The iPod, The Xbox and The BWC

This year's Boston Winter Conference (BWC) is going to be Free. That's the theme, anyway. The conference, however, will be $270 if you register by Dec. 14. Last year's Mission U conference was about half that price. BWC will be twice as long, and take place at the Sheraton Hotel in the heart of Boston near the Prudential Center, a sweet plum of fun and fellowship.

Even so, how are students going to afford this conference? Isn't this too much money to expect from college students? These are legitimate questions and I hope to put them in their proper perspective.

Few products have captured the imagination of college students as completely as the iPod digital music player. It's so small it fits in the palm of your hand. And it must have a small price in order for college students buy it, right?

The iPod sells for $299 or $399. Clearly this is not too expensive for college students. If it was, I wouldn’t see those distinctive white iPod headphones in the ears of students on campus, in the gym, jogging or wherever.

Obviously that price tag is viewed as a worthwhile investment by students and therefore many have purchased one. The iPod is not viewed as an extravagant symbol of opulence. It’s a common part of student life. Let’s be honest, it’s a common part of High School student life.

This fall, the Xbox 360 will be hitting stores. The Xbox is, of course, the hit video gaming box from Microsoft that has dominated the waking hours of young male college students since its introduction four years ago.

The Xbox 360 is the next major upgrade to this popular gaming platform.

How much will the Xbox 360 cost? A mere $300. But that's only the bare bones version. The full deluxe edition will be only $400. But that is only the cost of the console. Games will be around $60 each.

Clearly this is so expensive that this fall, not a single Christian college student will be able to afford this astronomical price.

Right.

I'm sure many hundreds of thousands of Christian college students, in the Northeast and elsewhere, will eagerly pony up more than $500 to get their Xbox 360. Why? Because it's a priority. Gaming is a priority for many college students, mostly males, because it is fun. Whether or not it is has lasting value is another question.

So what does $460 of Xbox buy for you? Don't get me wrong, I love video games and play them frequently myself. But let's be honest, after 12 hours of playing Xbox, you've gained almost nothing of any lasting value. And you're 12 hours older.

Where in the world will students get all this money to buy their Xbox? Really, it doesn't matter. They will get it because it's a priority.

In practical terms the money will come from many sources: savings, extra work, asking for it as a Christmas gift, and many other simple and logical sources of income. It's not a question of money really; it's a question of priorities.

So what does $270 of Boston Winter Conference get you?

Well I can only tell you what happened in 1988 when I traveled from Los Angeles to attend my first Winter Conference in Dallas, while a student at Arizona State.

It cost about $180 (which shows that $270 is pretty cheap 18 years later). At the time, $180 seemed like a $100,000. Add another $200 of travel expenses and initially, I was convinced that it probably wasn't worth the money to go and there's no way I could afford it anyway.

But I was told that God would use the conference to change my life. So, I made it a priority to go.

At that first conference I shared my faith for the very first time. I solidified five deep friendships that I keep to this day, 18 years later. I grew more during that week in my understanding of the Kingdom of God than any previous similar length of time.

I'd say it was worth the $180.

Also, through family and members of my little church I saw God provide $800 to cover the cost of my conference, airfare, and a spring break ministry trip to Mexico with Campus Crusade. It turns out that money is rarely a barrier to doing what God wants you to do. It’s usually a question of priorities.

I was told the Winter Conference would change my life forever because I would meet with God there in a unique and powerful way. I chose to make that possibility a priority, and indeed it changed my life.

The following year I paid another $180 to attend the Winter Conference. More money! Expensive!

That was the year I met my future wife. This January, 2006, a week after the Boston Winter Conference, my wife and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

The following year I went to Winter Conference and God took a blade to my heart and exposed and cut out some areas of deep sin and dysfunction. The final year of my college career I returned to Winter Conference and I sensed God calling me into full-time ministry, which I've enjoyed as my career for now over 12 years.

There are a million other significant and enduring things that God has done in my life at Winter Conferences but to be brief, let's sum up: It was worth far more than what I paid.

In 1988 there was no Xbox. There were barely any home video game consoles of any kind. And there was no iPod either. How did I survive?

And yet in the year 2050, if I live to see it, growing in love and service to Jesus Christ will still be worth more than any iPod flea, Xbox, Ybox, Zbox or whatever entertainments have emerged to drain the numberless hours of a college student’s life.

If $270 could buy growing faith in Christ, lifelong significant friendships, a spouse (actual spouse may not attend), and a chance to learn how to share your faith and bless your world; wouldn't you be getting the bargain of a lifetime?

I believe God will show up at BWC and impact lives. In order to attend, many students will have to walk by faith, but money is not the issue. It's an issue of priorities.

--

Ryan McReynolds

Regional Director

Northeast Region

Campus Crusade for Christ

Get ready for the Boston Winter Conference.

We're live at www.bwc2006.com and www.bostonwinterconference.com

Architects of Culture

An architect draws up plans for the new building or landscape. Before the thing is created they show us what it will look like, feel like and even how the builders will build it. Whatever our roles as leaders building God's kingdom, we are certainly architecs of culture. A culture that is healthy, fun, visionary and well-resourced will attract all kinds of great people. Your role on staff makes you an architect. You are drawing up pictures of the future for your staff team, the students in your Bible study, your summer project, your ministry partners. You are showing them how to build it as well - "What tools and materials do we need? Where will we put the doorways, windows and fountains?" You are doing this intentionally or unintentionally by the way you live, think and communicate. The culture you are creating comes from what you believe about the future and how you experience your life today.

Leaders are always looking for other leaders. Leadership is the one thing we always need more of. Leaders can raise money, they can cover new ground, they can bring new perspective, and they can find more leaders. If we design and build the right kind of culture, with God's help, we'll attract the right kind of leader.

As those on our staff invite students to join us, and students ponder the idea of this great cause, the biggest question on their minds is, “Do I want to be like you?” That is, can I see myself living your life? Can I be happy on staff? And, are you happy on staff?

So, here is a question. How is your staff experience? Are you happy on staff? How do you view the future? What kind of culture are you designing and building for yourself and those you lead?

Our outlook each day depends on a variety of factors. It has to do with our circumstances, relationships, emotional weather, theology, and perhaps a host of other things. All these factors form our daily “experience” – it is this daily experience that this article speaks to. Are we excited about the day? How about tomorrow? Are our best years ahead of us? Am I happy on staff – happy enough to stay and to enthusiastically invite others to join me?

We want to create the best experience - the best culture - possible for those we lead. Some of this is out of our control, but I believe as architects of the culture, we have a very unique, and powerful opportunity to help create the experience of others.

We want staff and students to have a wonderful experience as they serve here in the Northeast. For our purposes we have focused on the staff experience here. We've broken this experience down into five specific and practical categories that all of us can do something about. Realizing that our experience is always our own responsibility we certainly desire all our staff to feel the following about their staff life…

1. Atmosphere of faith and optimism
2. Spiritual, personal and professional growth
3. Healthy team environment
4. Ministry wins
5. Financial future

If our staff members experience these things in increasing measure, we feel confident that students will want to join them. Then, as we look at more direct recruiting ideas, like conferences, or even brochures, those tactics have a different kind of ethos. Even as students experience something parallel, they will more enthusiastically lead freshmen Bible studies and invite thier friends to join them for a conference or missions project.

1. The first is perhaps the most obvious, but the challenge of infusing our scope with vision and a sense that the best is yet to come can be more daunting than we realize. People forget the vision and get distracted by the obstacles that invariably get in the way. As the leader it's your job to remind them. That God is for us is our constant message and drum beat. We say it in different ways but we believe it ferociously: the greatest days for building God’s kingdom in the Northeast are just around the corner!

2. Not everybody feels like they are growing on staff – that’s because not everybody is! We can’t control that. But we can have a feedback rich environment. Building the systems by which this takes place is difficult. We need relevant, helpful, streamlined ways of giving good feedback – in a word that’s effectiveness. For now this means providing regular 360s, a growing use of Position Focuses, and coaching to help staff use their gifts. All this is on our critical path. For today, we are trying to work toward the consistency in this area that our region needs. Keep in mind that owning your development means that these tools will not always come from the "top down," - always take the initiative in your own growth.

3. Team health has been something we’ve renewed our commitment to as well. Team issues can be a major theme anywhere, and we desire to be unrelenting in the creation of teams that can get along and function at a high level. So, we are traveling to meet with our teams together. That way we can meet with all the individuals, do ministry with them, and hear their dreams and struggles. We can coach the teams better because we have collected more input and we have more brainpower solving the problems. You can renew your commitment to being a part of a healthy team by intentionally and humbly talking about anything that might stand in the way. Often times a good book on the topic of teams can help jump-start the process.

4. Everyone comes on staff to "win" at ministry. They want to see God use them. What's more, God says that He will (his word NEVER returns void). Still, when people are not as responsive as we'd like there is opportunity for discouragement. In the uniqueness of the Northeast we have a great opportunity to pursue being the best in the world at telling every student about Jesus. That doesn't mean were competing, it just means we need to take a long look at becoming evangelistic experts on the college campus. Perhaps we’ve lost something here. Honestly this is one of the reasons Judy and I made our move. If we want to see the gospel effectively spread around the planet, we need to see it move in complicated, diverse settings like the crowded but influential Northeast.

5. As the average age of staff members increases they become more concerned with their financial future. If we’re going to see them stay with us, and stay happy in the process, we’re going to need to help them get to full support and stay there. We can’t do life on the cheap – it is not fun. Hopefully we can create this environment too. As a leader you raise your own funding to participate in the mission. It is a great privilege but also a great responsibility. If it is helpful, take some time to analyze fears and motives that keep you from full support. Then figure out how much you need and start asking. Paul raised support, so did Jesus; you can too. Though this aspect of our experience may seem more unique to staff, intentional teaching and chances for faith steps on behalf of students (ie. rasing money for a conference or project) will build a great over-arching environment for trusting God with provision.

Designing and building the right culture is our job. We greet the challenge with enthusiasm. These things aren’t new, and I know that many of you are way down the road on all this. Please take some time to share how you are being an architect of culture, that way we can all glean from a collective wisdom.