A Footloose and Fancy FORO

September FORO planning...felt like a well-oiled machine. 

I was ticking off boxes one-by-one: reports from each ministry area; hotel reservations; airport transfers; travel tips for US guests; a new-to-everyone-but-me Friday excursion (vetted by a team of high schoolers in June)...

(Spoiler alert: it's a dance lesson.)

The peanut gallery started with 2 of us...and grew steadily. 

The kids, on the other hand, were into it. 

Merengue en pareja. 

...lunch reservations afterward; translators, snacks, and lunch for Saturday's meeting. The works. 

Short-term volunteers and their strategic impact were highlighted in multiple presentations. 

The kicker came when a death in the Krey family meant a sudden trip to the US for Regional Director Ted, but if I've learned anything in six years, it's that problems are opportunities for innovation. We talked shop in the Krey backyard over pizza Saturday night. 

As has become somewhat of a tradition, [Northern Hemisphere] fall FOROs in Santiago culminate with an Evening Prayer service to publicly declare the Concordia Lutheran School and Concordia the Reformer Seminary 2024-2025 academic years open and pray God's blessing upon those who teach and those who learn. 

All that's left to close the book on it is sending a follow-up email - hopefully this week. Thanks be to God for all who took time out of their busy schedules to encourage us with their presence, and for the many others who walk with the DRLM daily in equally pivotal ways. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!