Havana Global Leadership Summit Day 1

It didn’t have all the bells and whistles but you could feel, hear and see Willow’s influence not only because of what was playing on screen, but also because everything started right on time, and the transitions from video to worship band to MC were executed flawlessly after a lot of practice. In fact, that was a big emphasis of the orientation yesterday with the leaders from Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba. Putting on the GLS is like advanced training for these teams preparing them to lead out with excellence that stands out from the crowd.

The host church isn’t big but it has big vision—to transform Cuba with the gospel. Their pastor sees the Summit as only one part of their overall leadership training strategy where they train leaders that multiply themselves. They do training in the church all year long. He told me this event is huge, like a “gold ring” for the strategy, because of the quality of the event and of the speakers and because of the influential leaders who are attending.

I asked him if it would ever be helpful if we brought church and business leaders from Five Oaks to do leadership training. He laughed at me for asking. The answer is a big Yes. In fact, the V.P. of International Ministries for our denomination spent a week at this same church doing training just two months ago and the pastor said they’re already changing some organizational things thanks to him.

Speaking the language is so helpful for me in forging relationships and learning about their lives here. We’ve had a lot of time to talk over meals and between sessions. It’s been incredible!