The trip has been an amazing experience. So far, we've found that the church does amazing work already, and needed less tangible help with technical gear. They are a talented bunch. They did, however, need help with the intangibles. We've spent a lot of time talking philosophy. Coaching them on how to think about ministry. We had no idea how valuable our advice would be to the staff and volunteers, as we led them through a creative brainstorming session yesterday, which illustrated how we, at Buckhead Church, think through creating programming. They loved it.
Said an easier way, it's tempting on these quick trips to "give them a fish" by programming a service for them; however we "taught them to fish" by showing them how to think in terms of creative programming, how to use good transitions to glue elements together, to value the details, to create positive tension in their attendees where they create a safe environment to struggle with spiritual questions, and most importantly, what questions to ask themselves about their audiences...people who
don't do church. As much as it helps them, it also has been a big help to Josh and me; cementing what we believe about programming.
Josh is a celebrity here. His videos are legendary in Spain. It's funny to see people nearly bow to him, as we forget the influence our little church in America has around the world. Josh's videos are recreated here in Spanish, too. It's humbling to see that. People crowd around him...at all times, even if he's just surfing the Web, hoping they will learn something...maybe by osmosis. It's hilarious, especially if you know how little attention Josh demands.
I'm looking forward to coming back to Sevilla in the future, and very happy about seeing my girls tomorrow. You don't realize how much they mean until you go 4,000 miles away. If you don't use Skype, maybe you should. It's made the distance seem much smaller.
