On 12th November 2021 we hosted the first ‘in person’ training weekend for BTBAB in 2 years! The Wales outreach team of 5 were blessed by many gifted speakers. Shirley Cooper our executive director covered most of the teaching sessions, but we were also joined by some visiting speakers. Femi Oni – our founder and patron – taught on identity and Yvonne Twum-Barima shared about hearing the voice of God. We were also joined by our new pastoral advisor on the board of trustees – Thomas Nelson.
Having only trained on zoom for the last outreach, I had a fresh insight into how essential the training weekends are in preparing a team before going out on the field – in whichever nation we go to. Relationships are built, people are stretched in new ways (practically and spiritually), and the group start to function as a team.
This training weekend also brought new challenges that we haven’t faced before, as our training facility at House of the Open Door is now self-catering. Previously we were blessed by having all our meals prepared by Maria Oni (the wife of Femi), but now we are cooking for ourselves, without any outside help. But despite the practical logistics of working this out, it has been incredibly useful as the team started to work and gel well together.
I look forward to our next training weekend on 14th – 16th January and our outreach from 10th – 20th March. Seeing people grow and develop is a real privilege for any leader.
