Leading the Region in MPD Part 2...

Hello, friends!

Yesterday, I set the table for me leading my first Regional MPD Gathering as a Regional Coordinator. Today, I want to run down my thought process on how to put this thing together. Tomorrow, I'll give you a breakdown of what actually happened.

My philosophy on good MPD comes down to a few basic principles:
- MPD needs to be seen as an act of worship
- MPD needs to be seen as something that is mutually beneficial, for both the staff and the partner
- MPD is something that needs to be done with intention
- MPD is more fun in community
- MPD is something that EVERYONE can do a little bit better
- Our current MPD system is not perfect and there are ways to make MPD more just and equitable

With those basic principles in mind, I set out to put together a 3 day (really 48 hour) training that would encapsulate those elements while being seen as "worthwhile" for our staff team to attend. I know there's nothing worse than traveling to an InterVarsity meeting and as you're leaving, saying to yourself, "well, that wasn't worth it."

As I was praying for our time together, the word that came to me was, "Past, Present, and Future." The Regional Leadership Team (RLT) made fun of me for getting a word that sounded so much like a prom theme, but when the LORD gives you a word, you take that word.

The Past was going to represent us looking back at the year that was, specifically in the realm of MPD. Too often, when we look back at the year, we focus too much on the positives or too much on the negatives. I wanted us to be able to reflect on both the good things and the hard things from the year, and give all those up to Jesus. I also knew that we needed to celebrate as a familia, especially since we'd hit some major goals we had set for ourselves.

Present was going to be the work time. June is when our end of the year asks go out, so I knew we wanted to spend some time working on those. But, there were other work elements that we wanted to take into consideration, including making phone calls to prospective partners.

Future was about looking ahead. There were the short term pieces of looking ahead centered around planning your summer well. There's also the long term piece of looking ahead at how we can change the way we do MPD in our Region.

So, that was set. Day 1 was going to focus on the Past. Day 2 was going to focus on the Present. Day 3 was going to focus on the Future. Now, all I needed to do was actually fit all the pieces together...

Have an excellent day!

~Adam