This is a great question. I don’t get it often, but every once in a while someone will ask who the “we” is. And it’s a great question to answer anyway…
Legally, we’ve always been accountable to our non-profit board. That has remained constant. We also have an additional “core group” of three couples who know us well and meet with us regularly to inspect and encourage every part of our lives.
We have also been relationally part of the Vineyard churches and Frontiers for all of these years.
I have several who help me out administratively. Mainly my wife Chris. She does a lot of bookkeeping, emails and general administration for all we do. It’s almost a full time job.
Scott Gore (In-fusion Consulting Services) helps me with travel and my speaking engagements. He lives in the Phoenix area.
Nate Schaub is my web guy who does all kinds of media related stuff for me. (Mindflint Media).
Rick Malouf is the one I probably do most of the Middle East stuff with from here. We plan, pray and think together every step of the way. And we do our Middle East trips together. A great partner. (Phoenix).
There are several others who become part of the “we” as is appropriate. Chris and I help Rick and Fran Love on the Vineyard team that is thinking how to bless the Muslim world.
There is a whole National Prayer Breakfast team that works together from about October through the first week of February every year.
As I have been involved in helping to launch some film and media projects, the “team” becomes whomever I’m working with on that.
I have become a firm believer in the statement: “If you don’t care who gets the credit, you can get a lot done.” Our “team” is whomever we can serve with to accomplish the stated goal. We are more often then not, behind the scenes, rather than the obvious out-front leaders. More gets done this way.
In the Middle East, it’s just as broad. There are a handful of people there that we love and respect and have worked together with for years. We do almost everything in the Middle East with and through them. The three countries where we have the most impact, because we have the most relationship, are Lebanon (we lived there for 12 years), Jordan and then the West Bank. We wouldn’t do anything in one of those countries without doing it with those who live there.
That’s it. Not a typical way to work. No big or growing staff. No desire to “grow a ministry.” Simply working with like-minded people who love God and are trying to follow Jesus in this part of the world. We want God to get the credit and the name of Jesus to be famous!
