Wednesday, May 11, 2016

ProFILE - Leadership Retreat

Some of you may remember last year I wrote 4 times about ProFILE, a leadership training series we held. We were so happy with the results, as were the leaders who completed the program, and the churches they came from, that we decided to start again this year with a new group of leaders. We held the first retreat during Lent, so there was just a quick picture. But, like last year, I will tell the story for the second retreat (and the rest) through photos.

For all the activities we do, we divide the participants into groups. This is one of the groups (back to the camera) Cristina, to her left, Alba, Juan Esteban, Danna, Elisa, and Maribel. They are playing a game we made about the history of Martin Luther and the Reformation. All the participants were giving homework to prepare for the retreat, they had clearly done their homework and came very well prepared. 

Pastor Ata is leading the whole group. He was main presenter for the retreat. He lead about Lutheran Confessions and Doctrine. He did a very good job making a potentially dull topic (albeit important) very interactive and vibrant. Everyone participated, even our youngest participant, 13 year old (son of the women). 

One of the pieces of homework the participants were given after the last retreat was to replicate at least one part of the retreat in their own congregation. Here are some of the evaluations of the presentations (green leaves - areas to improve and colored fruit are the things they are already doing well) (In the middle with the hearts were put from some jokers in the group, also all affirmations). 

We also studied the Luther Rose, and its's meaning. Each participant decorated and designed a frame for their Luther Rose. Everyone participated in this activity, here is Ricardo with his frame. 

Here is the whole group. It is a good group, and will be a good year working with them! This retreat was in Bucaramanga in the Oriente (Eastern) Region.