Latest / CLATV / Leader2Leader: The Multiplication Factor - L2L The Multiplication Factor - Jeremy Reis

Transcript

Leader2Leader: The Multiplication Factor - L2L The Multiplication Factor - Jeremy Reis · CLATV

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Christian Leadership Alliance Leader-to-Leader podcast.
• 0:03
  I'm Scott Brown, Vice President of Leadership Experiences
• 0:07
  and Resources for the Alliance.
• 0:09
  This transformational podcast series is entitled The Multiplication Factor and
• 0:14
  features Christian leaders who share heartfelt personal stories of multiplication.
• 0:19
  They testify to God's multiplication of fruit in their life and leadership.
• 0:24
  Also, these time-proven leaders offer encouragement for the future of other
• 0:28
  Christian leaders.
• 0:30
  We thank FaithSearch Partners for their sponsorship of the Leader-to-Leader
• 0:34
  podcast. FaithSearch Partners drives executive searches with passion and
• 0:38
  purpose.
• 0:39
  They understand the importance of these qualities for effective biblical
• 0:43
  leadership and help clients to find the right candidates who embody them.
• 0:47
  FaithSearch Partners is highly experienced in faith-based executive search and
• 0:52
  excels in securing leaders for Christian nonprofits, higher education,
• 0:56
  ministries, media, and faith-driven organizations.
• 1:00
  Learn more at faithsearchpartners.com.
• 1:03
  Now, please enjoy this Leader-to-Leader, The Multiplication Factor episode.
• 1:12
  Yeah, my name is Jeremy Rice and I am the president of Serving Orphans Worldwide.
• 1:17
  And we work in over 90 homes.
• 1:20
  We work with over 90 homes in over 30 countries around the world and we support
• 1:24
  them. Our hope and goal is that children everywhere grow up in a safe and loving
• 1:30
  home and know the love of Christ.
• 1:32
  So God has been really preparing the soil of my life since I was a child.
• 1:36
  And so my parents were divorced when I was nine years old and my dad didn't
• 1:41
  really have much to do with my life after that. And so we grew up in the church.
• 1:45
  I was in the middle of five children with a single mom and we grew up in the
• 1:47
  church and I really sought after father figures in that church.
• 1:51
  And so a lot of men would step up in my life from youth pastors to men in the
• 1:55
  church, just week by week, sowing into my life and helping my spiritual growth.
• 2:00
  And so when I was 12 years old, I went to an altar call.
• 2:03
  And I really believe now looking back that at that time,
• 2:08
  I intellectually knew who Christ was. I could give you all the answers.
• 2:11
  I went to church and youth group and all the events and camps and all those
• 2:14
  things. And it wasn't until we had Emily,
• 2:17
  which was our first child that I really knew the love of a father and sat there
• 2:21
  and looked at this baby.
• 2:22
  And my life changed from that moment forward that Christ got into my heart.
• 2:27
  And so that seed,
• 2:28
  that seed that he's been planting in my heart and cultivating for so many years
• 2:31
  finally flourished and broke through. And so that really prepared me,
• 2:35
  that heart change of fatherhood really prepared me for that next
• 2:40
  spiritual growth. And so from there,
• 2:42
  then I started looking at what spiritual disciplines do I need in my life?
• 2:46
  And so one of those was community and being around other people of faith
• 2:51
  and understanding that we can't do this alone. And from there,
• 2:55
  also the community then provided accountability.
• 2:58
  And so I can look at my life and go, okay,
• 3:00
  I need to be doing this thing better.
• 3:03
  And so the parable of the sower and Christ planting those seeds in my heart,
• 3:07
  that really led to faith in the workplace and how did that work?
• 3:11
  And so I've been very fortunate in the last many years working in Christian
• 3:15
  organizations, Christian nonprofits,
• 3:17
  and working where places where spiritual growth for employees has been
• 3:22
  important and where prayer has been an integral part of who we are and really
• 3:28
  growing up in my roles in those organizations so that when I came to serving
• 3:33
  orphans worldwide, that I was able to take those lessons.
• 3:36
  And so we have weekly devotions and prayer time and every meeting,
• 3:40
  we're praying before and after the meeting.
• 3:42
  And before we make big decisions and before we make little decisions,
• 3:45
  we're praying.
• 3:46
  And so having those experiences in nonprofits where I've seen that modeled,
• 3:51
  seen the spiritual side modeled and understanding that those seeds have been
• 3:56
  sowed into staff like me, that then when I became the president,
• 4:00
  I was able to then use that with my own staff. Yeah.
• 4:05
  Having that investment into lives of myself and my staff,
• 4:10
  it's made a significant impact in both our work and in the staff themselves.
• 4:15
  And so in the work, it's made a significant organizational impact.
• 4:18
  So we have thousands of children around the world that are growing up in Christ
• 4:23
  centered homes that see the love of Christ modeled for them.
• 4:26
  And then those seeds,
• 4:27
  and then we've seen this generational impact where then those kids have gone on
• 4:31
  to become young adults and go to school and come back and work at the orphanages,
• 4:36
  start their own orphanages,
• 4:37
  become pastors and missionaries and business leaders.
• 4:40
  And so we've changed the trajectory of a life and really of the lives to come
• 4:45
  from those individuals. And so we've seen that both in our work.
• 4:48
  And then within the partners that we have, the homes that we have, you know,
• 4:53
  we see the, the,
• 4:54
  when we're able to sow seeds in the lives of these home directors,
• 4:57
  it doesn't just help them from a you know,
• 5:01
  a program and, and kind of specific things that they're doing,
• 5:06
  but when they're able to bring them together for a time together,
• 5:10
  and in many of these cases,
• 5:11
  they're very lonely folks who don't have other people to network with.
• 5:15
  And so when we're able to bring them to a regional conference and put on
• 5:18
  something where they can network with other people doing the same thing that
• 5:21
  they're doing that really gives them energy to continue on.
• 5:24
  And then when they know that they've got this monthly support coming in,
• 5:28
  that's not going to go away and that's going to build a foundational for them to
• 5:31
  go out and raise additional funds to support the children and,
• 5:34
  and go out and do the things that they need to do,
• 5:37
  that those things can have a tremendous impact on the ability for that home to
• 5:41
  continue surviving, knowing that they've got, you know,
• 5:44
  Christ-centered organizations is going to support them along the way. Yeah.
• 5:48
  The investment we're making now is in looking at how do we continue to invest
• 5:53
  in more homes?
• 5:53
  How do we grow the support that we have and the things that we can offer to the
• 5:57
  existing homes? And how do we then, you know,
• 6:00
  we have a lot of children that are leaving the homes, you know,
• 6:04
  they turn 18 and they need to move on.
• 6:06
  And so how do we help support the home so that these young adults,
• 6:10
  instead of them just leaving the home and having no place to go or going to live
• 6:14
  with families that they don't know some distant relative,
• 6:17
  that they have a support structure for them to go to college or go to trade
• 6:21
  school or find a job.
• 6:22
  And that we can help these home leaders model the behaviors that these young
• 6:27
  adults don't have because they didn't live in a home where they saw mom and dad
• 6:30
  go to work.
• 6:31
  And they didn't live in a home where they understood like how to get on the right
• 6:34
  bus and how to show up. And if somebody gets mad at you to work at work,
• 6:38
  how to deal with those feelings.
• 6:40
  And so we're able to then come alongside these home directors and provide
• 6:43
  culturally sensitive training and support where they can then model that with
• 6:48
  young adults so that we have a greater chance of,
• 6:52
  of from the time that they're in the homes to the time that the young adults,
• 6:54
  that they have a greater chance at success.
• 6:56
  And so we know that multiplication isn't just about the numbers.
• 7:00
  It's also about those individual lives that we're able to change and that our
• 7:05
  supporters come alongside us knowing that when we implement those
• 7:10
  things into these homes,
• 7:11
  that they're changing lives and that they're seeing fruit
• 7:16
  that Christ is enabling because of their gifts,
• 7:19
  that they're able to see this fruit come true.
• 7:21
  And that these children are able to then thrive when they're able to leave these
• 7:26
  homes.
• 7:28
  Some of the encouragement that I'd like to share with leaders is you know,
• 7:31
  first this investment begins at home.
• 7:34
  So my wife,
• 7:35
  Jennica and I have nine kids.
• 7:37
  So you heard that right?
• 7:38
  Nine children.
• 7:39
  So we believe in multiplication and we believe in it both at home and in our
• 7:43
  ministry.
• 7:44
  And so we start there with our children and doing the prayer time and worship
• 7:48
  time with them and,
• 7:49
  and showing them the love of Christ so that when they,
• 7:52
  as they grow up and have their own families,
• 7:54
  that they're able to understand these principles and,
• 7:56
  and have that the seed that we've helped sow into their hearts can really
• 8:01
  flourish.
• 8:02
  I,
• 8:03
  my prayer for leaders is a prayer for just continued multiplication of their
• 8:08
  efforts and a prayer in this time of opportunity,
• 8:12
  the world needs hope.
• 8:13
  The world can feel at times in despair and they need to see truth.
• 8:17
  We don't have enough truth in the world right now.
• 8:20
  And so my prayer is that as their ministries grow and flourish,
• 8:23
  that they're able to then push out hope and truth to people who need it most at
• 8:27
  a time like this.
• 8:28
  It's also to invest in those deep spiritual roots.
• 8:32
  You know,
• 8:32
  one of the things that I've loved is being able to mentor both my own staff,
• 8:35
  but then other people within the Christian nonprofit industry to,
• 8:39
  to mentor them and to give back as a part of their investment and not to just
• 8:44
  their own staff,
• 8:44
  but to other leaders to give back so that as the seed is sowed by Christ,
• 8:50
  that we know the Holy Spirit is the one that's going to make that take,
• 8:54
  take root,
• 8:56
  but that we as Christian leaders are able to sow more seed by giving back through
• 8:59
  this mentoring of other leaders.
• 9:02
  And then finally,
• 9:03
  every role matters,
• 9:04
  whether you're the CEO,
• 9:06
  you're a staff member,
• 9:07
  you're a pastor,
• 9:08
  you're serving in business,
• 9:10
  you're serving in your home,
• 9:12
  every role matters.
• 9:13
  And in every role,
• 9:14
  you have an opportunity to lead others,
• 9:18
  to sow that seed into their heart so that God can take that.
• 9:21
  He's the master gardener of this whole thing.
• 9:23
  And so he knows when it's time to prune.
• 9:26
  He knows when it's time to water and he knows when it's time to harvest.
• 9:29
  And so our role is just to come alongside him and let him do that work.
• 9:33
  And so our role is not to harvest that fruit,
• 9:35
  but our role is to see that fruit come to fruition because of the work that
• 9:38
  we're doing,
• 9:39
  that Christ has put in us to do.