humanitarian care, conversation, and #ideation [an interview with @charlestlee]

Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with idea-maker Charles Lee about one of his latest ventures… The Ideation Conference. If it is anything like his other projects (specifically The Idea Camp), then this is certainly going to be something that you’ll want to check out. Here’s what Charles had to say about his latest project…

Oh, and this is my first time using this platform for doing the interview, so please forgive the different audio levels and other slight imperfections. Thanks for your grace!

You can learn more about the Ideation Conference at the website (launching 1/8/10)…
http://www.ideationconference.com

Or you can learn more about what is happening with his faith-based The Idea Camp conferences at…
http://theideacamp.ning.com/

[12 days of awesomeness] day ten: charles lee

Some people are just natural leaders. It probably has to do with their unique abilities to take an idea, shape it, and then shout it from the rooftops that makes people take notice…  and follow.

I first encountered Charles Lee on Twitter. I noticed some mutual friends talking about this crazy new event called The Idea Camp, a project that started with and being run by Charles. The Idea Camp is a new Christian unconference that several people I know seemed to be getting pretty excited about. So I figured that I would have to check out what these guys were up to. I was blown away!

Eventually, I’ve attended (remotely) two of the three Idea Camp conferences that were held in 2009, and have connected with Charles to share ideas with each other. In fact, I actually blogged the entire stream for one of them and plan to bring more of their stuff closer to the BibleDude.net community…

live blogging @theideacamp conference

I have since found Charles Lee’s blog to be one that is full of great ideas and great questions. This guy is an amazing catalyst for social action in the church today, and this is where much of that discussion starts. I love seeing tweets and blog posts from Charles talking about some of the cool activities that he’s getting himself into. Dude, this guy has a servant’s heart like few others.

If you are a Christian who is into (and we should all be into) social action, then this is a great place to get into the conversation.

Check out the complete list!

being present in your city [opening session]

@bibledude: the best ideas are formed in a collaborative environment… “i see your idea and raise you mine” – @charlestlee #icpnw

@laurencetom: “I see your idea and raise you mine” The best ideas are formed in a collaborative environment – !deaCamp values #icpnw

@DustinCross: I see your idea and raise you mine…whats left in the pot is ours. (poker terminology at #icpnw )

@laurencetom: “When we come to people with an agenda we can’t be present with them” #icpnw Being Present in the City

@daveingland: there’s something miraculous that happens when someone feels like they’re being heard. –MaryKate Morse #icpnw

@bibledude: whether they believe in God or not, they were still created by Him. so there’s still something beautiful in them. – @MaryKateMorse #icpnw

@decart: If we approach people w an agenda, we take the holiness out of the interaction. We lose th pure wonder of engagement. – MK Morse #icpnw

@daveingland: God calls us to be present to someone else’s suffering. –MaryKate Morse #icpnw

@bibledude: one of the most loving things that you can do is to just listen and keep the focus on the other person. – @dukerevard #icpnw

@rameytime: “We can be present w/ ppl by listening & not shifting the focus back to ourselves.” – @dukerevard #icpnw // So true, reminds me of when…;)

@jonmreid: OTOH “Don’t pursue your agenda and leave behind, but at the same time don’t pursue love and leave your agenda/effectiveness behind” #icpnw

@mlpayne: “If we are honest we all have a little of Michael Scott (The Office) in us.” –Steve Saccone author of Relational Intelligence #icpnw

@pastorbryan: my thoughts: relationship is never really developed if it’s just for agenda. If the agenda leads we crush the friendship #icpnw

@laurencetom: “We’re not aware as we think we are…we all have a little of Michael Scott (The Office) in each of us.” @stevesaccone #icpnw

@daveingland: because we couldn’t take care of them (houseless) they had to form a community to help themselves. –@hardlynormal #icpnw #homeless

@jclayville: “there’s no us and them… there’s just US! we were not meant to have division.” ~ @otherthan #icpnw

@daveingland: “There is no us and them. There’s just us.” –Dustin Cross #icpnw #homeless

@laurencetom: “We don’t have a homeless problem. We have a housing problem.” #icpnw

@vinthomas: “We need to start working together instead of just doing our own thing” #ideacamp

@dukerevard: The NIMBY Problem…Not-In-My-Back-Yard problem related to local homelessness #icpnw

@jclayville: “we are so busy with outreach, we forget to take care of our own people” ~@hardlynormal #icpnw

@tybraun: “We are so busy with outreach that we often forget to take care of our own people.” @hardlynormal #icpnw

@jclayville: “if you look at the mass, you will not act. if you look at the one, you will” ~mother theresa. (no she’s not here) #icpnw

@pastorbryan: quoting Mother Teresa “if you look at the mass you will not act, if you look at the one you will.” #icpnw

@johnfehlen: “If you look at the mass you won’t act, if you look at the one, you will.” Mother Teresa #ideacamp

@laurencetom: “If you look at the mass, you won’t act but if you look at the one, you will” Mother Teresa #icpnw

@moorebilly: “we don’t have a homeless issue, we have a housing issue…” @hardlynormal talking a mayor. #icpnw

@daveingland: our (houseless) friends on the street don’t need more Jesus. They need to *see* more Jesus (through us) –dustin cross #icpnw

@mikerusch: “Homelessness is a compassion issue” @hardlynormal #icpnw

@pastorbryan: Where can the faith based community help? Support low income housing. Money is used to end homelessness but where are they gonna go? #icpnw

[the idea camp] closing session

 

Who: Abandon Films, Greg Russinger (Just One), Jonathan Olinger (Discover the Journey), Nicky Yates (charity:water), Gregg Helvey (Kavi the movie), Larry Martin (IJM)

Greg Russinger: Just One was started by a group of people who were concerned about the needy and marginalized in Ventura. After asking the question, “what can we do?” one guy said, “I think that people might treat me differently if I had clean clothes.” This kicked off Laundry Love with laundromats so that people like this could get their clothes washed. Now they have things like wi-fi computer access so that the people can look for jobs (and other things) while waiting on their laundry. With things like this, there is now a movement happening with open source ideas through Just One. If we want to live a creative life, then we must sit in the middle of ‘it’ so that you can fully experience and understand it. You’ve got to open yourself up and allow yourself to be changed by what is going on around you. As we live in a stance of humility, God sets us up for some really good things.

bibledude: Time on the street baby… This challenged me to really consider how much I make outreach decisions from the comfort of my own living room as compared to being in the environment that I would like to affect. It seems to me the simple act of getting out there is something that will make a big difference in my ability to impact my world.

vimeo Video :: Discover the Journey NO MORE TEARS [teaser]

vimeo Video :: The story of charity:water - The 2009 September Campaign Trailer

Jonathan Olinger, Nicky Yates, Gregg Helvey: When storytelling you have to let the people themselves tell the story rather than trying to tell it for them (when possible). It is powerful when you get into the lives of the people who actually experience injustices. Connect people to the things in their lives that people can relate to. Storytelling doesn’t need fancy equipment and high-production values. There are lots of cheap/free ways to tell the story. If you have a good story, then other people may jump on board and help with higher production efforts.

bibledude: I know that in the church I attend we’ve been discussing how we need to get better at telling the story, so this is something that hits home for me as well. Social media seems to be a great tool to help share the story for low cost. Content is king!

Larry Martin: You need to have a BHAG… a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. Two things to leave us with: (1) Ideas that God blesses, and (2) What does it take? Stop asking to get involved with what we are doing, instead get involved with what God is already doing… it is already blessed! We have to be willing to work hard to accomplish things. The other thing that we need is to have faith. Jesus acts when we He sees that we believe Him that things can happen. Jesus takes responsibility for the miracles that we are trying to do. Finally, it takes a willingness to pay the price. You are going to see God do some incredible things!

bibledude: Amen!

 

More from ICDC: live blogging @theideacamp conference

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