Leadership means many things to many people. Whenever I asked my undergraduate students on the first day of our Aviation Leadership course for their definition of leadership, the most common answer was along the lines of being in charge and telling people what to do. In other words, many of them believed the leader is the boss, the one who sits back and directs others. Is that how Jesus led, and is that how his first disciples led after He left them to build His church?
Some people have God-given strengths and talents for leadership, but everyone can and should strive to learn leadership skills. Leadership is a skill that requires training and practice to become proficient just like any other skill. In a basic sense, leadership is seeing a need to act, and then taking action for the good of others and Kingdom purposes. This is a form of servant leadership when done for the purpose of serving others and God’s purposes.
Jesus grew the church by mentoring, discipling, and coaching His followers to become leaders. Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem by building up leaders to continue the work after him. Nehemiah demonstrated servant leadership in deeply caring for the well-being of the people and in taking action to build and protect.
Olive Branch International (OBI) is blessed with wonderful servant leaders who work tirelessly to serve others in their needs and to build the church. These servant leaders in the U.S. and in several countries mentor, disciple, and coach new leaders by serving. My experience in OBI is with the English Camp in Ukraine. In a country that is physically and psychologically damaged by continuing war, OBI leaders maintain an eternal focus and a posture for fighting the spiritual forces that desire to destroy the church and its people. Throughout many years in English Camp, young leaders have been raised up to lead the camp and to be discipling leaders during the year. New chaplains in the Kyiv Theological Seminary lead in the field. All of this reproduces leaders who will continue the work of the Great Commission while helping and serving others in need.
We are always looking for servant leaders who can come alongside us in reproducing leaders through mentoring, discipling, and coaching in leadership. Let us know if you would like to join us. Please consider contributing to this effort in Ukraine with your time an
d your treasure.
In His service,
Jim Molloy, Board Member
Jim and Kelly Molloy have been OBI Board Members since 2011. They lived in Kyiv, Ukraine for three years while Jim was the U.S. Defense and Air Attaché to Ukraine. Following retirement from the U.S. Air Force, Jim served as faculty and Dean of the Liberty University School of Aeronautics. He is currently still serving as adjunct faculty for the school.