"JUST WALK ACROSS THE ROOM"

"Just Walk Across the Room" by Bill Hybels

Simple steps pointing people to faith

Bill Hybels the well known American pastor has written this book that answers this question; What if redirecting a person’s forever really is as simple as walking across a room? This book opens with a story of Bill finding himself opposite a person at a luncheon who started up a conversation and agreed to talk later at another break in the conference they were attending. This person Bill discovered was of another faith and could have been easily avoided but Bill took the opportunity to talk with him. You need to read the book to find what happened!

There are many good stories in this book that show that you just need to be noticing people around you and use the natural circumstances to start a conversation. It can be as easy as two men saying hello to each other when they see each other taking out the garbage bins.
Many people are just longing for someone to take an interest in them. Bill shows us who these people are: for example; two fathers standing together watching their kids play football, saying hello to a waiter in a café or helping an old lady enter a shopping centre.

But this book has more than good stories, it also has practical and easy tools that any of us can use to make our conversations with people more effective. Hybels also tells us how to make our own story concise and effective.

This is also a plea to make evangelism a way of normal living rather than a program to take to people. What it means to care about others and as Hybels says to live in 3-D relating to others and asking the Holy Spirit to be with you in your conversations. Friendships are essential and the basis of taking the gospel to people.

The book has easy to read short chapters which end with a page of study questions. I heartily commend this book for everyone and especially for home groups.

Roger

Leadership Advance Conference

From Sunday 31 August till Wednesday Gaynor and I met with 8 other Church leaders from Switzerland for an annual Leadership conference meeting in a small town on the edge of Lake Constance. For some time we looked at things that are going well, for example, great to see much more emphasis on Children & Youth ministry and seeing the development of new small groups with an outward focus. A real challenge however is the unwillingness of some folk to stand up as leaders. It is often regarded as not Swiss to lead.

We were priveleged to hear Eduard Friesen of Bonn Bible School

http://www.bsb-online.de/ bring 3 major addresses, one of which was on WORTH. One of the tasks of leaders is to show people their worth in Christ. We are valued as children of God and our worth comes from what Christ has done for us. Our worth is not based on nationality, morality, profession or place of residence but on all that we have from the generosity of God.

We spent time each day in prayer triads praying on three issues for each other. We examined where we are now at as a group of Churches. We also dreamed about what we would like to see in the next five years and ten years from now. It was great to get away as leaders together, it was a very full time and we snuck in one afternoon for a ferry ride on Lake Constance.

We are always blessed to have Derek Webster lead the music. He does an awesome job and really sets the atmosphere for the time together.