Waiting......

I’m writing this in the waiting area of El Dorado Airport, Bogota, half way through my 8 hour connection time on my way home from the GMC in Brazil. As I watch the day dawn over Bogota, it seems an appropriate place to be reflecting on waiting and watching!

A year and a half ago, when I returned to Guatemala after my last home leave, I knew that I was returning to a period of transition and waiting. It was planned that I would soon pass on the role of Short term Coordinator (overseeing the Steppers and Striders serving in Guatemala) to another, so that I could focus more on mission mobilization and sending in Guatemala. I also had a strong feeling that God was preparing me to move house for this new stage and role. I began a process of emotionally and physically sorting and clearing out my house, much of which was previously for the benefit of the short termers who were under my supervision. I didn’t know at that stage where God might be leading me next, but was preparing to leave and let go of stuff anyway. I was open to moving to a significantly different place within Guatemala or to a different country altogether. I had a few ideas and pushed a few doors and tried to discern and sought God’s peace, but none of them really felt right. In the meantime, a few individual tasks or commitments within Guatemala easily felt like they were from God and fitted exactly into my sense of the new role of mobilization.

I have to say that this period of waiting and transitioning has lasted a lot longer than I anticipated. What have I learnt in the process?? I don’t think it’s patience…it’s more like simply trusting in the unknown, and letting go of the past regardless of not knowing what will come next.

I’m now at last in the final stages of handover of the STC role, and more fully working within the mobilization role. The house seems like the final part of the puzzle and is not in place- yet. Through a series of events and conversations, I have felt that it’s right to look to move to Guatemala City, which will be a more central and accessible location for my new role as mobilizer. I’m looking for a place that would give me space to host small groups for missions trainings etc, but I don´t need lots of overnight accommodation for short termers, as I’ve previously had. I’m pushing doors (quite literally) and trusting God for the ideal place, taking notice of the peace or lack of peace I feel in each option.

Since I began to write this post, things have become clearer and I hope to move within the next few weeks. At the same time, one of my sending churches asked me to reflect on Isaiah 54: 1-6, and it´s interesting how this links in. It´s a message to spread out and to think big, as we prepare for the future, written in the language of nomads…. Preparing bigger tents and spreading out the tent pegs. And it makes me think of that first step of spreading out tent pegs for a nomad is to pull them up from where they have been before. That´s what my process has felt like: pulling up the attachments to the past, both physically and emotionally, of reflecting on the past and celebrating it and all that God has done in it, but then letting go of it in order to spread out further.  So as I approach the end of this year and the beginning of a new one, I´m staking out the tent pegs and stretching out the ropes wider than before! I´m excited to see all that God might have for this next stage.

Mobilization conference - Brazil

This last week, I’ve been at the Global Mobilization Consultation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 In both Europe and in Latin America, the term Mobilization applied to missions is only just beginning to be used, so it might need a bit of explaining. It refers to the groundwork done amongst Christians and churches in order that every believer understands God’s passion for all the nations to know him and participate in His global mission, whether that’s through praying, giving, sending or going. So mobilization work involves teaching, and training and accompanying churches and individuals in this process of learning and participation.

I went to the first GMC 4 years ago in Nairobi, as I was beginning to understand the need for this in Latin Link. This year, I have been able to convince 3 others from Latin Link to attend as well. (It helps that this time the gathering was held much closer to home!) It has been a really good week of learning from others and of being inspired and challenged to press into this area of work. 

We started the week challenged by TV Thomas to radical collaboration, as we recognize that God is the chief mobilizer, so rather than relying on programmes and courses to help people understand, but we also trust God to inspire and convict people into personal engagement in missions, which calls for humility. 

Mary Ho (who’d I’d sat next to on the plane, without realizing we were going to the same conference) highlighted some of the reasons to celebrate, amongst them the recent surge in indigenous church planting movements globally even within majority Muslim countries, and the accelerated rate of Bible translation projects. 

Amongst Bible studies, workshops, new resources and meeting great people, I was really encouraged by a talk calling for a mobilization based missiology (study of missions). The speaker highlighted the difference between a mobilization/ recruitment based on the mission recipients, which focusses on the needs of unreached people groups and can sometimes result in a guilt-based calling, and a mobilization / recruitment based on the identity and needs of all the church to understand God’s heart and to participate in His global mission, with each person fulfilling their personal calling or vocation in it. The latter is based on the church understanding more fully the heart and desire of the God we worship and serve. 

In Latin Link, we aim to be a ‘community with a calling’, as we enable individuals to discover and fulfill their personal calling within the support and encouragement of a local community. Although many of our teams have some form of recruitment, we have not so far put much work into mobilizing, which is an essential groundwork for missions recruitment. Two years ago I was given this area of oversight, so we have begun to focus more on this area. Our dream would be to have a mission mobilizer/ mission educator within each country team, to undertake this vital work. With my recent transition, I have begun to undertake this role in Guatemala, and a couple of others in other countries have a passion for it too, but we have a long way to go. I’m praying that God would raise up people for these vital roles, as we see the fields ready to be harvested. 

And in amongst all the conference programme, we also found time to celebrate Paul’s birthday!

And I might have had a swim or two. 

 

Bolivia

This last week, I was in Bolivia, to train and support our new Short Term Coordinator. It was a really good time to get to know her, and talk through all sorts of issues and programmes, which make up her role.
The trip had been postponed from a couple of weeks beforehand, because of the political situation, which is complex and not as black and white as it may appear in the news (is anything?) - especially when both sides are claiming to be protecting democracy. But things had more or less got back to normal whilst I was there.

I was in Santa Cruz, in the east, lowland part of Bolivia, which, culturally, is a world away from the Bolivia I knew from living in La Paz for a year more than 20 years ago. But it was good to be in a place where I heard the cows mooing at night!

The view from my window 

The journey home was slightly longer than expected as my flight was cancelled (delayed for an electrical storm and then crew working hours issues) and then rearranged, so that involved a fair bit of waiting around....

 ... and just a couple of hours sleep in a nice hotel....

Mobilising again

This month I was in Morales, Izabal (in the east of Guatemala) for a Missions event at a church. It was great fun. I lead a workshop about missions in Europe -- based around a British Pub quiz!

Mobilization

This weekend, I´ve been in the heat of Chiquimula, participating in a missions event for young people.

 It was a good time for young people to learn and be inspired together, as well as to talk with a number of different missions agencies about the options of serving both here in Guatemala and overseas.

European adventures

For the last month, I've been in Europe. It started off with some great times with family, enjoying the beach and good weather in Devon. I then had a few different meetings talking with the Latin Link teams in Europe about the possibilities of working with Latin American migrants in Europe (amongst other things).

Here´s a few pictures of my travels...

 A great day with the Latin Link in Reading.

 Then a few days with the team in the Netherlands, including a day helping with their stand at a conference.

 Then it was off to Germany to meet with all of the Europe team leaders in Stuttgart. We had some great times of discussion and planning.....

... and also celebrated one birthday and 2 wedding anniversaries (although without their wives!)

 And we met in a lovely conference centre with some nice neighbours

Handing Over

It's been a while since I updated my blog, and there's been lots of things happening. So here's a bit of an update....

In August I officially handed over the short term coordinator role for Guatemala to Maddie. 

 It was lovely that in our team meeting, we had a little ceremony to mark the occassion and to celebrate all that God has done in the past, and all that he will do through Maddie in the future.

It's definitely the end of an era and it may take a bit of getting used to, as I will no longer be so closely involved in all the short termers who serve in Guatemala, but I'm immensely grateful for the 170 odd Steppers and 80 + Striders who I have got to know over these last 11 years and for so many  of them who have become close friends in the process. Our team is great!!!

Quiche

For a few years I've been meaning to visit some friends who work up in Canillá, Quiche. Finally last week I went, and spent a couple of days seeing their ministry. The journey took 5 hours, thanks to the final part having been pathed recently. Previously it would have taken 8 hours.

They run medical clinics in a few different towns and villages, and always have 50 -100 patiences in a day. They are part of a fantastic team of doctors and local nurses who support and often translate into Quiche, as many of the patients don´t speak good spanish.

 The journey to the clinics showed off some spectacular scenery, as well as giving us chance to hear more about their heart for this work. It´s not unusual for patients to ask the doctors to pray for them, and it was wonderful to see the trust that´s been built up over time.

 And after work, they took us up the hill to get amazing views across the whole valley.....

 .... including the Mayan ruins (the pyramid in the centre of this photo)

 It was fantastic to see these special people, as well as be in such a peaceful place!