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Impact Media
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March 2001, No. 6
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—From
Jim Au, IMM president and founder
As we near the conclusion of our reorganization
journey, it has been about two-and-a-half years
since we first stepped out in faith to find a
Board of Directors to govern IMM in its present
vision for ministry. Much of this transition time
was invested in wrapping up prior commitments (six
outside projects, of which two were major) from
our former vision, then determining and resolving
the new vision and purpose. Once the renewed
vision was well in place, seeking Directors
required only four months. With those critical
steps accomplished, the first meeting of the
Board was held on February 24, 2001.
God has graciously provided five godly
individuals to oversee and govern IMM. Meet the
new Directors! Gloria Marsh, a former Wycliffe
missionary with her husband and family, is co-founder
of the House of Myrrh in which she directs and
leads the Heart Change seminars. Marcia Mitchell,
a highly published freelance writer, is presently
a department specialist with Marion County Mental
Health; formerly she has served as president or
vice-president of many different organizations.
Rob Robinson, an advocate for prayer and
Christian unity, is senior pastor of Life
Fellowship in North Portland. Roger Shipman,
missionary to Kurds and Turks in the
greaterPortland area with his wife and seven
children, is a software engineer at Biamp and
owner of his own software company. Carl Townsend,
who served on the first IMM Board, is a widely
published writer, website designer, computer
consultant and a recognized pioneer in the field
of spiritual mapping; he is a prominent figure in
Mission Portland, a strategy and research
consortium.
Jim Au continues his role as visionary, president
and CEO of IMM. He also serves on the Board of
Directors. Joy Rainoldi is now In her fifth year
as payroll processor and accountant for IMM. She
recently took on the office of Secretary/Treasurer.
Not Your Typical Board Meeting
Billed as "Launch Preview", the first
Board meeting was made complete with a fine
catered dinner, live worship music and a
spectacular night view of the Willamette River
near downtown Portland. The six Directors,
accompanied by spouses and children, were joined
by guests from all over the Portland area and
beyond. In all, about forty persons were in
attendance. It was a joyous night of celebration
on which the new Board was inaugurated. These
festivities added to a short business meeting and
two informative presentations which I led. A lot
was compressed into these four glorious hours.
Launch Preview Highlights
Live music was provided by worship leaders Todd
and Angie Fadel, the creative forces behind the
Agents of Future, a local Christian band. The
music was deep, emotive, soulful and driving,
centering around four original worship songs of
the Fadel's own creation, along with a medley of
choruses and hymns familiar to those in
attendance, who were delighted to receive
complimentary copies of the band's full-length
worship CD.
Adding a bit of excitement to the evening's
proceedings, a Sunday brunch for two was given
away, having been donated by the restaurant.
Sarah, Director Roger Shipman's eldest daughter,
was asked to pick the winning ticket from a large
bowl. To the amazement of all, she somehow
managed to pick her own name. Yet everyone agreed
she won the prize fairly. Now what are the
chances of that?! (answer: 1 in 40)
During the business meeting, the eight members of
the original IMM Board, which had served from
1996 to 1999, were recognized and honored. One of
these was present, Robert Ford, with his wife
Deanne, who had driven up from Salem for this
event. He had faithfully and diligently served as
Secretary/Treasurer.
One of the most stirring moments of the evening
was when pastor Cork Erickson of New Life Church
in North Portland prayed words of blessing and
dedication over the new Board. The meeting
concluded with prayers of commitment by each one
of the officers and Directors.
What We Launched That Night
At the outset, it may seem like all we did the
evening of February 24 was have a nice meeting in
which each person was glad he or she came. In the
bigger picture, this was a key milestone for IMM.
With a solid ministry vision in hand and a new
Board that has met once, it is for me, as IMM's
CEO, like having launched a rocket ship into deep
space to pursue new, exciting heights and
discoveries. With the weight of the
reorganization now lifted, we turn our focus back
to ministry.
I express my sincere gratitude to the Lord Jesus
Christ for having guided us through this process,
and to our few but fabulous supporters who held
us up in so many ways through it. As we now move
the ship forward, I say, "Look out, world!
Here we come by God's grace and power to boldly,
creatively proclaim his Word!"
The New IMM Revisited
Here are some highlights of what was presented at
Launch Preview.
1. IMM is an independent, nonprofit, Christian
media (-producing) organization.
2. IMM's work is to hear the Lord's voice as he
speaks to the nation, and to find appropriate
means, whether technical or non-technical, to
communicate these messages to the general
population.
3. IMM's strategy combines the use of current
issues, media communications, music, the visual
arts, and a focus on smaller, specific target
audiences to accomplish this larger task (referring
to point #2).
4. IMM is open to working in partnership with
other organizations, agencies, schools, churches,
institutions etc. to achieve these ends, but not
specifically or solely for any one entity.
5. IMM's Board of Directors will oversee the
organization using John Carver's Policy
Governance model, which was coined during the
1990's. For details on this model, see Carver's
website at http://www.boardgovernance.com/
The Projector Would Not Work!
Several minutes before the evening got underway,
IMM's InFocus data projector stopped working
altogether. It was meant to project Powerpoint
slides onto a large screen to help people follow
along, especially during the business meeting and
two lengthy presentations. After fighting with
the projector for more than a half hour, I
resigned and decided to abandon using it. I put
the projector into standby mode and left it
sitting. It made me feel uneasy since I had spent
days in preparation for the event with the slides,
and I was depending on them being shown.
Inspite of that, God enabled two slides out of
fifty-nine to be projected. These two were ones
which I could scarcely have explained verbally,
one a detailed chart and the other a photo. At
one point in the meeting, the projector just
mysteriously started working again, seemingly all
on its own. Not long after the two slides had
been shown, it quit working again and for the
remainder of the evening.
Looking back on Launch Preview, I see clearly how
the Lord required me to depend on him, not on my
technical skills or even weeks of preparation, to
deliver two convincing presentations and run a
board meeting without visual aids. Sometimes,
that's just how the Lord works!
A Reason to Celebrate
The worship time was introduced by the reading of
Ezra 3:10-13. This post-exile Old Testament story
is about when the people of Israel started
celebrating wildly with loud shouts that could be
heard a long way off. Why were they celebrating
like this? They had just returned to the land God
gave their ancestors, having spent many decades
exiled in faraway Babylonia.
In truth, up to this point, all they had done was
prepare the laying of a foundation for the temple
they wanted to rebuild. At best, they had the
land marked off, the ground broke and a few of
the raw materials laid out. Yet here they were
praising God with abandon.
I used this story to explain why Launch Preview
was first and foremost a celebration, not just an
IMM Board meeting. Here, a photograph of the
foundation of a building under construction in
Portland was projected. As a picture, it wasn't
much to look at, but for those people counting on
occupying it soon, the foundation is the
assurance of a beautiful, useful, completed
facility yet to come.
Likewise with IMM, most of what we have at
present is a foundation, namely, a clear ministry
vision and a new governing Board. This gives me
hope for what God is going to fashion over time
in and through this ministry, and even for the
things that are being put into place right now.
Through two-and-a-half years of rebuilding IMM,
he has brought all this together before our eyes.
That's a reason to celebrate. And celebrate we
did!
As Seen Through Another's Eyes
One of the invited guests was Margaret Harris, a
member of the Beautiful Gate prophetic ministry .
She made these candid observations about the
evening. "What a pleasure it was to be able
to join you this evening for the Launching of IMM...
The technical media did not work every time you
were to present because the Lord wanted it that
way. Because it was not working, Trudy opened the
curtains and we could see the river. As the sun
went down the river continued to be a focal point.
The River of God, God's stream, The water of life...
After we ate, the wondrous worship came. Raw and
powerful, pure in heart and worship, Todd and
Angie led easily. About 2/3rds of the way through,
different colored light beams in successive order
circled above their heads outside the window. It
must have been a strobe light next door. It was
like God was bathing the music in color... Then
you told us what IMM was not. I was struck that
it was not a group that would seek out ways to
use its technical expertise, but rather would
seek the message the Lord wanted delivered and
then use whatever tools the Holy Spirit suggested
would be the most appropriate. Seems to me He
made that very clear this evening. You were very
articulate, and explained everything clearly
without your slides. Well enough, May Jesus bless
this beginning." |
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