Date: Friday, December 11th
Time: 7 am PST
TITLE : Transforming Communities, Companies and Nations Through Writing
Join Zoom:
Meeting ID: 845 2894 2595
Passcode: 858976
DESCRIPTION: Why would someone with a Ph.D. in engineering and a well-paying job go back to university to do an MFA in creative nonfiction writing with no guarantee of income? Untold stories are a wasted opportunity.
In this presentation, Willy will share stories to show how God can use each one of us to extend what God is doing in lives through writing. He will touch on:
- God’s point of view
- Breathing God into stories
- Beyond the writing – developing a sustainable ecosystem for proclaiming His message
- Reading the hearts of the readers
- Targeting the audience
BIO: Willy Kotiuga, a Professional Engineer from Montreal, Canada, has lived and worked in Africa, China, India, and China and took on short-term assignments in over 25 countries. After completing his Ph.D. and a career spanning four decades, he decided to go into rehab (an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing program) to improve his ‘self-taught’ writing skills. Although he has written and edited more technical reports and seminal papers than he can remember, most of his work was a response to what clients wanted and needed. And now, he writes for his own pleasure. He recently retired as a Senior Director (Strategic Studies) with SNC-Lavalin, one of the world’s largest engineering – construction companies.
Willy serves on the boards of several organizations transforming lives. He is Chair of the Bakke Graduate University Board of Regents, a member of the corporation of World Vision Canada, Chair of the Board of Christian Direction (community development), Vice-Chair of the Board of Welcome Hall Mission (one of Canada’s largest rescue missions). He was the Chair of the Program team for the Lausanne Global Workplace Forum.
Willy’s book project, An Engineer’s Guide to Reinventing the Wheel, is a memoir about extending God’s faithfulness through writing. The first use of the phrase ‘reinventing the wheel’ was synonymous with ‘wasting your time.’ Now times have changed along with the meaning of the cliché. Over his 40-year career, Willy compiled real-life stories as an engineering consultant advising governments, utilities and international funding institutions such as the World Bank. Rather than just imparting knowledge, the book gives you a front-row seat to experience managing projects and life that ‘reinvented the wheel’ in both good and bad ways. There are no formulae in the book; all you have to do is love good stories to enjoy them. You may even change your views on how engineers think. And yes, there is some juicy stuff on witch-hunting during corruption scandals.
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