To Seoul, Korea, tomorrow!

Dear prayer warriors,

Thanks so much for your prayers.  Lidia, me and West European family of Athletes in Action truly appreciate them.  Tomorrow, I will head to Korea, to meet with the Global Leadership Council of Athletes in Action.  This is the team that Lidia and I have the privilege of serving with as the group leads the strategic future of Athletes in Action.  We meet twice a year.

The focus of our time will be:

*   To seek God's face together for the future of our ministry.  We will be spending 2 days praying on the mountains of Korea, one of those days will be in the DMZ as we look into a closed country and seek God's face for what part He wants Athletes in Action to play in reaching closed countries.

   *   Please pray that we would seek God well together, we would hear His direction for us, and we would worship Him together in spirit and in truth.

*   Continue to refine our strategy to reach our vision of seeing, Christ-followers on every team, in every sport in every nation.  Our GLC has identified 30 countries that we will have an intentional focus on over the next 2 years.  We are hoping to come out of our time in Korea with a clearer sense of what we will need to do to reach these countries.

   *   Please pray for God's wisdom as His plans are beyond ours.  Pray that we would be willing to have our faith stretched and do the work of planning, preparing and implementing.

*   To be a blessing to the ministry in Korea, both AIA and CCC, and some of our leaders from other countries in the region.  We will have  a special time with the Taekwondo in Action team on Sunday, Seoul Campus team on Monday, and AIA leaders from East Asia, Mongolia and Singapore through out the week.

   *   Please pray for hearts to encourage and serve our dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.

In addition to these things I would ask that you would pray for Lidia and I personally.  As I leave tomorrow. Please pray for her as she takes care of the kids by herself while I am gone.  Please also pray for me that God would grant me wisdom as I seek the Lord and seek to implement His direction for us.

Lidia and I are so thankful that we can team up with you to serve this family in Europe and worldwide that we get to serve.  We are thankful for each of you that pray for us, encourage us and support us.  Thanks for praying.

Until the nets are full,

Rubén & Lidia

"The Coaching Workshop -How to Empower Others by Integrating Coaching Skills into Your Leadership Style-"

You may remember Ruben has taken some training to use Life Coaching with professional sports people as a way of serving them and engaging with their felt needs.

Life Coaching is a new concept for most people in general, but particularly in the world of sports and is working as a great means of what is our calling and longing as we seek to see transformation and Christ followers and spiritual movements everywhere.

Let me share a definition of Coaching from a Christian perspective by Keith E. Webb, that may help you understand more of what we mean and do with this: “Coaching is an on-going intentional conversation that empowers a person or group to fully live out God’s calling”.

Yesterday I led six hours of a seminar called "The Coaching Workshop -How to Empower Others by Integrating Coaching Skills into Your Leadership Style-" in Madrid in partnership with MEZZO music ministry with ten leaders from all over Spain who work with artists and musicians. Today we will finish with another six hours. Feedback yesterday night was excellent. Please join us on your knees for a journey of learning and praxis today that serves their needs and resources them ahead.

Lidia and the kids are doing great. Samuel and Josué are enjoying their new season at school and Lucia misses them every morning and searches for them climbing to every item at home you would or wouldn't imagine :-)!

Mission Vilnius 2011

http://www.athletesinaction.eu/totalathleteacademy/vilnius2011


Almost 50 AIA and Agape/CCC staff and volunteers, students, coaches, athletes and other sport influencers from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Rusia, Ukraine, Poland,  Czech Republic, Germany, Spain & Holland, gathered last week for Mission Vilnius.

(1) Doug Pollock, evangelist with almost 3 de decades of international experience with AIA (GodsGPS.com, author of God Space), (2) helping the local Agape Student ministry reach out their future leaders, (3) editing and producing a first ever Sports New Testament, Give me the Rock 2 DVD and Meet my Head Coach brochure in Lithuanian, (4) and the city hosting the second round of the FIBA EuroBasket (the largest sport event in Europe this year) where our key ingredients to this AIA Western Europe Total Athlete Academy project.

Many participants say this has been the best training experience they've ever had. Doug has challenged participants hearts and motives with the Word, and dynamically resources and empower everyone's toolbox for beyond methods, but a lifestyle of engagement and belonging with the Lost, as a Christ follower.

Everyday people have gone on small groups and pairs to university faculties, the main opened and populated sites of Vilnius to seek to engage on spiritual conversations, serve with humble acts of kindness, seeking to advance the kingdom God's speed and where he's at already.

Ruben Fernandez, our area coordinator who God has entrusted many relations to the Spanish Federation's players, coaches, officials... Got free tickets for many of the games and this helped the experienced AIA staff like Brook, Doug, Brad and others expose the rookies to apply what learnt with Doug to divine appointments, acts of kindness and serving the people of sports perspective.

Brad Bartz, working with Ruben at AIA west Europe coordination and the point leader for the Baltics is still in Lithuania, travelling with Renata, Agape National Leader to follow up key contacts that along with those who came to Mission Vilnius we'd like to keep serving and challenging together to steer movements that matter everywhere.

Thanks for teaming up with us. Press "on your knees" until the European nets are full.