Jolanda also recently organized a love feast here at Heidebeek. She’s very good at these kinds of things and she enjoyed doing it very much. (That’s where these pictures were taken.)

Effective Communication Workshop (ECW) in Budapest
In October, I (Rodney) was in Budapest for a week for an Effective Communication Workshop (ECW) and EuroCom meetings. They were held on a “boatel”, that is, a boat hotel which is permanently docked in Budapest on the shore of the Danube river. You may recall that he was in Budapest in May for a meeting, well this was the same boat.

The ECW was a great success with 20 participants, mostly from Central Europe. Subjects included Jesus-style communication, public speak, writing, newsletters, design and layout and websites. It was a 2-1/2 day whirlwind course and the participants loved it. In an impromptu show-of-hands survey at the end, more than half said they would be interested in attending a follow-up course sometime in the future and all of them recommended we continue giving these kind of workshops.

EuroCom meetings
On the day after the ECW, we started meeting as EuroCom. We sent out general (and specific) invitations to YWAM staff working in communication in Europe. The attendance was small, but it was a good group and I was very encouraged by it.

We had people representing Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Bosnia, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. We were also please to welcome Rob Abraham , Director of YWAM’s International Communication Network in Colorado Springs, CO, USA, and Carmelita Clarke, Director of YWAM’s Central Europe region.

The purpose of the meeting was two-fold. First of all, to reconnect with people who are already involved in EuroCom and also to connect with people who are working with communication in Europe and would like to be a part of the “bigger picture” of Europe-wide communication.

We also discussed some of the needs in Europe and came up with several projects which we will be working on in the coming time. Some of which are:
- 30-second video spots highlighting one of YWAM’s 17 values.
- A European mailing list which would reach all staff in Europe
- Coordinating translators for international YWAM communication
- Website templates based on yam.org’s new look that will be freely available to all YWAMers to use for their own region’s, nation’s, base’s and personal websites.
- Communication training for leaders (there are already some exciting developments in this area which I will share about in our next update)

Western Europe Leadership Team (WELT) meeting
At the end of October, I was privileged to attend the Western Europe Leadership Team (WELT) meeting in Malaga, Spain. The WELT is made up of mostly national leaders and ministry coordinators from Western Europe (click here for a map of YWAM’s Western Europe region). It was good to be able to connect up with them and also to share a little about what EuroCom has been up to and is planning.

It was also good to be able to provide some input from a communication standpoint on the other agenda points that were brought up.

Once again, we thank you for taking the time to read our update. We also want to ask you to keep us in your prayers.

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Lisa taking her "treats" to school

Summer break is over, vacation is behind us, and Lisa has started back to school again.  Even the weather seems to be doing an about face since the temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-60′s this week.  (I know, all my Arizona friends are jealous.)

Lisa went back to school on August 24th, and on the 25th we celebrated her sixth birthday.  In Holland, the birthday girl or boy are allowed to bring treats to school for everyone, which is a fun tradition.

Central European Leadership Gathering in Budapest

At the end of May, I was privileged to be able to attend the Central European Leadership Gathering (CELG) in Budapest, Hungary.  I was there in my role as EuroCom (European Communication Team) coordinator to help Bec and Belinda (who are working with EuroCom in Central Europe) out with the logistics for the gathering.
It was also good to be able to network with the YWAM leaders in that region as well as raising awareness for EuroCom through one-on-one contact and simply being there to help out.  I was also able to give a 20-minute presentation on EuroCom and encourage the leaders to help us get connected with their communication people.
One of the things we also did, was filming stories of YWAMers that were there.  It’s great to hear these stories, but it’s also good to be able to pass these along in a video-interview format.  One of the stories that touched me most was that of a ministry in Romania that has setup a house for single moms and their newborn babies as an alternative to abortion.  With the highest abortion rate in the world, this ministry is very much needed in Romania.  They will soon be building a new building which will be able to accomodate even more mothers and their children.  For more information on this project, see their website.

A visit to YWAM Switzerland

In July, we went as a family to Switzerland where we stayed for a few nights at the YWAM base in the little village of Burtigny.  We also took a day-trip to visit the first YWAM base in Europe in Lausanne.  Both of those bases have good, strong communication schools, and I was invited to speak one evening at the School of Design in Burtigny.
I gave a short presentation about what YWAM Communication Teams are and about the various regional ones that exist.  I also spoke more specifically about EuroCom and invited them to come and work with us in whatever capacity God would have them to.
I was also encouraged by a couple of students from Africa who asked me (as representing communication teams in Europe) not to forget Africa and the fact that there are many talented, gifted African YWAMers who would love to work in a comm team such as EuroCom but who do not have the finances to do so.
One African man asked me if someone like him was interested in coming to work with us, would we be in a position to help pay for his way.  I had to answer honestly that at this time we don’t have the resources as EuroCom, but that I trust that God would provide if He sent someone our way.

Vacation in France

From where we were staying in Switzerland, it was literally a hop, skip and a jump to our vacation house in France.  It was great that we could plan it so that the whole family could come along with me to Switzerland (since they don’t normally get to come along on trips with me) and then we could go straight into vacation for two weeks.

We had a great time in France, and you can see a lot of pictures of our vacation on Flickr.

Back to Switzerland and Budapest

On Monday, September 7th I will be returning to Switzerland (alone, sniff) for YWAM’s University of the Nations Workshop (uofnworkshop.com). This is a 7-day gathering with the purpose to: “listen to what is on God’s heart for this time and season, to network and fellowship with each other, to sharpen our skills and to strategize for greater fruitfulness”.  It will be held in four locations simultaneously, Switzerland, Ukraine, Egypt and South Africa.  All four locations will be linked together using video-conferencing for the morning sessions.

I hope to meet communication staff working in Europe and maybe even do some recruiting for EuroCom.

On October 9th, I fly to Budapest again where we as EuroCom are giving a 3-day Effective Communication Workshop (ECW) followed by a 2-1/2 day EuroCom meeting.  I have sent out a general invitation to more than 150 leaders in YWAM Europe, hoping people will come who are interested in helping us work on communication issues for those 2-1/2 days.  I pray that the right people will be there for both the ECW and the EuroCom meeting.

Lisa and Sarah

As always, you can check Lisa and Sarah’s blogs: lisablevins.com and sarah-blevins.com.  I have recently updated them.

In closing, we would like to ask you all to be in prayer about supporting us with an extra $20 or $30 this month (or more) to help cover the extra upcoming travel and conference expenses.  Normally, those would come out of the EuroCom budget, but we are operating in the red at the moment, so that’s not a possibility.

Thank you once again for your prayers and support and for taking the time to read our email updates.

Blessings,
Rodney, Jolanda, Lisa and Sarah Blevins