live and visit. Ultimately power shapes our relationships with one another and with God.

And the second reason why I want to address this question with you is because every single one of you is a powerful person. You - every single one of you - possess power.

And what is power? Power simply defined is influence.

You are an influencer.

Conversely, however, you are also influenced. Every one of us in some way or another is influenced by others. Depending on the situation, there are others in positions of power and influence over us - whether that person be a supervisor, family member, friend, or stranger. All of us encounter people who influence us, and still the question remains even in those situations:

“How should a Christian respond to power?” If you follow Jesus, then what does a faithful response to power look like for you?

And the Lame Shall Walk #loveGodloveMexico

And the Lame Shall Walk #loveGodloveMexico

“Did that really happen?”

On the third day of our mission work in La Mision, Mexico, we broke from the typical rhythm of the week, and headed north toward the border city, Tijuana. 

We traveled along Mexico Highway 1, the international extension of the Pacific Coast Highway, not knowing at all what awaited for us at our destination.

Our mission for that day: to pray and provide food for the people living in the “Old" Tijuana Dump - the slums of Tijuana. I place the term ‘old’ in quotations because supposedly the dump shut down about 6 years ago. The catch, however, is that the owner of the dump recently reopened it for income and now uses certain portions of it - some directly next door to the homes living in the community - to dump garbage. 

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Student Reflections on Kolkata - Video

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Recently, two young teenage men who served on our Kolkata Mission Team produced a documentary video chronicling our adventures serving rescued women from the sex traffick industry. It highlights so well the true, real time reality of how difficult and rewarding our work truly was in Kolkata. I hope that you watch it and witness how God not only used our team, but uses Freeset everyday to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his message of freedom everyday.

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Reflecting Kolkata - One Month Later

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One month after Kolkata, I feel more burdened than ever to simply share our story with as many people as possible.

Before we arrived at Kolkata, I recall telling our team to prepare for the shock of re-entry. Many had never left North America, let alone step foot onto the Asian sub-continent. I felt a hunch deep within me that our return home would be tougher than anyone of us could imagine.

Streets #loveGodloveKolkata

Two weeks ago, I walked along an entirely different kind of street.

It was dirty, full of garbage, excrement, and raw sewage. Strangers bathed in the streets. Traffic moved about in chaotic forms. The homeless made homes in the streets. Struggling businesses dotted the streets. A dying man laid lifeless in the street. Misery is embodied on the streets.

The streets of Kolkata incarnate life in its rawest form.

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Choices #loveGodloveKolkata

"The difference between the poor and wealthy is simple: the poor have no choice, and the wealthy have too many."

Said Kerry Hilton, Founder and President of Freeset, an organization that seeks to provide a choice for women to choose freedom from sex trafficking.

The difference between the poor and wealthy is simple: the poor have no choice, and the wealthy have too many.

--Click to Tweet--

Dichotomies #loveGodloveKolkata

I filmed a short video sharing about the strange dichotomy of our final day in Kolkata. As you watch, ask yourself this question: how have you responded in the past to issues that confront your faith and seemingly oppose it? Be praying for our travels home, and I look forward to writing more about my experiences in Kolkata over the next several days.  

Kolkata Final Night from Ryan Reed on Vimeo.