When we started Bedouins International we were prepared for anything. We had no clue what it meant to own a non-profit, or how we were going to do it.
As the years of progressed we’ve learned. We’ve slowly settled into a place of comfort knowing that we have the reigns and that we’re in charge.
All in all I think that’s a very dangerous place to be. You become complacent, you don’t take change easily and you’re not prepared to do what needs to be done to carry the mission forward, unless it’s easy and goes along with what you’ve been doing.
While I was in Africa God put on my heart a lot of changes that needed to take place in Bedouins. Most of them had to do with leadership and stepping up into our roles here. A lot of them involved tough choices or uncomfortable conversations. All of them were good for building character and for learning how to become what we needed to become. I came back to the states knowing that this was a good time for Bedouins, that, if we were willing to follow, we were about to enter a new chapter-a chapter full of surprises and excitement. Most of all, a chapter that was fulfilling because we were falling into our place as an organization doing what we were called to do.
I had no clue what that meant or looked like realistically.
Last week I got a call from the Missions Pastor of Times Square Church (the church that sent me to Egypt and Paul to Scotland last month). He said that he had an idea to run by me, and he was obviously really excited.
The conversation led to him offering the Bedouins staff all positions as paid interns there in Manhattan working through TSC for a year to tell stories of the work that they’re doing around the world.
We said yes.
What does this look like for Bedouins?
We’re not entirely sure, but we know that it’s where God’s leading us for this year. Mostly likely it’ll look something like this:
We will have a year to grow as artists and individuals. In New York we will be mentored and grown by a highly successful missions organization, which will help better equip us to be leaders of Bedouins as we move forward with the mission. We will learn logistics, and management from people who have been doing it for a long time, and then when our year internship is up we will hit the ground with Bedouins, applying all that TSC has taught us to the way that we lead it.
That’s the best guess that I have.
There will be some noticeable changes right away, the most prominent being that Paul and Josh will be staying down south due to prior commitments, while Jessi, Taylor Gonzalez and I will be heading up to Manhattan (on January 16th).
So please stay “tuned” as we enter a year of unknown and as we re-embrace the excitement and adventure of letting go of the need to control everything and dive into a chapter of freedom.
Thanks for being a part of this and we’ll be back with more soon!
