How I'm Increasing my Productivity Today
Today I am unsubscribing to most of the e-mail newsletters that I have signed up for.Most of the e-mail newsletters related to Internet Marketing all push the same sales stuff on me, over and over again, and very few that I have been subscribed to actually provide valuable content. I figure that if I only stay subscribed to one or two of them, I should get all the important stuff come through anyway.
The newsletters that I am subscribed to for CNet and other on-line publications are great, and full of original and valuable content, but most the content I can get in an RSS feed, so I don't think that I will be missing anything.
Most mornings now I log in and see over 30 e-mails in the box! How the heck did I ever let that happen?
Time to simplify things... It's time to start reading less, and writing more.
Next step, reducing the number of RSS feeds I subscribe to.
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
Share and enjoy
A Day at the Townsville Museum - My Birthday
We celebrated my 31st birthday last weekend as a family. It was a fun and low key day for us...- Started with waffles and fresh orange juice for breakfast
- Headed over to the Museum of Tropical Queensland for some free family fun (the museum is free for locals, which is great)
- Had a terrific lunch with Tamara at Benny's Hot Walk Cafe
- Enjoyed a McCafe coffee with Tamara
- Drove around the "Townsville Town Common Conservation Park"
- Had a "Doughnut" birthday cake for afternoon tea with Tamara's Mum and Dad
- Had a relaxed evening at home
It was a good fun day for all of us.
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
Share and enjoy
The Kids Perform at our YWAM Christmas Party
The Reef to Outback kid's performed at our YWAM Christmas Party that we had on Christmas Day.That's Caleb front and centre in the blue shirt and you can see Jessica on the left side of the video every once in a while in her little Christmas dress.
This was also a sort of last hurrah for Caleb and the Dutton kids, Emily and Michael. Emily and Michael, along with their parents Andrew and Faith and little Elijah, are leaving to YWAM Kona on the 30th. I would add the Dutton's leaving to my reasons for why "YWAM Sucks".
YWAM - Reef to Outback provided us with a great Christmas Lunch (the traditional large meal here in Australia) that included ham, chicken, prawns and probably a dozen different cakes for dessert.
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
Share and enjoy
My Family Cracks Me Up
My family decided to send us a Christmas Song and video this year. They are in Calgary, Canada and I since they put it on YouTube thought that I would share it with everyone...The people in the video are my Mom, Dad, sisters Jenny and Shannon and my Grandma:
They really make us laugh, and thanks to them for the Christmas song...
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
Share and enjoy
Are Outreach Fees more Spiritual than a Computer?
Ever since my computer died about a month ago I have been thinking a lot about how people perceive the "spiritual value" in what we do and the tools we use.It seems that in YWAM people are always trying to raise money for airfares or outreach fees (we just had an offering time for the Introduction to Primary Health Care School's Outreach fees last week). Since we are all volunteers it is a necessity to raise the money, but there seems to be a stronger emphasis put on things that are perceived to be more closely related to "reaching the lost", rather than the tools that are needed for the "background / administrative" work.
Appeals for outreach fees, airfares and school fees are regular occurrences at our YWAM base. I don't think that I can ever remember an offering taken up for tools like software, a camera, a computer, a drill or any other tool that is needed to communicate what we do or maintain the facilities and equipment needed to facilitate the training and outreach that occurs.
This is not only true for individuals, but can also be true for the way that funds are allocated and raised at a YWAM Centre. I've had the discussion with our base director about how it can be easier to raise and spend money on a new bus or van, but it can be much more of a challenge to raise the money for a new server or software package. Check out this discussion over at YWAM IT about an International YWAM Prayer Initiative for an ongoing discussion about raising funds for an IT related project.
Right now I am the computer guy without a computer. I am using a five year old laptop from work, which is great because it's better than nothing, but it certainly makes doing my job slower than if I had a newer computer.
At the same time we also have huge costs associated with our house repair and renovations, so I am trying to balance raising the money for a new computer and raising money for our house.
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
Share and enjoy
YWAM Mega Base vs a Multiplying YWAM Base
I had a really good discussion with David Giltinan about different ways to grow YWAM Bases and accommodate more YWAM staff. Dave is the leader of YWAM Outback in Darwin, Australia, he was also my best man at my wedding and one of my best mates.We discussed two types of YWAM bases. These two types certainly don't cover all the different YWAM bases out there, but they cover two possible types of growing YWAM bases. The types of YWAM bases that we talked about are:
- The YWAM Mega Base
- The Multiplying YWAM Base
The YWAM Mega Base
The first model of YWAM base that we talked about is the YWAM Mega Base.
The YWAM Mega Base is a YWAM Centre that continually grows and adds ministries to it's base. The ministries at these centres can work together towards common goals and can offer an extremely wide breadth of opportunities and training and can mobilize together for large projects.Some disadvantages of a YWAM Mega Base is the administration and infrastructure involved in supporting a large number of staff and students. It can also sometimes be a challenge to keep multiple ministries, being led by dynamic and visionary leaders, focused on the same end goal.
A good example of a YWAM Mega Base in Australia would be YWAM Perth. They currently have around 300 people on staff, dozens of ministries and are pulling off the Megacities project, which a smaller base would probably not be able to run with.
The Multiplying YWAM Base
Another model of YWAM base that we talked about we called the Multiplying YWAM Base.
The multiplying YWAM base model worked kind of like an amoeba. The YWAM base grows to a predetermined critical mass of staff (around 40 - 50) and then begins to plan for a split. When the staff numbers then reach between 55 - 60 staff a team of 10 - 15 would break off from the "mother" base to form a new YWAM base.After the split the "mother" YWAM base would be able to provide initial assistance, but the goal would be for the break off team to develop their own vision and focus and to become self-sufficient. The Multiplying YWAM base model would then be replicated on all the break off bases, and would also continue to happen at the "mother" YWAM centre.
As with the YWAM Mega Base model there would be disadvantages and advantages for this model of YWAM base growth.
Some advantages of the Multiplying YWAM Base would be the relatively low amount of administration and infrastructure needed to maintain a smaller base. Focus and energy could be put more on developing the leaders and ministry, rather than the facilities. The individual YWAM bases that were birthed out of this model would also be able to develop in their own way and with their own unique expression of Christ.
An obvious disadvantage with the Multiplying YWAM Base model of growth would be that large projects, like the YWAM Perth megacities project, would be harder to pull off. That disadvantage could be overcome through the network of YWAM bases developed through the growth process, but it would not be as seamless as a single base pulling it off.
YWAM is Growing
With YWAM growing quickly, and it being prophetized that YWAM could grow to over 200,000 staff, we need to look at different models to support that growth.What model of growth is your base currently working with? If it is not a model like what's listed above, then how are you planning to accommodate for any future growth in staff?
Technorati Tags: ywam
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
Share and enjoy
I am a full time volunteer with Reef to Outback - Youth With A Mission (YWAM) where I work in Communications and Information Technology. I am married to a wonderful wife, we have a five year old son and a one year old daughter.
