We are called to be the lightweight canoes

For months in 2023 and 2024, the Holy Spirit kept bringing the same picture back to me. I carried it in prayer, unsure at first why it gripped me so profoundly. I kept seeing the view you get from an airplane window. Not the city lights. Not the coastline. But the thin, winding lines of water that cut through the landscape as you fly over vast stretches of land far from cities and established communities. Tributaries. Streams. Small rivers that twist and bend with a beauty and uniqueness you can only appreciate from above.

Again and again, the Holy Spirit whispered: NXT Move is not called to be a box-fitting organisation. You are called to embrace the tributaries and to catalyse people to follow the unique tributaries where My river flows.

At first, I did not fully understand what this meant. But over time, the conviction grew. God was inviting us into something different. We are not meant to look like the large, visible river where everyone gathers, moves in the same direction, and follows the same familiar flow. Instead, He was calling us to pay attention to the smaller movements. The unique paths. The creative channels He is forming within the global next-generation movement.

A Canoe, Not a Houseboat

As I prayed, the image became even clearer. Instead of seeing one massive river, I saw many smaller tributaries flowing from it. They were connected to it and fed by it. Carrying the same water, the same life, the same Spirit. Yet each tributary had its own personality, its own rhythm, its own direction and destination. From above, I also saw something else. NXT Move is not called to build a huge houseboat designed for the mainstream river, where everyone fits on board and drifts downstream in one predictable direction. That is not who we are. That is not what the Spirit is asking of us.

We are called to be the lightweight canoes.

The kind that navigate the narrow streams.
The kind that reach communities the large boats cannot reach.
The kind that moves with the creativity and nimbleness of God.

Each tributary represented a different region, a different cultural context, and a distinct expression of the Kingdom. None with the same width or depth, yet every single one mattered.

This picture changed something in me.

One River, Many Streams

It is important to say this clearly. The tributaries do not exist on their own. They flow from a bigger river. They are part of the larger story of what God is doing globally with the next generation. There is a mainstream river of vision, prayer, hunger, and revival. And we honour that. We are shaped by it. We learn from it. But God’s creativity does not end at the big river. From that central flow, He releases smaller streams. Unique expressions. Context-specific movements. Gifts and callings that take on a life of their own as they follow His leading into communities the main river will never touch.

The unity is in the Source.
The diversity is in the tributaries.

This is not fragmentation. It is multiplication.

The Manila Moment

When I shared this in Manila, I sensed something shift in the room. I spoke about how not even our organisational structure could be defined by clean boxes or familiar hierarchies. What God is forming in our global community looks far more like a river system than a corporate chart.

Traditionally, global organisations determine the flow and expect the grassroots to follow. But God is reversing this. Now the tributaries themselves are shaping the river. Regional leaders. Local communities. Younger voices. Unique expressions. They are determining the structure, not the other way around.

In Manila, I felt people breathe again. I felt leaders realise:
There is space for me here. I do not have to fit into a predetermined flow.

And perhaps most importantly:
This is not another big organisation trying to establish its own river. This is a global community forming a river system together.

Tributaries Require Discernment

When leaders picture tributaries rather than a single dominant river, I want them to pause before assuming that “bigger is better” or that “the usual way is the right way.” There is a danger in following the assumed flow simply because it looks familiar. Authentic leadership requires discernment. Obedience. The ability to notice when God is pulling you into a smaller, quieter channel rather than the obvious one. Following tributaries is slower. Less predictable. More dependent on listening. But it is in those tributaries where the next generation is waiting. And the truth is this. A massive houseboat will never reach them, but a small canoe can.

The Freedom to Bring Your Stream

My heart is that everyone connected to NXT Move will feel released into their unique contribution. That they will no longer compare themselves to bigger streams or more visible rivers. That they will see the beauty and purpose of their specific flow.

A tributary is not “less than.” It is strategic. It carries life into places no big river ever will.

I want people to feel free to pioneer. Free to listen. Free to be faithful in their small corner of the river system. Free to bring what only they can bring. Because if each stream flows in obedience, the whole river system flourishes.

Small Does Not Mean Insignificant

Let me share two personal stories. For years, I dreamed of owning a beautiful five-star guest house on the ocean. A place where people could rest, reconnect with God, and feel seen. I prayed for God to provide something miraculous and big. I imagined the perfect version of hospitality.

But one day, God showed me a wooden spoon and dry pasta. I felt the Spirit say, "Use what you have. Open your home now. Do not wait for the five-star version of your calling. Obey in the tributary first.” It was a reminder that the size of the river does not determine the stream's impact. Obedience does.

Another example came through my relationship with Colin Piper. I have learned so much from Colin, not because of a global brand he built, but because he has sown faithfully for decades. Quietly. Consistently. Without chasing visibility. His life is a testimony that the Kingdom advances when ordinary people choose to follow the small tributaries God gives them, long before those streams ever become rivers.

Shared-Flow Leadership

God is also using this picture to reshape how I see leadership. For years, resource flow determined leadership flow. But God is shifting that. Grassroots communities are shaping what is needed. Regions are building their own streams of strength. The balance of influence is equalizing. Shared-flow leadership means we all listen to the same Source. We all obey the same Voice. Some streams are wider. Some are narrower. Some are fast. Some slow. Yet they all come from the same riverhead: the Spirit calling the next generation back to Jesus.

We cannot lead by hierarchy.
We must lead by flow.

What Tributary Has God Entrusted to You?

As you come to the end of this reflection, here is the question I want you to sit with:

Am I being obedient to the unique tributary God has entrusted to me to reach the next generation?

Not the one that seems impressive.
Not the one everyone else is choosing.
Not the one that looks like the obvious path.

But the one God is speaking over your life.

Do not wait to be the main river.
Do not wait for approval or visibility.
Do not wait for the “big version” of your calling.

Follow the tributary God is asking you to pursue, even if no one else understands it yet.

Because the next generation is waiting along the quiet, hidden streams. 

And together, if we each remain obedient to our flow, our streams will form a river system that carries life farther than any single river ever could.

What tributary are you carrying, and where is God asking it to flow?