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University of the Nations
International Provost
Letter to all U of N Staff
Dec. 7, 2006 - Volume 4
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Dear U of N Staff People,
Following are some thoughts I shared with our UofN International Leadership Team (ILT) in our March meeting in Fiji. As I reflected more about this progression, I realized there’s a personal application also. At the end of this letter you’ll see dates for different staff development opportunities for you to consider.
We go through a four-stage process of putting into practice what God is telling us. The first stage is VISION. What is the vision of the UofN?
Our co-founder Howard Malmstadt always said, The UofN is to be a multiplier for missions, a missions catalyst to multiply the number of missionaries and missions ministries throughout the world. Then we realized that the UofN was called to be a part of the fulfillment of the Matthew dimension of the Great Commission, to disciple and teach the nations. So our vision comes from the source of all Godly vision, the one John glimpsed and wrote about in the Revelation, that of the nations redeemed and worshipping before the Throne.
The second phase is working out the PRINCIPLES that will help us to accomplish the vision. For example, faith and relationships are obviously crucial for us as a mission and for the accomplishment of the vision, so one of our principles is that we will emphasize faith and relationships throughout the UofN.
The third phase is the POLICIES that concretely demonstrate to all of us how we actually put the principles into practice. An example of a YWAM/UofN policy that puts the faith-and-relationships principle into practice is “You must do a DTS first”, and all the detail of how the DTS policy plays out (see the DTS Centre’s website for lots of examples! www.ywamdtscentre.com ).
We have come to the point where most of our UofN policies are established.
But the next phase for any base or ministry or school or person is EXECUTION. Which means, carrying out what we are supposed to be doing. We need to do what we say we will do. For example, when we announce that a school will be held, we must hold it. When the students arrive, they must be welcomed, be fed and housed according to cultural norms, be taught by excellent speakers and discipled by committed staff, receive fair evaluations, and get their grades recorded immediately after the school.
When we run our schools according to the principles the Lord has shown us, with school and base policies that teach these principles and don’t contradict them, we have some of the best education in the world. I have attended four other universities, two Christian and two non-Christian, and I can say this without a doubt.
But friends, sometimes we fall down in the execution phase. We all know of schools that were excellent and bore much fruit . . . and of those that were not. For years I have wondered why we run many schools with a relatively small number of students. Why isn’t the Lord sending more? My feeling is that He is holding back until we get more serious about execution. (Part of execution is simply answering student’s requests for information that come into our websites and answering machines!)
I believe that the Lord wants to DOUBLE the number of students in our schools, in a relatively short time. But He is waiting for us to do what is right, and then teach.
How is your execution at school level? Base level? How about personally? Are you doing all you can to be an effective staff person, discipler, teacher by example? Of course, we all need divine grace for this job.
But we need practical tools as well. Staff around the world are telling us that they would like more practical training in how to do their jobs. Many have received no training at all on how to staff a school, others have gotten some training but are hungry for more.
With the leadership of Maureen Menard and an excellent team, we are organizing training events for any UofN staff who would be led to come. There are presently two types of training being offered:
‘Wet Paint’ – a staff training event pioneered by Tove Poulsen in Europe, which is an example of an ideal training week, teaching and modeling of some of our best practices in teaching, processing, facilitating the work of the Holy Spirit, crosscultural dynamics in the classroom, worship and intercession woven into the fabric of the week, etc.
‘UNIquip’ - modular type staff training consisting of multiple two-to-four day modules going deeper into some of these same topics.
Here are dates for the upcoming training events:
2007:
May 13-June 2, 2007 - Kona, Hawaii Modular Staff Training Event, called ‘UNIquip’ (you can sign up for any or all of the complete weeks during these dates)
May 29-June 2, 2007 - Hainichen, Germany ‘Wet Paint’ event (arrivals just after the ‘Festival of the Nations’ event)
Sept 3-9, 2007 - U of N Workshop (Bali, Korea, Taiwan, India) with afternoon staff training seminars.
Nov 18-30, 2007 - South Africa Modular Staff Training Event (UNIquip) awaiting final confirmation
Note: other 2007 events are also being planned for the different regions of Africa, under the leadership of Colleen Milstein.
2008:
Feb 11-29, 2008 - Burtigny, Switzerland Modular Staff Training Event (UNIquip)
May 19–23, 2008 - Kiev, Ukraine ‘Wet Paint’ event: – arrival 18th; departure. 24th AM
Program and contact information will be coming out later for these events. But I wanted you to have the dates now.
Would you pray about attending one of these events?
For myself, the Lord has shown me to make them my priority for the next years. I can’t attend them all, but will be at most of them. You are some of the best staff in the world, and we want to help you get better!
Let us do all that He has told us to,
By His grace,
Tom Bloomer
International Provost