Board meetings can bring the kingdom

Just finished a board meeting this afternoon. In spite of the chaos of delayed flights at
the Atlanta airport and traffic that doubled our
commute back to Gainesville, you couldn’t help
feel the Kingdom
of God advancing as vision was shared and we again experienced the John 17 magic in our
midst.

Of course kicking off the proceedings with Karen’s gourmet
meal didn’t hurt: Bacon-wrapped shrimp, Italian stuffed flank steak with raviolis in
tomato basil cream sauce followed by poached pears filled with
marscapone-pistachio stuffing.

People like Dick Oestreicher are what make the difference
for us. Dick has invested most of his
life in missions, serving as an executive for SEND Int’l. Six years ago, I asked his son Marko, “Who
else might be a good board candidate?”
Marko came back and said, “My Dad has been praying about something like
this.” And so Dick soon joined the board, after a few years, becoming the chairman.
Today, his term finished, he rotated off the board.

Taking Dick’s spot on the board is one of my oldest and best
friends, Mac Schneider. Mac and I graduated
together from Wheaton
College in 1980. Mac has been successful in business, but has
the kind of Kingdom perspective you look for in a board member. None of our board members are “Yes Men” and
Mac is no exception – he made several key contributions today, even though he’s
new.

One of the best things about the way this board is
configured is to see Andrew Shearman come into his own as its leader. His devotional on the “42^nd
Generation” was inspired and inspiring.
And on several occasions today, he heard the Spirit perfectly, stopping
us to pray at just the right moment. There
were tears as at one point we commissioned Lanny Richardson, a key staff person who had shared a
testimony.

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by how AIM is growing and how
incredible our staff are. Behind all
that is our board. Part of the health of
a good board is that it adds life to its individual members. Today’s meeting showed me what a healthy
board looks like – we came away more awake to the Kingdom of God.