New Year's News

Well, I missed December entirely. The main reasons were:

1) Travel - I was visiting my parents over the holidays

2) Travel complications - Winter Storm Goliath happened. As my parents are located east of the Mississippi River, this meant I experienced some travel-related distractions.

3) Illness - I got sick for several weeks (I'm still recovering).

That said, you now also know what I've been doing in December. This January, I am working on PhD application materials, and will be pretty distracted by all of that, but I hope to have a better posting schedule going by February.

Late November

Well, I said I would post again in November...and technically it is still November where I am. Things have been busy - and by busy I mean I have been sick for about half the month. That was followed by a power outage that took out half the power in the city I live in, and kept some areas (including my job site) out of commission for days. Then came Thanksgiving, and then clean-up from the power outage, once power was restored. Fortunately, I was in an area where the power stayed on, but it was a rough pre-Thanksgiving weekend for the entire town. Things are looking up now, though, and hopefully, we won't have another windstorm like the one that took out power for another few years. In the meantime, my work on my PhD application continues, as do my plans to visit my parents in Illinois in December. Hopefully, I will have another Incoming Insight before the end of the year. If you're from the U.S., I hope your Thanksgiving celebration was a good one. If not, I hope you had a great weekend.

See you in December!

Workshops Completed!

Last week's workshops are over, and they were very well received. We had six participants in the college workshop, and an average of 11 participants in the evening church group. In both cases, the participants found that the changes in thinking that come from reflecting on our concepts, then seeing how they apply in our lives made an impact on how they were approaching their work and home lives. There was also a lot of interest in the idea of direct vs indirect understanding, a topic I plan to review in more detail in a later post. There was some frustration, especially during the first few days, among both groups, but this was expected. The feedback by the end of the week was positive, if not enthusiastic. Both groups have indicated that they would like more training or follow-up to the seminar, and we are currently planning some additional workshops for the church that Al will be presenting later this month. We expect to have some additional work from the college, as well, though it would take longer to set up those (more formal) programs.

One point that is clear in both cases: we do not think about our ideas nearly as much as we believe we do. While we are a conceptual culture, in general, we are not often a reflective one, and this is where many of our weaknesses arise. It is very common for someone to explain a mistake (theirs or another's) with the phrase "he wasn't thinking," and this explanation is usually exactly right. Our ability to think about what we are doing - not just our actions but also our way of making decisions or problem solving - has a huge impact on what we are capable of accomplishing. These workshops are proving to be a great way to help people develop the ability to not just think about what they are doing, but also about what they are thinking. We have found that when you focus on how you think, life becomes a lot more managable.

The content of the feedback was very positive. Even the suggestions for changes were given more as "ways to improve" instead of "bad, and you must change." Some of the feedback we received:

• "It pushed us out of our comfort zone!"*
• "...I would like to take a longer course on this subject. I would change it to be more like a 4 hour class, rather than just 2."
•  "Brevity was good. [Good] discussion."
• "...with this class I will look at the 'why' in what I do so that I can broaden my effect on family and friends."
• "I liked the homework"

The last one was genuinely surprising (and, to be fair, not universal). We have found, though, that people do like to stretch their abilities, as long as they don't feel like failures when they run into trouble. This is, by far, the most difficult point of the workshop to get across--we aren't looking for "right" answers, we are trying to help people learn how to discern what the "right" answers may be. Once a person learns how to learn, there is very little that can stop him or her.

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* Just to be clear, this comment was in response to the question: "What was your favorite part of the workshop?"

Happy New Year's Eve (and New Year)!

Between the holidays, and receiving some great books over said holidays, I've been a bit distracted, so I've just got a quick New Year post this week, before getting back to more substantial posts next week. Overall, I think this year has gone very well, both for me, and for IRI. We now have substantial work going on in Mozambique, with several communities and over 50 churches involved in the process of personal, spiritual, and community development. We have also had great success in the Philippines, with several new partners and plans to return next year and the year after to expand the programs. We are continuing to build relationships and a reputation in Hong Kong, both with individuals, several churches, and the educational community. Finally, I was able to spend half of last year working at LCU, and have made plans to travel around the Midwest early next year. I'm glad we have been able to do so much, and look forward to next year.

Happy New Year everyone!

Hong Kong Report

I've been back from Hong Kong for about a week, and I am still a bit jet lagged. The trip back was a fairly uneventful 32 hours, but I fear I have not entirely recovered. My time in Hong Kong was, however, very enjoyable and fruitful. I was able to work with Al and Kitty on a variety of training projects. Al and I also got a chance to review some of our respective observations and theories as well as set up some long term plans for IRI.

As always, the people we are working with were great. Linda, our host, was a great sport about having more guests than beds (I slept on a couch while I was there). She also worked with Al on training programs at church, eventually taking over the training herself. Kitty, our HK board member, also worked with Al and me on church training programs. I think that Linda and Kitty are an excellent start on developing new trainers in Hong Kong, but we will certainly be looking for more as we go along. I was also able to work with Kitty on a number of teacher training programs for some of the local schools. Like last year, we primarily focused on SEN (special educational needs) schools, whose teachers face particular challenges which require creative and adaptable thinking. In addition, Kitty arranged for me to be a keynote speaker at an educational conference. The audience was primarily senior teachers and principals, although we had some education students and a few parents, as well. The presentation was on building relationships in educational environments, and (from what I could tell) was well received. It was a great opportunity, and I'm glad I was able to present to such a great audience.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to work in Hong Kong. It is a great place, and I love working with everyone there. Currently, our plans are to return next year - Al will be back for a short time in the Spring, and I should be back for another round of teacher training in the fall. We hope to increase our presence in educational and professional development, and to that end, I have begun looking into PhD programs to provide additional credentials for our program, and to advance my own knowledge and formal academic research on our theories and strategies for human development. I'll keep everyone posted as that plan develops.

Speaking of theories, I should finally be back to ABC thinking next week with...the ABC cognitive style.

Busy Week, Not Much Posting

My time in Hong Kong has been very interesting and exciting. I have been working on teacher training, youth programs, and long-term plans for IRI. Unfortunately, this doesn't leave me with as much time to put together more on the ABC concepts. Sorry for the delays. I will be in Hong Kong for one more week, which will continue my busy schedule. I plan to be back on track to continue the overview of the theories behind our work once I get back to the U.S.

I have had a chance to talk with some of our overseas team members at length while here, and have learned more about how some of our ideas have been impacting the people we are working with. I want to include an analysis of some of that information in later posts, but the short version is that things are going very well in terms of our human development programs. The long version will have to wait for a more in-depth blog (or two). In the meantime, I will post a summary of the Hong Kong trip once I get back to the States (or next week, if I can carve out the time).

Moved!

I am now settled in Spokane, WA. I am currently setting up meetings with local contacts to see what we can get going in the Pacific Northwest, and am trying to get connected with our Northwest supporters. If you are living in the Northwest, and want to talk about what I do with IRI, please feel free to leave me a message, or send a request via our website. All you need to do is mention Jason (that's me) or the blog (Incoming Insights) in your message, and it will get to me.

Insights from Hong Kong

It appears I have not made it back to the U.S. after all.

Originally, the plan was for Al and I return to the U.S. after spending a few weeks in Hong Kong to follow up with people and work out some plans for next year. While we did accomplish these things (and more), I was given the opportunity to help our host's church. Ken had been the preacher at a church in Hong Kong and after his death, the church needed someone to take over the preaching. Fortunately, Ken had already made plans for a successor - unfortunately, that successor was from the Philippines, and the immigration procedures were not complete. As a result, there was a gap between Ken's death and when his successor could make it to Hong Kong that required an interim preacher.

Al volunteered me to fill in.

I'm not at all upset with his presumption - in fact, this has provided me with an opportunity to get to know several of the friends we made on our trip better, as well as get to know Hong Kong better in general. I am currently working on plans for next year, meeting new people, working with our new board member (who is a Hong Kong national), and even investigating job opportunities so that I can support myself when I return next year as part of our ongoing plans for developing programs here, in the Philippines, and in Myanmar. This is a tremendous opportunity, and I am grateful for Al's timely suggestion to the church here. I am also grateful for the people I have met so far, and look forward to working with everyone here for the next two months.

The current schedule now has me returning to the U.S. in late July. I will be posting more about my U.S. plans as my return date approaches.

Incoming From the Philippines

Finally, in the last two days of my trip to the Philippines, I am able to get online to make a post. It has been an exciting, traumatic, exhausting, and enlightening time here. I will post more specific details once I get back to the U.S. (and no longer have to borrow other people's computers to make a post), but for now, let me sum up:

Arrival and 1st Stop:

Al, Ken (our host), and I arrived in the Philippines on the 20th of March, just exactly five weeks ago. We were met by Marie Panti, one of Ken's associates here. We traveled to her home, which would serve as the venue of our Insight Seminar. Between preparation and execution, the seminar lasted about two and a half weeks. We had delegates attending from the Philippines, Myanmar, and Hong Kong. When the seminar was over, the group from Hong Kong returned home, and the rest of us traveled north to our next scheduled stop.

2nd Stop - It All Breaks Down:

Our second stop was the home of Glo - one of the delegates who attended our seminar at Marie's home. The trip north took around eight hours by bus, and was fairly comfortable for a bus trip. Upon arrival, Ken and several nationals began preparation for the retreat they were running. Before the retreat began, however, there was the matter of a wedding to attend (and participate in - more about that in a later post). After the wedding, we kicked off the beginning of the retreat with Ken and the others.

Then Ken died.

The Aftermath:

Ken's death was both unexpected and traumatic. Everybody at the retreat loved and respected him, and he was liked by many people in the community as well. Everything came to a halt, until we could get his family there and determine how to handle memorial services and transportation of his remains. I will give additional information in a later post, but suffice to say it changed everything.

After all the arrangements were made and the funeral was conducted, Ken's family left with a few of the nationals for Manila. From there, the family took Ken's remains back to Hong Kong. Al and I remained behind, our previous plans cancelled, and spent our time working with the local people setting up a week-long community program. Al coached the locals to identify and develop solutions for their local issues, and by the time the remaining nationals returned from Manila, the program was being led by local leadership.

Now:

Now the extended community development program is winding up (the locals decided to extend the program an additional week to cover all the issues they were uncovering), and Al and I are getting ready to head back to Hong Kong on Friday. I plan to post another quick update as that leg of the trip winds up, then set up a more detailed account (with pictures, even!) once I get back to the U.S. and have easier access to the Internet.

That's it for now - stay tuned next month for details of the Hong Kong experience!