Sorry for the delay in writing. I have many excuses, most of them very good. ;) Backing up, three weeks ago I was getting ready to board a couple of planes to get to Fiji. I was happy to have a travel companion this time, a young Swiss gal who is attending the Leadership Development Training.
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| With Tabea |
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| Kennedy Training Center |
I went for a couple of weeks to help support the team there. Originally we had planned to have a small group from Europe, but it ended up just being Tabea. Of course the Lord knew this in advance and I believe orchestrated that I be there. It was so wonderful being back in this place that feels like a second or at least a home away from home for me. It’s not just the place itself, or only the people, but the setting where people from all over the world come together to be equipped to advance the Gospel.
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| 13 participants from India, Mongolia, USA, several Pacific islands, Australia, Malaysia, and Switzerland |
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Some of my Fijian friends: Emma who serves us and Rusila who also serves
and wears many hats as the new national coordinator of Fiji.
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I wore many hats there, while still holding online meetings and correspondence for Europe & MENA. Here are some examples:
~Helped Tabea catch up on some personality testing she had missed the week before
~Helped clean, organize the office, and count inventory of the materials in Fiji
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It took all day, but what a sense of accomplishment to get
through the entire container! Anne (VP of Oceania) was able to
send some very much needed materials to some of the neighboring islands.
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~Helped Tabea & others practice the Hope 4 Kids presentation, which she helped teach this week!
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Going through the H4K presentation...in English!
Tabea did a great job!...
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| ...and then taught some of it this week! Wow! |
~Helped the participants work on their Master Plans
~Went on an OJT (on the job training, aka outreaches to share the Gospel)
~Was a listening ear & prayed with some of the girls (my favorite)
As I sat in on the talks and instruction the group received, I had a different lens than I did two years ago when I attended as a participant but hadn’t yet begun the work. Some of the leaders really challenged us, and I took the challenge to bring my questions to the Lord too. It was also helpful to remember the ways that God has spoken and called me up to this point, which is one of the exercises the participants had to reflect on and articulate.
Another aspect I consider a treasure is the community living. Okay, it can have its down sides for light sleepers or if you want privacy; but we can learn from and enjoy each other in such settings that we don't on our own.
My final take-away was unfortunately an injured arm. (Which is one of my valid reasons for not writing sooner as it’s slowed me down a bit!). I was playing volleyball with the islanders. I don’t regret playing; though I predict it will be my first and last time in my 4 years here.
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With Serai, who I met four years ago during the internship. Wearing a makeshift
sling that one of the participants with an engineering background rigged up using Tabea's scarf.
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Please be praying for this group who will soon go back to their home ministry settings. May they take back what they need for the tasks ahead.
