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Gracie and I are nearing the end of an especially active season of travel and teaching. We are looking forward to flying home tomorrow to rejoin our beloved Tierra Nueva community (some of whom- Julio, Jessica, and Chucky are pictured above). We have always described our People’s Seminary teaching as the wine that comes out of the vineyards of Tierra Nueva’s direct ministry. We are now looking forward to being back to our family, church, jail services and colleagues for an extended time before travel starts up in the Fall. Some of the highlights of the past two months include teaching courses on holistic liberation in Lausanne, Siberia and London, teaching Scripture courses in Paris and completing our last two Certificates in Transformational Ministry at the Margins (CTMM) in Seoul and Burlington. These past two weeks we have been in Paris and the UK, preaching in churches and in a Scottish prison, meeting with leaders and friends and offering tasters for upcoming CTMMs in Glasgow and London. Our dream of bringing quality teaching informed by Word, Spirit and Street to ministry workers on the front lines, a the multiplication of workers is being realized through the completion of our first CTMMs, holistic liberation courses and the growing demand for our courses. Nearly 70 participants have now graduated from our first three CTMMs. If we succeed in completing the next round of CTMM trainings for 2016-2018 (in London, Glasgow, Burlington, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Jersey, Stockholm, Paris) there will be potentially another 400 more. The only way we can expand our training is through training up trainers who themselves have completed the course and are personally engaged in ministry at the margins– and we now have a growing team of fellow trainers excited to help. Yesterday we spent the day with a group of our CTMM graduates and the TN Europe team, discussing which of the topics they would like to teach in the next European training cohorts. Our last two days we’re spending with our daughter Anna– who is serving as an intern in a church in London. Other recent highlights include.
We are deeply encouraged and grateful to God and to all contribute in different ways to this mission. Gracie and I continue to need ministry partners called to walk with us in different ways, including prayer, contributing to our monthly Tierra Nueva salary and some of our travel expenses when teaching in poorer places, and other ways that you may think of. Or maybe you feel called to help one of our partners in Zimbabwe get a vehicle (see #2 below). If you feel led to contribute there continue to be three options: 1) Online E-giving through: https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift/gift.php?giftid=5C7582D0-5705-4EF9-ABB5-F1DB00D9447B 2) Donating via PayPal or online through: http://give.fivetwo.org/give.tierra-nueva.org/ 3) Sending checks earmarked “Ekblad Support” to Tierra Nueva, PO Box 410, Burlington, WA 98233 May you experience abundant joy, peace and inspiration as you follow Jesus and align yourself with God’s highest priorities for you in this season. Grace and Peace, Bob & (Gracie) Ekblad General Directors Tierra Nueva |
