Hello, again. After a lengthy hiatus, I plan to start writing again. We’ll talk about the hiatus later, but today, let’s just jump into the deep water!
It’s Friday—the day before the Saturday board meeting—the BIG Saturday board meeting! Ten board members will begin arriving tonight, though most will just drive to the meeting in the morning. Even though it is not yet noon on the day before, I’m confident that all of these men and women have already been thinking—and, I suspect, praying—about this Saturday’s board meeting.
Tomorrow, the Let’s Start Talking Board of Directors is interviewing the two finalist candidates to take Sherrylee’s and my places as the new Executive Director. We—Mark and Sherrylee—began this ministry in our home 36 years ago—a lifetime ago. Sherrylee was the first paid staff member. Our three kids were born into it and raised in the backseat of our many rental cars that we drove around Europe each summer of their lives, organizing and supervising those early LST teams.
This short-term missions ministry which we started with a very small, limited vision for working in Germany (actually, still West Germany in 1980) has now sent Christian volunteers into over 60 countries—including some countries that were not even countries in 1980. Literally thousands of Christians have shared their faith with more thousands of people who asked those Christians to tell them why they were so happy and what made them believe the Story of Jesus. God has truly done greater things than we could have ever imagined.
Three years ago, Sherrylee and I told our board that it was time for us to give the leadership of the ministry to the next generation. We were not pressured to give notice, not by board politics, not by financial crisis, not by scandal, nor for health reasons. No, many years ago, when we were young missionaries in Germany, we watched the painful struggles between older missionaries who had planted churches in Europe after WWII and those same churches who needed to break away from their “parent” in order to mature. My memory is that at least one church changed the locks on their building because their founding father refused to give up his key, aka “control”, of his church.
His church? Really? Watching those missionary giants rejected by their spiritual children is how we learned not to believe that we possessed, that we owned a ministry just because God used us to start something that He wanted done. Not owning LST made it easier to start the process three years ago of giving up the keys to the building! It isn’t our building; they aren’t our keys! They never were!
Tomorrow, we believe we will begin the final step of stepping down. And that’s just the beginning!
What has brought me back to writing again is the opportunity to share with you this transition. I want to share with you what happened when we gave notice three years, what didn’t happen, and what probably should have happened! I’d like to talk about processes, choices, and feelings. And I wish to share this information, not as a history, but perhaps as a case study for those of you who are in non-profits, ministries, or small organizations that will face this same kind of transition sooner or later.
Mark's Blog 
One of the most difficult decision for entrepaneurs to make is to give up even partial control. I watched you and Sherrylee make that decision early on. You are one unique sevant of the Lord. Martha and I were blessed to be with during those early growth years. You also transitioned methods ( not principals of LST) as culture, technology, and potential workers changed—a rare trait indeed
Hey Mark! I’m excited to learn from your wisdom and insight as you share! You have taught me a lot and and have shone me wisdom in so many ways through my years of involvement with LST!
Good decision. As a mediator I have seen several great works damaged by leaders fighting to maintain control. You have grown greatly in my eyes as a true servent of God. God will bless you greatly .
Tom Boren
Mark, we remain so thankful for how God has used you and Sherrylee in the Kingdom. You have deeply touched our lives personally and that has allowed us to touch many more people by either equipping them to share the good news or by sharing it directly with others. I appreciate your humility in sharing this ministry and vision that has come from God. I know that God will continue to bless you in all your endeavors and place the LST ministry in good hands for the future. Thanks for everything and congrats on this new venture in life!
Mark, years ago when you were student leader of Campaigns Northeast, I thought your leadership ability was very evident. And, I expected you were going to do great things in ministry in the kingdom. When you decided to do mission work in Germany, I thought that you would be the next Otis Gatewood or Joe Cannon–the two missionary giants I most admired at the time. I had no idea, even when you and Sherrylee started Let’s Start Talking, and it started growing that it would become the far-extending work that it is today! This ministry is so much more than even I, who greatly admired you, could have ever dreamed you two would do. I hear about it everywhere. There’s a family of four in our congregation working on finishing raising the funds they need to go this summer. Years ago at the missions workshop held at Columbia Christian that year, you said that people we thought of as great missionaries were just ordinary people with feet of clay like the rest of us. But what made them great was all the years they were persistent in their mission. You and Sherrylee have been that kind of persistent. I just turned 70 so I know you are turning 69 sometime this year. I praise God that you two lent your wisdom and talents to this effort for this late into your lives. I trust that it is God guiding you to make this transition at this time. Congratulations on entering the next phase in your life! I think there’s a lot of longevity in your family, so I can’t wait to see what God is going to do through you two in this final set of years. I’ll be praying this weekend for just the right people to move into the leadership positions you’re vacating with trust in your board to let God guide them in those decisions! Again congratulations on being the good and faithful servants you are! In Him with gratitude for your service in the kingdom and in our fellowship in particular, Rochelle
Sorry to see you go but know the need to pass the responsibility to another generation. At 82+ I am still trusting God to show the way.