In keeping with the general revolution that is going on in our lives and the changes that are happening with regard to our responsibilities in our ministry, Noreen and I are beginning to assume roles that require us to oversee the development of new leadership. By new leadership, I mean both our Mexican friends and younger Americans that are open to serving the Lord in foreign missions.
Noreen & I are slowly learning to delegate authority to our leadership at the school. This means that we need to allow our key leaders to advise us as to the direction the school needs to take in the next few years: a role that is quite different from the more active role in “daily decisions” that we had in the first five years of getting the school started.
With regard to our role as “disciplers” of younger missionaries, we are in the process of evaluating the different ways in which we might be more effective in this task. Basically, there are four different levels of commitment that we are working on:
1. Team Opportunities - We have been doing this for years and have found that many of those who participate in one of these trips would like to take a “second” step.
2. Individual Opportunities - For anyone interested in learning Spanish and having the opportunity to get to know more about living in another culture. We have Spanish teachers at the school and can provide a fairly structured environment (based on individual preferences) with regard to housing & transportation.
3. Short Term Internship - Basically, this involves a commitment of 6-8 weeks working with us in overseeing the different teams that come here during the summer.
4. 1-2 Year Service - With the development of the school, we are looking at developing a “Teach English, Learn Spanish” (TELS) project. This program would allow anyone interested in “testing their call” to spend an extended time in a needed ministry (Teaching English), while at the same time being immersed in a different language and culture.
PRAYER REQUESTS
1. Continued development of Mexican leadership and wisdom regarding our role in the school as we begin the process of stepping further into the background.
2. Wisdom and energy as we organize the different levels of involvement for Americans interested in missions and/or a cross-culture learning experience.
3. Funding for the school. Hopefully, this will be the last year that we depend on an external subsidy for “operations” at the school. We also need to finish paying for the construction of our Library building.
