Who says that “strategic planning” has to be painful? Travelling to the UK from their regions around Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the 6 visiting International Ministry Team (IMT) staff members joined with UK-based teammates at this Monday through Sunday conference. They started at the Feba UK office with a morning of prayer for each region, and then headed out to the retreat centre in the countryside.

The beautifully refreshing southern England weather created a wonderful backdrop to the meetings, worship, fellowship time and personal reflection during the IMT retreat last week. Sharing stories from their ministry, praying over special challenges, as well as planning new approaches for the coming months, the team members renewed their commitment to communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ to those in hard-to-reach communities.

Communicating team strengths
Before getting down to the business of strategic planning, the team spent time taking a personal inventory of their strengths and then sharing this information with each other. This team building session opened up discussion about different ways of working and communicating with one another, especially important in their geographically spread teams.

These ideas were put to the test in some fun ways, including how to win a 3-legged race and build the tallest Lego tower—as a team and within the rules, of course!

Clarity, focus, alignment
Why are we doing ministry in a specific place? What do we expect the community there to look like in 3 years? The team had quite a breakthrough—focusing on outcomes, before getting tied up in the details of processes and specific activities. By thinking about how people’s lives will be changed for the better, the team worked hard to set vision that aligns with Feba’s purpose of bringing life-changing hope to communities of hard-to-reach people. For example, they are not in communities just to build FM radio stations, but to empower the local community to use radio messages to make a difference…people in better health, with expanding crops, seeking to know who Jesus is.

“We spent a lot of time working on our corporate and regional strategy,” says Jonathan Frank, Feba Chief Executive. “We are working really hard across Feba right now to get clarity about our vision and direction, focus about what it actually looks like, and all our priorities and activities closely aligned to this vision. This is challenging stuff, particularly with the vision needing to be all about outcomes, or difference made in the communities we serve.”

Comments from the team

• “I’m encouraged that we are talking together about these key issues.”
• ”Good discussions – very positive process.”
• ”I’m glad this was done with a group in person… It is not easy, but together it becomes easier.”
• ”I felt a bit frustrated I think because it is hard to talk about vision without getting into detailed strategy steps.”
• ”I’m impressed with how important it is. This is real stuff that we are dealing with.”
• ”I’m very positive about the fact we are moving towards this kind of strategic planning…awed by the responsibility, to make sure we are doing it right, doing what God wants us to do.”
• ”I’m very happy to see unity in our group as Feba.”