September Team Luncheon

Every six weeks or so we call our entire team together for a luncheon. Since our team works various shifts, luncheons are a great opportunity to bring everyone together at the same time. We rotate by department the responsibility of preparing the meal. This adds a fun element each time because it is often a secret among the staff what the meal will consist of. On Tuesday, the 16th of September, the lot fell to the Evangelism department, the group Gregg manages.

We pulled out the trusty Weber grill and announced a good old American barbecue. My staff made the menu- Pork chops and chicken fillets, Andalucian garden salad, tomato-mozzarella salad, potato chips and bread. Since I'm the only one with a car, I did the shopping that morning at the big "hipermarket" (I guess it's called that because it's bigger than a supermarket ;-) in the next town over.

Lunch in Spain begins at 2:30pm, so by 1:30 we had the Weber lit and the team was busy setting the tables and making salads. By the assigned time everything was in order and we enjoyed good food and good fellowship. For dessert, we served an American-style birthday cake made by the wife one of the missionaries. Three of our staff had celebrated birthdays since the last luncheon.

Since we have the whole team together, it is a good time for announcements of interest to the whole group. Today one of the announcements was the creation of a charitable entity of our Foundation to form projects that are of a benefit to the Spanish society. With that entity we will be able to petition the Spanish government for funding some of our humanitarian outreach projects. We also announced that one of the graphic designers from my evangelism group was leaving to work as an Art teacher in a private elementary school. That is sad news because Maria has been a great addition to our team and created wonderful designs for our newsletters, brochures and evangelistic materials. We've put out a job posting to the local churches to see if we can hire another designer with PhotoShop experience. She will be hard to replace.

Soon we were clearing the tables and doing the dishes. Another successful time of team-building and Christian fellowship. For most of the nationals on the team, it is the first opportunity they have had to work for a Christian organization. These team meetings are an important time of discipleship and a model of Christian love.