Mijas in the mountains

Our LDC delegates have come to us this year from all over the world. (See how many of their flags you can recognise in the picture on the right.) Because our group is so international, we always like to take them on an outing during the first weekend to somewhere that looks typically Spanish. A popular choice for our trip is the little mountain village of Mijas, which is famous for its narrow streets, whitewashed Andalusian houses and donkey "taxis." It also has stunning views over the mountains and down to the coastline. In fact, the weather was so clear yesterday that we could even look across the Mediterranean and see the coastline of North Africa.

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After visiting Mijas, we drove down to the coast, where some of the braver members of our group astounded all of us by going for a swim in the icy waters of the sea. Needless to say, this drew some surprised looks from the Spaniards on the beach; Spanish people tend not to swim until the month of June.

The second week of LDC begins tomorrow, and we'll have two main themes this week. The first is about understanding how God has a leadership "timeline" for each one of us, with different ministry stages and spiritual lessons to learn along the way. The second topic this week is about the strength that comes from forming and working in strong leadership teams, instead of simply having one leader who does everything himself.

Food, glorious food...

It's a relief to see that the Bible includes various stories about Jesus eating meals with his disciples.... because food seems to have played a prominent part in the first two days of the LDC. On Sunday, once all our international students had arrived, we gave everyone a "taste of Spain" by having a big buffet of Spanish tapas. And, because it was someone's birthday, these savoury snacks were followed up by delicious chocolate and strawberry cupcakes. Then, on Monday morning, we had a special welcome breakfast, before going into a time of group worship and individual "creative meditations" based on the book of Philippians.

Preparing for the LDC

We're together this week as a team of fifteen staff for the leadership development course. This is a week of prayer and preparation before the delegates (students) arrive next weekend from all over the world. The theme God has given us for this year's LDC is from the book of Philippians and is about the fact that we can draw on God's joy, no matter how difficult the circumstances we might be facing. 

Certificate in coaching

I wonder if you've heard of a book called Strengthsfinder? It's been around for nearly a decade now. The book is built on the premise that, in life and work, we spend a lot of time trying to improve our weaknesses, while it's just as important to give time to maximising our strengths. You can do an online "test" which helps identify your five top strengths: things like responsibility, communication, ability to envision the future, etc, etc. One of my strengths is "learner" - I love to be learning and finding out new things, new skills, new ideas. Whether it's learning a new language or some new software skill on the computer, I don't mind studying and practising in order to grasp and master something new.

One of my recent learning journeys has seen me working towards a certificate in leadership coaching. Over the past year and a half, I've attended a number of coaching workshops and teleclasses, have been the recipient of forty sessions of coaching for coach training and skills building, and have myself given fifty hours of coaching to missionary leaders around the world. That training programme came to an end last month, and this week we were presented with our certificates from the University of the Nations. Now some of us are moving on to a second level of study and beginning a further year of training that will give us a "level two" qualification in life and leadership coaching. The intensive workshop held in Malaga this week was the first step in continuing that training.

My housemate, Ada, has also been inspired by the potential of the coaching paradigm in her ministry with new believers who are women from backgrounds of domestic violence or abuse. Ada has been asking me to "teach her how to coach" and we've been working over the past month on developing some of the skills needed in asking good questions and listening for significant issues. A well known book about Christian coaching has recently been translated into Spanish, and I was encouraged that I was able to get a copy for her this week. Now she'll be able to continue learning on her own (yes, she also has "learner" in the Strengthsfinder) while I am busy with the Leadership Development Course over the coming two months.

Personalities, processing and picking up...

We did a lot of "picking up" yesterday: after picking up thousands of photocopies from the printers, we had to pick up the 60 kilos of chicken filets that the butcher was preparing for us... and then we began picking people up from the airport. The airport pick ups continue today, as we're preparing for a coaching workshop that will be held here on Thursday and Friday. The workshop is about understanding how different personalities process in different ways, so that we can adapt our coaching accordingly and thus help people better in their processing and decision making.
For example, some people are extrovert while others are introvert. Some people are "thinkers," while others are more influenced by feelings and emotions. On Thursday, we'll have a workshop about understanding the many different kinds of personalities there are, and this will be attended by quite a number of local people from here in the Costa del Sol. Then, on Friday, a smaller group of people will stay on for a workshop about how to work with different personality types when we are talking with them in a coaching relationship.
When the coaching workshop finishes and those people begin heading home to their different nations, the "picking up" begins again, as most of our staff for the Leadership Development Course will be arriving in Spain this weekend. Next week we'll be having several days of staff preparation and prayer for the LDC.

Semana santa storms and showers

Today I had to pick up all our LDC photocopying: more than 15 thousand pages. They fill five boxes and take up the whole back seat of my car! It was rather a challenge loading up all that paper in the pouring rain, but today was the last day possible, as everything closes down over the coming days for the "semana santa" (holy week) holidays.


The weather forecast says that there will continue to be storms and showers for much of this week. I wonder if that will hinder some of the religious processions that happen here on Thursday and Friday. Even after a few years in Spain, I have to confess that I still find the semana santa celebrations (especially those men in the strange pointy hats) rather disconcerting. I look forward instead to Easter Sunday at church, when we can really celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and rejoice that He is still alive today.

A busy weekend... and a full week ahead

We've just had rather a full weekend. On Saturday we held a ladies retreat for church ladies and their friends. The majority of the ladies were Spanish speaking, but I was there to translate into English when needed for one or two ladies who are new to Spain and who are still learning Spanish. The theme of the day was "Healing" and it was a time when several ladies (some coming from backgrounds of domestic violence or abuse) began to feel the healing touch of God's presence. 

Then, on Sunday, we were invited to a house warming...  Anja, the newest staff member in our YWAM Alhaurin team, is living in a new hospitality villa that is just 500m from Villa Rehoboth. We're calling it Villa Bethany, because Bethany in the Bible was a place where Jesus often enjoyed hospitality at the home of a family who lived there. On Sunday afternoon before church, we went to Bethany for a house warming, combined with a "yurt warming."

You're no doubt asking yourself what a yurt is. Well, you can see one in the photo above. A yurt is a portable, bent wood-framed dwelling structure, traditionally used by nomadic peoples in the steppes of Central Asia.  A friend, Bianca, who lived in Kyrgystan for a while, has come back to Spain to study, and wanted to put up the yurt in her parents' garden. When the local council refused to give permission for that, she decided to move just a few hundred metres along the road and have the yurt built at Villa Bethany instead. So now there's a yurt next to Bethany, and Bianca shares the villa's bathroom and kitchen with Anja. Yesterday was a time for friends and family to visit the villa and the yurt and enjoy some afternoon "tapas" together.

As Easter approaches, we're also gearing up for our spring training courses. This week, we'll be hosting another coaching workshop, and then our staff will be arriving for the six-week leadership development course that we hold here during April and May. This week I went to the butcher's and ordered my own weight in chicken breasts! I also went to the printer's and handed in the manuals that need to be printed for the LDC. So tomorrow, we'll be picking up fifteen thousand photocopies and sixty kilos of chicken. We'll also be heading to the airport ten or twelve times to pick up the workshop participants and the LDC staff. And amidst the activity of seminars and workshops, there will be church activities to help us remember Jesus' death and celebrate His resurrection together. It's going to be a full and fulfilling week.