School of Leadership Development

Since October 12, Jorge has been in Bucaramanga, Colombia attending a six-week YWAM School of Leadership Development.  So far he is having a great time, being encouraged, spiritually refreshed and learning new things.  Some of the topics covered in this school are:  team leadership, giftings of a leader, self-leadership, dealing with conflict, vision, and integrity.  We are keeping in touch via Facebook and Skype almost every day and I can see that he has been very blessed by this opportunity!  Here are a few photos of his time so far:

Students and leaders.

View of Bucaramanga from the base.

Jorge with his school mentor, Gary McKinney who is a part of YWAM's international leadership.  Gary and his wife, Deanna, have ministered in Spain for the last 40 years and are now the base directors of YWAM Madrid.

Jorge giving a presentation to the class.

Class in session.

School leaders.

Jorge in his dorm room which he is sharing with 3 other guys.

I don't have any photos of Erika (our mission operations director in Bocachica), but she is also in Bucaramanga doing the school with Jorge.

I am missing my Jorgito and really looking forward to when he comes home!  I am, however, very grateful that he has had this opportunity.  Originally we were planning to do the school together but since I had these health issues I wasn't able to go.  We hoped to meet each other back in Cartagena in December but I have had some set-backs in the healing process (I'll tell you more about that later) which has delayed the process.  So now, our plan is that when Jorge is finished with the school he will come back to spend the holidays with me here in NC.

YWAM´s 50th Anniversary Celebration

Last week the northern region of South American YWAMers celebrated our 50th Anniversary at a regional conference in Cartagena!

The conference went great and we were very blessed by all the Lord did! My friend, Kristina (from Sweden) and I had the privilege and honor of being the ¨attendants¨ for Loren and Darlene and boy was it a busy, busy few days!! I have posted lots of photos from the event so please CLICK HERE to see more!!

Kristina and I with Loren and Darlene. The Cunninghams are in their 70`s and it was exhausting keeping up with them! They are such an inspiration!

Being their attendants meant a lot of things...translators, facilitators, organizers, guides, chauffeur, etc... It was a blessing for us to have this opportunity and we thank the Lord for it!!

Wedge and Shirley Alman, founders of YWAM Colombia...they are in their 80´s and still going strong! What a blessing they are too! Lots´of stories of God´s faithfulness were shared!

Praying for Loren and Darlene before heading to the airport.

Alejandro Rodriguez, the director of YWAM Argentina was another guest speaker! He´s very motivational and shared about how YWAM´s weakness are also our strengths as well as encouraging us in the area of unity. Love him!!

Happy Anniversary YWAM

This year YWAMers all over the globe are celebrating our mission´s 50th anniversary! Our founders, Loren and Darlene Cunningham are traveling all around, visiting and celebrating alongside YWAMers world-wide. Next week the celebration will be held in Cartagena and hosted by the local YWAMers in Cartagena. This event will be held for our entire region, the northern cone of South America so we will welcome those coming from Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and all of Colombia.

It will be a privilege to hear first-hand from Loren and Darlene, the ones who started it all! The story of how YWAM got started is an awesome, challenging, faith inspiring story. Loren shares the details in his book, IS THAT REALLY YOU, GOD? YWAMer or not, if you are interested in any kind of a personal relationship with God then you will LOVE this book!

Also speaking at this event are Wedge and Shirley Alman, the founders of YWAM in South America who spent a significant number of years pioneering the work of YWAM in Colombia.

Alejandro Rodriguez is another keynote speaker who is the director of YWAM Argentina.

The Cunninghams are in their 70´s, the Almans are in their 80´s and Alejandro, well, he has a way to go to catch up with them but the founding generations of our mission are passing the torch on to the younger generations. They have served as fine examples for us and I hope we can do them and the Lord justice with the future of YWAM around the world.

Our New Ad!

We would like to say a special Thank-you to our friends at YWAM San Diego/Baja who gave us a special gift in the form of a free ad in the upcoming Go Manual, which is YWAM´s version of a directory and mission opportunity catalog. Special thanks to Brett Curtis for thinking of us and to Rosie Lambert for designing the ad for us!! Here is a sneak-peek at the ad! Isn´t it great?!

Proyecto Libertad Ad for Go Manual

YWAM Americas Regional Leadership Conference

The last week in April we had the opportunity to participate in the regional leadership conference for YWAM in the Americas. Not because we are regional leaders but because the conference was held in Cartagena and we helped with the logistics for the conference. It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones! There were regional leaders representing as far north as Greenland all the way down to the southern tip of Chile! Here are a few photo highlights but you can see more HERE! It is an honor to serve alongside such wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to furthering God´s Kingdom here on earth through full-time service in missions.

Us with Peter Iliyn who is a dear friend and currently serves as YWAM´s North America Director.

Shirley and Wedge Alman are the founders of YWAM Colombia.

Ricardo and Marilu Rodriguez are the regional directors for the Northern Cone of South America.

Jorge hanging out with friends, old and new.

Jim Steir is the founder of YWAM Brazil and currently serves as the YWAM Americas Director.