He Sent Them Two by Two

This season of time at home with Aaron is giving me the chance to step back and reflect on life and ministry and gives me a unique perspective on ministry going on around me. Even though I´m limited in my ability to accompany staff in the field, it´s been great to be able to talk through important ministry truths with various staff women from week-to-week.

Isabel Fernandez (pictured on the right) came for a visit last week. She´s an amazing woman: a wife, a mother of 3 kids, co-director of Agape´s orphanage in Portugal for 10 years and now Agape Spain´s National Associate Director. She dedicates most of her time to connecting with and developing the Spanish staff women in the country. 

However, the last time Isa came to visit, I was still in pajamas, I had slept very little the night before and Aaron would not stop crying. It was nice to have a visitor but a bit humbling in my role as a mom. I was sure that the word "clueless" could be read on my weary face and I wondered how today´s visit would go.

I was able to sweep the floor, dust the main areas of the living room and get myself and Aaron dressed before she arrived. So, we were off to a good start.

It was a nice visit. On this particular day we talked about open doors to ministry in Terrassa, the busyness of life as national directors and as parents. We talked about marriage and we discussed some of the current needs of our staff. 

"I´m finding that many staff don´t seem to know how to spend their time," mentioned Isa. "They say they are busy, but I´m finding that they are not using their time wisely. I´ve discovered that there are a few that are not following through on the most basic responsibilities of evangelism and discipleship."

A flood of memories came rushing in of times with my trainer, Susan Reeves, back in San Marcos, Tx. During my first year on staff, Susan was there to carry the conversation if I didn´t know what to say. She was there to encourage me after it was over and to give me pointers along the way. We met together to talk over important Biblical truths; but the "how-to´s" of ministry and the disciplines necessary to carry out ministry were not learned so much by talking abou them, but rather by watching her in action. Susan taught me to always go to campus WITH someone else. So, I was always with someone when I went to campus, whether it was my trainer, another staff woman or a student in our ministry.

As Isa and I talked, it became clear that, although most of our staff have been through some training materials, not all of them have had the opportunity to be mentored or accompanied by an older, seasoned staff person.


"I´m not convinced it´s just an issue of time management," I reflected out loud. "There is a need not only for accountability, but to be able to observe how things are done....how to set up an evangelistic meeting at the city hall, how to make phone calls to set up appointments, how to carry out a discipleship appointment. This learning comes from observation. Jesus always sent the disciples two by two," I said out loud to Isa, remembering those special times on campus. "Just about everything I learned in ministry, I learned by accompanying another staff person or shadowing some other Christian leader in her ministry."

Isa nodded her head. "I wish I had taken our younger staff person with me when I went to city hall to reserve the room for our Spanish class last week." She already knew this truth. She just needed a gentle reminder, as we all do.

Isa will come for another visit at the end of April. I can´t wait to hear how she´s applied this truth in the last month.

Isa is in an incredible position to influence the staff in Spain. Please pray for her....for energy, for wisdom and discernment and for boldness to keep pressing forward as she helps to mold and shape our staff for effective evangelism and discipleship.