hacienda el refugio - program director

7/30/2019 Hacienda El Refugio - Program Director

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Hacienda El Refugio

Calacal, Ecuador

Hacienda El Refugio is a ministry

of Internaonal Teams and Youth World Internaonal.


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MM03

At the age of 12, Pablos life was marked forever through a powerful experience

the outdoors. Now 19, his lifes calling is to reach the young people of Ecuador an

Lan America through the mulplicaon of outdoor ministry programs.

There are 300,000,000 young people in Lan America, and yet youth ministry

severely undervalued and underdeveloped. Thousands of youth leaders a

disillusioned and discouraged. Millions of youth remain unreached. For over 1

years El RefugioITeams retreat center in Quitohas already witnessed the wav

of impact as lives are transformed and as a result churches are strengthene

through improved leadership and spiritually vibrant young people. Our hope is th

through the growth of outdoor ministry programs many more will experience th

blessing. Through them, a new generaon of leaders would be trained, ne

ministries launched, exisng ministries revitalized, and the Lan chur

strengthened and renewed.

TeamLeadership

LeadershipDevelopment

ProgramDevelopment

MinistryOversight

Lives and communities transformed by the power of God


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Hacienda El Refugio exists to facilitate a deeper relaonship with Jesus Christ through nature and outdoor

adventure.

Founded by Youth World in 1999, the catalyst for the ministry was the voiced need of Youth Leaders who de-

sired a place to get out of the city, a place where they could go and hear the sll, small voice of God. A 320-acre

property was purchased 40 minutes outside of Quito and several years were spent in development, renovang

old buildings and creang a funconing road and trail system.

In 2003, the program element of Hacienda El Refugio began to take shape and groups began to come out for 1-3

day retreats. The Retreat program grew rapidly over the next ve years, with the annual parcipant numbers

reaching close to 2000 parcipants. During this me, program elements expanded to include low ropes, high

ropes and orienteering.

In 2006, a program for Leadership Development was iniated with the purpose of introducing young Ecuadori-

ans to the possibility of outdoor ministry. With an increasing focus on mulplicaon of adventure ministry in

Lan America, Aire Libre, a vocaonal training for those desiring to pursue a call in this eld, was launched.

In 2012, programming expanded to include Adventure Camp, Alturas, Fronteras and a Lan American Adventure

ministry network.


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The Program Director is responsible for providing overall leadership for the program area of Hacienda El Refugio,

developing and maintaining the Program Team, Leaders in training, Programs and Methodologies and Program

Elements. The Program Director is also a key part of HERs leadership and reports to HER Director

Formal Bible Training

Formal Outdoor Leadership / Experienal Educaon Training

Love for, and understanding of, the value of outdoor ministries in communicang Jesus

Broad Knowledge of Outdoor Adventure Skills

Experience in Chrisan Ministry, including oversight of a ministry team

Demonstrated ability to think strategically and communicate vision

Demonstrated ability to care for team members

Demonstrated leadership in managing sta groups and major projects or iniaves

Ability to create and manage a budget

Ability to work with both Ecuadorian and Internaonal teams and individuals

An ability to communicate in Spanish and English

General

Meet regularly with HER Director

Be an acve parcipant in El Refugio Sta meengs and Youth World Team Meengs

Assist in creang, developing and implemenng the overall HER vision

Personally Incarnate the values of the ministry

Program Team

Lead the Program Team Facilitate Program Team meengs and communicaon, making sure that responsibilies are clear and

procedures are followed.

Oversee the work, days o and vacaon days of Program Team members and ensure that job funcons

are being carried out.

Carry out Annual Reviews and 6-month check-ins with all Program Team members

Monitor and invest in the spiritual, physical, emoonal and relaonal health of each member. When

health in any area is compromised, work with the Director to idenfy and address the issues and devise

a plan for restoring health to the individual and/or team.

Idenfy and draw out leadership skills and potenal in members of the Program Team

Create and Manage the Program Development budget

Work with Director to determine and ll program sta needs

Develop Leaders Create systems to recruit, train, and provide ongoing development of leaders in the eld of outdoor ad-

venture ministry locally

Oversee Facilitator program, Internship program and Aire Libre

Assist Director in creang and implemenng strategies to mulply outdoor adventure throughout Ecua-

dor and Lan America

Develop, Maintain and Oversee the Funconing of Programs and Elements Oversee the day-to-day execuon of retreat and training Programs in alignment with the vision

Develop programs including curriculum, methodologies, elements and people resources

Develop and Maintain Physical Program Elements


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EXPOSE DEVELOP

MULTIPLY

Adventure Camp

Customized Retreats(churches, schools, non-

profits, etc)

Backpacking*

OutdoorEducation**

CorporateTeambuilding*

Facilitators

Service Interns

(Alturas)

Leadership Interns

(Fronteras)*

Aire Libre

Outdoor Leadership

SchoolLatin American

Adventure

Network*

Ecuadorian

Camps *

Church Renewal*

* In early stages of devel-

opment, being piloted.

** To be developed


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Our leadership development strategy seeks

to oer a series of opportunies for young

people to get further exposed to outdoor

adventure ministry.

ALTURAS, which means elevaons, is

designed as a 10-week, adventure based

discipleship program with a focus on the

concept of service.

The core goals of the program are to:

Form Character

Develop Potenal

Discover Calling

This program began with one 10-week ses-

sion in September-November of 2012, we

envision expanding to an addional session

in the spring and eventually a short summersession, with 8-10 parcipants per session.

The FRONTERAS internship is the next

step in the leadership development cy-

cle, working at a deeper level with only 4

-6 parcipants over a period of 9

months. The focus of this experience is

squarely on leadership, spiritual for-maon and on adventure design. These

individuals will be given the tools and

empowered to create the transforming

environments for retreat groups. This

program, piloted in 2013-2014 with four

parcipants, remains to be developed

and strengthened.

The successful launch of these programs

bring the added benet of being able to

open our doors wider to school groupsand corporaons, who typically prefer to

come mid-week.

Outdoor Educaon programs targeng

elementary age children are an important

stepping stone in our long term goal of

developing outdoor leaders. There are

very few opportunies for urban children

to get out and experience nature, and

weve seen an increasing interest from

schools in Quito.

Corporate Team Building oers an oppor-

tunity of impacng a hard to reach demo-

graphic, and at the same me providing a

stream of income for helping to sustain

the ministry nancially. We are currently

one of the only venues in the Quito area

that could potenally oer this service.

DevelopingDeveloping

Programs


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Empowerment

Involve Someone Else

Teaching to Fish

Entrusng Responsibility to others

NatureConnecng to LIFE through the rhythm of retreat in nature

Inving people to a healthy rhythm of encountering God in nature

Enjoying and caring for Gods Creaon

Sta taking intenonal solo mes and sabbacals

RiskWhen comfort ends growth begins

Inving people to environments of perceived and real risk

Fail Forward/embracing failure as an opportunity for growth

Exposing ourselves to new ideas and experiences

Intenonality

Start with why Aim Small Miss Small

Designing customized experiences

Make it happen

Evaluate Everything/Always Debrief

Churchreally.

Developing meaningful and strategic relaonships with churches

Connecng people to churches

Creang trainings that will bless churches

Leading with quesons

Holisc TransformaonFacilitang authenc and comprehensive, Christ-centered, life change

Calling on and trusng God to work

Developing meaningful relaonships

Listening and looking for God

Seeing and Hearing People

Bringing Light

Planng Seeds of truth and renewal in

peoples hearts


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Identy in ChristIndividuals get their life from the core truth

that they are loved and created by a good God.

The consistent pracce of healthy disciplines for Christ-centered

holisc formaon.

Meaningful and signicant relaonships for mutual edicaon.

Targeng clearly dened results for personal growth and King-

dom impact.

A clear vision of my role in Gods Kingdom.

Hacienda El Refugio exists to facilitate a deeper relaonship with Jesus Christ

through nature and outdoor adventure. This is accomplished within the

framework of a 4-point strategy:

1. Idenfy with the Group

2. Create an Environment

3. Facilitate for Transformaon

4. Empower to Pursue Abundant Life

This is a powerful process that we have seen work over and over, regardless of

the group, age of the parcipants or their backgrounds. It is applied to every

individual or group that comes out, and it is also applied on a macro level to

groups such as youth-

at-

risk or interns. Ulmately, when you get peoplein a seng out of their comfort zone and challenge them, and then help them

to process the experience, amazing growth happens. We hope to see leaders

leading beer, deeper relaonships with Christ, churches renewed, and out-

door ministry mulplied.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring them into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to them.Then I will give them their

vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.

And they will sing there as in the days of their youth,

As in the day when they came up from the land of Egypt. - Hosea 2:14-15
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All internaonal workers at Hacienda El Refugio are funded through personal support raising eorts. Here are some com-

mon quesons related to fundraising:

Why is it necessary to raise funds?

In general, adventure programming is expensive, and is not a big money maker. Now imagine bringing these incredible

experiences to a cultural demographic where 30% of the populaon lives below the poverty line, and where the minimum

wage is below $2 an hour. Fundraising is a major part of making this type of experience as accessible as possible.

Why is it awesome to raise funds?

Building faith through seeing Gods incredible provision. Involving way more people in what He is doing. Stewarding re-

sources to be a blessing to those with less. All. Around. Blessing.

How long does it take to raise funds?

For those who parcipate in the fundraising training oered through Internaonal Teams, recent averages indicate that

most are fully funded within 100 days.

What expenses are covered?

The typical budget for an internaonal worker will include everything from setup costs such as travel, furnishing a home

and purchasing a vehicle to ongoing expenses including rent, food and houshold, educaon, transportaon, communica-

ons, medical and life insurance, savings, rerement contribuons and discreonary funds. Typically a budget sample will

be provided to work from in creang your budget, which is submied to the Youth World Team Leader for approval.

Internaonal Teams is a mul-naonal organizaon that exists to see lives and

communies transformed by the power of God. There are over 1200 workers around

the world, working on over 200 teams.

Founded in 1994, Youth World exists to idenfy, teach and equip leaders to impact

young people and families to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Something that drives us is

the startling stasc that 95% of the worlds trained youth workers work in North

America, with only 5% of the worlds

Youth. As one of Youth Worlds 6 ministry areas, this mission permeates Hacienda El

Refugio. Developing Leaders who will impact youth throughout Lan America compels

us to go beyond being simply a tradional outdoor ministry or camp. Empowering a

mulplying movement of outdoor leaders runs through our veins.

Over 2.5 Million inhabit-Over 2.5 Million inhabit-

antsants

Roughly 50% under the ageRoughly 50% under the age

of 18of 18

95% Roman Catholic, 4%95% Roman Catholic, 4%

Protestant, 1% OtherProtestant, 1% Other

Quito, Ecuador


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1. Inial Contact

2. Applicaon to Internaonal Teams

3. Visit and Youth World Interview. We recommend a short visit of 1-2 weeks (for both applicant and

spouse) as an essenal piece of the decision-making process. We recognize moving to a dierent country

is a huge transion and our desire is to discern Gods voice as well as set people up for long term success.

4. Acceptanceand Job Descripon. If both Internaonal Teams and Youth World accept the applicaon, an

invitaon to join the team is extended along with a job descripon.

5. Fundraising. At this point an account can be opened with IT, well help you put together a budget for

approval, and then the fundraising process can begin.

6. Training. There are 3 training components that must be completed before coming to Ecuador. The rst

is a fundraising training, recommended as early on in the process as possible. The other 2 trainings

happen at IT headquarters in Elgin, IL. One is an IT orientaon (which also can happen earlier) and the

other is ITs main pre-eld training, a 4-week session at the headquarters.

7. Language Acquision. Language is such a huge part of a successful transion to overseas ministry. Youth

Worlds language requirement is that the new team members achieve an Advanced Low prociency

before beginning their role on the eld. We highly recommend at least two trimesters of language

training at the language instute in San Jose, Costa Rica or something comparable.

8. Onboarding. The Youth World onboarding process includes pre-eld tasks like acquiring a visa to enter

Ecuador, as well as in country paper-work, Youth World orientaons, cultural orientaons, drivers

licenses, housing setup, purchasing a vehicle, etc.

The Tree House at

Hacienda El Refugio.

This is a special

space, built in 2006.

The intenon was to

create an en-

channg, purely rela-

onal space, built

solely for the pur-

pose of reecon,

prayer and spiritual

formaon in a spec-

tacular natural

seng.


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Wed love to answer any quesons you may

have. If you are interested in exploring this with

us please contact Paul Reichert:

Email: [email protected]: paul.in.quito

Paul has served at Hacienda El Refugio since

2003 and as the Director since 2010. He is mar-

ried to Beth and they have 3 kids, Jack, Carleigh

and Tilghman.

Sunset from basecamp of Cayambe Volcano

hours before attempting to summit. (18889 ft.)

hacienda el refugio - program director

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