One of the most riveting Olympic events is the 100 metre relay. While the sheer speed and power of athletes in the individual 100m race is wondrous to behold, theres a complexity to handing off the baton that makes the relay fascinating to watch.
In February of 2020, Clive and Cristina Orchard became participants in a ‘relay race’ of sorts by stepping into an interim leadership role at Ffald y Brenin. The role was initially going to be for a few months, but now after almost five years of running the race – baton in hand – the Orchards are preparing to wrap up their time here. As we prepare as a team to say goodbye, we’d love to take a moment to hit ‘replay’ and celebrate some of the highlights of their time of service to our team, our guests and the wider community.
In a relay, the baton must be handed off in what’s called the ‘changeover zone.’ It’s a critical moment and requires loads of practice to get right. Well, for Clive and Cristina, the changeover zone was COVID. A month after arriving at Ffald y Brenin, the world experienced something no one had ever trained for. This, in combination with the team being in an unsettled place that comes with any leadership transition, made for a significant challenge in those early months.
Clive and Cristina responded with courage, grace and patience. They took time to “see” every team member. With prayer and humility, they sought to listen and understand. God used their giftings, personalities and care for people to bring calm in a time of chaos. COVID proved to be a time of ‘reset’ and refocus for Ffald y Brenin, an opportunity to seek God’s face for what He had in mind for the coming season.
Some things required action, creativity and troubleshooting. There were tricky logistics of some team members working remotely or being furloughed. We moved Prayer Days online and had thousands tune in from around the world for many months. Cristina was the queen of COVID protocols and contingencies so that both team and guests were cared for when they were on-site (as you can see from the photo below of her measuring the required 2 metre social distancing space between seats at our first post-lockdown team gathering)!
We did a long overdue redesign of the website. We created a refreshed version of the Daily Prayer liturgy, a new edition of founder Phyllida Mould’s book, From Vision to Reality, and launched the annual Ffald y Brenin wall calendar. The property was outfitted with fire doors and received other important maintenance upgrades. Additional projects, like more space for day visitors via hermit huts, have begun to take shape as well.
Other things, the deeper things, were more hidden. These required prayer, stillness and listening to the Lord. While the world was in lockdown and the centre was quiet, Clive and Cristina – along with others – were given a unique space in time to ask the question: what is God’s vision for the new season at Ffald y Brenin? Little by little, the answer began to take shape: To model, enable and welcome others into a rhythm of life, centred on the presence of God.
Two complementary threads are woven into this vision. The first thread is one of rest, refreshment, restoration, and healing in God’s presence – a breathing in of his Spirit. The second thread is one of intercession, compassion, blessing, faith and global reach – a breathing out of God’s love. The Holy Spirit turns our gaze toward our neighbour as we carry his presence out to the world. In essence, Ffald y Brenin is about refreshing our inner life with God, so that out of that overflow, we are empowered to carry His presence to others.
So often Clive and Cristina have demonstrated an intentional, gentle kindness to both team members and neighbours, bringing encouragement and a sense of togetherness. By looking outward, they’ve had the joy of building some wonderful friendships and connections in the Gwaun Valley. In rural areas, it’s all the more important for neighbours to know each other, and these relationships have been life-giving in all directions.
A theme that has come up again and again over recent years is that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and Ffald y Brenin is his sheepfold. Over the last five years, we as a team and as guests have experienced the reality of this. Clive and Cristina led the team into meaningful times of soaking in God’s presence, studying God’s word, dreaming God-size dreams for Ffald y Brenin and praying for each other. In the process, we’ve fallen even more in love with our Good Shepherd.
To make an Olympic relay team, athletes must first compete in their individual events. This means that training for a relay starts with individual training. Though feeling unqualified for the challenges that lay before them at Ffald y Brenin, Clive and Cristina’s own journeys and relationships with Jesus before they ever landed here served as a training ground for all the unexpected twists and turns of serving in this place.
For Clive, a previous experience of ministry burnout after 10 years of church planting, followed by several years of wilderness that included depression, brokenness and sense of having ‘failed’ as a Christian, have helped him pray for guests and team members with compassion and faith. Having learned to embrace the lessons that have come through wilderness seasons has helped to encourage people who come to Ffald y Brenin in their own times of turmoil.
Clive has mentioned that two spiritual practices that have been essential to survival have been starting the day with the Bible and prayer, and being open and honest with praying friends over time. These intentional disciplines have helped him to ‘play the long game,’ not to give up, and not to panic.
Cristina remembers a season when the kids were small and Clive’s supply teaching was their only income. They relied on a call from the school each day to know if they would have money coming in. God was incredibly faithful and showed great favour as they prayed for work each day. “I can honestly say we lacked no good thing,” she remembers. “Those years taught us resilience and have helped us with some of the faith challenges that come with stewarding a ministry like Ffald y Brenin.”
For Cristina, something that a flatmate from years ago used to say has stuck with her: “I am just going to have a coffee and chat with Jesus.” Through this Cristina has learned to bring the Lord into her everyday activity. There has been a freedom knowing that there’s no need to pretend to be “super spiritual,” but just to walk with Jesus and authentically be who God has made her to be. As team members, we’ve seen this quiet, humble confidence play out beautifully in the way that Cristina leads Daily Prayer. One of Cristina’s favourite parts of the Morning Prayer liturgy is a piece we’ve borrowed from Jim Branch: “help me to walk slowly and deeply with you through the hours and minutes of this day.”
And so it is that Christlike leadership, whether it be in a company, a family or a retreat centre, requires wrestling and engaging with the deeper things. This is a reminder and encouragement to all believers that our faithfulness to God today, regardless of what season of the soul we find ourselves in, can equip us for something he calls us to in the future.
The concept of carrying the baton originated in ancient Greece, where a ‘message stick’ was passed along via a number of couriers. No one courier got the glory – they were the means by which something of value was communicated. So what is the baton that Clive and Cristina have carried here? It’s the same message all of as a team hope to carry and embody well. It’s the message of God’s presence. The message of Jesus loving his sheep and calling them to rest in Him. The message of inviting the lost into His sheepfold.
Over 20 years ago, Clive received a prophecy that made no sense to him – he put it in a drawer and paid it little attention. It wasn’t until he and Cristina had already begun at Ffald y Brenin that he suddenly realised that word was specifically about this role. God was already planting the message then, slowly preparing the Orchards for such a time as this. This is the good God we serve. He is calling all of us to carry the baton of His love to others, but first His invitation to us personally is always, “come to me, all who are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Thank you, Clive and Cristina, for running the race with us over the last five years. May you go forth with joy and peace, knowing that God delights in you and has more in store. You will be dearly missed.
All photos via Ffald y Brenin archives, Unsplash, and Wikimedia Commons.