Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scouts

Recently Seth Godin penned a post, Girl Scout Cookies, which implored parents NOT to sell on behalf of their kids. More than earning money for this program or that, the Scouts are teaching its members to be confident adept sellers—an experience and skillset adults would do well not to rob them of. There are two […]

Read More

7 Trends to Make You Missions Smart

Despite the ubiquity of the Internet, not everyone is a specialist. As a missions futurist, I often share what I know about global macro trends in order to help churches and organizations be smart and prepared now for what ministry is going to look like a year, five, or even a decade in the future. […]

Read More

The power of peer evangelism for kids

Research[1] credits “word of mouth” as being capable of generating double the sales of paid advertising. Virgin Mobile—a cellular service catering to the youth market—employs this “create the buzz” strategy, claiming, “This generation, more so than previous ones, gets lots and lots of their brand preferences through peers… We need our customers to be our […]

Read More

Olympic opening ceremony casts a vision of unity

Perhaps the most powerful part of the Olympics is the opening ceremony. And not just because of the elaborate staging and glittering pageantry of the show. The Sochi Olympics are reportedly the most expensive Games in history to date—with its opening ceremony expected to top the charts for money spent on the most elaborate spectacle […]

Read More

Forgotten Russia during the Sochi Olympic Winter Games

When I first heard that the XXII Olympic Winter Games were going to be held in the city of Sochi, Russia, I was excited! We have made dear friends working alongside locals there distributing the Book of Hope since 1991. The more I thought about it, though, I found myself cringing in anticipation of how the […]

Read More

Sexless Japan: an unnatural pattern

In Japan, Europe and the U.S., statistics are showing that people are marrying later in life or not at all, birth rates are on the decline, and housing reports show an increase in single-occupant households, as well as young people living at home for longer periods of time than before. What do these startling trends […]

Read More