In this Week 2 overview video, the instructor welcomes students, reflects on the previous week’s momentum, and outlines the focus for the current week: applying the design‑thinking process to the challenge of reaching unreached people groups. The speaker details the required readings (Creative Confidence ch. 3‑5; Called to Create ch. 3‑4), the reflection assignment, and the continued use of the Berkman report for individual‑care (IC) activities. Core concepts introduced include empathy and ideation (drawn from the Kellys’ work) and their theological grounding in Jesus’ compassion (Matt 9:36) and the Great Commission. The instructor frames empathy as a bridge from the reached to the unreached, urging students to imagine themselves in an unreached context, identify needs, and creatively devise gospel‑sharing solutions. Biblical encouragement (1 Pet 4:10) underscores that creativity is a God‑given gift for all, not just artists. The video closes with pastoral encouragement, prayer, and contact information, inviting students to reach out with questions and to pray for one another as they develop innovative ministry capacities.
Chapters
Welcome to this week 2 overview. Last week was a really great start, and I'm proud how everybody jumped in. Some of you are getting after it a little bit late by starting work on the weekend, but hopefully you'll work out your processes so you can get in. But this week, we're exploring the design thinking process, which is a hands-on way to solve problems. And by problems, we could mean anything, right? Business, organizational, personal problems. But in the context of this class, We're talking about the problem of reaching unreached people groups. And so in your readings for Creative Confidence, you're jumping into chapters 3 through 5, and then in Called to Create, you're looking at chapters 3 and 4. So let's keep that energy going. Let's remember the call that the Lord has placed it on your heart to reach the unreached. Has he changed his call in your life from when you started and first applied at BGU? Are you sure? Yes. Did you maybe want to revisit how you can use these particular studies to help you get on track to engage the lost or the, the unengaged people groups? So the plan for this week: read the chapters, complete that reflection, think back to last week's creativity insights, and continue to use that Berkman report for your IC activities. Hopefully you've been able to take the Berkman by now and set your goals and things of that nature. So the Kellys, in their book, they're introducing the concept of empathy and ideation. So we're getting into this need to understand needs and to brainstorm solutions. Raynard connects that to our call to create like God. It's perfect for designing ministry activities and ministry ideas that can reach new places in terms of thinking creatively. So let's get into something inspirational here. The Great Commission pushes us to go where the gospel hasn't gone, and I think that one thing to consider with these readings is that empathy can be the bridge to go from that point A to point B, right? Point A being your reached world to point B, the unreached world. So think about empathy as being a bridge, metaphorically a bridge, right? But where your empathy in terms of helping ministries perhaps, or restorative ministries, restoring our broken world in Jesus' name. So that type of empathy mirrors that compassion that Jesus had in Matthew 9:36 as he saw the crowds. Raynor is building on this, and he's urging us to create with purpose in mind. So picture yourself and all the learnings you've had— contextualization, past classes— picture yourself right now in an unreached people group area. You're standing there and you understand their needs. You understand what their actual needs are, and now you're trying to create a solution. To share Christ with them. So I just really love how somehow we can do this together. You know, I'm teaching this course, you're the person that's going to the field, right? And doing this together is really exciting for me to be able to create a course and create words to say that to hopefully encourage you to move forward. But I think it's Cool to imagine yourself sort of— here I am. I'm in an unreached area. Do I know my community needs? And if I do, how can we use empathy as a bridge to collaborate with other believers to bring the gospel? And so I'm praying for you, and I encourage you to pray for one another and yourself to have hearts that are open to the insights from the Lord in terms of that empathy. Amen. bridge. Maybe ask him, what's Todd mean by that? Is this something for you? And how can I live that out? For the discussion this week, you're going to dig into how the Kellys' empathy ties to Jesus' compassion. So it'll be interesting to see how you use this in your— you could use this in your ministry. And it's a chance to learn from each other. Next week we're going to be focusing on your God-given creativity, so make sure you're ready to Think about that. How are you able to? How are you able to create? And the purpose of this class is not to marginalize people who aren't creatives, right? I think I talked about this last week, but creatives get a lot of play in our society. They're super creative, art, paintings, whatever. But each of us have been given gifts. 1 Peter 4:10, for the purposes of strengthening and advancing the church. And so creative— creativity and innovation, it's not just for marketers. It's not just for artists. It's for every single person. And so if you ever need to talk about this further, you can reach out. My cell, my email are there, but I think you're already making a difference just by engaging with this. So every step forward, it's a move towards discipling nations. Every Every time you try to develop your capacity and your capabilities in the area of innovation as applied to the Great Commission, this is a great step to take towards discipling nations. So let's keep that passion going, and I'll be definitely praying for you this week as you hopefully move forward with this week's activities. If you ever have any questions about anything, make sure you reach out. Okay, thanks everybody.
