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| Grass! (We don't get that on the islands) |
The travel was tiring and we are glad to be home but we are really thankful to have gone to the conference as well. Why? To use a classic analogy it was like taking your car in for a tune up. The car’s been running fine, sure a hiccup here and there, but at the same time you just know it’s lost some of its get up and go. The engine needs a tune up. Well in the case, it was the team leaders that needed the tune up.
So here’s a quick list of the sorts of things that got tuned up:
Back to basics: So this leaders conference was a mix of present and future team leaders, so a good portion of what we learned was review. That said, review is a good thing. There were a number of “oh yeah” moments. “Remember when we did that?” “Why don’t we do that any more?” So the reminders were helpful and hopefully will help us perform better.
“Don’t worry, we’ve seen this before”: Sometimes just being around other people in the same situation as you or those with years of experience can be helpful. We got a lot of perspective and it was nice to talk to people who really understand your situation.
Cleaning up the vision: We spent a lot of time talking about vision. Setting it, clarifying it, defining it. This was really good. It’s something we’ve been feeling a little loose about. But the conference ideas and the time for reflection have been very helpful in helping us tighten up our vision that will give strength and energy to our team.
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| Nearby bunny farm in TZ |
New spark, new tools: There was plenty during the conference to take away—new tools for language learning, understanding stress, how to improve accountability, etc. Plus, being together with other leaders, hearing their stories, seeing future leaders excited to lead new teams—all of it is inspiring and gets us excited to get back to our team.
So these are some of the things we are taking away from the conference. Pray that we would be able to apply what we’ve learned and continue to grow and improve as team leaders.
PRAYERS ANSWERED We are thankful for a good conference that was both informative and reflective. We are happy that all our travels went safely. It sounds like our teammates have done just fine without us and we are looking forward to seeing them all tomorrow for fellowship.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for a good transition back into island life and team life. Pray that we would be able to apply all that we’ve learned this past week. Pray for our kids, as they go into full time home school mode (island school finished just before we left). Pray for our team as we move forward. Pray for all the English teachers on our team as we give exams for all our classes before the month of fasting begins in under 2 weeks. Start praying now for our opportunities to deepen relationships and share with people during the upcoming month of fasting.
