It's officially no longer summer here as the rains have started and my feet are constantly cold. It's been a super busy summer here in England, although I haven't actually been in England for most of this summer. So many opportunities have come up for me to travel and also be mentored in my leadership skills.
When the January school finished, I had a bit of a break. A a good friend of mine from home and we traveled around France and Italy. We were basically running around the cities non-stop to make the most of our trip but it ended up being such a relaxing trip to be able to travel and to have a real break for the first time in 8 months.
After getting back from my trip, there was an opportunity to go to the YWAM Herrnhut base in east Germany for the 'Western Europe DTS Leaders & Staff Gathering'. It was very last minute, but all of the finances came together for me to be able to fly and have my conference paid for in just a week. The purpose of the week was to provide refreshment for DTS staff while also providing tools for the next school. I also got to see someone from my home church who was staffing the next DTS there and someone from my own DTS two years ago.
I was back on the base for only a week when I left for Malaga, Spain. The B2B leadership conference was something I've been planning on going to since early on this year. There were teachings in the morning about different aspects of leadership, a siesta in the afternoon, classes before dinner and workshops after dinner. The staff team were also available during the week for one-to-one conversations. Every day they covered a different aspect of leadership, including spiritual, servant and shared leadership. The week was very helpful in terms of figuring out more of my leadership style and how to look at what I want to do in the future and what obstacles might be in the way.
In between these events, I've been helping out another staff member to get a mobilisation framework up and running on the base. Most of what I'll be doing in the fall will be slightly random but mostly helping other departments in what they need to get done. I'll be working in the communications department, the DTS office with mobilisation and schools and the kitchen. And hopefully, I'll be going to France with some of the members of the DTS centre team for a workshop on the more practicals of running a DTS.
It's been an exciting, full year in YWAM already and it's a bit sad to think that I only have a year left here on the Oval before moving on to whatever's next. Already, I'm thinking about what I would like to do after next August. Some include going back home for school, and some include continuing to work with YWAM. If you're interested in more details than that, just send me a message!
