1. China Panda & Elite Nail Spa
2. Pacific Spice & Nikki Nails
3. Pearl China & Dallas Nails Spa and Waxing
4. Hong Kong Star Chinese Cuisine & Super Nails
5. Grand China Buffet II & She Nails

Here are the most popular articles from November in order of traffic:

1. Senior Leadership Teams: 7 Questions to Identify Who Should be on the Team
2. Big Announcement: We’ve Named a New Pastor for the Cartersville Location
3. Senior Leadership Teams: 7 Strategies to Empower Leaders
4. 5 Benefits to Using Tickets for Christmas Eve Services
5. Senior Leadership Teams: Are you avoiding these mistakes with your team?
6. Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts
7. Senior Leadership Teams: Where do I find these leaders?
8. Applying the Hedgehog Principle to Church Communications
9. Do you need to increase volunteer engagement at your church?
10. Sons of Grace: An Interview with Mark Hughes, Author of Buzzmarketing

1. Grambling State University – Since I’m just a few miles away this morning, I thought I’d give the Grambling team the number one spot. If they can’t beat the Browns, their marching band could certainly take them.
2. North Paulding Junior Wolfpack - That’s the football team at my son’s middle school. They definitely have a better running game than the Browns.
   
3. Indianapolis Colts – The Browns have a better record, but the Colts will have Andrew Luck.
4. My Daughter’s Powder Puff Team – The quarterback threw like a girl, but I never underestimate the power of estrogen.
5. 1982 San Diego Chargers – Most of the guys are in their 60′s now, but my guess is they could still take the current Browns team behind the potent “AARP attack” led by Dan Fouts.

Engage Burkina

By Paul Richardson, Executive Director of Engage Burkina

The people in Burkina Faso are truly the poorest of the poor. When I was there recently, I spent some time with some pastor friends that oversee the water wells that we have dug there.

At one point in our conversation one of the pastors got a bit choked up about the needs in his own village. This man has been overseeing the digging of more than 40 wells for us, and then got out some words that I wasn’t expecting: “We don’t have water.”

Have you ever been without water? If a water main breaks near you home and your neighborhood goes without for a few hours it is really inconvenient. You can’t wash your hands, wash clothes or dishes, take a bath, make coffee, mix up Kool-Aid for the kids, hose them off from playing outside or flush the toilet. Ever gone a day or two days? If so, you’ve probably temporarily moved in with friends or gone to a hotel. If you’ve ever had that happen for just a bit, then you have had a glimpse of what the people in Burkina Faso experience.

There are thousands of villages without water. There are even neighborhoods in more significant towns and cities, including the capital, where water is not in adequate supply.

You can engage in giving to this need, and you don’t have to be able to afford a whole well. We have set up a store on a website called, Engage Burkina. There you can give in any amount, or sponsor a whole well. Your group, office, Boy Scout troop, baseball team, or church can pick an amount and raise it over time.  The more wells we provide, the less often we’ll hear, “We don’t have water.”

By Paul Richardson, Executive Director of Engage Burkina

Engage Burkina

One of the African pastors I met with was the first to say it. I’m not sure which one; however, they all carry this little phrase around with them: “Water is life.”

Burkina Faso is a small, land-locked country in West Africa. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. They don’t track unemployment; they call it “underemployment.” It’s a nice way of saying, “There are a lot more people here without jobs than with jobs.”

One in 3.4 children die here before the age of ten. AIDS and malaria are part of daily life in this culture, but the larger factors impacting mortality are simply malnutrition and water-born illnesses.

Here are some quotes from Burkinabe pastors and government leaders we have spoken to since our first vision trip in 2007:

• “People cannot hear the Gospel without water.”
• “You have no idea how many people will trust Christ because of a well.”

Every time we dig or drill a well we put it as close to a church as possible and under the care and oversight of a pastor who makes it available to anyone that has need.

One pastor told us, “The people in the village thought we were a cult. But now that we have brought the well, people are listening to our message.”

Water helps sustain physical life, but, of course, there is a “living water” that you can have where you will never thirst again. Water is life.

This week we are focusing on providing water to villages in Burkina Faso. Consider making a donation to Engage Burkina on behalf of the TonyMorganLive.com community. Or, if you prefer, visit the Engage Burkina store where you can sponsor other projects in the villages where we are doing ministry.

Part of the back story of the release of new eBooks in “The Leisure Suit Series” is that Emily and I decided to forgo any profit from the project. Instead, Church Community Builder, the sponsor for this series, has made a sizable contribution to Engage Burkina.

Burkina Faso, located in west Africa, is one of the poorest and most illiterate countries in the world. Engage Burkina has three primary initiatives right now in the areas of water, education, and churches. As needs arise, the non-profit also responds to people who have medical, nutrition, or other needs related to the poverty and living conditions. By reading and sharing the eBooks in this series, you’re also supporting these initiatives.

This week I’ve decided to do something a little different around here. We’re beginning to make decisions on what villages will get water in the coming year. The challenge, of course, is that we’re also deciding what villages will not get water. Our community can do something about that. (more…)

1. Play basketball
2. Ride my bicycle all over the city
3. Write songs on the piano
4. Bowl
5. Avoid girls

I partner with a group of organizations that help resource leaders like you. Here are the folks that are making things happen at TonyMorganLive.com in November:

igniteCRM – web-based church relationship management software created to empower ministry leaders for accelerated church growth

Church Community Builder – web-based church software that actively serves over 1,600 churches in 15 different countries from church plants to multi-site, mega-churches

Leaders Book Summaries – summaries of the best books on leadership, management and church life to help you become a better leader

Outreach Events – specializes in dynamic, outreach-oriented events with speakers and Christian comedians that create opportunities for sharing faith

Standard Theme – the best-coded WordPress theme ever (My site is built on this theme.)

StreamingChurch.tv – provides everything you need to broadcast your services live

Vanderbloemen Search Group – email me if you need help filling your staff leadership position

I have one “featured site sponsor” open currently. If you are interested, email me for more details. I’d love to have you join our team!

1. 1980 Cleveland Browns – Brian Sipe leads the “Kardiac Kids” to several come-from-behind wins to take the division title.
2. 1995 Cleveland Indians – The Cleveland Indians make it to the World Series for the first time in over 40 years.
3. 1978 Cincinnati Reds – Because I wasn’t able to get Indians games where we lived, I became a fan of “The Big Red Machine” and watched Pete Rose get his 3,000th hit and a 44-game hit streak.
4. 1987 Cleveland Browns – The Browns made it to the AFC Championship game two years in a row behind quarterback Bernie Kosar.
5. 1990-91 Bowling Green State University Basketball – They only made it to the first round of the NIT, but the season was highlighted by an exciting home win against a highly ranked Michigan State team. (Best game I ever attended.)

Here are the most popular articles from October in order of traffic:

1. Senior Leadership Teams: 7 Questions to Identify Who Should be on the Team
2. New FREE eBook Available Today: How to Get Unstuck
3. Top 5 Mistakes Churches Make When Raising Money
4. Introducing the First 25 Planters from the Launch Network
5. The Entire Service is One Message
6. 5 Questions on the 5 Levels of Leadership: An Interview with John Maxwell
7. Read This Before Our Next Meeting
8. 10 Questions to Increase Volunteer Engagement
9. Campus Pastor Search for Large Multi-site Church
10. Win a FREE Resource: Building a Leadership Development Culture