{"id":2369,"date":"2018-12-03T12:57:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T18:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2018-12-03T12:57:21","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T18:57:21","slug":"all-generations-harold-presley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/all-generations-harold-presley\/","title":{"rendered":"All Generations: Harold Presley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not a Gap, But a Generation Bridge<\/span><\/h2>\n

About 55 years ago, I learned the importance of relating to different age groups. I asked a man who was 25 years older than me, \u201cHow can I get Jesus in my heart?\u201d at that time, I was in first grade. He led me into a relationship with Jesus that has grown me right into my sixth decade of life. Now, I have been privileged to work with a wide age-range of men and women throughout my life.<\/p>\n

My first ministry role was to the youth of my local church, which was fitting as I, myself, was a youth. Only a teen with a couple of years of Bible college behind me, I was ready to change the world. I had great mentors and pastors serving over me. I recruited 70+-year-old Colonel John Batterson, USA (Ret) to teach timeless biblical truths to us long-haired \u201ccool\u201d kids, as about 45 of us gathered regularly in a large basement. Everyone loved him and learned solid principles for life. Only recently (41 years later), did I hear that a church was planted out of that group.<\/p>\n

Then, at the ripe old age of 21, I launched out to a new town to plant a church. It was Pastor Joel McGraw\u2019s leadership\u2026no, it was his command, that I followed to plant and establish Victory Chapel in Fayetteville, TN.\u00a0 Pastor Joel (also my Uncle) was a great role model in all things pastoral. He never looked down on me because of my youthful ignorance. Instead, he pushed me forward to do more and excel in every area of life. What a great man!<\/p>\n

In the church-planting project, at age 21, the new families that gathered did not know whether to refer to me as the youth pastor or senior pastor. I did both. A dear lady in her mid-60\u2019s took me out into the neighborhoods and hollows to meet the community as we shared the gospel and prayed for the sick. Miss Willie would climb up in my hippy-style panel van with its orange shag carpet on the floor, walls, and ceiling and navigate me all over the county. I learned so much from her and her gracious husband, Mr. Kelly Dysart. There was no gap in our generation. It was a dynamic connection.<\/p>\n

I connected with the youth, parents, and grandparents alike. I learned quickly that it is all about Jesus and His kingdom. He is the common denominator. Groupings related to age, gender, socio-economic position, and education level all became insignificant. We wanted to lift up Jesus and introduce Him to everyone. I am confident that having such a wide age-range of believers and leaders during those formative years kept me from straying into any unhealthy extremes. I know it held me to a more disciplined life of learning and godliness.<\/p>\n

I wish I still had some of the personal letters and emails from senior leaders like Chaplain Col E.L. Shirey, and other men only a few years ahead of me like Bishop Doug Beacham. Each of these men had a huge godly impact on my life, which I did my best to pass on to the younger guys nearby.<\/p>\n

All of that was good for the day, but even better preparation for my future as a missionary. In my early 30\u2019s, I realized the Lord was sending me to Europe, specifically London. I was thrust into much more than various age groups. Now, it was a variety of races and nationalities, language groups, other religions, and different \u201cgenders\u201d that I did not know were even possible! However, it was not so difficult to adjust to, since I had not cocooned my life into the 1970\u2019s youth culture that I was raised in. Oh, I have great memories, but the past is the past and each age level comes with different graces and blessings.<\/p>\n

Early on in the mission field, I was able to mentor younger men and women while receiving excellent direction and mentorship from the likes of Jim & Peggy Eby and John & Edna Parker. They were 10 years my senior and 25+ years my senior. Today, I am pleased to have sons and daughters in the faith that go beyond my own family. Fact is, although I relate to a few of my mentees like a parent, they are different races and different nationalities.<\/p>\n

What a joy! I would not have it any other way! Young. Old. Wise, and otherwise. God has used these relationships to help me, and He has used me to help others promote His Kingdom purposes on the earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not a Gap, But a Generation Bridge About 55 years ago, I learned the importance of relating to different age groups. I asked a man who was 25 years older…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[274,4],"tags":[268,276,265,163],"class_list":{"0":"post-2369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allgenerations","8":"category-world-missions","9":"tag-268","10":"tag-all-generations","11":"tag-december","12":"tag-presley","13":"entry"},"title_es":"Todas las generaciones: la familia Shirey","content_es":"Boomers. Generaci\u00f3n X. Millennials. Estas palabras marcan todos los \u00e1mbitos de la vida y la cultura: publicidad, medios, moda y ministerio. Se han publicado libros completos que describen las generalidades de estos grupos generacionales. Tendemos a clasificar las diferencias generacionales, culturales, econ\u00f3micas, educativas, raciales y de otro tipo cuando se habla de personas. Las categor\u00edas demogr\u00e1ficas que utilizamos para describir grupos de personas son convincentes, especialmente cuando se considera c\u00f3mo influir en los dem\u00e1s. Sin embargo, en el ministerio, estas etiquetas se quedan cortas. Se dividen m\u00e1s de lo que se unen. He encontrado el lenguaje b\u00edblico de vecino, madre, esposo e hija mucho m\u00e1s \u00fatil. La realidad del ministerio es esta: ministramos a las personas, no a los grupos. Tanto como las personas en un grupo demogr\u00e1fico generacional tienen experiencias comunes, las personas que conforman estos grupos tienen necesidades claramente diferentes. Por lo tanto, he aprendido a pensar m\u00e1s ampliamente. Las personas son m\u00e1s j\u00f3venes o mayores que yo, ya sea por experiencia o por edad. Durante a\u00f1os, una de mis b\u00fasquedas fue encontrar un mentor, alguien que pudiera brindarme orientaci\u00f3n, aportes y estimularme en mi crecimiento espiritual y mis habilidades para la vida. Encontr\u00e9 mentores a corto plazo a trav\u00e9s de amigos, profesores y libros. Por ellos estoy agradecido. Sin embargo, nunca encontr\u00e9 el mentor a largo plazo que ansiaba. Cada vez que conoc\u00eda a un individuo que parec\u00eda prometedor, me decepcionaba cuando, tal vez, demostraron ser reacios, desinteresados, no estaban disponibles, o tal vez no sab\u00edan c\u00f3mo ser un mentor. Finalmente, dej\u00e9 de buscar a los que estaban delante de m\u00ed y decid\u00ed ser un mentor para los dem\u00e1s. Me sent\u00ed obligado a dar lo que siempre hab\u00eda buscado. En mi papel, liderando un equipo de ministros que prestan servicios en el extranjero, he tenido la oportunidad de ayudar a otros a trav\u00e9s de compartir mis experiencias ministeriales, ayudar con el aprendizaje de idiomas o asesorar sobre los aspectos pr\u00e1cticos de la vida como expatriado. Discipleship Beyond (DB), el ministerio que fund\u00e9 con mi esposa, Corrie, ha brindado otras formas en que servimos a aquellos que vienen detr\u00e1s de nosotros. Este programa re\u00fane a adultos j\u00f3venes durante cinco meses de intenso discipulado y servicio. DB brinda una oportunidad incre\u00edble para que nuestro equipo invierta en las generaciones que nos siguen. Los participantes maduran en su caminar con el Se\u00f1or, crecen al vivir en comunidad con otros participantes y aumentan sus perspectivas al experimentar otras culturas. Tambi\u00e9n hemos descubierto que un subproducto del vertido en otros es que nosotros, nosotros mismos, tambi\u00e9n experimentamos crecimiento. Disfrutamos de los beneficios de una mayor profundidad espiritual y de un mayor desarrollo en nuestro liderazgo y nuestras habilidades de ense\u00f1anza. La primera parte del programa se llama Formaci\u00f3n. Nos enfocamos en nuestro caminar personal con el Se\u00f1or, pidi\u00e9ndole que forme y forme nuestros corazones a su imagen. Durante 12 semanas, volamos en maestros de todo el mundo para compartir sabidur\u00eda y experiencia en su \u00e1rea de especializaci\u00f3n. Aprendemos de hombres y mujeres de todas las etapas de la vida: solteros, casados, padres y abuelos. Hace dos a\u00f1os, nuestros maestros ten\u00edan entre 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 y 70 a\u00f1os. \u00a1Qu\u00e9 bendici\u00f3n ver a Dios moverse a trav\u00e9s de las generaciones! Despu\u00e9s de la formaci\u00f3n, nuestro equipo de DB va en extensi\u00f3n. Esto es 8-10 semanas de ministerio intenso en entornos multiculturales y multigeneracionales. Este tiempo a menudo demuestra ser el m\u00e1s impactante de la experiencia del Discipulado M\u00e1s All\u00e1. En total, DB es una de las formas en que nuestro equipo de ministros ha tratado de brindar amor y liderazgo a los que se quedan atr\u00e1s. Tengo otras razones para querer impartir mi vida y lo que he aprendido en la generaci\u00f3n que me sigue. He servido en el Medio Oriente por cerca de 15 a\u00f1os. Cuando nos enfrentamos a la tarea de llegar a todos los millones y millones de personas que a\u00fan no han escuchado el Evangelio, todos los que trabajamos en la regi\u00f3n somos muy conscientes de que es probable que no sea nuestra generaci\u00f3n la que ver\u00e1 el trabajo completado. Aun cuando hacemos todo lo posible para promover el reino del Se\u00f1or en la oscuridad, estamos pensando en aquellos que vendr\u00e1n detr\u00e1s de nosotros. Son ellos quienes continuar\u00e1n la propagaci\u00f3n de la bandera de Cristo sobre la tierra. Verdaderamente estamos viendo las Escrituras cumplidas. \"Una generaci\u00f3n alabar\u00e1 tus obras a otra, y declarar\u00e1 tus actos poderosos\". Salmo 145: 4. Por la familia shirey<\/strong><\/em>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/All-Gen-Banner-e1522763823620.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Ar-Cd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}