Men’s conference unites and inspires local leaders

Yesterday our men’s conference concluded here in Pignon. This was the first conference of this kind here in Pignon. Some 50 men attended and stayed on the campus.

Ericlee, Doug (Dorina’s dad) and Forest witnessed much enthusiasm from the men during their teaching times. Ericlee shared about spiritual, physical and mental wellness. Doug unpacked the stories of Moses, David and Daniel as a way to talk about leadership. Forest spoke about sexual purity and led the men in discussion and accountability on that issue.

One of Doug’s highlights was teaching Tai Chi to the older men. Ericlee loved teaching them about health and physical wellness and even got the men doing some Crossfit workouts. He was especially impressed by our dear Pastor Calvin who volunteered to do a push-up test. The old man did 20 push-ups in a minute and wowed his audience.

Forest had an especially powerful session sharing his testimony and using his counseling skills on the issue of sexual purity and addiction. He challenged the men to resist temptation and to find someone in the group to have as an accountability partner on this issue. The men were very receptive since this is a topic rarely covered in this culture.

The conference concluded with a meaningful time of foot washing - imitating what Jesus did with the disciples in the Bible. Each man came onto the stage to have their feet washed by our men and then in turned washed someone else’s feet. This was a powerful example of servant leadership.

Tuesday evening a tropical storm dumped lots of rain. The mamas and kids enjoyed a time running through the rain when we got caught on the way home from a friend’s house. Once we were safe inside we all loved watching the lightning show over the mountains. Meilani, Giada and Nathanael were sure that God was bowling up in heaven with all the loud thunder. They spent a good portion of the night trying to guess how many pins He was knocking down.