Back in December 2009 we had two days dreaming ideas for the Pioneer Mission Leadership Training. One of the things that came out of that creative time was the notion of Sink or Swim.
It really caught our imagination. I think this was for a few reasons. The main one is that we wanted to develop a sort of training that helped people in practice to actually pioneer tangible things that made a difference in transforming communities and the world. These might be mission projects, campaigns, new mission communities or church plants, social enterprises. But could the training help people take things from a germ of an idea into reality, and along the way develop the skills needed whether they be around networking, leadership, creating sustainable business models, team and so on? Then coupled with that was the sense that for creativity to happen, failure has to be in the mix. If we are afraid to fail we won’t launch out. So from the outset we recognise and accept that as we dream and plan together with pioneers some things will sink and some will swim, and we reckon and hope that we can get that percentage looking good in the swim direction! A few people have reacted negatively to the word ‘sink’ but think about it a different way. If you are not failing at anything maybe you’re not taking big enough risks and adventures?!
It’s very early in the course at the moment – but in ten years time we expect to be able to list projects that have been catalysed through pioneers who have trained with us that make a difference in the world. But at the moment we have dreams and the seeds of ideas to gently test, explore and nurture into reality. But in the spirit of sharing a fragile dream have a listen to Rich sharing a dream of starting a church in 2012 [which actually is not that far away]. We want to help Rich swim.
Go here to have a listen