Every person we encounter is created in God's image. He bears the imago dei. At KAP we understand that means we are all called to value the voice of each individual as an image bearer. Our organizational structures will always be designed to enable each person who bears that image regardless of status or age to be heard.
The dramatic story of the healing of the Aramaean general Naaman's leprosy in 2 Kings 5 is a tale of God's power. As we celebrate the power of God to heal we must also remember the importance of the words of the Jewish servant girl.
She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” –2 Kings 5:3 (NASB 1995)
She spoke prophetically. And nothing that happened in the rest of the chapter would ever have come to pass without her boldness and obedience. The whole story, including the miraculous healing of the great general, was set in motion by the words of the least powerful person in the whole tale.
It is so easy to dismiss the words and deeds of the young or of others whom the world deems unimportant. Nonetheless, God works through us all. To hear the full counsel of God we must be willing to listen to anyone through whom He chooses to speak.
As Kairos Academy Pathfinders grows, it would be easy for the staff to fall into the trap of only having ears for a few key leaders. After all, we need to wisely delegate our listening tasks just as much as we must delegate other tasks well. But that means that active listening needs to be a hallmark of KAP members at every level, so that what God says at one level gets to the other levels without loss or distortion.
The prophetic words of a servant girl captured by the Aramean army in a raid on Judah prompted the king of Aram to send his top general to Israel for healing. God showed He can remove all the barriers we naturally put in the way of communication across levels. For ourselves, we trust that He will overcome any errors of omission we make in smoothing those paths. Nonetheless, it is incumbent upon the leaders and upon all who are called to KAP to be intentional about making provision for such communication.
KAP is the Lord's ministry. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). We must follow His lead and value each other without regard to title or position. We listen to the youngest child with the same intentionality we apply to listening to the CEO of a major corporate sponsor. Those who love God and who understand the truth that we all bear the imago dei would not have it any other way.