How Do You Facilitate Deep Learning for 122 Missionaries in a Different Country?

…..In short, you need a team!

       I’m going to keep this short because there are more stories to tell. But in the middle of all these personal life events, it was a blessing to faciliate a 5 day workshop. I spent about 3 – 3 1/2 hours every night last week on zoom teaching from the word every night, providing some practical tools and perspectives in terms of spiritual formation and leadership development, and then I sent them into times of personal reflection and activities.  I worked with a couple of people in country to coordinate small groups and while I was sleeping…they all met for 2 hours with a peer group each day to do some of the group processing activities I designed.

      I’ll share 3 short highlights now:

  • An intern who was not sure he wanted to go into full-time ministry or missionary work because of how tired he was from working all the time. He shared he realized finally that the joy of the ministry comes from the Father’s love – and that he doesn’t need to perform to gain the Father’s love like he’d been doing.  That excited him to the point where he shared he wants to go to full-time ministry because He sees now how God wants to reveal Himself to people.
     
  • A 60-year-old senior staff in the marketplace that was feeling run down and wondering if her best ministry was behind her encountered the Lord deeply in ways that generated powerful new dreams and excitement for how she believes God wants to use her to build spiritual movements in the Manila marketplace. “I may not be able to do as much as I used to, but I can have a deeper impact that multiplied may extend far behind what I’ve done before. I’m dreaming again!”
     
  • A senior staff in his 40’s who messaged me privately the day after the conference.  He and his wife had already re-watched the devotionals I gave and they were going through some of the exercises as a family.  “This was just what we needed. Thank you for ministering to us in the place where we are in and reminding us of what ministry is all about!”

            These are a few fun nuggets. More to come. But it’s always refreshing to help leaders, those who bear so many burdens for others, experience the Lord’s comfort first themselves (2 Cor 1:1-2).  That becomes fuel for ministry and multiplication!  Pray for them all as they launch the coming season of ministry in the next couple of weeks.

               Thank you for praying with us and partnering with us!

Car Accident

        We were on our way to a family getaway with my (Brian’s) side of the family where we were looking forward to celebrating my mom’s recovery when we were unexpectedly rear-ended on the freeway. A recently widowed woman dropped her phone and crashed into us pretty good.  Then unfortunately she panicked and reversed 10 feet and hit the accelerator and crashed into us again, with a bit more force than even the 1st one. We were stopped on the freeway at the time. It was a scary scene and tough for the kids especially.

        Everyone is ok, but we all still feel some residue of the impact and different aches and pains.  The woman who hit us was deeply distraught, but God granted us the grace to minister to the woman and provide pastoral care in that moment when she was overcome by fear, guilt, and disorientation. Please pray for her too. She is a woman of faith and a follower of Christ as far as we can tell.  We felt for her.

Accident Fallout

         While we are grateful everyone is ok and insurance will cover expenses, there are two things where this has hit us hard a bit.   

          First, despite the engine not being damaged, it was assessed as a total loss as we head to settlement discussions. Financially, we weren’t ready to replace that car right now as we’re transitioning to sending Morgan to college among things. The car served us with much higher value than we can get for what its value on the market will be. So we are praying for a generous settlement and that the Lord provides pathways for us to buy a replacement family car that will serve us well going forward. It’s not what we felt ready to do financially, but something we will need to figure out in the weeks and months ahead.

 Second, this van has symbolically been special to us (even though our kids would prefer we not drop them off at events in it anymore!). The loss definitely taps into a lot of the grieving and losses we’ve navigated since leaving the Philippines.  It’s the one thing we had in our name while overseas. We bought it before Kaelyn was born and were able to use it every time we returned from the Philippines…most importantly it was one of the main constants the last 3 years in the crazy events of our transition. The van was a point of stability and continuity that really served us.  All of us feel it.  We are preparing shortly to take one final ride as a family! It’s going to be missed. It’s been an extended season of loss and change for all 5 of us and this is the next thing God has put before us. 

PIM Testimony From a Recent Graduate

Cru Philippines kicked off the class and workshop I facilitated for them last week with a fun testimonial from a graduate of IGSL’s Partners in Ministry Program, the Certificate Program that Christine has directed for 6 years and been involved in for 10 years now.  Aleth is a Cru missionary in the Philippines and does a great job describing the impact of the program on her over the past couple of years in terms of her own formation as a spiritual leader and in her ministry equipping. It’s about 5 minutes long – just click on the image and it will take you to the video! Click the green link.

 We love stories like Aleth – we get many opportunities to influence leaders in key moments of their lives. But it also is a powerful thing to journey with leaders over a season of time and see the deep work God orchestrates through mentoring, learning, and practice! Aleth is one of many women that has experienced deep personal transformation through their PIM experience.

https://vimeo.com/brianvirtue/aleth

July 7 Prayer Requests

       There are a few big things happening right now that we just wanted to highlight the need from prayer – from personal to ministry. The most urgent request relates to my mom (Brian).

  • Brian’s Mom
    We would request prayer for my (Brian’s) mom. She has been in the ICU all week after experiencing slight stroke symptoms. After a few days of tests and procedures, they discovered an aneurysm. Right now at the time of sending this, she is in a procedure to correct/fix that.  We would appreciate your prayers as you read this and in the coming days as she recovers and that the issue is resolved and there are no complications. 
     
  • July 9 through August:  From Conflict Resolution to Reconciliation
    If you are interested or know someone who could benefit from it and are in the Long Beach area, This Sunday I start teaching a 6-week class on Christian interpersonal peacemaking at Arbor Road Church at 11am starting July 9 in Room A110. You can just show up or register to the group here. 
     
  • July 9/10-14:  Taking Resilience to Heart Workshop for 115 Philippines Staff. 
    Sunday night California time, I also will start a 5-day version of the “Taking Resilience to Heart” workshop that I developed prior to our Manila trip.  In that process, the door opened to offer it to Cru Philippines staff as part of their summer staff development training.  Initially, I thought it would be 30 staff.  Then it looked like 65-70 would do it.  As of today there are 115 registered!  So this is the large majority of all Cru staff in the Philippines.  So this is telling as to the felt need.  Half of these staff are not required to do this but are choosing it. Pray that they process their last few years under the cross and that their hope is refreshed by the Spirit in our loving, powerful, and sovereign God. They need to encounter Christ in the context of the stories they’ve lived these last few years. Pray I can faithfully point them to Him and they are refreshed in the Lord and that their ministry vision is rejuvenated and empowered. I believe this week can have a powerful impact on their lives and ministry for years to come, but especially in the next couple of years.

               Thank you for praying with us and partnering with us!

                                   In Christ,

                                                 Brian & Christine

Christine in Manila Pt 4: Reflections on Being Back

        Doing hard things with the Lord is something I’ve had to learn from the Lord, often reluctantly – going back to Morgan’s birth, moving internationally, taking a ministry director role, and most recently going through and trying to lead our kids through re-entry. One of my takeaways from my time in Manila was just thankfulness and the realization that I am really proud of myself for doing it!  Going by faith.  Going with kids (8, 5, and 2 when we went)! Leading. Navigating not just the culture, but the cultures – over 30 in total over our years! Navigating the city! The roads. The traffic!! I have done so much more than anything I could have thought years ago. I told Brian discouraged early in our marriage while in Mexico City once, “I’m not international material.” Who would have thought I would have raised a family for almost a decade in another country while leading a ministry to women from over 20 countries?  It’s amazing to me and I’m really thankful! 

         I’ve had to learn to do hard things with the Lord…but I’ve always partied and celebrated well!! 🙂  And a joy of this trip after all we did and the ways we served was to just enjoy the people and the moment with our friends, colleagues, faculty, IGSL employees, students, and alumni.  Our banquet with its global vision and our students was a snapshot of heaven!  And the graduation was a powerful moment that I think allowed everyone a sense of closure to this past pandemic season and a moment of gratefulness to God for carrying us through. It felt like a transitional moment – resolution for the past, but the start of a new chapter for the school with a faithful God at the head!

Christine in Manila Pt 3: PIM and IGSL Graduation!

        I am so grateful I was able to be a part of the first in-person graduation ceremony in 3 years!  Getting to hand out PIM certificates to students I taught before covid was so special.  These women have persevered through so much and it was an honor to hand them their certificates, hug them, and tell them how proud I am of them! 

 

      I was laughing at how much I was on stage. I was there for the giving of certificates and diplomas and conferral of degrees. Brian and I were both there to be honored for 10 years at IGSL. But a highlight was being able to be on stage with Brian as he was “hooded” and recognized with his mentor/advisor there and several of his close friends to share in the moment. I shared I was really proud of myself for doing international life and ministry.  But I’m so proud of him too – for all of his hard work, perseverance, his commitment to our students and what God is doing in this part of the world, and the ways He’s followed the Lord through such difficult seasons and situations and modeled that for our family.  It was so fun to see his friends, colleagues, and so many of the students he’s taught cheer him on and celebrate him in person!  There was so much to be thankful for after such a hard few years for everyone! God graciously gave us so many beautiful moments and we can’t wait for the next opportunity we have to return!

               Thank you for praying with us and partnering with us!

Christine in Manila Pt 2: PIM Student Fellowship and Grad Exit Interviews

          I was able to help give certificates and diplomas to our students and had fun on stage with all the PhDs!  More on that later, but we conducted the week before our trip, an online graduation for our online students (see below).  That was fun in and of itself.  But it was all made so much more real by the in-person graduation for those that could be there.  They let many walk in the ceremonies if they graduated in 2020-2022. So I was blessed with many reunions from students that were in our program going back to 2018!

         But while at IGSL during the week while Brian was still doing his workshop, I put my Director hat on and helped conduct a program debrief and exit interviews with our graduating students. 

         The students also hosted a gathering for me on campus so that I could spend time in person with them! 
I heard so many incredible stories of how God has used the PIM program transformationally in their lives.  Shelia, from Nepal, shared that when her family moved from Nepal to Manila she was battling postpartum depression.  But slowly over time as she is connecting with other women, and went to PIM classes on Monday she began to come out of depression and for the first time in a while felt joy and hope again. Others shared about the impact of reading “the whole” Bible for the 1st time and learning how each book fits in God’s big story. Others shared about the impact in their marriages and families. Others shared about ministry impact. What a gift!

From the First Day It Felt Like Home (Christine in Manila) Pt 1: PIM RETREAT

       When I (Brian) visited IGSL in October, I was asked repeatedly, “When is Ate Christine coming?” I could only answer that I hoped soon!  While I got hooded for my PhD and we were both honored for 10 years with IGSL at the commencement, the highlight of the trip by far was being there with Christine and seeing her shine.  She brought so much joy to others, was full of joy in all the reunions she experienced, and we loved getting to work together in that way again.  I don’t think I saw her the first 4 days of our trip because she was in such demand.  But after several years of her leading sacrificially online without the reward of the in-person moments, it was a joy.  It wasn’t my doing, but I was thanked so many times, “Kuya, thank you for bringing her back!” I could rave for hours, but enough of me – here are Christine’s highlights in her own words from her first time back on IGSL’s campus in almost 3 1/2 years…


       It was so fun! I (Christine) was amazed at how quickly it all comes back. I was nervous and anxious going back because I wasn’t sure if I still knew how to do it all. But it all came back so quickly – the sights, the smells, the people, the roads! From the moment we landed it felt like home. We could not have done more than we did in our time so here are some highlights.

Partners in Ministry Faculty Leadership Retreat

      Within the first 24 hours of being there, I went on and led a 3-day retreat with the PIM faculty.  It was our first time being all together in person in 3 years.  We laughed and we cried together.  We prayed and studied the Word together and planned for the upcoming school year. We honored two of our faculty that are retiring and overall I was able to connect in person with all of the women I have supervised online for the past 3 years!

      These women all have been mentoring, teaching, and equipping spouses of ministry leaders in Asia this whole time.  I was so thankful to be able to minister to them in person!  They have been such a faithful and hardworking team, but they have been weary and this was such a boost to the morale! We’re excited about what’s ahead!

            Here are some of the photos of the time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Training Servant Leaders For the Great Commission in Asia