Presentation to UGCSI Global Consortium of Searcher Professors

UGCSI --- With his wife Carol by his side, Professor Chris Green was the featured presenter in a special online conference of United Graduate College and Seminary International’s Global Consortium of Searcher Professors.

In a live video conference that was hosted by Chancellor Michal P. Pitzl, who founded the Searcher Education model and philosophy, and Chief Chancellor HRH, Dr Clyde Rivers, the purpose of the session was to encourage and empower the attendees with wisdom for their process of building toward and preparation for global opportunities to bring the answers that nations are looking for through the collective impact of Searcher Education.

“We continue to be honored by the opportunities that UGCSI gives us to impart the lessons that we have learned in our journey, with servant leaders from all over the world,” said Professor Chris who, with is wife Carol, provide Administrative Leadership at UGCSI, and oversee the STEP Forward Life Institute. “Five years ago we could never have imagined that we would be teaching on an international platform.”

The session, which included attendees from Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, began with HRH Dr. Clyde Rivers speaking about his journey and the process he has gone through to reach the top status as the major voice of Civility in the world.

Then, at the request of the UGCSI Chancellors, Professor Green made a presentation about the Biblical precedence and practice of documenting one’s journey and progress. He demonstrated how this practice builds the evidence of success. He revealed that record keeping is so important that God had it documented that the writers of the Bible were documenting. He showed how keeping records saved a man’s life. He shared that we know about the life of Christ because it was documented. And he asked what would be today's understanding of the Church if Luke had not documented the Acts of the Apostles.

In closing, he provided tips and tools for building evidence in one’s Searcherdemic philosophy.

“We thank Professors Chris and Carol for giving us the practical steps forward in this,” Chancellor Pitzl informed the attending professors. “They are ready to help you in this process.”

“This is one of the greatest evenings that I’ve ever enjoyed,” stated Professor Jared Akama Onyari from Kenya. “It was very informative and educating. Searcher education is God’s education. If we have been given this Searcher Education, we should be like the prophets in the Bible. When God was speaking to them, they were working with it and writing it down. I thank you Professor Chris for giving this presentation. We cannot talk of Searcher Education if we are not able to document it for future generations.”

People Get Our Votes, but Only GOD Gets Our Confidence

As we prepare for another election, we offer no political opinions. We simply present the spiritual and moral issues that are identified in the Bible. Unfortunately, the issues and interpretations of morality, justice and equality have fallen on two different sides of the dominant political parties in America.

This dilemma causes many Believers to vote for a president who is a Democrat while others vote for Senators and Congressmen who are Republicans. Or they vote for a Republican president while others vote for Senators and Congressmen who are Democrats. This is why it’s so difficult to navigate through the political process in our country. It’s also the reason it’s so difficult to explain one’s choices to family, friends and colleagues.

I wrote the following words after Obama was elected president, and they still hold true after the elections of Trump and Biden. Here is what I wrote nearly fourteen years ago and it is incredibly amazing how it still applies to us today:

After we sent an email on the day of President Obama’s inauguration and quoted from the Bible that we are to pray for him, several pastors and leaders in this community, who opposed Obama, discontinued support and communication with this ministry and us. On the other side, friends and family who supported the new president took our email to mean that we were merely offering some form of insincere political patronizing.

We thought we were (and our intentions were) fulfilling our Pastoral leadership responsibility to bring our divided congregations together and to focus on the things that God desires to do in our nation. Our email had nothing to do with either endorsing or rejecting the President.

Here is what we sent out on January 21, 2009:

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers and intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone---for kings, and for all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior." ---1 Timothy 2:1-3

Make no mistake about it; yesterday (the inauguration) was a profoundly significant day. We still don’t agree with some of President Obama’s policies and agendas. Many of them conflict with Biblical teachings. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that God will use anybody to accomplish what HE wants to do in a nation.

Where did we get the idea that a political leader MUST be someone who follows all of the principles of the Bible in order for God to use that person to accomplish His purpose and plan?

Again, we're not ignoring the agenda of any particular President. We’re actually acknowledging the sovereignty of God. As flawed as we are as human beings, it’s amazing that God chooses us to do anything in this life.

God called Nebuchadnezzar His servant even though he was the emperor that destroyed Jerusalem, killed thousands of people, and carried their best and brightest into exile. God chose him to execute judgment; therefore he was God’s servant even though he wasn’t a Godly man.

Presidential elections are about more than trying to get a scripture-quoting, Bible-toting candidate in the Oval Office. This is about getting synchronized with what God is doing in our lifetime in America. If America is under judgment, (and many Christian leaders believe it is) then God will set the person in place that needs to be there at the time of judgment, repentance, recovery or rebuilding.

So we’re going to stay focused on the bigger picture. It doesn’t matter so much who sits in the Oval Office of the White House. It still comes down to who is sitting in the Oval Office of MY house.

We'll close this week's newsletter with the lyrics of a song written by a dear mentor and friend more than 40 years ago.

If you want a brand new world, you gotta have brand new people.

If you want brand new people, we've gotta have a brand new life.

If you want a brand new life, you gotta have a brand new spirit.

If you want a brand new spirit, you gotta come to Jesus Christ!

- Dr. Myles Munroe

We encourage you to cast your vote, but do not cast your cares on a human being. A potential candidate will get our votes, but only GOD gets all our confidence.

Christopher G. Green (D.Hon.Causa)

Fruitful Life Network of Ministries, Inc.

Chris and Carol Green Launch New Video-On-Demand Life Coach Training and Certification Format

 

Pennsylvania, USA – Fruitful Life Educators Chris and Carol Green announced the official launch of a new online, video-on-demand format for their nationally and internationally recognized and endorsed Life Coach Certification Program known as Listen, Lift, Launch: Training and Certification in CARE-Ready Life Coaching®. 

“With our new on-demand format, prospective coaches can now go through the training anywhere, anytime, and at their own pace,” the Greens explained. “We are extremely confident that we have produced a quality certificate program that includes video lessons, rigorous exercises, and direct access to online instructors; and that it will be just as impactful as if though our students were walking through it in a live setting.”

More information and details are available through the STEP Forward Life Institute™.

As the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute™ and affiliate members of iChange Nations™, the Greens partnered with United Graduate College and Seminary International to offer this accelerated and ministry-accredited life coach certificate program for people who have a simple desire to help others. Their collective vision was to offer servant-leaders working in under-served communities, high-quality tools that empower and equip them to be more effective in their humanitarian efforts.

“We have been blessed to provide life coach training for organizations and individuals for over five years,” said the master life coaches. “Once we got to the point where our sessions were selling out, we started looking toward a day when we could offer the course in an on-demand video format, as well as in-person or via live video conferencing through our coaching and consulting business, C and C Connections, LLC. Our business facilitated and proivided the venue for all of the session recordings.”

With the successful graduation of candidates in November of 2022, they will have launched over 100 CARE-Ready Life Coaches who are disbursed and embedded in nearly 40 organizations, businesses, agencies or ministries across ten states including: California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

As the world's leading producers of CARE-Ready Life Coaching®, Chris and Carol Green teach and train community, government and education leaders, human service organizers, business visionaries, and neighborhood dreamers how to be much more effective by embracing the principles of CARE (Compassionate Accountability with Respect and Empathy) in their professional and personal lives.

Many coaching, mentoring, community outreach programs and ministries employ what is known as a "deficit model" of working with people. That's an attempt to 'fix' broken people through a set of pre-determined, cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all steps and treatments to address their issues. The deficit-based model is what many well-meaning people-helpers use, but it rarely works long-term, leaving them wondering why people fail to break the cycles of addiction, mental health challenges, poverty and recidivism.

However, CARE-Ready Life Coaching® mirrors the principles found in the proven, Best Practice strategies of Strength-based, Solution-focused models that are embedded in the Biblical principles of discipleship in the Kingdom of God. CARE-Ready life coaches are trained to connect with people in order to build a relationship/ partnership that encourages and empowers; thus allowing the client to discover true solutions and answers for their lives.

Learn more about the CARE-Ready Life Coaching® and its Certification Program at  https://www.fruitfullifelearningcommunity.org/care-ready-certification

Chris and Carol Green Train and Launch New CARE-Ready Responders from Missouri Faith Community

Chris and Carol Green in Virtual Training with their home church in St. Louis, MO

Missouri, USA ---- Today, Fruitful Life Educators Chris and Carol Green presented 12 worthy recipients their CARE-Ready Responder Certificates of Completion after they successfully attended two virtual training sessions that were hosted by the Metro Christian Worship Center in St. Louis, MO. (June 22nd and July 20th of 2022)

CARE-Ready Responding is the cutting-edge concept that was created by the Greens, that empowers people-helpers to operate in the principles of Civility, Awareness, Respect and Empathy in their personal and professional lives.

Bishop Raphael Green invited Chris and Carol Green, who had previously served as part of the founding ministry leadership of that congregation for 17 years, to return and adapt the virtual training for that congregation’s overall preparation for Evangelism and Discipleship of their families and communities.

In making the presentations the Greens told the new CARE-Ready Responders:

“With the tools and principles you have learned, you will be able to:

• connect and communicate with others more like Christ, no matter who they are, what they do, or what they believe

• have real conversations with others without comprising what you believe

• build trust BEFORE making an impartation into other's lives

• SEE the people and the world around you with hope

• be an active member in an ever-changing society while staying focused on where God has assigned you

• continually and effectively serve those hurting or in need

This training and these principles can be applied everywhere you serve, everywhere you interact with people. You have now been equipped to be CARE-Ready and it is enough for you to begin making real, lasting connections, one person and one soul at a time. So, go into the world and respond with CARE!”

The CARE-Ready Responder training is facilitated through the STEP Forward Life Institute™ which the Greens founded as an affiliate institution of United Graduate College and Seminary International. STEP Forward is an accredited online life education and ministry preparation platform. 

The Greens explain, “We provide practical instruction that equips our online students to add to their faith, embrace their unique process of success, and make certain they’re prepared for those once in a lifetime opportunities to minister to their families and serve in their community.”

To date, the Greens have now launched 38 CARE-Ready Responders across the United States. They offer this training as the pre-requisite for Responders who desire to ultimately become CARE-Ready Life Coaches.

Milestone: 100 Certified CARE-Ready Life Coaches in Ten States

 

Pennsylvania, USA --- Chris and Carol Green, in collaboration with The STEP Forward Life Institute, United Graduate College and Seminary International (UGCSI), I Change Nations, and Fruitful Life Network, Inc, hosted the graduation of the CARE-Ready™ Life Coach Certification Spring Class 2022, in an event that took place today on a live video conference.

“Congratulations to our new CARE-Ready Life Coaches," commented Chris and Carol Green, whose coaching and consulting business, C and C Connections, LLC, serves as the organizer and facilitator of the training. "These extraordinary participants were dedicated and inspirational."

The newest CARE-Ready™  Life Coaches had weekly coursework, submitted reflection presentations to express how they were each going to meet the challenges of implementing their unique coaching models, created personalized life coaching field manuals, and successfully passed an online exam.

The newest CARE-Ready Life Coaches are: Autumn Fair, Janell Smart, C. Shuanate Smith (not pictured), LaEbony Wade and Phil Wade II.

The online ceremony featured congratulations and encouragement from Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Coach, Amethyst Roberson (Graduate of Fall 2021).

" I want you to understand the magnitude of what just happened in your life," said Counselor Roberson, speaking virtually to the new coaches. "You're going to see some things come out of you that you didn't know you had the ability to do. You are part of a cutting-edge program. We are living in a crucial and critical time. We can turn on the news and see how crucial it is for CARE-Readiness to be in existence. I want to encourage you to stay ready to listen to others. Stay ready to lift others. Stay ready to launch others."

With the successful graduation of this class, Master Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green have now trained and launched 100 CARE-Ready™ Life Coaches and 25 CARE-Ready™ Responders, who are disbursed and embedded in 30+ organizations, businesses, agencies or ministries across ten states including: California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

As the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute and affiliate members of, and International Statesmen with iChange Nations™, the Greens have partnered with UGCSI to offer an accelerated, ministry-accredited life coaching certification program. Their collaborative purpose and mission has been, to equip leaders, working in under-served communities, with high-quality tools that empower them to be more effective in their humanitarian efforts. 

Editor's Note:

Learn more about the CARE Ready Life Coach Certification Program at  https://www.fruitfullifelearningcommunity.org/care-ready-certification

Chris and Carol Green Publish Book on the Process of Success

"We were leading while bleeding and hardly anyone knew," write the mental health advocates and CARE-Readiness coaches. "Eventually, we were forced to stop, rest, retreat and reset because Success is not only about what you will accomplish. Ultimately it’s about who you will become. "

In their life-impacting book, Rest, Retreats, Revival and Other Comedies,   subtitled You are Success in Process, Chris and Carol Green talk about the consequences for anyone who chases dreams without discernment, plans a future without God's wisdom, or neglects the stewardship of physical, mental and emotional wellness during and after life-altering critical incidents. They share how God's process eventually led them out of those traps and into healing, wholeness, and their true identity and purpose, which was rediscovered when they learned how to:

 

Rest in God and get out of the world's grind mindset; 

Retreat after devastating setbacks and disappointments; 

Revive and reset to come back out fighting again; and to be open, honest and humbled by the 

Comedy of Errors; the mistakes and bad decisions, upon which God extended mercy and grace.

"This book isn't for everyone," the Greens affirm, "It's for that person who is sick and tired of projecting a fake image of confidence and bravery, while masking their deep disappointment behind superficial spirituality.  It's for the person who is no longer looking for a typical self-help manual, filled with inspirational stories and motivational meditations. THIS is the book for that soul who is ready to challenge their core beliefs about why their life keeps going off the rails, to stop blaming 'the devil' for everything that goes wrong, and truly desires to finally break FREE from the unending cycles of dead-ends, defeat and discouragement.

We put ourselves out there, made ourselves vulnerable and accessible, and exposed our true authentic hearts; and when people took advantage of our kindness and compassion, or questioned our competency, motivations, loyalty and integrity, yes, we were taken aback, hurt, and offended (which we hate to admit), and it triggered our introvert instincts to just go home and close the door.

We reached our breaking points when the pressures and challenges began to affect our marriage; when they began to affect our physical and mental health; when insinuations and accusations from outside forces and entities, advanced far beyond mere words spoken against us, to actual intentional actions against us that had real life-impacting consequences.

So, we would retreat. And it would be complete pullback moments, cutting off almost everything and everyone (the guilty, the innocent, the perpetrators, and the by-standers). We were in survival mode, burnout and compassion fatigue. But even those triggered-withdrawal responses were part of our process.

We learned that you can't ignore the painful affects of crisis, fatigue or trauma by trying to press forward anyway, or by trying to be who and what others may want you to be for them. We had to rediscover who God actually always intended for us to be for Him."

From the Book's Foreword:

This book is a revelation on how to understand change. It lays out the truth about "process", as productive lives are always on a journey of constant growth and change. To stop growing and changing is to die. 

The Greens are top Searcherdemcians who are not afraid to take new paths to help lift and better humanity. They are not scared to be Searchers of a new way of doing things and because of this, they are fruitful.

They have gone through growth, death, and rebirth, while leading in a new philosophy of education for which the world is crying out. 

I've had the privilege of knowing and working with the Greens for nearly a decade.  I have observed their approach and can vouch for their genuineness and productivity. They have diligently worked, scraped, and sacrificed their way to top stages of influence.     

I say, "When all else fails, follow the fruit." Chris and Carol Green are good fruit and have produced tangible evidence and results of their life skills theory, "You are Success in Process." 

In this book, you are sure to find where you are "in your process."  You are sure to find your next step.  You will be encouraged and reassured that you are not alone in your journey.  You will find that you are "God's Success in Process." 

How refreshing is that?!

This is a riveting book that has inspired and impacted my life. 

You will already be succeeding by picking it up.

---Chancellor Michal P. Pitzl,    

United Graduate College and Seminary, Int’l

Available on Amazon Books

ICN 2022 World Civility Educator of the Year Awards

I Change Nations™ (ICN) ---Professors Chris and Carol Green each received an ICN 2022 World Civility Educator of the Year Award. This Icon award is presented to candidates that have contributed to the advancement of humanity through their ideologies, inventions, and leadership. They have impacted communities with trust and dignity, having improved the quality of life for those they serve.

"They are so very deserving, and now the world will see it," stated Dr. Clyde Rivers who is also known as HRH, Nana Okogyeman Obremponnsu Kobina Amissah I - Development King at Large Ghana Africa, and is the founder and visionary of ICN. "This year we had four top Civility Educators: Prof. Patrick Businge, founder of Greatness University (London, UK), Prof. Chris Green, founder of STEP Forward Life Institute (Pennsylvania, USA), Prof. Julian Businge, Royal Civility Institute (London, UK), and Prof. Carol Green, Administrative Leadership at UGCSI. These four individuals have been impacting education for a post-Covid generation."

I Change Nations™ is an organization designed to build Cultures of Honor by acknowledging those who have displayed exemplary leadership in empowering humanity. Their mission is to bring back the lost art of honor by recognizing outstanding individuals and organizations throughout the world.

Chris and Carol Green are the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute, providing a life education and ministry preparation platform. The Greens assert that in Life Education, God is your source; Experience is your study; faith is your evidence; and Success is your credential. 

They also provide Administrative Leadership and are known as Professors of Process at United Graduate College and Seminary International (UGCSI), where they engage in the professional development for its global consortium of Searcher Professors. 

The Greens, who define themselves simply as Servants of Christ, are life educators, certified professional master life coaches, leadership consultants, international statesmen, ordained ministers, songwriters, poets, international best-selling authors, students of life and Biblical text, and people who are passionate about prayer. They are also traditional marriage and family advisors, holistic wellness promoters, human value advocates, and they're trained in lay-counseling and compassionate listening.

Professors Chris and Carol each hold a Life Achievement Doctorate in Searcherdemics, having successfully created, implemented, taught, duplicated and defended their two Life Skill Philosophies: You Are Success in Process and CARE-Readiness. They have also been the recipients of honorary doctorates (conferred in 2016 and 2018) in Christian Leadership (Chris), Humanities (Carol), and in Society & Human Rights (both) to acknowledge their years of service and significant contributions to society and the field of life coaching for under-served populations.

With over 30 years of urban community outreach experience, today they focus most of their energy and efforts providing education and training for local and international leaders who desire to make a meaningful impact in the 21st century. 

Chris and Carol Green have been married over 40 years and have raised three sons. They have two daughters-in-law, two grandchildren, and a host of people throughout the world who call them 'mom and dad'. They are a husband-wife team, based in south central Pennsylvania, USA that was commissioned to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes.

Also see EIN Presswire article at 2022 World Civility Icons

Historical First: Life-Evidence, Life-Achievement Doctorates in Searcherdemics

Chris and Carol Green, (D.Se)

United Graduate College and Seminary Int'l:  In a historical first, Chris and Carol Green were each conferred an exclusive UGCSI, life-evidence and life-achievement, non-governmental, competency-based ministry degree:   Doctorate in Searcherdemics (DSe), in a virtual ceremony that was conducted during a UGCSI Searcher Education Summit with its Chancellors and Professors.

"Thank you for giving voice to Holy Spirit experience," expressed Carol Green, the newly credentialed professor to UGCSI's Chief Chancellor, HRH, Sir Clyde Rivers and its Chancellor, Dr. Michal P. Pitzl, who officially bestowed the degrees. "And thank you for allowing us the opportunity to change and enrich the world by passing on the knowledge of God and His viewpoint that changes lives in practical and profound ways."

Chancellor Pitzl is the founder and creator of the Searcherdemic Education model which has the potential to acknowledge and credential millions of people around the world, whose ideas and visions are lost simply because they don't have the finances or opportunities to navigate through the traditional educational matriculation process. 

"Your life, and the work that you have done, is the most tangible education that I have ever seen," Chancellor Pitzl told the Greens. "And if it is not worthy of a doctorate, I don't know what is." 

Searcherdemics is an education discipline and model in which students do much more than academically study, research, write papers and pass exams. They become their own case studies and real-world research through the implementation of God-inspired philosophies, innovations and ideas. This education ideology is founded on the principle that the Holy Spirit of God is the originator of solutions for the world. Therefore, students must search out the Godly knowledge and wisdom that will help them produce successful, evidence-based answers and results that positively impact families, communities and the world. 

This competency-based ministry degree is awarded upon the candidate's demonstrated ability to successfully implement and document their progression and success; and then implement, teach, duplicate, and defend their philosophy before the Chancellor and Chief Chancellor of UGCSI.

This fresh instructional and teaching paradigm provides a new educational opportunity for innovative minds; the people who often don't score well in standardized educational systems because they don't have standardized minds.

Searcherdemics has become a new avenue for the masterful innovators who, most likely, would never have earned college degrees, even though they completely change the world by impacting the industries, disciplines, and communities in which they serve. Traditionally, the most they could ever hope for was an honorary degree, or a certificate or plaque for their revolutionary ideas. Searcherdemics says they should receive actual earned credentials for their society-impacting life achievements that were accomplished due to their dedication, hard work, perseverance, and proven, evidence-based success.

Before conferring this credential upon the three Professors, Chancellor Michal P. Pitzl assured the online audience that the UGCSI academic standards require its Searcherdemic Doctoral Program to be:

1.) Bible based,

2.) Rigorous enough for the degree, and

3.) Practical

"Our students are required to do the work of their philosophy (not just reading books, doing research, and writing papers). They actually have gone out into the world, worked with people, and they’ve tested their philosophy in the real world, in real time; and they have documented their evidence and results.”

Chief Chancellor Rivers recalled when he first met the Greens and how they built their God-given ideas into something that government leaders have acknowledged and supported in their community. He called them the poster children for Searcherdemics because we now live in a world that can't wait for 20-years of research before a new idea or methodology can be embraced. The pandemic exposed many of the fundamental, philosophical flaws in nearly every industry and normally it would take decades to respond. However, solutions can come forth NOW, from the Searcherdemicians who are already the embodiment of decades of research, case studies, and success.

"Thank you for encouraging, equipping and empowering us to move forward in our Searcher journey," Professor Chris Green stated, "We are eternally grateful and honored to receive such a prestigious credential. All glory and praise goes to God alone."

He added, "We love the fact that UGCSI is empowering people who can produce real answers for our world's problems, and this educational method provides an actual, measurable standard of success that can be recognized with comparable credentials that say, 'This Searcherdemician has the expertise and wisdom to successfully implement, teach, duplicate, and defend their philosophy.'"

The first Doctor of Searcherdemics recipient was Professor Shakuntala Reddy, from Richards Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, who initiated a Philosophy of KINDNESS in the education curriculum of the primary school in her community. 

"Congratulations to our three excellent UGCSI leaders who have been building and spreading their Searcherdemic Philosophies for over a decade," stated Chancellor Pitzl, "It was determined that they should be the first recipients in the world to ever be bestowed this newly established doctorate from our institution."

Watch their key Ceremony Moment Replay 

Simply Community Servants

 

Recently, the topic came up about the way titles are being thrown around in church and religious circles. For most of our ministry life we have been called “pastors” Chris and Carol Green, and we have accepted that because we have understood the cultural and societal perceptions of those roles in a local church or faith community. That title reflects a responsibility, but we don't wear it as badge to set ourselves above others.

Sometimes you will hear us refer to our work and assignments in our community as apostolic or prophetic, but we have absolutely refused to refer to ourselves as Apostles Chris and Carol, or Prophet Chris and Prophetess Carol.

Just to set the record straight, the only title we see for ourselves is Community Servants. Beyond that, we’re totally fine with being referred to as brother or sister, uncle or aunt, grand pa or grand ma, dad or mom, Mr. or Mrs., or just simply calling us by our given names.

Of course, in some settings, people may feel obliged to refer to us according to our life, educational, ministerial or professional roles, accomplishments, job titles, or other forms of distinction. It's their way of showing respect and honor. We get that. However, for the most part, we echo the words of Paul when he wrote:

“So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.  As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.” ---1 Corinthians 4: 1-4

No matter what we accomplish or attain in this life, we want to be known by one description. Chris and Carol are mere Servants of Christ, ministering to their community. We pray the same for you.

Advancing from Inspiration to Manifestation of the Dream

Chris Green

You have a world-changing idea, business, initiative or vision, but where do you begin? How do you move from inspiration to manifestation? How do you launch a big dream?

We certainly had a big dream when we first arrived in the capitol city of Pennsylvania. We tried most of the popular  and highly-endorsed methods that the so-called gurus had suggested and none of them worked for us. 

We quickly learned that what works in one city doesn't work in another. What works in one region of the country or the world, doesn't work in another.

I offer what we learned in our journey.

 1. Invest in your own community. Your community has to know and believe that you really do care for them. Think globally and work locally. Begin by investing on your home front. Make a genuine effort to help strengthen what others are building.  

For us that meant collaborating with others; joining our ideas with their strategies. This was also where we discovered the validity of our ideas and vision. Please know that an idea might work in your head, but not work in the real world, with real people, in real situations. So this became our way of finding out if we had something that was legitimate and effective in real time. 

Your vision should boost their mission. We didn't actualize success through random marketing campaigns. presentations, seminars and workshops that promoted our vision, alone. We had to test our dream in the real world. 'Buy-in' to your vision will be built on tested and proven evidence within your community. 

2. Engage key community leaders. Get to know the leaders in the community, and get to know as many of them personally as possible.  You must step outside of the four walls of your world (organization, church, ministry, or familiar circles). We began attending monthly community meetings, as well as government-sponsored luncheons and non-profit fundraisers, and made great connections. 

3. Listen to your community’s concerns. This is a statement that we posted on our business website: "Build a successful business, not only by selling a dynamic product and providing great customer service, but by connecting with your local community to help solve problems."  Listen to learn what is most important to them. For instance, if youth suicide or homelessness are your community's biggest concerns, but you don't feel called to these areas, then find a way to connect what you do with the solutions. You may not work directly with youth or homeless people, but you might work with those who do.

4. Lift what's already working – Instead of making your initial focus all about the solutions you have to offer, find out about the positives in your community and celebrate those successes. Become a voice of encouragement for those who are already doing good work. 

5. Learn your community. Do you know your community’s demographics? Do you know its historical significance? Do you know its recent history? Do you know the under-served populations within your community. Study what has already been attempted to bring about change. Learn about what was successful and why. Learn about what failed and why. 

6. Less is more.  Instead of trying to set up large events, conferences and campaigns, scale back and focus on 1:1 encounters, smaller groups and high-impact invitational gatherings. It's far better to meet with 4 highly influential people in your community in a private meeting, than to host a 500-people event in a hotel that produces no momentum for you. The best way to reach the masses is not by mass media or massive events. The best way will always be by connecting with one key person at a time. Let your good reputation create a word-of-mouth buzz. 

7. Serve somewhere in your community. Build Goodwill through volunteerism. For example, we volunteer in the local high school’s annual poetry writing contest. At that time, we’re not representing our company. We’re just citizens, helping out. We don’t talk about our business or solicit for clients. Through this, we have built goodwill within the education community. 

We also volunteered our services in an employment agency for 9 months and in a women's shelter for about 10 months. If your community has to pay for your time and (untested) services, you run the risk of being viewed as just another predator. By the time they learn about your business, ideas, solutions or outreach, they should already feel and know that you care about them.

8. Prioritize. One of the mistakes we made was to spread ourselves thin by saying yes to too many people, organizations, initiatives and activities. Eventually we had to prioritize our time and efforts, and focus on the development of our team and their growth. We had to drop the weight of good ideas and run with a clear, clean and lean vision.

You probably read all of this and thought: This is going to take a very long time; and you're right. It will take a long time. The speed by which the dream will come into fruition is based on the speed by which relationships develop. You can't make it grow faster than the relationships that you build in your community. It simply won't work any other way. Remember that as ambassadors of God's Kingdom, we bring HIS ideas to the table in our communities.  However, we must embrace the Godly wisdom and steps that will get us to that table.

You are Success in Process,

Chris Green

Fruitful Life Educator and Community Servant

*Intellectual Property of Professor Christopher G. Green
Modified, and adapted from a 2017 article by Rod Edmonson

Going Back Home!

Chris and Carol Green

Opinion-Editorial repeat from Thursday, May 4, 2017  

A couple of days ago, Carol and I had the most profound conversation in our relationship, since the time we made a pact that saved our 6-month old marriage. It was all about going back to just being ourselves and getting out of the maddening quest for significance. 

When you know that you have a purpose in life, it’s very easy to start down the path where you try to build a platform from which you can successfully reach out to help people. But after several failures and finding ourselves facing, yet, another critical moment of decision, we needed another one of our heart to heart moments to talk through what must happen in order for us to continue working and serving in this region.

I had just wrestled all night in prayer and my plea went something like this: 

“God, I ‘m still struggling with all the Charismatic, Evangelical and Faith teaching that has reduced You to a formula. I’m supposed to speak certain words, take a certain position, quote the right scriptures, face the right direction, tilt my head the right way, block the wrong thoughts, allow the right thoughts, loose this, bind that, and follow a laundry list of steps, decrees and declarations. To be honest, I can’t do it any more!  In fact, I don’t get it!  Since You’re my dad, why am I going through all these steps?  I’m an earthly father and I don’t require my sons to jump through hoops to get me to help them.  The truth is, they barely have to ask because I’m their dad and I want to be there for them.  I want to bless them.  I want to do all I can for them.  And it’s all because of my unique relationship with each one of them.  I thought this was how it was supposed to be in my relationship with You. It’s not supposed to be about pushing the right buttons and quoting the right phrases. You’re my Father, not a formula!”

This prayer was still in my heart the next morning when Carol and I sat down together to talk about what we needed to do next in Harrisburg, PA.  Imagine my surprise when my wife revealed that she had had a dream the same night I was crying out to God.  She said:

“I dreamed that we (including all of our sons) were caught in  a major snowstorm while driving in our SUV.   We got stuck. We could not move. It was snowing so heavily that I got out to clear off the front windshield. I realized the snow was up to my knees and started to get back in the SUV, but decided to clear the back window off as well. When I finished, I got back in the SUV, but Chris, instead of moving forward, started backing up. I asked him what was he doing?  When he backed up to the adjacent street, suddenly it was spring. He had backed up into a beautiful sunny day with all the trees blooming and green.”

Of course we were wondering what was the significance of going backwards into a spring season. Did it mean going back to work on regular jobs? Did it mean going back to Missouri? Did it mean going back to our roles as pastors? As we talked about what I had prayed about, we realized Carol’s dream was about US going back to that which was our foundation when we first moved to Pennsylvania in 2004. Everything we did and said was always about our relationship with one another and our relationship with God.  So we stopped in that moment, held hands, and prayed. We pledged to God that we would GO BACK home.

Shortly after that conversation, I came across a photo from our home city of St. Louis, MO. That photo was a reminder of who WE are as well as, where we come from.  It was a reminder that our value and worth is not in any titles or accomplishments. We have received many awards, honors and acknowledgements, and over the years, it became easier to identify ourselves with those things. We fell into a trap. It was the trap where you lose your identity in your effort to fulfill a destiny.

We have had a fresh revelation that we are simply a couple from St. Louis, MO that moved to Harrisburg, PA to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes. We were not sent to build a platform based on personal successes, religious qualifications, impressive titles, or jaw-dropping academic accomplishments.  Our only platform is our relationship with each other, our family, and with God.  If that is not enough, then nothing else will be.......

All that matters is that we have a genuine relationship with God; that we have a solid relationship with each other; that we have strong relationships with our children; and that we have loving relationship with our family and dearest friends. From all of these relationships, we were given an assignment.

We are simply a husband and wife, dad and mom, son and daughter, uncle and aunt, nephew and niece, brother and sister, cousins, and now grand parents.... who are out in the community trying to share with others, out of the bounty and beauty, from which we have lived.

This photo reminded us of where we come from; who we come from; and why we are here in south central, Pennsylvania.

So when we say that we're going back home, we don't mean we're physically moving back to St. Louis, MO.  We mean, we're going back to who we were, before and beyond the "Calling", the "Ministry", the titles, and the accolades.

No more fighting and struggling to prove ourselves. No more striving to get God to bless what we’re doing. No more struggling to convince anyone or even ourselves, that we are legit. 

We're going back home to Chris and Carol.

Chris: "Hi Carol! I'm your husband Chris. I've been gone for a few years, searching for the stuff that is supposed to give me significance and qualify me to speak or bring a healing message to a city or community. But I realize, all I really needed was God, YOU, our children, and all the relationships that are part of who I am today. I'm back, and it's good to be home."

Carol: "Hi Chris! I'm glad to have my husband back. I also realize that all I needed to take on this family-healing assignment was God, YOU, our children, and all the relationships that are part of who I am today. I'm here with you, and it's good to be home, together."

Contributing Authors to Global Icon's International Best-Seller

Ghana, West Africa: Professors Chris and Carol Green are contributing authors, along with 30 others, in the new international best-selling book, ROYALTY THAT VALUES ALL : A FORCE FOR CIVILITY. 

This book and it's primary author, Dr. Psalm Ebube, presents THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HRH KING, DR. Clyde Rivers, King of Development for the African Country of Ghana.

Each contributing author and leader, from around the world, shared their thoughts and imprints in this book that also describes Clyde River's life journey with people, his mentorship, leadership, and royal influence in over 125 nations.

Already the book has hit #49 in the category of International Best Sellers: Best Biographies of Educators; 

It's #3 in the Best Selling New & Future Releases in Biographies of Educators;

It's #10  in the Best Selling New & Future Releases in Biographies of Royalty; and it's #10 in Educator Biographies.

HRH King Dr. Clyde Rivers is one of the world's most revered and popular civility leaders and public figures. He is a man synonymous with the golden rule of philosophy. Today, he is seen and highly celebrated as a symbol of world civility, an ambassador for civil rights, and a heroic mentor whose influence and image of moral integrity and leadership values extend far beyond his country of residence. 

This iconic man has influenced thousands of high-profile personnel, and his impact on the global system is what the system cannot forget. He is the pioneer of  Honor for Africa. He is unique. His humility is almost unbelievable. His wisdom and intellect has made him stand out. There is none other like King Dr. Clyde Rivers. 

His journey led to his enthronement as the 'Development King at Large' for the Ekumfi Kuotukwa Kingdom in Ghana, Africa, a kingdom that was established in the year 1348. His official throne name is King Okogyeman Kobina Amissah I. 

This has truly been a life-changing experience, as Psalm and all the contributing authors who have had personal encounters with Clyde Rivers, bring a fresh and first-hand perspective to this landmark publication. They vividly convey both the pains and the inspiration that have characterized the life of this legendary and remarkable world civility leader.

This book gives the reader an overview of the global reach of I Change Nations™ and the influence of its Founder and President, King Dr. Clyde Rivers, who's reaching the world with the message of the Golden Rule, Civility for All , People Treatment, Honor, and Civil Discourse.