Small Steps. Big Faith.

This spring has brought numerous opportunities to interact with our new staff. On this occasion, Donna Cannella (pictured front row, 2nd from right) and I invited 5 new staff, 2 interns and their trainers from a variety of Agape ministries to join us near Barcelona to cast vision for them about the value and purpose of ministry training. In our organization, Ágape prioritizes faith, growth and lasting fruit. The " Capacitación de nuevos coordinadores " (CNC) (or "New Staff Training" (NST)) exists to create a space to develop life change and ministry effectiveness. Our aim is to equip our staff not only in skills (hands), but also with knowledge (head) and attitude (heart).  At the CNC Orientation, we begin this 2-year training process by tackling together the first 3 of 39 topics. Another important component to the training includes an intentional relationship between the trainer (the director or some other senior staff) and trainee (new staff member). During the CN...

pictured above: front row - Donna, Jill, Lucía, Liz back row - Andrés, Dani, Jemima, Mateo, Laura, Israel, María, Penny 12 of us descended on Barcelona, gathering in a rented Air B-n-B apartment. It almost felt a little bit like the 12 disciples in the Upper Room. Many had come from very busy ministry schedules. Some flew in from other countries. Others were flying out to other countries after we finished.  These staff represent a variety of ministries:  GAiN , Athletes in Action , Operations and Human Resources , Family Life This group of new staff were wrapping up their two-year training period as New Staff with Ágape. Just as in the orientation, we looked together at 3 more of the 39 topics. We took time to be with the Lord. We reflected on what it means to be a servant leader, the role of coaching others and how to put to evangelize with our actions. Pictured below: María, Lucía and Laura spend time with the Lord before our first session. Pictured below: Andrés and Liz tak...

Finish packing. Drop Aaron off at school. Drive the 26 miles to pick up my teammate, Donna.  Load the car with the groceries. Drive 22 more miles to the retreat house reserved for our 5 most recent recruits who will be joining our staff in 2023. Sometimes, I can get so caught up in the details that I forget that what we do is making an impact in the lives of people in Spain because what we do is share the Good News of Jesus with others. In January, these 5 women were invited to join us outside of Barcelona for the most recent New Staff Orientation. These 2 days are reserved to get to know these new staff better, to allow them time to get to know each other, to orient them to the culture and mission of Agape and to address their concerns as they begin. If we do this part well, they are more likely, not only to have a positive, fruitful experience, but also to stay longer. (left and counterclockwise) Jill at the bottom, Donna, Andrea, Nathy, Zuleika, Becca, Laura, Begoña  The mi...

On Monday I drove to Martorell (about 30 minutes from home) to pick up Ana Cecilia Manco Pérez, or "Ceci" to stay in our home for a few days. Ceci grew up in Peru and currently has Argentinian nationality. Ceci had applied as a new staff member to work with Agape here in Spain, but was still waiting for the final word from our leadership on her acceptance. Ceci is a professor, an author and recent graduate of  a Masters program in Madrid in AudioVisual Communications. While she has many gifts to offer, she has one major handicap: she is unknown to the world of Agape and Agape is new to her as well. In December, during her interview, the advice she received was that it would be important for her to learn more about the various ministries of Agape . As a result, I offered our home near Barcelona as a place to stay so that she could visit the staff and ministries in Barcelona. On Wednesday, she was able to attend the weekly "co-working" gathering in the heart...

This year God has been so gracious to provide additional laborers for the gospel in Spain. Last week, at our New Staff Training outside of Málaga, Spain, we welcomed (pictured around the table, left to right)   Loida Fernández  (with daughter  Meghan),  Aitor de la Cámara , LDHR Director Rex Winn, Esther Morales , LDHR Director Gema Álvarez, Evelyn, Oliver, Rut Fuentes (childcare) and Pau Abad .  Aitor and Loida will be launching the prayer and discipleship ministry 24/7 in Madrid, which has its origins in England. Esther will be joining the Operations Team in the National Office in Valencia; and Pau will join the Global Aid Network team in Valencia. Rex, Gema and I each shared a variety of topics with our new staff from the history of Ágape, to our mission and values as well as practical policies for new employees. Natan de Souza, director of the Fuente del Peregrino, met with us by skype. He shared about the importance of maintaining o...

These smiling faces represent the best and the brightest of our new generation of staff. For the last 2 years they have been practicing the ins and outs of field ministry...but at the same time, carving out time for study and reflection and discussion with a staff mentor to ensure a solid foundation for the long haul. We believe that the condition of the hearts of our staff is priority number one and from a healthy heart that depends on the Lord a healthy, fruitful ministry will flow. Servant Leadership, Restoring God's Justice in a Broken World and Coaching were 3 of the New Staff Training topics that we covered during our time together. Together with New Staff Training director, Donna Cannella, we planned and prayed for months that the Lord would use this time to bring blessing and effective closure to this inicial season of staff life for these precious new staff. Their feedback about the weekend was encouraging. When asked, "What will you take away from this w...

For decades (if not centuries) in Spain, the the perspective on giving financially toward God's Work has been a difficult pill to swallow even by many Christians. For many Spanish missionaries, the idea of support raising is equal to begging for alms and living on less than enough.  As a result, many of our staff struggle financially, which in the long run also hinders their personal ministries. However, in October I went to Málaga with our newest staff in Spain to listen to their presentations of their personal ministries. The small room was filled with several of our bright new staff who are trusting God to meet their financial needs so they can use their FULL-TIME to take the gospel to others who don't know Christ.  I got goosebumps. There was an eagerness stirring in me as i listened to David and Ellen share about how God had called them into ministry and the profound effect the gospel had on one of their neighbors. I am still overwhelmed and amazed ...

Over the last 2 years Agape has seen an encouraging rise in the number of new staff joining our ministry. I was in Málaga this month (Oct 8-10) to assist in our ministry support development training for new staff in Spain. In was a very encouraging time to get to know these young staff and to hear their stories, to remind them of God's faithfulness in raising up our ministry support team and to encourage them in all that God has called them to do. One of the staff I met is Pablo Gómez, or Pablín as he is often called. He has been volunteering for several years with Agape, but the end of 2012, he made the most important decision of his life, to not only dedicate part of his time serving God but rather to work full-time to build bridges in order to help change lives by introducing people to Jesus. Below he shares a bit of his story.... "My name is Pablo J. Gómez, but everyone calls me Pablín. It's a name that I identify with because, although I am tall, I recognize...

This year's National Staff Conference for Agape Spain, Llamados (Called) 2013,  was held April 19-21 in Platja d'Aro, Spain.  An American couple living in Argentina, Tim and Annette Gulick, designed the talks and the small group activities which made up the bulk of the conference content. They challenged us to reflect on the reality of the world we live in, the gifts and talents that each one of us possesses and the material resources that we've been given to help those in need.  The Gulicks, along with National Director Edi Souto, reminded us that we live in a broken world in which we have experienced 4 aspects of broken relationship: with God, with others, with ourselves, and with the environment. The message of hope highlighted God's plan....a path to reconciliation and healing of these broken relationships. The gathering was also a great opportunity to see many of the new staff  that have joined Agape since Janua...