In addition to meeting RTH partners in Colombia, we coordinated (and then participated in) a new kind of training happening in Latin America for the first time. Freedom to Lead brought their seasoned trainers and directors to lead us all through module of The Garden Project. This training confronted the ways culture can warp ministry leadership and focused on the healthy ways Jesus ministered.
32 pastors and ministry leaders from 8 Latin countries came together to engage in an immersive training filled with deep reflection and creative expression in the form of original songs, skits, and stories as an avenue for profound learning and change.
The training centered around four images:
The pile of rocks represents the people who have invested in and shaped you and your ministry. The floating crocodile depicts how what is going on under the surface is so much more important than what you can see.
The image of the water hand pump symbolizes how leaders use pressure to get results. The rice field illustrates the idea of leadership as cultivation.
This training portrayed cultivation as a major metaphor by which Christian leaders should approach their ministry. Christian leadership ought to be about empowering others, helping them to grow into all that God has made them to be.
Immersive activities, such as stories, skits, and songs, were the vehicles which prompted deep reflection on life and ministry. And prompt they did!
Seasoned pastors shared freely how they’ve made mistakes and how they desire to lead in transformative ways from now on. Participants committed to become more like Jesus through servant leadership, and replicate this training for others.
Each participant committed to do two things: 1) become more like Jesus through servant leadership, and 2) train others in the same way and with the same content. We were so encouraged that several groups began their planning to conduct this same training for people in their native countries before they even left Colombia!
This training is a snapshot of the kinds of high-quality, transformational trainings our Regional Training Hubs (RTHs) provide to the growing church in the Global South. We think the potential to strengthen the Church through RTHs is so exciting!
Thank you for partnering with us this year! Your prayers, reaching out for conversation, and generous financial giving are vital to the work God is accomplishing through us together.