Focus on FOCOS

We've just finished a very full week with the FOCOS (foundational coaching skills) intensive onsite workshop. We had a wonderful group of 24 trainees, working with a variety of different missions (CRU, UWM, YWAM….) and representing 31 nations. How is it possible for 24 people to represent 31 nations? Because there's the nation they're working in, as well as the nation they originally come from. What a rich and diverse group it was. We've been connecting over the internet since August - for personal coaching sessions and a number of "tele-classes," so it was nice finally to meet this group of people in real life. The weather was good to us and, even though it's mid-winter here in Spain, we had four or five sunny days, and only two torrentially rainy days. Trainees were sometimes able to sit outside for their practice coaching sessions and, on the very last day, they asked if we could also hold our final classroom session outdoors.

It's always encouraging, on the last day, to hear testimonies of how the trainees have experienced the week, and to feel a sense of awe when you hear how much God has done in people's lives, even over such a short time frame. People told of "aha" moments when they suddenly got insight into how to move forward in an area where they'd felt stuck. Some told of how they'd embraced new hope when a long-dormant dream was rekindled in their hearts again. Others told of how they'd doubted their own ability to master the different coaching skills, but were encouraged at the end of the week to see that they too had grown in their ability to help and support others with this simple yet powerful tool. It's not possible, for security reasons, for me to post a photo of our wonderful group of trainees, because some of them work in closed countries such as China, Tajikistan and the Middle East. Here, however, is a picture of our team of five trainers that has been working with the programme since the beginning, and sharing out all the teaching and demos during this onsite workshop in Malaga. What an encouraging time it was for all of us!