LDC is over!

The leadership development course came to an end yesterday, and today there's already been more than half a dozen airport trips for our staff, as the delegates all headed home to their different nations around the world.
The last week was a really meaningful time, where we saw God bring to completion many of the good things that He had been doing in people's lives since we first came together only six weeks ago. A small number of delegates requested to be baptised at the end of the course - some because they had never previously been baptised as a testimony to their faith, and others because they wanted to symbolise the fact that they were being washed clean from past struggles and were entering into a new season of leadership and missionary service.
We also held a special ceremony that we called "stepping over the line," where delegates were able to speak out what they were leaving behind and what they are stepping into.... and others were able to encourage and pray for them.
We finished with kind of a "graduation" time when we had a special meal and the students were presented with their certificates for successful completion of the course. And then, on the very last morning, we had a special time of praise and thanksgiving - recognising that Father God had been the source of all the amazing ways that people had grown and changed during these last few weeks together.

On a lighter note , we were able to surprise some of the delegates by playing  a joke on them when they went out to eat in a restaurant last night. About sixteen of them went into Alhaurin de la Torre to have dinner together (while others were packing their suitcases in preparation for an early departure today, and we as staff were busy with our own evaluation and debriefing time.) Half a dozen of us staff went into town later to have an ice cream and say goodbye to each other, and we noticed that our students were still sitting chatting in the restaurant. I slipped in and asked the restaurant owner if he would go in to their table and make an announcement that there was going to be a flamenco show in just a few minutes. Eavesdropping from the back of the restaurant, we heard our guys giving murmurs of anticipation at this unexpected treat. You should have seen their faces when it was us, a group of their friends, who came bursting into the room, waving our arms around in pseudo flamenco movements. It was a real candid camera moment, and even we ourselves could hardly stop laughing at the impact we made!

Almost all of the delegates and staff are flying home today, but for those of us who actually live in  Alhaurin de la Torre all year round, there's an opportunity to see a real flamenco show in town this evening. In typical Spanish fashion, it only begins at 10 pm, so Anja and I are trying to decide if we still have the energy, after seven weeks of LDC, to go out for a late night adventure tonight.

Out and about...

Although the forty days of the LDC are among the most "intense" weeks of my yearly schedule, there was nonetheless time at weekends for me to get out and about with friends who normally like in other parts of the world. So, last weekend, for example, I went with my friends from Thailand to the beautiful turquoise lakes near El Chorro. And another weekend we went to visit the town of Antequera and the stunning rock formations at the El Torcal national park. This was a lot of fun.

Only one week to go

We've only been together for five weeks, but God has been doing so much in people's lives during this LDC, that we feel as if we've known each other for ages. Even ten year old Graham told his parents this week, "This place is beginning to feel like home!"

Week five of the leadership development course was full of interesting topics and stimulating discussions. This weekend, the delegates will be applying that material to their own lives by writing a number of assignments that they'll hand in on Monday: a list of their personal values or "ministry philosophy," an outline of their own vision or "mission statement," and a paper describing their personalised approach to mentoring and developing younger leaders.

Only a few final topics lie ahead in week six, then it will be time to debrief, to look to the future, and to commission the delegates for the next stage in their missionary journey. Towards the end of the week, we'll also have a special "graduation" meal and a time of presenting the students with their certificates for successful completion of the course.

Please join us in praying that the last week will be a special time when God will add extra blessings and insights to each delegate before they prepare to head home again to their own locations. Thanks.

Dare to be different

The Reto 2013 Bible reading booklets for June are now available for downloading from the Challenge 2013 website: www.biblechallenge2013.blogspot.com

"Dare to be different" is the theme, with readings from the life of Daniel in the Old Testament, and from the book of Ephesians in the New Testament.

Friendships and full house...

Well, I may be living alone this month (if you don't count my three furry felines!), but this weekend it's been "full house" at my home. One of our delegates from Africa was joined this week by his wife and small child (who had been visiting family in Switzerland) and, in order to give this family a nice room for the weekend, two of our LDC staff, Canadians Chuck and Bobbie, vacated their room at the retreat centre and moved into town to spend a few days living at my house. My two friends from Bangkok, Averyl and Dagmar, were also coming to spend part of the weekend at my house, and so suddenly I had five people living in my home, instead of only one.  We enjoyed having dinner and going out for ice cream together on Friday night. Then on Saturday, when the girls and I went to Antequera for the day, I arrived home to find that Chuck, who's an electrician, had repaired some faulty wiring that's been a mild nuisance since the painter messed something up with our light switches last year. What a blessing!

Tamba, Teddi and Tobi - who often disappear to hide in the garden when guests come to visit - quickly got used to these guys and kept coming to sit with us in the lounge, or to jump on the bed and be petted by whoever had already headed for their bedroom. Teddi was even willing to show off some of his tricks and give "high fives" to this lineup of new friends. (Anything to earn a treat!)

As we move into week five of the LDC, Dagmar and I will be teaching at the beginning of the week about values and vision. Later in the week, Chuck and Averyl will be joining us as we teach on the topic of mentoring the up and coming generation of Christian leaders. Thanks for your prayers.

Week two of LDC

Week two of LDC began with birthday celebrations for two of the staff (Averyl and me) and finished with a birthday party for two of the children (Gideon from Canada, and Arina from the Ukraine.) In between these real-life birthdays, the delegates were looking back at their own lives, from their birth till the present time, and considering the different ways that God had been at work in their lives to shape them for Christian leadership.

Then, during the second half of the week, we considered various topics related to working as a leadership team and drawing on the strength that comes from working in unity with a group of leaders with differing giftings and talents. It was a very full week, and everyone was ready for a well-earned break by the time the weekend came. Some chose to "rest" by going on an energetic five hour hike (over the mountain and down to the sea) while others chose more leisurely pursuits like staying at home or going shopping.

Two friends, who normally share a flat together in Bangkok, came to spend the weekend at my house. They've left their two cats back in Thailand, so they enjoyed coming to see my three, and persuading Teddi to entertain them with some of his latest tricks. Then, on Saturday, we went for a drive in the car, through Torremolinos and down to Benalmádena Costa, where we ate a picnic on the beach and happened to bump into our group of hikers (who had just completed their five hour trek over the mountain and dipped their feet in the sea to cool off.)

Then we drove a few miles inland to Benalmádena Pueblo - the older, more Spanish-style village with its whitewashed houses, flower-lined streets and pretty plazas with fountains, orange trees and open air cafes. The quiet atmosphere of the original village, and the traditional feel of the old church gardens and nearby castle, are in sharp contrast to the bustle of its nearby coastal resort, and give you a taste of what these Andalusian towns must have been like before the tourist invasion of the past four decades forever changed the face of southern Spain.

Birthday brunch... and the latest LDC news

The leadership development course has got off to a good start. One of our goals for the first week is that the diverse group of international delegates would be able to "bond" well, so that we have a good foundation of unity and vulnerability for all that God wants to do in people's lives during these six weeks together. That has certainly happened. On Thursday, one of the delegates said that he felt as if we'd all been together for four weeks, instead of only four days.

One of our topics last week was to look at how we all have different personalities and preferred ways of doing things. A key to unity and harmony in our mission teams or in our churches is to understand that other people think and feel differently from us, and we can develop our "versatility" in order to be able to understand and communicate better with others. One of next week's topics will develop that a little further by looking at principles of working together as a leadership team.

This weekend, and the coming few days, are also a time for birthday celebrations. It was my birthday yesterday, and so the LDC staff gathered for a special brunch together. They also took time to pray specifically for me and for Averyl (a Singaporean staff member, who has her birthday tomorrow.) And then one of the children in the group will celebrate his 8th birthday in a couple of days' time.

I spent the rest of my birthday in a way that's probably not typical: I went shopping! But I didn't go shopping for clothes or shoes or the sort of things that people usually buy on their birthday. I went to buy a mop and a bucket, a chopping board, bottles of cleaning products, wooden spoons, a potato peeler, a salad bowl......  The sudden need for "household shopping" was because my housemate moved out earlier this week, taking all kinds of things with her. It was kind of strange to come down to the kitchen on Thursday morning and look at all the empty cupboards and shelves. I hadn't realised that I owned more than a dozen mugs, but I didn't own even one single plate!

And so I'm going to be "restocking" the house over the coming weeks and months - buying the kind of little essentials that every home needs. The LDC staff had all contributed to give me a financial gift for my birthday, that I can put towards the cost of buying plates, furniture or whatever else is needed. There's no rush to do that, as I'll mostly be eating at LDC for the next five weeks. Not yet knowing who will move in to share the house with me (and whether that person will also have furniture and other things of their own) I'll probably wait to buy bigger items once the LDC has finished in June.

Thanks for your prayers as we continue into the second week of LDC. As well as teaching about team leadership, this week's activities include helping these leaders to make a "leadership timeline" where they look back at their lives and evaluate the different ways that God was forming and shaping them as Christian leaders.