Lead Team update

May God bless you richly this Easter season!

Last week, ReachGlobal held its annual Lead Team meeting in Mt. Hermon, California, at a Christian camp and conference center in the midst of the beautiful Sequoia Redwood forests. The week was both refreshing and challenging as we worshipped together, studied the Word, prayed often, discussed ReachGlobal dynamics, and celebrated what God is doing around the world in and through our ministries.

The conference began with a full day of fasting, worship, and prayer. Throughout the week, we focused on discussing multiplication, vision casting, develop-empower-release dynamics, personnel health, and how we can be intentional about developing new leadership within our organization. Each ReachGlobal division shared a ministry report, and EFCA President Bill Hamel gave an update on the EFCA.

We were also privileged to hear from Tim Addington throughout the week. He spoke candidly on important teaching points from his soon-to-be-published book on deep influence – specifically, how leaders can develop a deep influence in the lives of others and what mistakes can result in the loss of that influence.

The overriding theme of the conference was the transformational power of the gospel in individuals, organizations, and communities. The ReachGlobal mission is to glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people, and we are gospel-centered in our very being. The gospel is the reason we do church multiplication, and this topic is part of an ongoing discussion within ReachGlobal and the EFCA.

In addition to the regular meeting schedule, the Latin America Leadership Team also took time apart to discuss various topics in our area. Although we meet regularly via conference calls each month, it was a pleasant change to be face-to-face, enjoying a nice meal in the outdoors and thinking through various aspects of ReachGlobal’s work in Latin America.

As your area leaders, we would like to express our appreciation for each of you, your work for the Lord, and your part in ReachGlobal’s ministry here in God’s continent. 

Introducing our new Communications Coordinator

I’d like to introduce our newest staff member, Melissa Putney.  Melissa will be serving in the role of Communications Coordinator for Latin America and is a much needed addition to our RG staff. 

The role of Communications Coordinator involves several aspects:

·        Liaise between the National Office and Latin America

·        Help improve our overall communications in all formats (web, newsletters, printed materials, PowerPoints, etc.) for both external and internal communications

·        Provide training and act as a resource to our RG staff in their communications

·        Develop a Latin America communications strategy and plan

Although she will be available to help with your communications questions and provide recommendations, Melissa is not the originator of content.  That still needs to come from you, our RG staff who are experiencing God’s work in your area in unique ways.  Thus Melissa would appreciate your help in several ways:

·        Please add her to your regular prayer updates distribution and while you’re there, please make sure I am on the list as well.  I read these and pray for each of you.

·        Send her stories and God-sightings that she can edit and publish

·        Let her know how you are communicating outside prayer letters, such as your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. 

·        Consider helping Melissa with skills you may have such as editing, writing, web updating, photography, videography

Short Bio: After graduating from Clemson University in 2006, Melissa moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and entered the corporate world – initially participating in a rotational leadership development program at Vanguard and later working as a corporate recruiter for Red Ventures (a sales & marketing firm based in the Charlotte area). While in Charlotte, she also became involved at Church at Charlotte, a local EFCA church, volunteering as a youth leader with the junior and senior high youth groups.

While working in Charlotte, she felt the Lord calling her to full-time ministry or mission work and began exploring the options and listening for God’s leading. It was through connections at Church at Charlotte that she discovered the opportunity to serve Christ in Latin America with ReachGlobal. God affirmed this decision, and after raising support for her two-year ministry assignment, Melissa moved to Costa Rica in early March to serve as the Communications Coordinator for Latin America.

Fine print: Melissa has joined RG for a two-year fixed term and is living in Costa Rica.  She will report directly to me.  Her KRAs will be based on the area KRAs and her role will develop as our communications abilities improve.  Although Melissa’s work will be primarily in English, she will attend one semester of Spanish starting in May.  She may be contacting you for information on your current communications approaches and to solicit stories from you.  Please understand that Melissa is not an administrative assistant and will not be able to help you in those types of areas. 

So please welcome Melissa to the RG LA team!

Teams for 2010

Haiti response

Many of you have been praying for the situation in Haiti and we are very grateful.  I got back from Port-au-Prince on Thursday and wanted to give you a brief update on what is happening and where it is going.

 

Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti with around 2-3 million people before the earthquake.  On January 12 there was a 7.0 earthquake that struck to the west of the city and devastated much of the surrounding area.  It is difficult to communicate how extensive the destruction is.  150 thousand victims have been buried but there are many thousands of others still entombed beneath the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings.  In the time I was there, there were 50 aftershocks of a 4.5 magnitude or larger.  This has created an overwhelming sense of fear on the part of Haitians, none of whom will sleep inside a building even if it is still standing.  The large majority of the few remaining structures have severe damage and could fall at any time.  Thus there are over 1.5 million people sleeping on the street each night, as far away from buildings as they can get.  Food and water continue to be scarce and help from many government agencies and NGOs is difficult to distribute.  If you would like to learn more about what life is like on the ground, read back entries in my blog: diggerduggan.blogspot.com followed by current entries by Steve Spellman at spellmanrio.blogspot.com.   

 

What we are doing:  TouchGlobal Crisis Response and ReachGlobal missionaries are working together to help meet immediate needs and to develop partnerships that will extend our work into our mission goal, “To multiply healthy churches among all people.”  The situation on the ground is changing every day, so a definite strategy is still under development.  However, God has opened some amazing doors for us to both meet immediate needs and to find new potential partners already working in Haiti.  At this point we are pursuing two houses in two different areas outside Port-au-Prince where teams can be hosted for ongoing work.  This work could take the form of construction, water projects, crisis counseling, and other areas.  We also have an exisiting partner in Cap Haitian whom many of you know, Henoc Lucien.  We have sent medical teams to Henoc to help with the many patients being flown to Cap Haitian for medical care.  We are working with Henoc to see if there can be a church planting strategy in the Port-au-Prince area using leaders and church planters from the Cap Haitian area. 

 

As you may have surmised, Steve Spellman is currently in Haiti.  He will be replaced by the Gundersons for a few weeks before he returns for another couple of weeks.  Brian and Sarah Bennetch (RG staff from Italy) are also there to help us get organized for future work.  We have been scouring the RG network for French speaking staff who could commit 1, 3, 6 months or more to this work.  If you know of former, retired, leave of absence or other missionaries who might be interested in this work, please let me know.  The work will be focused on both compassion ministry and church multiplication, a balance that Christ demonstrated in his ministry years. 

 

We anticipate many churches wanting to help with Haiti.  Although we are not yet ready to receive teams and in fact, there are no commercial flights into Haiti at this point, we do plan to have the processes and support systems in place soon.  There have been many instances of God opening doors and bringing us to people who are doctrinally compatible, missionally aligned and eager to partner.  Continue to pray for God’s grace and mercy as we seek the opportunity for the multiplication of healthy churches in Haiti.

 

Below is the official response we are giving to churches and individuals who are interested in helping or sending teams.  Thank you for praying for RG, TG, Haiti and God’s provision of workers for this ripe harvest.

 

Brian

 

 

Hi - great to hear from you.  I am replying from Port-au-Prince. It is devastating and chaotic. There is a school beside our base that has 60 kids entombed. We're reminded of this by the odor every time we walk by.

 

1.  Our greatest need currently is prayer and monetary donations. We have a giving link at www.efca.org  . We have a bulletin insert at www.efca.org/haiti  . Checks payable to EFCA can be sent to:
Earthquake Relief #3970
901 E. 78th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55420

 

Please use your email address list and Facebook friends to help in getting that word out. We will be updating our plans and reports via our Touchglobal Haiti email. To subscribe, email donna.burke@efca.org .

 

2.  The medical need has changed.  We NO longer need medical personnel in Cap Haiten and are switching our efforts to reconstruction outside of Port au Prince.  You can contact haititeams@efca.org for more information.  We need construction teams in Port au Prince. 3^rd world experience is prerequisite.  The work here is getting a base camp ready, and starting clean-up to reach PaP.  You must arrange your own flights to Port au Prince or arrive via Dominican Republic.  BUT FIRST connect with haititeams@efca.org.  These would be 6 man teams but let me know how many you can get together.  We prefer 6 skilled/semiskilled construction guys who have out of country experience.  The price will be $900 plus airfare to/from Haiti. Let me know how many can come, skill level, and your availability.

 

3. If you would like to donate medical or non-medical supplies to the efforts in Haiti, please send them to our TouchGlobal warehouse in Rockford IL (address below).  You can email haitiresponse@efca.org to see what donations are needed.

 

Warehouse Hours:

Mon – Fri   8:00 to 5:00

 

Address:

EFCA TouchGlobal

402 Kishwaukee St

Rockford, IL  61104

 

Tel. 815/969-0900

 

4. If you would like to give one of our "Big Asks" listed below please contact kevin.watterson@efca.org first! 

Big Asks!

• A Ford F-250 crew cab, long bed, 4x4 with 7.3 liter diesel engine in decent shape. If the vehicle’s reliability is questionable on American roads, it will never hold up to the rough terrain of Haiti’s unpaved roads. 
• 16” 10-ply tires, as flats are prevalent because of the type of roads in Haiti. Imagine rock climbing as well as driving through streams as high as the hood of the truck.
• Ford E-350 Diesel 15 passenger van
• Isusu cab over style diesel large box van
• Diesel pickup truck- Supplied by God – PTL!
• 250cc or bigger dirt bike- road legal with lights and turn signals
• Flat bed trailer, 14 -18 foot
• Chains and binders for trailer
• Backhoe and/or skid loader with backhoe attachment
• Grapple, jackhammer attachments
• Fuel bladders and 50 gallon tank with hose
• Generators- Diesel-5KW or larger
• Ford f-350 or 450/ or Isusu cab over style diesel dump truck,11,000 lb-.16,000 lb.
• Temporary housing – large military tents/mobile units
• Large air compressors and related attachments – jack hammers, hoses
• VSAT Communications system
• Concrete Tools and Equipment
• Cement mixer
• Mortar mixer
• Block press
• Power tamper
• Vibrator
• Hand tools and floats

We’ll keep you posted on details for future teams serving other needs as we get more details.

Thanks for your interest in serving.  Ml

 

Mark Lewis, Director

Touchglobal Crisis Response

 

 

 

 

 

Short-term teams tracking

One of the privileges we have as missionaries is to arrange, organize, train, and host short-term teams from the States.  Perhaps at times it doesn't feel like a privilege, but we all know the importance of introducing people to missions and maintaining strong connections with Stateside churches.

As an area we host many teams, but the right hand doesn't always know what the left is doing.  To address that, we would like to introduce a SIMPLE and PAINLESS as possible process.  It involves filling out an online form posted on our RGLA Staff Broadcast blog.  We would like to start with teams from 2009.  Here is the request:

For every short-term team with whom you had involvement, please fill out the form ONCE.  If several of you were involved with that team, please have just one person fill it out to avoid duplicated effort.

The form can be found at http://rglastaffbroadcast.blogspot.com/2009/10/teams-for-2009.html or just go to the blog and choose the December 15, 2009 entry.  Once we have gathered info on the teams for 2009 we will take lessons learned and create a form for 2010, hopefully improving the tracking process along the way.

Thank you for doing this!  We recognize that this adds another task to your already full plates and we appreciate your willingness to help.  Any suggestions for improvement are welcome, either by email or by adding comments to this blog post.

2009: Remembering and anticipating

Dear ReachGlobal LA missionaries,

Greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray that this note finds you well and enjoying the opportunity to be with friends and family. 

Many exciting events have occurred within our division this year:
    - It was almost one year ago that we all came together for our area conference, a first for the Duggan family and several others who have come onboard in the previous three years. 
    - The LA arrival of Bethany Kerr, the Johnson family and the Jenkins family (Bethany is in Peru, and the Johnsons and Jenkins are in Costa Rica for language study)
    - Acceptance of the Wilson family (Jim and Melanie) and Melissa Putney, both currently raising support
    - Transfer of the McGwire family from Connect to RGLA (ReachGlobal Latin America)
    - Transfer of Gene and Linda Wilson to a similar role for all of RG and the Gundersons into Gene’s previous role
    - Reorganization of our fields into four virtual (function-based) teams: 
        - Church-based Training – Omar Rodriguez
        - Church planting and coaching – Mike Gunderson
        - Theological education – Keith Anderson
        - Holistic Ministry – Brian until a leader is found
    - Increasing relationship with non-residential country partners
    - Five high-school graduate children of our missionaries who have headed off to college
    - New opportunities in each of our six residential countries for expanded ministry impact
    - Many national leaders from Latin America attending our annual church planting and coaching clinic in Costa Rica this past November
    - Our area leaders began meeting monthly to coordinate area direction and establish priorities

And in the mission as a whole:
    - God’s miraculous intervention in preserving the life of Tim Addington following his second life-threatening illness
    - The addition of Keith Rascher as International Leader for MENA (Middle-East/North Africa)
    - The move for Rick Burke from International Leader for Europe to missions pastor in St. Louis
    - Denny Morrow leading TouchGlobal
    - Ken Warwick leading Engage, Enhance and Equip
    - Launch of a new web presence for the area:  www.goreachglobal.org/latinamerica

In 2010 we can anticipate:
    - The retirement of long-term and faithful servants, the Hillis and the Oates families
    - Increased interaction with our USA-based staff and partner churches
    - Dave Rofkahr moving from International Leader for Asia to leading RG’s new recruiting division
    - Growing incorporation of holistic work into our various ministries
    - Increased use of virtual technologies (Skype, Communicator, blogs, etc.) to improve communications among our various teams and partners

As we look toward this next year I would like to encourage you to prayerfully evaluate your ministry, consider your KRAs and seek God’s direction with your teammates and leader on how the work we do can be used more fully to multiply healthy churches among all people.  I am convinced that God can use our small numbers as Jesus used the five loaves and two fish to feed a multitude.  He is able and desires to use us, his servants, to carry the Gospel to the many who have never heard it or have heard a twisted version that leads them astray. 

Much of our work is focused on developing national leaders, whether mentoring, teaching in a church environment, or through formal education.  It is clear that God has his hand on Latin America and we firmly believe that he has national leaders who will carry forward his work here and in other places in the world.  Let us continue to seek his direction in identifying and partnering with these current and potential leaders.  By equipping leaders we are investing in a healthy and multiplying Latin church movement.  This movement will be key in seeing RG impact 100 million people over the next eight and a half years.  Your work is critical to reaching this goal.  Thank you for what you are doing and your flexibility during the past five years of significant change in the mission.  God is honoring himself through your work for Latin America.

A note on communications.  The need for more and better communications is a constant theme not only within our mission, but within any organization.  We are blessed to have Melissa Putney joining us soon to take on this enormous task.  We anticipate that you will see an improvement this year in intra-area and intra-mission communications as well as developing resources to assist you in your own communications efforts.  In addition to Melissa, please pray for the Wilson and the Paz families as they raise support to join us in Latin America. 

One venue we will begin to use for intra-area communications is a new blog, ReachGlobal Latin America Staff Broadcast (rglastaffbroadcast.blogspot.com).  The purpose of this blog will be share area news, stories of praise, reflections from area leaders and RG updates.  I would like to encourage you to submit stories, news and reflections to share through this blog.  It will be set up in a way so that you will receive an email with each update (so you don’t have to remember to check the blog frequently). 

We are excited about the new RG recruiting division as well as the recruiting role for LA that Joyce Werntz has taken.  However, each of us should continue to ask the Lord of the harvest for more workers to join us in the work in Latin America.  There are opportunities in each of our teams as well as area-wide opportunities.  Please pray particularly for the right  leader for our Holistic Ministry team. 

Once again, thank you for your faithful service in 2009, a year of changes and great blessings.  May God grant us another year in his service that will result in seeing his kingdom grow in Latin America.

Together in His service,

Brian

Brian Duggan
International Leader, Latin America
ReachGlobal
Brian.Duggan@efca.org
www.goreachglobal.org
704.708.4507 - Costa Rica office (USA number)
506.8886.7128 - Costa Rica mobile
BDugganRN - Skype, AIM, MS Messenger

Teams for 2009