We Are Not God’s Sales Team

This is one of six new videos we shot to supplement the current XEE DVD content. Thanks to Pastor John Poitevent and our friends at Christ Fellowship in West Palm Beach, FL for partnering with us on this project. Let us know what you think! All videos will be available soon through xee.info.

Great Things Happening with XEE in Spring 2010!

Greetings all! I wanted to drop a line here on the blog to update you all on some of the amazing things God has been doing through this great ministry. Scott and I have been working tirelessly with so many churches in so many states and countries, our heads are spinning! Here’s a rundown of what’s been going on:

January 2010:

  • Adam spoke at Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, NC for their annual EE Banquet and with the student ministries, promoting  their upcoming XEE semesters.
  • Houston’s First Baptist Church held their annual Missions Conference where we displayed the incredible XEE Booth and signed up more than 50 people for the Spring XEE Semester. Lee Hsia, Evangelism Pastor at Houston’s First has partnered with Dan Rieke, the newest addition to the HFBC staff, to teach hundreds how to share Christ.
  • Scott Carson moved from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale in order to be closer to the action as he assumes the role of Assistant Coordinator for XEE North America. (He continues to oversee short-term missions globally for EE.)
  • We held an awesome XEE Launch in Fort Lauderdale where, among other new friendships, we met Donnie Spivey of Orlando who will be facilitating Launches all over North America.

March 2010:

  • We conducted two XEE Skype Labs, one with Breakthrough Church in NC and one with Chi Alpha Ministries at UMASS Amherst. 30 new XEE small groups have formed as a result. We are developing new and very cost-effective ways of teaching people how to implement XEE and multiply!
  • Another great XEE Launch in St. Augustine, FL–the first training Launch for Donnie Spivey.
  • We did an XEE Lab at First Baptist Weston in South Florida with 50 of their small group leaders in preparation for a church-wide implementation of XEE.
  • Yet another fantastic Launch in Dallas, TX with new EE staffer Mike Velasquez, led by Lee Hsia.
  • Adam traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the first ever EE International Congress of Nations. This marks a major turning point in the organization–one that will foster a new level of national leadership and development. Adam connected with tons of national leaders who are doing XEE around the world, and even began planning a full Spanish translation with the team from Latin America, led by VP Will Rodriguez. (More on that soon!)
  • We conducted another XEE Lab at Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, FL, teaching 800 people how to share the Gospel! 50 new XEE small groups were born out of the Lab and we continue to hear totally incredible stories of life-change happening as a result! Scott led that, as Adam was in Malaysia. The Lab at CF marks the beginning of a potentially historic relationship for XEE–we’re currently working closely with this church, developing some pretty amazing things that will impact XEE users globally.

April 2010:

  • We conducted 4, count them, 4 XEE Launches in April in Mobile, AL, Winnipeg, MB, Knox Seminary in Fort Lauderdale and Toledo, OH with EE staffer Scott Smith. Once again, Scott led all of these, save the one in Fort Lauderdale where Adam led and Dan Rieke from Houston’s First sat in on his first training Launch to become a National XEE Launch Facilitator.
  • Adam and EE President John Sorensen had the privilege of preaching successive Sundays at First Baptist Weston as a part of their church-wide implementation of XEE where they’ve been teaching about 1,000 people simultaneously through their small groups!
  • Adam had the honor of speaking at Christ Fellowship WPB’s Leadership Enrichment Conference, helping the lay leadership think through how to reach their community with the Gospel.
  • Adam and Scott did an XEE Lab at Rio Vista Community Church in Fort Lauderdale, where we converted the entire sanctuary into a cafe complete with tables and chairs. We took a Sunday morning and merged the two services to teach a shortened version of XEE to the entire congregation! It was incredible. This comes as a teaser for Rio’s eventual church-wide implementation later this year.

May 2010:

  • Scott led another XEE Launch in Toronto, ON, which was Donnie Spivey’s second training Launch.
  • WHIM Christian Talk Radio South Florida (40,000-50,000 daily listeners) invited Adam for an interview on XEE and next generation evangelism. When we finished taping the 30 minute show, the hosts were so excited they asked Adam to do another one. We walked back into the studio right then and did a second 30 minute show. They aired over two weeks and both segments are now posted to the right of this blog entry near the top–look for the two large ‘play buttons’ and have a listen!
  • Scott also traveled to Kyrgyzstan with Moody Bible Church in Chicago to do a Classic EE Clinic. He has some awesome stories and photos that are forthcoming!
  • Adam had the privilege of speaking at a Chinese Baptist Church conference in South Florida with churches from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando attending. We’re already developing plans to fully implement XEE with all churches who were in attendance.

As you can see, this has been a HUGE Spring for XEE!!! In all, we have had the privilege of seeing more than 1,600 people equipped to share Christ personally!! We are hearing phenomenal stories coming back from so many of these people who are seeing countless of their friends enter into a new relationship with Jesus. These folks are multiplying as we speak and there’s no end in sight to the impact God will have on their communities through XEE.

We are so excited about the next few months and all the things God will do, and we’ll keep you posted on all of it. We are praying for all of you daily. Keep serving, keep celebrating, keep sharing for the glory of our great God!

Students and Teachers Learning Together

I just got this email from a family pastor of a church doing XEE. It was sent to him by one of his volunteer middle school teachers. It never ceases to amaze me how life-changing this process is for everyone involved.

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know that the kids and the teachers have been really enjoying the XEE lessons – I have never seen the kid’s converse as much as I have seen in the past few weeks.

It has also challenged us as teachers to be aware of opportunities that God has put in front of us as well.

Just in the past few weeks Jennifer has had the privilege of leading a young man to Christ, Mike continues to be bold at work, and in his neighborhood, with Lisa God has placed a person of the Jewish faith in her life, and my latest conversation is with a client who happens to be a Jehovah’s witness – our conversation started with me wishing her a Happy Mother’s Day!

God has placed these people in our lives and I pray we are faithful to be aware and available.

Just wanted to share that with you,

Larry

I love it when the teachers, through the process of teaching, suddenly realize that God is opening their eyes in the same ways He is with the students. This is a great example of the church really being the church. It is such a blessing to be connected to these guys!

Mobile XEE Launch 4.3.10

Turning points.

It seems that in life, whether you are watching a sporting event, attending a party, participating in a conversation or simply going through our day, there exists turing points. It could be something as simple as an encouraging conversation, an attractive person shooting you a smile from across the way, being paid a sincere complement or an unforeseen devastating phone call.  Each carries with it the ability to transition our day or event for better or for worse.

This past weekend in Mobile, we had a turning point of our own during the first couple of hours of our XEE launch. Mel asked the innocent question: “why don’t we have name tags?”  A fair question that provoked a great discussion. We talked about how in every launch we strive to model that which they’ll be experiencing in real life or their training semester. With that in mind, we focused on the power of remembering someone’s names. Whether we met them 5 minutes ago, 5 months ago or even 5 years ago, there is an emotional response of “wow,they remember me,” and an unconscious thought of  ”I’m worth being remembered” when we recall someone’s name. I took the opportunity to go around the room and address each person by their name after only meeting them a little over an hour ago. People were shocked that I was able to use everyone’s name correctly in such a short time. Please note that the reason I’m sharing this is not to say “hey look at me,” but to highlight the turning point of our launch.

From that moment on, everyone in our group went out of their way to introduce themselves to the other launch participants. They even displayed great humility in re-introducing themselves repeatedly throughout the launch as they forgot names. The dynamic in the room took a turn for the best as we began making friends and investing those around us. It took effort and humility, and when the launch concluded we left as friends. It was a privilege to spend a week with such great people!

St Augustine XEE Launch 3.11.2010

Last weekend, Adam and I had the privilege of hosting an XEE launch up in St. Augustine, FL. After being warmly welcomed by our friend, Al, and getting quickly acclimated to our host church, we were off and running.  Besides enabling us to meet and work with an incredible group of men and women, this launch also took on a new dynamic for us in the form of training a new, national XEE launch facilitator.

To back up a bit, at a recent launch in Fort Lauderdale, one of the participants asked Adam and I if we could chat over lunch. As Donnie, Adam and I enjoyed fish tacos, Donnie inquired about becoming a national launch facilitator for XEE. We jumped at the opportunity to have Donnie serving alongside us! Since that conversation, Donnie has started facilitating XEE on a local level in Claremont, FL.

So that brings us back to this past weekend, where Donnie joined us for his second step in becoming a national launch facilitator. It has been amazing to see God’s hand leading others to join us with XEE.  God’s blessing and multiplication of this ministry is truly encouraging, and I cannot wait to see how much more effective we will be with Donnie’s help.  While Adam and I were facilitating the launch for twelve people, Donnie was watching and learning, so that soon, he will be able to do the same!  We are excited to see how God is going to use Donnie in the future as he emerges as a great launch facilitator!

Click here to see photos from the St. Augustine Launch.

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