Kirk Ihlenburg, CEO of Ringor, shares his story about how the GLS helped him focus on the bigger picture of his business. Be inspired by his amazing story and the ripple effect his vision is having on girls in the US and and around the world.
Everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something’s time has passed and be able to move to the next season.
“Education is one of the most powerful weapons we can use to change a country.” – Nelson Mandela
Janine Couchman and her husband Gerry run the Willow Creek Association in South Africa, and have been spearheading the Global Leadership Summit in the region for the last 12 years. Over time, they’ve seen incredible impact on entire communities, and are excited about bringing this event to even more leaders in years to come.
For Janine, she is most passionate about bringing the GLS to more women as well as the next generation of leaders. She believes in the education and untapped potential of women and youth, that when tapped, could create exponential change in our world.
Untapped Potential
“I think the education of leaders is critical,” Janine explains. “In my country in particular, unfortunately, leadership is a huge challenge because we have a government that is corrupt. And I think that if the leaders who are in position right now were educated properly and had received leadership training like the GLS offers, things could be different. Teachers have been promoted to principles, but they haven’t received the skills that would help them run a school effectively and efficiently. There are leadership development holes in so many places.”
Shrinking the Gap
The GLS is a tool God is using across all sectors in South Africa. In the beginning, it was focused primarily on church leaders, but gradually NGOs and business leaders began attending as well. Janine believes that in order to improve schools’ effectiveness, you need to improve the leadership. Her efforts to bring students and more leaders from the education sector is having an incredible impact.
“We are seeing a lot of younger leaders and students attend the GLS. And 50 percent are girls, which is incredible,” Janine says. Through the GLS, the education gap in South Africa is shrinking. But there’s more to be done, specifically in terms of the education of women.
“If I had the ability to change one thing in the world, I think I would change educating women globally,” Janine shares. “If women were more educated, we would see change in communities and countries like we have never seen before. I love the fact that 50 percent of our audience in South Africa are women. That is very encouraging. My dream would be to see more women equipped to reach their potential, which we know is a challenge.”
As a woman and a leader in South Africa, Janine feels empathy for women who experience the challenge in a world that doesn’t readily accept their leadership gift. “I have been given the gift of leadership,” Janine shares. “It has been a struggle for me. I have had to fight to be allowed to lead and use the gifts that I have been given. But because I have been on that journey, I have a heart for women who I know are struggling with the same issues. It isn’t as much of a struggle as it used to be, but having to fight so much gives me compassion for women because I know what they struggle with.”
The Ripple Effect of the GLS
One of the regular attendees of the GLS in South Africa is a woman named Louis van Rhyne. She recognized a need to transform the education system in South Africa, so she took action and founded an organization called Symphonia.
By partnering with business leaders from the community, and connecting them with schools to coach, mentor and teach leadership skills, they are seeing an increase in graduation percentages and the level of education that children are receiving.
Through networking at the GLS, an attendee with a similar vision for education in South Africa began partnering with Symphonia. Together, they are changing the education system—they are transforming school communities; they fix things, paint and get local businesses involved. The program is rolling across the country. And what started in Cape Town is now being picked up in other parts of the country.
The government’s education department is reaching out to them saying, “Please, help us.”
It’s the ripple effect of the GLS.
The Next Generation is at Stake
The GLS is not only impacting business leader and educational leaders, but it is ultimately impacting the next generation. “I think that one thing we have to remember is that there’s a generation after us and we have to do all we can to give them the opportunity to become stronger leaders,” Janine explains. “It’s not just about us. We think we are the church now, but the church is following us. If more leaders would come together and make a conscious effort to do leadership development for the next generations, we will see a big change in the world.
“I think the more leaders we reach, the more churches will change, communities will change and countries will change. As Christians, that is part of the tradition—seeing more and more people living devoted lives, living their potential and reaching the broken and lost.
“We’re making a difference in our broken world.”
Thank you for Creating a Ripple Effect in South Africa
“For South Africa, we would like to thank you for your dedication and faithful commitment to helping the WCA roll the GLS to the world,” Janine shares. “If not for your contribution this wouldn’t be possible.
“Without strong leadership there cannot be country change, community change and we cannot fix this broken world. Ethical leadership is so vital. So in South Africa, we want to thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all that you are doing and all that you will do. We trust for 2016 that we will see an incredible growth as God uses the GLS to change our broken world. Thank you.”
To continue to support leaders like Janine in South Africa, consider a gift towards the Global Leadership Development Fund
at www.willowcreek.com
Why has God left the Church here on earth? What is her purpose? Jossy Chacko challenges Christian leaders to think about their mission backstage at the 2016 Global Leadership Summit.
The only way to make change in the world is to start with one’s self.
Live everyday knowing that God is with you!
Kristianne sat in the hospital waiting room, holding her sister-in-law’s letter in her hand, waiting for her to wake up after her latest surgery in her battle with cancer.
“I want you to know I’m secure and very peaceful with you being here waiting on me to wake up.” Kristianne soaked in her sister-in-law Sonja’s letter, letting the words echo through her mind, thinking of her own sister’s battle with cancer as well.
Kristianne decided to get up and make her way to the recovery room, slipping past the nurse’s station. “Sonja, I’m here,” she whispered.
“I knew you’d come,” Sonja answered. “…I’m so cold.”
Kristianne rummaged through the room looking for a blanket with no success, but found a wrinkled up cardigan in her bag, picked it up and lay it over Sonja.
What Kristianne didn’t know at the time was that her sister and two sister-in-laws’ battles with cancer, Sonja’s letter and a wrinkled up sweater would spark a dream in her that would ignite a compassion movement.
“Cancer is a thief that steals a woman’s identity and threatens to rename her as a diagnosis or medical record number, where just a few moments before she was known as sister, daughter, mom, wife or friend to others,” Kristianne said. “Cancer makes a woman feel invisible, and when they are visible in their own mirror, the ravages of chemo, radiation and surgery aren’t what they want to see and they wrestle with who they’ve become.
“Every woman who has been told she has cancer suddenly becomes a warrior. Her life is hijacked by an invisible enemy and no matter where she was the day before her diagnosis, her life will never be the same. Everything is tunneled into surviving and beating cancer. This warrior’s 20-mile march may be a few steps from their bedroom to fix their children breakfast and somewhere in the hallway in those 20 steps, they’ve taken a walk across their own mortality, wondering how many more times they’ll be alive to do this for their children.
“I often tell a woman that cancer doesn’t name you. God names you and He calls you BEAUTIFUL ONE. You’re never alone because God is with you and there’s an army of believers you may never meet who are praying for you.”
A Spark is Ignited at the Global Leadership Summit
Kristianne Stewart, Founder of Compassion That Compels
Kristianne Stewart is a regular attendee of the Summit, and when she heard Jim Collins say “You can’t have a meaningful life without meaningful work…and intrinsic excellence,” she was motivated to take a leap of faith in her dream to reach every woman battling cancer.
She began an organization called Compassion That Compels, which exists to comfort and encourage women during their battles with cancer and remind them they are not alone. One of the primary ways she decided to do this was by delivering what she calls Compassion Bags filled with encouraging gifts including a devotional, a journal, tea, a mug, a Chick-fil-A gift card, mints and last but not least, a blanket to keep women warm. All of these gifts are given to remind women they are not alone in their battle and there is a God who loves and adores them.
Compassion Grows
In 2013, one of Kristianne’s Facebook posts went viral and she had requests for Compassion Bags coming in from all over the nation. “I boldly prayed and asked God what He wanted me to do,” said Kristianne. “Despite my own surgeries and medical challenges, I knew God had brought these women to me. I had a decision to make.”
Kristianne was reminded of a talk about bold prayer and bold action. “If there was one resounding thing in these talks, it was confidently stepping forward, knowing that the foundation was firmly in place,” she explains. “After discussions with my incredibly insightful husband, I put aside everything I thought I was called to do with Compassion That Compels and began leading in what God called me to do.”
Growth continued for her organization, and she returned to God’s leading every step of the way. “I had no idea how to sustain the growth. We’d had fundraisers, but the demand for bags was ongoing.” Kristianne did not give up, but she was reaching a breaking point.
The Alter’D Team and Kristianne Stewart
In the midst of the demands, God was still at work. She stepped into one of the many Altar’D State retail stores located around the country and discovered a program they had called Mission Mondays. Her hope and passion were re-ignited. After conversation, and discovering their kindred spirits for women battling cancer, Altar’D State stores forged a partnership with Compassion That Compels that launched Kristianne’s dream into a sustainable ministry. “Without Altar’D State’s Mission Monday program, Compassion That Compels might not have the same presence it does today,” Kristianne said.
“Walking into a treatment center and blessing a complete stranger with a Compassion Bag is the most rewarding part of this ministry,” she said. “Kneeling before them, hearing their stories, praying with them and then leaving that center with someone added to my heart’s collection. They become part of the Compassion That Compels family. I see their heart when I look them in the eyes and I really SEE them for who they are. This is what fuels my soul and is my highest calling—to show God’s love and compassion to others. I truly believe that God has called me to this ministry and poured out His grace even as my second sister-in-law has found her healing in Heaven and is there with several of my friends.”
Since Kristianne began the organization back in 2013, she’s delivered more than 2,800 Compassion Bags in 39 states, Canada, UK and the Netherlands with the help of her partners including Altar’D State, DaySpring, Brownlow Gifts, and Chick-fil-A.
Learn more about Compassion That Compels in this 3min video
Equipped through the Summit for the Rest of the March
“The Summit equips me to lead with the love of Christ and cast the vision to others,” says Kristianne. “I always stress to our board and volunteers to never lose sight of the fact that it’s not about a bag, but about a beautiful and brave woman in the battle of her life.
“My grander vision grows every day from a legacy platform founded on my deepest pain,” she said. “My legacy scaffolding started with a foundation of Christianity where I learned to be unshakable when cancer shook me. Scaffolding has guardrails. I think legacy scaffolding has both guardrails and bumpers, and mine might even be pink. Remember in the pursuit of the grander vision, one speaker said ‘God treasures people more than visions.’ Every GLS has become part of my legacy scaffolding, and from the faculty, I’ve learned to lead in the noisy chaos of self-doubt and pace myself for the daily 20-mile march—all for God’s glory.”
Kristianne’s legacy grew when she was asked to write a 52 week discussion guide for Jesus Calling this year. Hear more about her journey in this podcast. God continues to work!
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