This time last week, I was recovering from jet-lag having just returned to Glasgow after about 20 hours of transatlantic travel. Feeling suitably recovered now to write a bit about my time... upon my return, Niamh who used to be a wonderful sleeper is getting up to all kinds of bedtime shenanigans (this involves shouting, "Daddy, Mommy! Uh oh! Stuck, stuck! It's not okay, not alright, not fine!" All while purposefully shoving her arms and legs through the cot so she gets stuck), which has caught Emma and I slightly unawares. With that said, the collective lack of sleep whilst trying to reason with a two year old can be hilarious once you get past how tired you are.
It was my second time attending International Team's biennial
"International Leadership Forum", or "ILF" as we really dig
initialism in this organisation. Two
years ago, you might remember that I went to Turkey for the same thing.
Again, I enjoyed the experience. On the flight out of Amsterdam, I found
myself in the same row as some of our workers in Kenya. It was a good chance to catch up with Peter,
who was at Belfast Bible College the same time Emma and I were there. Small world!
The conference itself was a great time of learning,
reconnecting with old friends, and meeting new ones. Though so many in ITeams are working in different
contexts, it's impossible not to be inspired by what is happening around the
world. Casual conversations inspire and can
plant seeds... two years ago, Tim Uthmann told me about an Italian football
team that was made up of refugees. A
short conversation (that Tim may not even remember) and now I'm helping to
coordinate a football team.
Another blessing during this ILF was the presence of
so many of our South American, African, Eastern European and Filipino brothers
and sisters; they well outnumbered those of us from the UK. We often hear about a new paradigm in mission
that is "from everywhere to everyone" (to borrow Samuel Escobar's
phrase) and it was both encouraging and humbling to see that first-hand. Modern technology is wonderful, but it really
cannot replace genuine human contact.
Though I had not seen some friends for two years, the sense
of community remained strong. Confirmation,
that after all, "There is one body
and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and
through all and in all" (Eph 4:6).
I could go on for ages about the teaching and
training. Still trying to mentally
digest it all, but to give you a flavour... we looked at working on diverse
teams, community transformation and outcome based planning, perseverance in
ministry (according to the book of Hebrews), discipleship methods, heard many stories
about what God is doing through our teams around the world... I could go on and
on. It was a thought provoking and
healthily diverse teaching line up; I was also impressed by how available all
the presenters were. All were generous
with their time in discussing questions, which helped to tease out how the
taught principles could be applied to our own contexts.
Costa Rica itself is a beautiful country and the food was
great, at least what I experienced.
The coffee didn't disappoint and I'm now well stocked up. In the supermarket I went into, I was impressed by how ethical much of the coffee was
(especially when compared to our local ASDA) and that it seemed impossible to
purchase anything grown outside the country (I did only enter one supermarket, so I won't be so foolish to make any grand generalisations). The weather was a shocker, upwards from 30c and 70% humidity is unheard of where we're living. I sort of enjoyed the warmth, but found myself disturbed by how I have acclimatised to and (almost) prefer the dreich.
It was well worth the long flights. I enjoyed my time in Costa Rica, but was even
happier to be reunited with my girls and team in Glasgow. I returned feeling further equipped and
enthusiastic about our ministry in Glasgow.
I'll leave you with some pictures:
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| Beautiful coastline. A bit of body surfing was good for this Californian's soul. |
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| Chris, who works in Little Village in Chicago. It's always great to catch up all the Urban Ministry folk; though our cities are very different, there are still many common features that our urban landscapes share. Great to share some of the joys and struggles of living in, serving, and loving our broken communities. |
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| Phil Chester teaching in the main conference room, thankfully air conditioned. |
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| C'mon the Jags! Nate (he and his wife Faith doing great stuff on El Camino in northern Spain) titled this photo "dorks" on facebook and when my wife saw this, her only comment was, "Paul, you're so rare." I'm glad that Nate can now feel like real Partick Thistle with this lovely footy top that came to South America all the way from the wilds of North Glasgow. I think we looked classy. |
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| Not all sunshine. Around 3pm every day there was heaving rain and serious thunderstorms; it always left as quickly as it came. See poor Kim coming back into the hotel drenched. |
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| My bag going on the top of the bus. |
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| These guys were all over the place. Bigger than I expected. |
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| More wildlife. Came across these crabs hanging around outside my room. |
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| Wonderful pinkish pre-thunder storm clouds. |
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| I don't know what this is. I thought "Pipa" was baby coconut? But those look way to small. Somebody correct me? |
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| Lots of lovely hills covered in green. Altogether different from the lovely green of the Scottish hills. |
