Church-Based Training (CBT) & European Leadership Forum (ELF)

Currently, I am back in Europe to grow, connect, and seek partners! 

I was In Vienna for about a week with several staff (all three of us led workshops and Liz Loeffler was also a plenary speaker) for the Church-Based Training Symposium. 

2011 European Leadership Forum

Now I am in Eger, Hungary for six days at an annual European Leadership Forum with 600 others who are like-minded and serious about best practices and global trends in equipping church leaders for discipleship. I am serving as a Forum Resource Person, which is a small group leader, something I enjoy.  I have been challenged by individual conversations, small groups, as well as presenters…all distinguished in that they have accepted God’s Call on their lives. 

Os Guinness inspiring leaders with hope

Os Guinness called for a 3^rd Mission to the West saying twice before Christianity has been nearly extinguished. It is a thrilling experience to hear this noted social critic tell Christian leaders in Europe, where they are overwhelmingly in the minority, that there is great hope in seeing how God has moved in history and he summed it up by citing 3 familiar summary phrases. 

       

• “He’s got the whole world in his hands” The dominant emotion around the world is fear. Now we as followers of Jesus have no fear.

• “Our utmost for His highest.” We should each focus on our OWN calling. That is all we are responsible for. What a relief!

• “Let a thousand flowers bloom.” (attributed to Mao) Many of the generalizations we hear about Christianity today are discouraging, but many of the exceptions incredibly inspiring. Let us focus on those!

Eventually this will be uploaded so that anyone can hear the address. This is a treasure trove of some of the best speakers in the world all of whom pay their way to minister at this uniquely strategic conference. Check it out. http://welforum.com/course/view.php?id=90

Thank you for your prayers and for making it possible for us to accept God’s call on our lives for the Glory of God …

Blessings on you, David

All Staff Conference-Update

David told the staff, “This is my last big first!”

And in many ways, the recently completed All Staff Conference was probably the biggest of the “firsts” we have experienced since coming to Entrust. Over 120 staff members and guests gathered at a very reasonably priced seaside “resort”. We will be coy about the location for reasons detailed below, but you were more likely to hear German, Russian and Ukrainian before you heard English spoken among the busloads of tourists that we rubbed shoulders with. 

It was a beautiful setting, if a bit cool, and provided some relaxation and recreation while the staff went through an ambitious week long schedule.  This was “big” because gathering everyone together in one place tends to be a defining moment for the organization and this would be the first time we had the opportunity to address issues and answer questions with everyone present.

Some of our highlights:

Initiative. I sensed a dramatic shift away from speaking of ministry limitations to enthusiastic discussion of ministry possibilities.

Engagement. We have worked and prayed for unity around the direction of Entrust. There were dynamic conversations between staff and board from sunrise, way past sunset!

Finishing.  In our last session, I challenged our staff to finish well. The baby boomers in our staff have had a great run, but they also hold the institutional knowledge accumulated in the last 30+ years and we need them to prepare the way for a whole new generation of “trainers of trainers.” I want our new recruits to be able to count on this wise counsel and support as they blaze new trails into new regions for the glory of Christ.

Family Fun Night
"The Monotones"

Team Building Exercise

Women's Gathering

• In-depth discussions of launching Men to Men Ministry Training. This is an exciting development with all sorts of implications for ministry at home and abroad.
  
  
• Positive response from staff on expansion into India and the Far East. There was a lot of interest in understanding the strategies and the implications for other new initiatives Entrust will undertake.
  
  
• Outstanding video production of regional updates and of staff providing reflective thinking on the conference themes. Our communications team worked long and hard to collect hours of video clips from the staff and distilled those into short presentations which had great impact in short bursts of time.
  
  
• Encouraging times of worship, prayer and interaction, enjoying the presence of the Lord! We had special prayer times for the staff of each region as well as times of prayer and reflection at both the beginning and end of each day.
  

Family Update
Sophie Lynn Goodman was born on 4-11-11 at 11:34 pm, 6 pounds, 9 ounces,19 ¼”  Since we were in Turkey, we were very thankful for Skype video capabilities for staying in communication throughout the labor and delivery.  We did get to visit them for three days early this month, after our return – Wonderful time of celebrating one of God’s incredible miracles.  Sophie is already over a month old and has grown so much!

Would you like to see more pictures from the All Staff Conference?  Please click this link to see them on the Entrust Facebook page:  All Staff Conference 2011