On March 11, 2020, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Coronavirus (COVID-19) a global epidemic.
International Training Alliance (ITA) training events have traditionally involved international travel and gatherings of groups of 30-50 individuals from diverse contexts. For this reason, we have had to cancel (postpone or reschedule) most of our in-person training events for 2020 and 2021. Please continue to consult the LMC Registration Page for updates. As we move forward, working with local logistics people in each nation (asking them to work closely with community leaders and government officials) we will continue to monitor each LMC training event and make decisions accordingly.
We will most certainly comply with government and health guidelines to ensure the safety of the people involved in ITA events, as well as to do all we can to ensure the safety of others. We ask each trainer and participant to consider their own context and risk regarding travel and participation in the LMCs. Give consideration to the travel restrictions and quarantine requirements of both your home country and destination.
Read the World Health Organisation’s advice for basic preventive measures
Virtual/Online Training. We launched the online or virtual adaptation of the Leadership Matters Course: LMC Online. We are starting with the Relationship Matters Course. For those unfamiliar with this course, it is basically the Biblical Relationship Skills part of the LMC. We are planning to have 4 Courses in the LMC Online:
Residential LMCs. We are not abandoning our residential LMCs! We hope to return to residential training when it is safe to do so, following the official guidelines in each country.
Update 2022
Residential LMCs have continued to be challenging in 2022. We have postponed till 2023 one PLM (French LMC) in Mali, one CLI (LMC in Spanish) in El Salvador, and three LMCs in English: Ghana, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. At the time of writing this update, the following residential LMCs are still moving forward for later in 2022 (follow the LMC Registration page for updates):
- Cameroon PLM (LMC in French): 16-28 October 2022
- Thailand: 6-18 November 2022
- Zambia: 6-18 November 2022
Our LMC Online efforts have moved forward! We have celebrated FIVE Relationship Matters Courses, (or RMC). RMC is the first of the LMC Online Courses. We have completed the first offering of the second LMC Online Course: Working Together Matters Course, or WTM. As of April 2022, seventy-two (72) leaders have completed the online Relationship Matters Course and 12 of those have completed the Working Together Matters Course. These participants live and work in 21 different nations! Twenty-one (21) experienced LMC trainers have been involved in offering these LMC Online courses! We thank God for all of them!
Not only have the LMC Online courses encouraged those who have participated, trainers testify that their participation has also been life-giving: https://youtu.be/A1-CAIUwnFI
We are working diligently to be ready to launch the third and fourth LMC Online Courses later in 2022: Communication Matters and Life Management Matters. Please pray for these efforts!
Please pray! We ask our ITA family and others to pray for the following during this time:
- Those battling the virus (both patients and medical personnel)
- Populations negatively impacted by Coronavirus restrictions (challenges with food, finances, faith)
- Spiritual strength to battle against worry and anxiety; to instead find ways to minister to others
- Leadership decisions and direction for the ITA Management Team and for our ITA partner organisations
- That God will continue to use our online training efforts
- That God will give us wisdom when to return to residential training
- That God will be glorified in all the world and we His people will make the hope of the gospel manifest to all
“Praise be to His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.” Psalm 72:9