For most of us who live within the stream of the global economy and global ministry world, we have been conditioned to manage time and effort around events and key milestones. That is why events like the upcoming congress in Cape Town, South Africa are so important.
But today I want to talk about something that we tend to ignore. That is the power of “PRE.” What is PRE? Simple…it is all the pre-event things that prepare you to be in the right place spiritually, emotionally, relationally and intellectually to take the greatest advantage of the event you are attending.
So often we show up with little or no preparation
and it shows in our participation.
So my challenge to you today is to take the preparation for Cape Town 2010 seriously – whether you will be attending the event in South Africa, attending a GlobaLink site or participating through the Global Conversation, Facebook and Twitter.
No matter how you will participate, the impact it will have on your life is directly related to the investment you make in the PRE months, weeks and days. Here are a few simple ways that you can be preparing based on the categories I described above:
Spiritually: Participate in the Ephesians study leading up to the days of the Congress. Click here to download the study.
Emotionally: Download the prayer guide for each month leading up the to Congress and use this to guide your prayers as you get ready for what God is going to do through the event and beyond. Click here to download the latest prayer guide.
Relationally: Participate in the Global Conversation and begin interacting on the issues ahead of time. This will help you get to know other people who are invested in the cause of Global Evangelism. Click here to enter the Global Conversation.
Intellectually: Take time to read each of the Advance Papers ahead of the event and commit to write comments on as many as you can. This is a significant amount of work but without this investment you will not have the foundation related to the issues to engage people strategically at the event. Click here for a complete list of Advance Papers and links.
Well, we have a lot to do! But be encouraged. God will give you the strength to prepare well and will honor your investment. I look forward to seeing the fruit of your PRE work as I share your input via social media and this blog.