Having enjoyed being at home in London for the last few months, Deb and I are now preparing for a season of overseas travel. By the time this blog goes out we should be well on our way to Zambia for the start of a three-week trip to southern Africa.

Our first five days will be spent visiting Joseph and Lily Mwile in the Copperbelt region of Zambia, not far from the border with the DRC. Joseph heads up Dayspring Ministries, which is part of ChristCentral family of churches. This is not a nation we have been to before, and we are looking forward to seeing a number of their projects, including an amazing school, as well as visiting churches and spending time with leaders. On Saturday we will be joined by Scott Marques from Zimbabwe and together we will be speaking on leadership. On Sunday I have the privilege of preaching in their church and in the afternoon Deb and I will be leading a session on Marriage and Ministry.

We then move on to Zimbabwe where we will be spending time with dear friends in Harare and Bulawayo. This is a nation we hold close to our hearts and I believe this will be our eighth visit. We are looking forward to seeing friends, speaking to leaders and visiting the Ebenezer farming project, which King’s is involved with. On Sunday I will be sharing God’s word at River of Life Church in Harare.

The final leg of our trip will be in Cape Town, South Africa. While we are there, we will be catching up with old friends in Jubilee Church and also meeting up with leaders from Common Ground Church. We will then enjoy a few days holiday before returning to the UK.

We would highly value your prayers as we travel.

Over the last few days, I have been thinking about the importance of learning to prioritise. Last Thursday, I was asked if I could read and comment on a book before it goes to print in a few weeks’ time. Although I am busy preparing for a 22-day trip to Africa and my diary is full, I instinctively knew that this was something I should make time for – even if it meant I had to get up extra early or drop something else in order to do it.

This morning, one of our young leaders asked if he could defer a report he had been asked to deliver tomorrow, since he had a full day of meetings ahead and several other things to do. I persuaded him that it would be better to postpone other tasks than to miss this particular deadline.

Knowing what to prioritise is a constant leadership challenge. It is something I often address with our younger leaders. Only last week I spoke to our staff about the importance of knowing when to say no, whilst also being aware that sometimes working extra hours is totally appropriate.

When everything on your to-do list is screaming for your attention it can be difficult to distinguish between what must be done now and what can be left. You need to consider both the nature of the task and who has asked you to do it. I have written before about how I assign tasks an ‘A, B or C’ priority. But learning what to prioritise involves more than this – it also requires the ability to be flexible and adjust quickly. Good leaders are able to make changes to their diaries when a greater need arises; they know when to push one thing back and bring another forward.

With a little bit of work, I have been able to adjust my diary and make space to read my friend's book. And I am pleased to say that the young leader I talked to this morning was able to defer other tasks in order to deliver the report on time. The art of prioritisation may involve some difficult decisions. But it is an essential skill to develop if we are to be effective and fruitful in our areas of responsibility.

A slightly shorter blog than usual this week, as Deb, who helps me write these, is on Grandma duty! Our first grandson, Isaac James Tibbert, was born last week, much to everyone’s joy and excitement. Deb and I are, of course, loving being grandparents.

It never ceases to amaze me how great an impact such a tiny baby can have on the lives those around him/her! Our son Ben and daughter-in-law Alice are doing brilliantly, as they adapt to the responsibility of caring for a newborn and get used to surviving on minimal sleep! We are very proud of them.

I thought this week I'd simply leave you with an important leadership principle I came across many years ago in John Maxwell’s classic book, Developing the Leader Within You. He describes the difference between ‘emotion driven’ and ‘character driven’ people. This is how he summarises it:

Character Driven People
Do right, then feel good
Are commitment driven
Make principle-based decisions
Action controls attitude
Believe it, then see it
Create momentum
Ask: “What are my responsibilities?”

Emotion Driven People
Feel good, then do right
Are convenience driven
Make popular-based decisions
Attitude controls action
See it, then believe it
Wait for momentum
Ask: “What are my rights?”

Which of these lists best describes you? If you’re unsure, ask yourself how you react when dealing with challenges in either your work or personal life. There is no doubt in my mind that character driven leadership wins every time. I may not always succeed, but I hope over the years I have become better at being that kind of person.

After several trips away in the months before Christmas, I have enjoyed being back at King’s for the last seven weeks. It has been great to have time to focus on the local church over the Christmas and New Year season, culminating in a truly remarkable 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. As I said before, this has been the first time I’ve seen such a positive response to corporate prayer at King's. I believe we have begun to lay a foundation in the area of prayer which will bear fruit in the coming year. We ended our 21 days on Sunday evening with a wonderful time of worship and celebration, praying again for God to move in power in our community, our city and across this nation.

I now enter a season which is more focussed on my Newfrontiers responsibilities, both in the UK and further afield. This week I have had the privilege of joining with a group of national church leaders hosted by Terry Virgo. It has been very encouraging to hear of all that God is doing across Newfrontiers and in other groups of churches in the UK. Then next week, Deb and I are looking forward to travelling up to Manchester to see good friends Jeremy and Anne Simpkins from the ChristCentral family of churches.

We are also starting to turn our thoughts to our three-week trip to southern Africa, which is now less than three weeks away. On 19th February we fly to Zambia, where we will be spending time with Joseph Mwila and his wife Lilly, who are based in Kitwe, near Ndola. We then travel down to Zimbabwe to be with Scott and Claire Marques, visiting Harare and Bulawayo, before ending our trip in Cape Town, South Africa, where we will meet up with some of the leaders from Jubilee Church. We finish our trip with a couple of days holiday in South Africa before returning to London.

Until we leave for Africa, I will enjoy being at home to catch the first few weeks of our new Luke teaching series, which starts this Sunday at King's. Andrew Wilson will be speaking, and I look forward to seeing many of you there.