LMC Brisbane 9 July - 23 July

Dear Friends,

'G'day Mate', as they would say in Australia, down under. I want to take this time to thank each and everyone of you for praying for me. your prayers really made a difference in my life. You have all been a wonderful team behind the scene. Your prayers and support made it possible for me to attend this course on Leadership in Brisbane, Australia. I want to say again, thank you for your support.

I have just returned from Brisbane after being away from home, office and family for 14 days. For me this course has been a life changing experience. I must admit that I have attended many other leadership courses and this one is the top of the notch. I mean it is the best one I have ever attended so far. I can sum it up by saying Skill empowerment. By that I mean Communication Skills, Relationship Skills, Management Skills, Life Management Skills, Ministry Skills,Training Skills, Creative Thinking & Decision Making Skills and Public Relations. I could have not ask for any more than these.

These course has really helped me in all the above areas and I look forward to applying them now. Well, I already have believe it or not. You see when I returned from Brisbane, we were just finishing our Orientation. I was asked to do my final session on Communication between office and missionaries on the field or the sending churches and supporters. One skill that I learnt was in the area of How to Lead a Workshop. Without delay I used the toolkit on how to lead workshop. My topic was on How to have good communication between the OM office and the missioanries on the field. Guess what? I applied the skills I acquired at the LMC on How to lead Workshop. It really worked. I was able to draw a lot of feed back from the team rather then me giving all the answers.

The next day we had a farewell meal for all the trainees and again I was able to give my talk using the Modular speaking technique. Again it worked very well. Later my wife told me that my way of presentation upfront really improved. Wow, what a comment to have from your wife! I was able to share about OM using the bolts & nuts technique. It was a great start for me.

I enjoyed my two weeks of training in Brisbane. It was hectic as there was lot of group work, individual work and participation in class as well. No session was done without participation from the class. All the Trainees were kept thinking for themselves all the time all throughout which was very good. The Trainers were very good. They had been doing these for many years so they were very experienced.

After 14 days of hard work we graduated with our certificates after a lovely Banquet or meal. By the way, it was winter at that time so it was cold for me. I had enough warm clothes to keep me warm during the day and night as well. If you ask me this question, Is it worth it all? I was not too sure what was involved in this course. I have attended many other similar courses as well. I had my fears of not knowing what was involved. In fact I was at cross roads in my leadership as well. I had been dealing with some very difficult relationships with people. After attending this course I am glad I have learnt some skills to be able to apply. we were encouraged to write to some of these people and appreciate them for who they are in God. Then I remembered, it is worth it all for attending the course. It has helped me to face these people with confidence and hope for the best for them and me.

Once again I want to thank you again for your support and prayers for my trip. I am now preparing for my trip to Germany to attend the OM International Forum in August. Would you pray for this trip as well. Pray that the finances will come in so we can make this trip to Germany.

Thank you

Kini Kila