The pioneering and leadership course was targeted toward those who are pioneering new ministries or bases at their location, or for a leader in any sort of role, whether leading a base, leading a ministry, or leading a team. I had the pleasure of attending this course online from May 4 – May 8. As you may know, it was supposed to be a 3-week course taking place in Craiova, Romania, but with the coronavirus outbreak, the leadership team made the decision to move the course online.

 

With this turn of events, being online gave people who wouldn’t have originally been able to come an opportunity to join. Initially, there were about 20 people registered, but with the course being online it allowed more than 100 people from 30 different countries to be a part of this wonderful training! Not only was it two weeks shorter than planned, but people could also join from the comfort of their own home or office, making it more convenient. I have been so thankful for technology these days, but I never thought I would be able to go through a training such as this one over the internet!

 

 

We had the privilege of learning from three great speakers: Andreas Nordli from Norway, Jim and Judy Orred from Kona, and Tim Svoboda from San Francisco.

 

 

Andreas taught on what it means to be a visionary leader and gave us some practical ways to put that to use. One of my favorite quotes from him was, “Your vision shouldn’t be to start a new YWAM base, a new ministry, or any other project. The vision should be the result of what happens in your neighborhood, city, nation, etc. because you started that project.”

 

“The teaching had some great tools that I can’t wait to apply within my team.”

Timos Christoforidis, Thessaloniki

 

Jim and Judy taught on pioneering and the importance of maturity and connecting within pioneering. One of my biggest takeaways from them was this, “Pioneers create pioneers; it is on us, as a mission, to raise up new pioneers.”

 

“I was encouraged to persevere in the ministry, not to give up, being a better communicator and connector”

Ihor Borodianets, Albania

 

 

Tim taught on engaging our cities with a loving God and knowing our cities. This was the quote that made the biggest impact on me, “Mission is no longer crossing the ocean, it is crossing the street! Know. Your. City. What soldier goes into a war without a map?”

 

 

“He stirred up my passion to reach my own neighborhood and gave me more vision for my own base to impact our neighborhood.

Eline Bakker, The Nederlands 

 

 

 

Please know that there was so much other incredible content! It was difficult to choose just one quote per speaker. I want to end by thanking everyone who worked so diligently through this crisis to make this PLC possible and available to people from all around the world, especially Mihail, Ema, and the leadership team in Romania! And thank you to all of the speakers who took the time to pour into our lives! 

 

– Taylor Smith, YWAM Užice, Serbia

 

 

 

Ema and I attended the School of Pioneering Leadership (SOPL) a  year before we moved to Craiova, Romania, and it has helped us pioneer the YWAM base there.

Experienced teachers gave us inspiration, tools, encouragement, prophetic words, and the guidelines we needed.

After five years of pioneering, the time had come for us to facilitate the equipping of other pioneers and leaders. Therefore, we decided to plan a three week mini SOPL in Craiova which included; ‘the basics of leadership’ with Andreas Nordli from Norway, ‘principles of leadership and pioneering’, ‘values ​​and YWAM DNA’ with Jim and Judy Orred, from Kona, and ‘urban mission’ with Tim and Karol Svoboda, from San Francisco.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, we had to move the course online for a week but with that challenge came an amazing opportunity, as 20 students in the first variant became over 100 students from 30 nations!

So far the feedback has exceeded our expectations, and we are glad that we have managed to meet a real need.

At the same time, together with the others, we have been inspired and encouraged to continue to develop into better leaders in order to better serve more people.

Mihail and Ema Bogdan, YWAM Craiova, Romania