Things are gearing up for the beginning of the new work year. This week, we held seminars designed to orient, prepare, and motivate our staff for the year ahead of them.
The first day, the entire staff was together as we reviewed the verses out of which the name “Lemuel” was chosen…
Proverbs 31:8-9
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
…and sang together what we may call Lemuel’s “theme song.” The first verse and chorus translate as follows,
Jesus has entrusted to you a work of love,
Useful and blessed until His return.
Do you want to accomplish this holy task for him without letting go or weakening?
Pray, act, day after day;
Without flinching, follow your Savior in love.
Be faithful and obedient,
And the Master will render your work powerful.
After this, we spent a moment praying and committing the year to the Lord.
Manis reminded all of us how Lemuel began and why we are here. “Lemuel was born out of faith and trust. We are here to develop people, to show them who Jesus Christ is. Don’t put your faith in me or in any of us, but in God.”
For the remaining three days, the branches split up to do their own seminars specifically geared towards their staff.
In the mornings, Samuel had a session with both development and hospitality combined. In one of the seminars, he took the passage out of 1 Corinthians 12 to demonstrate that Christians are all one body in Christ. Not only that, but we are one body as a staff within Lemuel, and we need to work together.
He used some really fun games to demonstrate the need for each member and the importance of team work.
There was quite a bit of lively discussion! The staff loved the demonstrations and had such a blast. The pictures do not do their participation and laughter justice.
After their sessions with Samuel, development and hospitality split into their respective departments. On Tuesday, Jinel arranged for Mme Roseline–a woman from Anse-Rouge who has studied food preparation in Haiti–to come and give some tips to our ladies.
As seminars were taking place, a team of lovely cooks made lunch for everyone to eat together.
Almaïs (the new school director…more on that in another post) and the school administration held spiritual and professional sessions for school staff.
They played team-building games as well, but I always seemed to arrive when the game was finished! Here Almaïs, Osselet, and Judy do a final demonstration of how to get three people across a “river” full of “crocodiles” using only three paper “stepping stones.”
We thank God not only that the week of seminars went well, but for the ways in which we saw our leaders stepping up to take on the responsibilities of investing in their staff and organizing and planning both for their seminars and the year. Please pray that the seeds sown and the lessons shared during the seminars would sink down to a heart level and find application in the coming year.
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