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11 June 2006

 

Hi all,

 

I started to add notes to Dolores’ write up, but decided it was easier just to take some of her writings and add my own thoughts.   These notes are specifically from our debriefing; I’ve got more on the general trip, but want to get to these first.

 

Conference planning:  ensure that presenters are aware of type of conference.  The Ecuadorian “tour” was all introductory level.  In the past, the “Conference of the 3 Americas” has been oriented to readers with more experience with the books.  At least one presenter did not realize this was an introduction only type conference.  He easily pulled together his presentations, but acknowledged surprise b/c he anticipated something different.

 

More prep time before gatherings or presentations—YES!  When we arrived at Ambato, three of us literally jumped out of the bus after about 7hours of travel, set up and started.  It went well, but I was pretty stressed about pulling something off with only 3 presenters.  The rest of the group had gone on to the hotel (much further than anticipated) and when they finally arrived, there were about 20 minutes left to make their presentations.  Things went well, as always, lots of people stayed behind to talk, but I thanked our unseen friends b/c the human part was slapped together rather quickly.

 

Include preparation time at location when making arrangements; make sure local hosts know about specific needs for presenters. (Request for screen for PowerPoint presentations was a surprise several times).

 

Also make sure local hosts are aware of limitations on presentation equipment.  In Ambato, I watched as the locals plugged in our laptop and projector, then (despite my explanations and protests) continued to plug in a desktop computer, full monitor, and a television DVD player into our surge protector.  They projected to a screen far larger than the capabilities of our equipment, which meant that the screen’s image was fuzzy.  About 20 minutes into the JJ Benitez’s DVD on Jesus, the room went dark.  I had a good idea what had happened, and Buck (who stayed upstairs to watch over the equipment) told me that (as we thought might happen), all the equipment overloaded the electrical system.  Thankfully, the surge protector saved all the equipment, although my $5 Radio Shack Adaptor was absolutely fried.  Buck thought the room was going to catch on fire, but thankfully things just stopped with a flash.  That was a moment to remember!

 

Group prayer time before starting each presentation

 

More humor in presentations

 

Have something for every participant; two suggestions were copies of the pamphlets “Basic Teachings of the Urantia Book”, and Meredith Sprunger’s “Origins of the UB”.  Set on chairs before participants enter room.

 

Decide before presentations on how books and materials will be distributed…especially books!  We set aside books for the host study groups but the two or three left on the tables were coveted by numerous folks in the audience.  My response for a request for a book was to introduce the person to meet the local study group host, telling the “newbie” that study groups may have books to loan out, and also that donated books generally go to study groups and are distributed that way.

 

>Personal story:  in Ibarra, I watched as one young man (early 20s) listened intensely to the presentations.  He asked me several times if he could have one of the books on the front table.  He showed me papers he had downloaded (quite well used) and said he had limited access to computers to print or study the book.  I gave him the “join the study group” answer, and told him that I was not the one who decided who got the books.  I told him that I would let Nelida know that he was sincerely interested.  I watched him as Nelida handed out the 3 books left.  His face fell to the floor in disappointment when Neli handed the last book to an older gentleman sitting in front of him.  I watched as he talked to his two friends who seemed to be consoling him.  At that point I couldn’t stand it, went back to the suitcase and pulled out one more book (one less book for the next stop!), and asked our local host and study group leader, Carlos, to talk to this young man and if he thought it appropriate, to give him the book.  Carlos sat down and talked to him for a few minutes, I saw them exchange information, and Carlos gave him the book.   I can not begin to describe the look of joy on that young man’s face.  I went back to talk to him afterwards and he thanked me profusely.   He explained that he was driven to learn about Jesus and listed many older and new age books he had read.  His limited contact with the Urantia Book led him to believe this was the book he needed.  I suggested that this book would indeed satisfy his yearnings, and that I hoped to hear through Carlos about his studies and participation in future events.  He left the room walking on air, arm in arm with his two friends, they practically stumbled leaving b/c they were trying to read as they walked.<

 

Prepare and coordinate responses to questions.  “Who wrote the book?” is always a favorite.  The folks who did the radio interviews received many questions about the D Vinci code.  In Quito, a 15 minute radio presentation stretched to 40 minutes b/c of the number of calls coming in. 

 

More group decision making throughout process.  Several folks did not present at all, while others took longer on the “stage” than anticipated (Dolores was quite good about raising her hands, pointing at her watch, etc., to try and catch the presenter’s attention. Sometimes it helped.)  We gave immediate feedback after those sessions about watching the time.

 

Group agreement that only one person answer a question; don’t let presenters get caught up in sharing all their thoughts about the question, even if they feel the other person responding to the question is missing something vital in his/her answer.

 

Decide before presentations when to do Q & A and who will moderate it.   Role of moderator extremely important to control time-do not allow questions to become monologues; do not allow presenters to turn answers into debates with each other or audience.  Set a time limit on questions if necessary.  Prepare for those who have come to debate, debunk, or have their own agenda.

 

If any pre-conference PR or advertisement occurs and includes specific topics, then make sure those topics are covered, even briefly, during the presentations.

 

Question remained regarding role of using a meditation to start or end the presentation.  Some thought it a good idea, others thought it inappropriate for introductory presentations—may give impression of a more organized religion.  Probably more appropriate for a meeting of existing readers.

 

Send conference coordinator outlines of presentations before conference.   Buck was the only one of us who did that; Neli had no idea what the others would talk about. 

 

Review Jesus’ organizational style and look for ideas on improving our own organizational style (or lack thereof!).

 

Discussion started on organizing conferences.  Topic turned to how to decide when to cancel if pre-organized deadlines are not being met.  This was a direct discussion re: an earlier event in 2006.  I had spent quite a bit of time working with Nelida (who spends the holiday months in Buenos Aires visiting her mother and family) and Mario organizing a conference in Argentina for March.  We were depending on Agustin Arellano as a key organizer. He was traveling throughout Mexico and Central America during most of January and February and we were not able to maintain consistent contact with him.  Although he reassured us that he was on top of his commitment to this other conference, time passed by with many unanswered questions.  At a certain point, we (David and I here in the states, as well as Neli and Mario in Argentina) decided that we were not well organized enough to pull it off, and cancelled with the hope that we could do this next year.  So the following comments are a direct reflection on this event, as well as some that apply more generically.  So in response to my comment that under specific situations, the organizers, as a group, need to consider canceling an event if certain key needs are not in place by a certain time (set deadlines), the following comments were made (some of these were my comments also):

 

If the Fellowship says it is going to do something, do it!  Don’t cancel on us! 

 

Recognize that planners may have already used personal resources in preparation for the conferences.  These could include down payment on room rentals & hotels, telephone calls, personal time spent working on project that could have been used for other purposes.  [After hearing this, I specifically asked if either Mario or Neli had lost money on this aborted trip, letting them know that I would investigate (no promises) reimbursement.  They both acknowledged that they were reimbursed any money put out, and the phone calls really weren’t that expensive anyway.]

 

Increased communication with in-country Coordinator: one point person; that person can create a team, but one point person is needed if setting it up as an international conference.

 

Let others know if you are planning to use personal funds for deposits and other expenditures; be more careful about using personal funds with the expectation that “someone” will reimburse you.

 

Be aware that PR may have already happened for event when deciding to cancel it.  Mario and his friends had created and started to distribute flyers, did some newspaper interviews, etc., then had to call and say “sorry, we’re unable to do this.”  Mario pointed out that this is bad PR for the book, not just the coordinators. 

 

Have one point person from the Fellowship serve to organize scholarship assistance and travel plans.

 

When awarding financial assistance, give as much responsibility as is practical to the recipient to make arrangements (hotel reservations, in-country travel costs). 

 

If awarding travel, it should be the responsibility of the recipient to make reservations, and also give detailed information to the donating organization on the least costly and easiest way to purchase the ticket.  (It is usually cheaper to buy tickets in the country of departure.  This makes for difficulties when the payment is coming from another country.  Generally, international reservations cannot be paid for with credit cards from another country.)

 

If possible, the recipient purchases the ticket and is reimbursed by the donor (Fellowship) as soon as possible.  This is a limited option; if the individual could pay for the ticket, we probably would not be buying their travel tickets.  (But I just had to say it!)

 

SR:  THE FELLOWSHIP NEEDS AN INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AGENT!!!!!!  (We’ve made this request before, is there absolutely no one in all our networks who can help with this?)

 

Moving on past the cancelled conference in Argentina….

 

Acknowledge work of local coordinators, such as Carlos Pozo.  Having a local host is very special, especially one like Carlos, who took time off to serve as our tour guide and do much of the highland bus travel with us.

 

Before leaving country, designate who will follow up with each local host or special contact person.  Make sure you get postal address for people, not just email.  Also ask if there are any obstacles or special costs to receiving packages or mail. 


Follow up packets to each contact/local coordinator?  Especially if they have seen something that interests them (but we didn’t have enough to give to everyone).  Very popular items on this trip included Timeline of Life of Jesus, and Chick Montgomery’s painting “Ascent to Paradise”.   (Chick’s painting was incorporated into a PowerPoint presentation on the ascension plan.  Big hit!)

 

Fellowship only holds a large national (international) conference every three years; is it reasonable to expect to hold one every year throughout Latin America?  (SR note-I was the one to make the comment about every three years, but also acknowledged the strength that came from the regular sharing of leaders/readers from other countries.)

 

Fellowship’s budget for international outreach is limited and requests for assistance from other parts of the globe are increasing.  We hope to continue to support the networks that have come into existence, but can not currently make commitments about any future events.  (SR—that came from me.)  Encourage continuing regional or even international conferences, but be aware of Fellowship’s limitations. 

 

Arlene thought the “tour” was somewhere between a rock and roll road trip and an apostolic journey.  She really liked the tour concept, especially watching the media outreach (radio and newspaper interviews). 

 

Tours are great, but a bit more time between stops would be less stressful, physically.  It would be more costly.  Somehow need to balance the two.

 

Amazing bonding and getting to know and love each other during the tour.  SR personal note:  even being stuck in the back of a van too small for the group, sucking diesel fumes (as was everyone else) for hours, and being sick with a respiratory infection and eventually laryngitis—it was still great and I’d do it again…except I’d start the antibiotics earlier.   It is also quite nice to travel with several MDs as well practitioners of alternative healing practices.

 

A wonderful way to catch the attention of the audience is something Buck used in Africa.  He used scientific research to show that every single day/date in the “Life and Teachings of Jesus” section was accurate according to today’s calendar.  Scientific support can catch the attention of otherwise skeptic audiences.  Are there more presentations on this that could be translated into Spanish?

 

Carlos Pozo and friends came to our hotel the day after our presentation to discuss how they could continue to build on what we had done the night before.  We spent well over an hour answering questions and felt this was a great follow-up, showed real sincerity and dedication.  It was also interesting to note that they have already experienced some of the things we warned them about; they were shaking their heads and smiling as we noted that they might get folks dropping in on them at home or work and expect their “brother Urantians” to take them in; that this book will bring in a few…unbalanced…individuals; that there is a danger in keeping it at a strong intellectual level and encouraged them to incorporate worship and service as their group grows.

 

SR personal note:  Be prepared for anything; bus drivers may decide to take more lucrative clients and leave you scrambling for transportation; you may get sick; there may be no hot water in your hotel (except for those of us who chose to bathe at midnight); anticipate sleep deprivation; recognize that words have different meanings depending on the country (I won’t share that particular embarrassing moment); tell people they have 15 minutes and hope they’ll be back in 25 minutes; bring your own toilet paper and hand cleanser; and just about anything else that could happen may or may not happen.  Be happy that you are not traveling alone and go with the flow, you have unseen friends with you as well as the ones squished in next to you on the van.

 

From Mario, who only met us in Guayaquil and didn’t “tour” with us:  We learn from each other.  Define how/when we want to do breaks and how to fit that in with Q&A.  Would have liked to come a day earlier to rest and prepare.  (SR NOTE: The rest of the group would not have arrived and he would have been alone in Guayaquil, needing to pay for his own expenses.) 

 

Every study group (not just in Ecuador) should have a copy of the Fellowship’s book with index.   Agrees that we should set up a UB “package” for on-scene or follow up.  Suggests we give DVDs, cd-roms, etc.  Jose Manuel Would like to have a conference in Colombia sometime in the next several years. 

 

Jaime Rodriguez joined us for about 45 minutes.  Jaime is a “UFO-ologist” and friend of Nelida.  He became interested in the UB when she gave a presentation at one of his UFO (in Spanish, UFO=OVNI) conferences on the transport seraphim.    Jaime has a popular television show (“Evidencia OVNI”) that airs weekly in 36 countries in the Americas and Europe.  He said that over 900,000 viewers in the US have access to this program through the cable stations “DirectTV” or “EcuaVision”.  He would like to put material about the UB on his show and asked for prepared material as soon as possible.  He can plug in short bits (such as TruthBook’s Flash Presentations, if translated and re-organized as needed for television).  He would like something put on TV using the Timeline of Jesus’ Life. 

 

He thought a well-prepared documentary on the UB would be great, whether one entire show (he will give us up to an hour if the product is good) or broken into segments.  He did not define how long he would be willing to run any particular piece; I felt he is willing to continue to run material as long as it is good. 

 

Jaime is the leader of Club Galileo, a UFO club based in Ecuador but with chapters throughout Latin America and Europe.  His website (www.clubgalileo.com) receives over 1 million hits/ day from all over the world.  He would also like to put UB material on the website, including links to Spanish language UB websites.

 

He would like to get this going as soon as possible, and wanted one point person to work with him.  Nelida is the obvious choice; she can build a team as needed but she knows him and his work. 

 

He would like materials as soon as possible.  The group at the table discussed possibilities and hoped that readers in the US could get the TruthBook Flash presentations ready for television, and also prepare to link them (in Spanish, after they are translated) for the website.

 

We discussed the need for groups of readers to answer emails and other communications (including other possible media outlets that might contact Urantia groups for interviews).  I warned them that once this gets going, it is quite possible that hundreds of emails could arrive each day.  This may be the strongest possibility for the Latin American readers to unite on a project; responding to emails is a lot of work and coordination is absolutely necessary.  Creating materials will be a lot of work.  I don’t know of any groups in Latin America that are currently capable of creating television ready material, but some of them may quickly rise to the challenge.  Neli seemed to think costs would not be an issue.  (???)

 

I shared several thoughts:  first, make sure you are ready to respond; second, make sure books are available in the countries that carry this TV show (will have to work with organizations in the US on this b/c of copyright and printing issues); third, be careful how we want the UB to be represented, it may become known as a “UFO” book—do we want that? 

 

SR’s personal notes, no special order:

 

There were times throughout the trip when I had concerns about how things were going, but questioned whether or not my concerns were culturally biased.  Was I imposing my gringa organizational style on them, or was this truly a bad moment?  During the debriefing, it seems that my concerns were shared with others.  But it is important to keep the concept of cultural competency in mind; we are guests, regardless of how much work we’ve put into this project.

 

We will always be seen by some folks as rich gringos with endlessly flowing wallets.

 

All things considered, Neli did a great job of planning this trip, including working on inexpensive lodging, food and transportation.  There were some great finds –potential leaders—on this trip, including William Rodriguez in Quito, Carlos Pozo, and several folks in Ibarra whose names I forget.  Luckily we have multiple folks taking notes.

 

I see duplication of effort in creation of indexes.  Neli has a big notebook from years of reading.  Jose Manuel talked about translating Harry McMullen’s index.  When I mentioned that I thought Agustin was also doing this, and asked if were they in touch, he wouldn’t answer me.  The Spanish readers NEED AN INDEX!  It seems a waste to see so many people working on their own projects, but I don’t know what role we play in this.

 

David:  this is the end of debriefing of trip.  The following are my personal thoughts.  I am not sure how much of the following will be shared with Dolores, and Buck and Arlene.

 

Jose Manuel was helpful but also a bit disappointing. I’ve asked Dolores and Buck and Arlene to share their perceptions of our colleagues and I hope they don’t hold back.  Jose’s knowledge of the book is incredible but his teaching style is pedantic and doesn’t hold an audience’s attention.  I can see why he is so eager to reproduce Sadler’s work—it is very organized, step-by-step. 

 

Jose seemed jealous of Mario, and Dolores and Lynn noticed his attitude.  (Maybe others also, they were just too polite to mention it to me.)  Mario’s only opportunity for presentation was in Guayaquil, and Jose tried to talk Neli and I into skipping his presentation and showing the Benitez DVD instead.  I nixed that quickly and told Jose bluntly that the Fellowship had paid quite a bit of money to bring him up to this, and wanted to see how he presented.  Jose left his seat when Mario presented, wandered around the room, wanted to talk to me about making copies of DVDs as I listened, etc.  I was really disappointed in Jose’s attitude.   There were a few other petty (but noticeable) incidents as well. 

 

Early in the trip, Jose talked to me at length about the situation in Ecuador.  I was lying down, sick with the first stages of my gak, and missed a lot of what he said.  However, I think the gist is that Jose is alienated from all the other groups in Colombia.   He did seem a bit smug when he said that people wonder why the Fellowship keeps sending him on trips.  This is the same dynamics that we’ve talked about recently on the IntDev list, and I think our support of Jose has contributed to his exclusion from other groups. He’s happy with it; I believe he thinks we will continue to do this.  I let him know that given limited funds there were no promises of travel for anyone; also, that there was support for existing funds to identify and support new and promising leaders.  He is a known entity and I said repeatedly that there were no promises for anyone or any conference in the future.  I don’t think he wanted to hear it, he didn’t acknowledge it. 

 

 His dream of working with Gerald Pando has crashed; I couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying but it is clear that he would like the Fellowship to show no support for Gerry’s work.  I told him it was unlikely the Fellowship would support a conference in Colombia anytime in the next few years and that seemed to reassure him somewhat, despite later comments on wanting to host a conference sometime in the next few years.

 

He said Carlos Zapata was given copies of all of Sadler’s notebooks (the ones that we took so much time and trouble to get to him) by the Foundation.  Carlos showed them to Jose and pointed out that the Foundation had written on them something along the lines of “This material is copyright of the UF and may not be translated into any language without the written permission of the Foundation.”  Jose wants me to resolve this for him.  I told him I’d discuss it but could not give him any assurance on actions that the Foundation might or might not take.  He’s already translated them, ready to make copies and use them to teach at Cordasaes, and is frustrated.  I’m not clear about Carlos’ connections to the Foundation.  I thought he had made a public statement that he was not going to affiliate with anyone from North America.

 

It seems the groups are splintered and one “side” won’t deal with any other group.  He is isolated and we know that is not good.  At the same time he wants to host an international conference in Colombia.  If he brings it up again in context of Fellowship support, someone will have to ask him about how he is working with other groups.  He won’t like that.

 

Next:  Mario Anibal Ferreyra.  I confess that I was rather fed up with him, cyber-onically, before meeting him live.  I spent a LOT of time getting that ticket.  He also asked for $50 payment for his travel agent who was upset that he didn’t buy the ticket from her.  (Even though one of his last emails basically said “I’m stuck, what can we do?”)  Neli and I talked about this, she consulted with her daughter, who said that it’s a nice gesture but travel agents often do a lot of work and then get stiffed if the trip is not made through them.  We decided to negotiate the payment down to $20 (I have a receipt) and if we do anything in the future in Argentina, we will NOT use this travel agent; Maria Jose will find us a more competent colleague.

 

Mario and I met live and he was the epitome of a gentleman.  Overall this made a good impression on people, but there were several times when I had to get pushy to get opinions from him about how things went.  He kept saying that we all learn from our experiences and didn’t want to say anything about the past, we need to focus on the here and now…….ACK!!!!!   Eventually I did get some good information from him.  You’ve already read about his comments about work he did for the cancelled conference earlier this year.  When we talked about future plans, he said he wanted to do a similar tour in Argentina next year (early February?).  He and his friend have already visited these towns, started groups, and believe that things could really take off with a similar tour as we did in Ecuador.  He says he has an email list of 1000 people who are interested in attending.  I asked him to repeat that….yes, 1000 different names.  He appears to be a good organizer, knows the book, practices meditation daily and has a calm disposition.  (Maybe that’s why I found him …difficult at times.  I was stressed and sick, everyone was asking me questions, I couldn’t talk, barely had time to sleep and use the bathroom, etc.  He was so darn relaxed…..:-)

 

I think it would be good to prioritize a conference or tour in Argentina for next year if the funds are available.  The ground has been prepared and he is ready to roll.  We just need more time to organize and someone on our side that has the time to work this if the Fellowship is a co-sponsor.

 

I brought up another issue at the debriefing, forgot to mention it.  I told the group that I was hearing from a growing number of North Americans who did not have language skills, yet were very eager to attend a conference in Latin America and get to know the folks we talk about.  The group, esp. the Latins, were eager to hear this and began to talk about how they could put something together.  I did suggest to Francisco that something at a beach resort in Mexico or CR might be nice.  He grinned but I bet he’d work on it.  It would be a big project, but could open a lot of doors (and donors?).  Anyway, the group talked about using radios for simultaneous translations, how to organize a conference, etc.  It could be great… a lot of work, but great.  Francisco had mentioned an interest in hosting a conference in ’08, but I forgot to mention that we were having the IC that year.  Dolores starting bugging the Arias family to get their visas to attend the conference in San Diego that year, so who knows what may happen.

 

And last, but certainly not least:  How does the Fellowship see its service to Latin America, or from another angle, its partnership with the global outreach that may start as a result of the connection with Jaime Rodriguez?  How does the group feel about the idea that Ecuador and Latin America may blast past us in their introduction of the UB to the world?  They are going to do it; what do we want to do with them?  Right now we are welcome partners and friends; do we want to build on that?  I think the Fellowship is at a critical moment as we see more action throughout the world than we see in our own country.  It may be a painful realization, but anyone who attends one of these events (whether in Ecuador, Spain, or Lithuania) should clearly see it.  I don’t want to create a Fellowship IUA, but somehow we’ve got to decide what role we want to have in this outreach.  And who is going to do the work?  I’ve followed up on every name shared with me when I’ve asked for help with emails and other projects.  Zip.  The good news is that Dolores is hot to be part of the international committee and focus on this.  Buck and Arlene are also ready to go.  This is a good start for the int’l committee, but if we want to be part of the global picture, we need more.  We need financially independent people with language and cultural and organizational skills that are willing to work many hours a week or we need qualified staff.  (You’ve heard this before!)

 

Books are not available or not affordable.  What role can the Fellowship play in working on this?  Our friends are asking us for help.

 

I have a list (in my mind, not on paper yet, sorry) of “to-do” tasks generated from comments or issues brought up on the trip.  I’ll get around to them soon, I need to focus on work and home.  It is hot and dry here, and we need to do as much wildfire miigtation as possible. 

 

 

I could write more (topics from the presentations, general travel highlights, etc.) but am whipped.  This is a good start.  At some point I’ll send out a list of unanswered questions, requests, etc.

 

Susan