Nearly 70 FamilyLife partners and volunteers representing 20 countries outside the US traveled to Little Rock in July to attend FamilyLife’s 40th anniversary celebration and staff conference. It was an incredible time of celebrating all that God has done through FamilyLife around the world. Several international staff had the opportunity to tell their stories of God’s faithfulness in their own lives and ministries.
One of the highlights from the event was the parade of flags. The international staff marched through the sanctuary up to the stage while waving the flag of their country. Many in the audience were moved to tears by this visual reminder of God’s love for the nations.
Our international staff and volunteers also attended two days of a Global Outreach Summit where they had the opportunity to network, share best practices, and learn about new training materials available from the FamilyLife Global Outreach department. The newly developed Global Outreach Strategies and Resources (GOSR) manual provides a broad look at what FamilyLife recommends for starting and developing a FamilyLife ministry overseas. Additional training manuals provide how-to information on training speakers, organizing a small group ministry, working with churches, developing volunteer teams, and other topics.
This week was an invaluable source of refreshment and fun as well as a time of equipping. FamilyLife US staff were grateful for opportunities to get to know international FamilyLife staff and learn about FamilyLife in other countries.
FamilyLife Global Outreach is planning to organize another global program in conjunction with FamilyLife’s 2018 staff conference. We pray that many international staff and volunteers will be able to join us once again for a time of encouragement and training.