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GoStrategic Newsletter: Winter 2018

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Dennis & Jan’s Travel Update: Europe

On our recent trip to Europe, we had three visits that were overwhelmingly encouraging for Dennis and me. Dennis shares, “The time over more than twenty years spent in Switzerland teaching worldview and its practical applications to each life is among the most gratifying of our ministry. Seeing the fruit produced over these decades was extremely meaningful. We saw many alumni of our schools; what Christ has accomplished with and through them over a period of more than twenty years was such a joy to our hearts.”

YWAM Base at Wiler, Switzerland

It was in Switzerland that the term, “Transforum,” was birthed. For over a decade, we met there every summer with a focus on our schools and were so blessed by the changes brought to so many lives.

Looking back on how it all started, Dennis reflects, “Walter Duerr and I began our ministry together at the YWAM base at Wiler, Switzerland, reviewing materials that Walter had created around Christian worldview so that when we introduced Strategic Life Training, the fit was perfect. The same thing occurred when we introduced the Business Leadership School there some years later. The wonderful thing that Walter did was to inject both schools into the heart of the local church, Jahu, which was flourishing around these Kingdom-based materials. Leaders from all over Europe brought their leaders to the Transforum events.” Indeed, it has been incredibly rewarding to see the lasting fruit in many congregations both Protestant and Catholic.

At the begging of our recent trip, we were picked up at the airport by Thomas Kunz and met his wife, Elizabeth, to celebrate their 35th anniversary over lunch. Thomas had overseen BLS and SLT in Switzerland for many years.

Dinner that first night was at the Wiler YWAM base where it all began. Jan reports, “It was filled with old friends, so it was an intense experience both relationally and spiritually having had so many of us and our families formed as we experienced truth together. Memories from the slide presentation they gave brought tears of joy for me.”

Südtirol/South Tyrol, Italy

Later in the trip, we were in Südtirol (South Tyrol, German-speaking Italy) where once again we shared life with another congregation deeply connected with Walter and Katrin Duerr and the Jahu congregation. Many people here go through the schools together. They testified of the practical applications and how the schools have brought lasting change to their lives. Nearly a dozen men and women shared how these truths deeply affected their Christian walk both personally and socially. It is a small, lightly populated mountainous area and the schools drew participants from well beyond Schlanders, the village where the church is located.

For those who appreciate geography, we learned that two gentlemen, one the operator of a helicopter service in the Swiss Alps and the other an opera producer from Bolzano Italy (north of Venice), had made significant drives from their respective locations to participate in group meetings when they were enrolled in the schools.

Such a pleasing aroma of diversity. What a wonderful experience it was to see how the Holy Spirit has used our relationships together around biblical truths to bring a common depth to our lives. We look forward to whatever lies in front of us all both here and in eternity.

Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

Currently, the Business Leadership School’s courses are available annually to German speakers through VITAperspectiv, a Swiss-German business-consulting company which has based their methodology of professional business analysis around the BLS materials. We met with them one evening.

VITAperspetiv Director, Stefen Jakob, shares, “In our meeting in Biel, Switzerland with about 60 graduates and current and potential students of BLS, Dennis encouraged us and shared some of The Ten Master Principles. He especially pointed out the importance of Transcendent Values and the Bridge of Trust.”

These teachings have now spread into many nations since our early years together in Europe. Once again, it was so encouraging to share life with these men and women who are changing numbers of lives and businesses in Switzerland and beyond with our school materials.

 Slide Presentation in Wiler, Switzerland:
Memories of Past Transforums

IBR Conference in Biel, Switerland (2000)

Transforum 2001 – The First One!

Dennis Peackocke & Walter Duerr (2004)

Dennis & Jan Peackocke and Walter Duerr (2004)

IBR Transforum 2004 Attendees

Dennis Peacocke and Water Duerr at Transforum 2002

Dennis, Jan, and Attendees at Transforum 2006

Dennis Peacocke & Daniel Ellenberger at Transforum 2006

Transforum 2007 Banquet

Transformation From the Inside-Out
and the Bottom-Up

As many of you know, transforming a nation requires fundamental change on the local levels as well as policy changes coming from the top. One of the amazing things for many of us has always been the fact that seldom, if ever, do we hear politicians speak regarding how transformation actually takes place. For decades, we have taught, “Biblical Transformation takes place from the inside-out and the bottom-up.”

Recently, Dennis Peacocke had an exciting experience which promises to be a model for significant transformation of local communities and, ultimately, nations. Dennis was invited to attend a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Dallas by a ministry bringing powerful change to portions of the inner city. As virtually all social workers know, the two most common elements of successful programs rescuing people from inner-city unemployment and gang-related affiliations are “Jobs and Jesus.” The inner-city program headed by Bishop Omar Jahwar has been so successful that both government and philanthropic sources want to see the principles being used in Dallas extended throughout the United States.Our cooperation as ministries on projects will create a synergy through the Focus Groups of The Statesmen Project:

  • The Prayer Focus Group will facilitate the connecting of prayer leaders in other cities and develop understanding of the ekklesia.
  • Helping build City Action Councils (CACs) will increase the participation of other Dallas communities in the solutions, making for a greater local buy-in.
  • The Citizen Education Focus Group will provide another level of growth for both the inner city and the surrounding areas as gaining appreciation of the value of being a good citizen and increasing understanding of voting criteria based on The Ten Master Principles will empower civic strength.
  • With the fourth Focus Group, Public Policy, we will see opportunities to help recommend and critique policy initiatives, both secular and governmental, in terms of The Ten Master Principles.

The Statesmen Project is a resource for change and transformation. Please be in prayer as we come along side to strengthen and equip local community action.


What’s New

  • March 16-17, 2018: Community Impact Event | Victorville, CA | Hosted by the Faith Advisory Council for Community Transformation in collaboration with The Statesmen Project
  • April 12-14, 2018: Transforum 2018 | Austin, TX
  • June 14-16, 2018: Transforum Asia 2018 | Singapore
  • September 6-8, 2018: International Leadership Meeting of the Statesmen Project | Sojourn Church in Dallas, TX

Prayer

We Appreciate Your Prayers for:

Thank you for your faithful prayers & support!


GoStrategic: info@gostrategic.org | 707.578.7700 | 1221 Farmers Lane, Suite E, Santa Rosa, CA 94931
www.gostrategic.org www.businessleadershipschool.org | www.strategiclifetraining.com

 


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