Leader's Training & Gazillions of Zooms

Leader's Training

On Saturday, September 26th, I had the privilege of leading the first of a series of video meetings via Zoom with our Campus Staff team and a group of student leaders to dig into a demanding subject - LEADERSHIP. I loved seeing these students excited to meet and talk about leadership on a Saturday morning. Remember, I work with college students, Saturday mornings are rarely the best option, but they themselves picked this time because they wanted to be sure there was no competition.

One student made it all worth it when she said, "I often think of a leader only as those who have a huge impact or someone far beyond my ability to influence, so I had all but given up on the idea of being a leader. But, seeing and hearing that God uses people differently, for larger or smaller impacts, and that a Christian's calling to follow Jesus is synonymous with influencing and leading others toward God has given me new hope in being a leader."

Gazillions of Zooms

Just like so many others in the world, COVID-19 has not stopped life from marching on, but it has increased video meetings a gazillion-fold. We are no different!

• In August, our team had a 10-session Training Course with our church pastor about a Christian Worldview.

• Each throughout the month, I have meetings with our Campus team, Leadership team, entire COBH team, bible-studies, workshops and church Elder Session.

• In September, our team met for a 4-session Evangelism Training workshop.

• Our team has begun a type of group discussion for students who are really asking great questions about Jesus and how He is relevant to their spiritual reality via Zoom.

• There is, also, the home dynamic of Isaac having school via Zoom 5 days a week!

• And, not necessarily Zoom, but part of our team is taking an online course at the School of Biblical Counseling of CCEF, "Dynamics of Biblical Change." It involved several hours of lecture and reading per week.

Our personal connections have begun to increase as the situation normalizes here in Belo Horizonte, therefore, please continue to pray for us as we venture out, face Zoom fatigue and walk by faith and share the hope and the good news of Jesus.

New Resource Teammates 2018

One objective our Resource (administrative) Team listed for 2017 was to recruit at least 1 more Resource staff during the year. We asked God to raise up people, we networked out and we had our eyes open. Before the end of 2017, we had 1 Brazilian intern on our team and 1 graduate from the US committed and preparing to join our team!

Luca Diorrane

The increasing work load for our growing team and ministry is one reason we wanted to focus our efforts on recruitment. Also, as a ministry committed to multiplication, we want to constantly renew our team and "work ourselves out of a job". God provided, and we are excited about the new faces around our Resource Team.

Luca Diorrane recently graduated from UFMG in Belo Horizonte, where he became a Christian late in his college career. He is a very talented guy with a desire to serve, administrative aptitude, a gifted musician, a member of a dance company, and a beast of a futsal player. After a short-term, overseas job opportunity fell through, we began to talk with him about an experience working with our Resource Team until the end of 2018. He accepted and we are glad to have him with us!

Marquise Piton

Marquise Piton is a South Florida native who graduated from Eastern Kentucky University where he played football and graduated in Network Security and Electronics. The CO Lexington Resource staff connected us to Marquise. After completing the application and interview process,  he decided to quit his job and fully commit to raising support and joining our team for a 2-year commitment. Marquise arrived in March, and is focusing on learning Portuguese, transitioning to a new culture and getting connected with students on campus. He will bring some much-needed technilogical specialization to our team.

I am leading a series of training sessions on the vision and practical side of being a Resource Staff (picture above). Both Luca and Marquise have embraced the vision, and each week they are engaging more and more in supporting the movement through our Resource Team. God provided and is raising others to "work ourselves out of job!" But don't worry, there is plenty to be done as we continue to be one of the only ministries focusing on college students in Brazil.