I remember him well.

He sat close to the front and had a lot of questions…

His name Artur Kalicki, and he was a part of our Leading Stewards Course in Poland. The goal of Leading Stewards is to raise up local leaders who can become the speakers, authors, trainers and writers for their culture on the subject of stewardship.

It looks like it’s working.

A couple days ago I received an email from Artur. As it turns out he was invited to speak on one of the local TV stations in Krakow, Poland-reaching thousands upon thousands with God’s truth about money. How cool is it to know that people all over the world are influencing those around them, helping to turn the tide from consumerism to contributorism in their nations.

I’m praying for you, Artur. Keep changing your world.

I like to jump back into a rhythym when I get back into the country from a trip. It helps me cope with jet lag better.

The return from Europe proved to be no exception.

Friday and Saturday we launched into our 14th Crown ignite! It’s truly hard to believe we’ve already held 14 of these events, equipping hundreds to take Crown’s foundational materials to those they are working with around the world. It is our hope and prayer that the work of Christ would move from being dependant on funding from the West, towards being sustained through local ownership.

The 19 leaders we were able to serve were incredibly excited about what this training would mean for the work they are involved in through partnerships in other nations. Join me in praying for these servants to the world.

I would be remiss to mention Crown ignite! and not give a shout out to Anna Rosado, Crown’s Leadership Development Coordinator. She has done a masterful job making this training a world class event. Well done, Anna.

[caption id="attachment_57" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Crown Ignite! Training - April 2009"][/caption]

Before I left Serbia I had the chance to talk with thirty-some college students from Samuil’s ministry about money and the state of the economy. Their questions naturally went to the state of the economy and when I thought the world would emerge from this global economic crisis.

I had to apologize.

What we allowed people to do in our nation, in the name of preserving prosperity, was wrong. And unfortunately, the United States citizens are not the only ones suffering for our irresponsibility with money.

You can see it in their eyes.

Hurt. Pain. Asking themselves why one of the richest nations in the world put their emerging economy on the line (along with others) just to keep a few investors happy.

I apologize Serbia. I apologize on my nations behalf to the rest of the world. My hope and prayer is that the financial responsibility of our leaders will increase to match that of the spirit of greatness with which the US was founded.
[caption id="attachment_42" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Downtown Novi Sad, Serbia"][/caption]

I first met Samuil Petrovski, the Serbian, in a hotel in Jerusalem. I immediately liked him. He had this contagious, effervescent smile and way of carrying himself that was both encouraging to your heart and a call to action all at the same time.

After introducing me to one of his Palestinian friends (The Balkan states have a lot in common with the Jews and the Palestinians), we went around on a tour of Bethlehem. The group of nine of us carried representatives from 8 countries with the one connection being Samuil. When we parted we both made promises of one day visiting each others countries. I had the chance to fulfill that promise on this trip.

In both Belgrade (the capital) and Novi Sad, Andy, Alex and I hosted meetings with many of the key evangelical leaders of the nation.

Samuil and I were both pretty excited to see what the Lord will do here.
[caption id="attachment_45" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Samuil Petrovski and family"][/caption]

Every so often I meet people I want to highlight for prayer. Kypyl and Aymee are just such a couple. Attending the Leading Stewards Course in Bulgaria, I discovered that they owned a mortuary company.

Aymee cornered me at one point during the two-day course and asked me for counsel for their business. They are committed to being honest and trustworthy in their business dealings, however their competitors are gaining an edge because of their willingness to cheat.

This couple is a typical example of how hard it is for honest people to make it in business in much of the world. While I couldn’t give any specific advice, my heart went out to these people. Will you join me in praying for them? Pray that they keep their commitments to continue to operate their business honestly, and pray for incredible wisdom-for new strategies and creativity-to help them succeed.

[caption id="attachment_26" align="alignright" width="604" caption="Kypyl and Aymee"][/caption]