Chris Marshall Resources – Page 79 – Ask the Pastor

Lessons From Cambodia-Part 2-“Blessed Are the Flexible…”

Quite often during our Cambodia experience either Pastor Matt Geppert or I would offer some variation of this statement: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape! The only constant on a mission trip is change. Sometimes the best laid plans and the most carefully developed schedules change in an instant. Some of us prefer life to come at us that way, while others see such changes as enemies to be overcome. Given the nature of a mission trip, particularly a cross-cultural mission trip, when change comes a number of people from the other culture are generally watching to see what the “Americans” will do. How will they respond to inconvenience, or discomfort, or disappointment?

For example, how will the group respond to the announcement that while the meat for last night’s dinner was imported from Australia, tonight it will be locally raised–right here in Cambodia? (This actually happened. Small inconvenience to be sure, but there was a noticeable difference in the taste and texture.) How will they respond when they’re told they will have the following morning to relax while the leaders of the team meet with the governor of the province, only to be told the next morning while they’re enjoying a leisurely breakfast that the whole team needs to be ready to roll in fifteen minutes–including being ready to check out of the hotel–because we’ll be visiting a couple of sites for prayer walking, and then all of us will be meeting the governor at 10:30? (This also actually happened.)

The answer to the question: How will the group respond? depends on how the group has been prepared. This is true of any group’s response to change, which is why all leaders need to be flexible and prepared for change and to prepare their teams for change as well. The three most important actions I took in order to prepare our team for change were: 1) To say throughout the training for the trip things such as this: the plan is to spend the first night in Phnom Penh and then to worship at Pastor Sinai’s church the next morning–but that could change. In other words, we had a plan for the entire trip from start to finish, but every time I laid out one of the specific components of the plan, I noted that it could change. (This was helpful, since the last major change was that one of the legs of our return flight was cancelled and we ended up with an additional five hour lay over in Korea. By the time that happened the team, while disappointed and eager to get home, rolled with it as one more change of plans.)

2) When changes came up during the trip, the leaders responded positively. We would say things such as, “Hey everyone we get to do something a little different than we planned…” or at one meal, which was particularly outside of our comfort zone, I took the team off site and we ate at KFC. (That was a change of plans everyone was quite happy to experience.) Bill Hybels has said, “The speed of the leader, the speed of the team.” When the leader responds positively to changes, whether desirable ones or downright challenging ones, the rest of the team generally will as well.

3) We “debriefed” quite often during the trip. We gave folks the opportunity to tell us what they thought the “good, the bad and the ugly” had been so far during the trip, or what they saw as the best experience they had been through so far. Giving folks the opportunity to respond to what was happening and how they were feeling about it let everyone know that we cared about their feelings, because we genuinely did. That didn’t change the situations, but it helped everyone to see that the unexpected, and the adjustments to the schedule sometimes turned out to be part of the good, and even when it was part of the bad or ugly it still provided opportunity to experience and share God’s grace with others.

All in all the trip was an incredible experience. Everyone did get to meet the governor of a province, and sit in on a two hour meeting with him. That was a major change from the original plan when just the leaders were going to meet with him. While the experience was formal and only a handful of the participants were involved in the conversations, all of us had the opportunity to see how God is opening a door of relationship and cooperation for helping the next generation of children in Cambodia. That was a time when being flexible resulted in a blessing for all of us.

I’m sure you can see the application of this principle to your leadership, whether in the home, workplace, church or wherever. While changes may occur more often on the mission field than in any of those places, change is an inevitable part of life. The more flexible we remain when it comes, the more effective our leadership will be, and the more positive the outcomes of our efforts.

Here’s to leading better by remaining flexible–today!

Lessons from Cambodia-Part 1-A Team Is Better Than an Individual

Thanks for rejoining me after my time away in Cambodia. I learned a number of leadership lessons during the trip, and that will be the content of my posts this week. The first lesson I learned is that a team is better than an individual. I already knew that from my prior life experience, but I haven’t been to Cambodia with a team from New Life before, and the experience was incredible. We had an eight member team including me. I was “wearing two hats” on the trip, because I’m the lead pastor of New Life, and also a member of the Southeast Asia Prayer Center (SEAPC), the organization that sponsored the trip. I had some official duties in my SEAPC board member capacity, which kept me away from the team for several days, so it would have been easy for them to be upset, especially because none of them had been to Cambodia before, and several had never been on a mission trip before. Instead, each of the team members put the mission’s purpose first, and worked together effectively whatever the task set before them.

The biggest reason the team was better than me going by myself is because now eight people at New Life have a first hand understanding of what’s happening through our mission in Cambodia. They will be great ambassadors for the mission, and their experiences shared with others at New Life will help everyone to have both a better understanding and deeper commitment to the work.

In addition, the team accomplished so much more than I would have been able to do myself. We had two primary “tasks” for this particular trip: 1) Help lead a “Kids’ Kamp” for 400 Cambodia orphans; and 2) Do repair work on one of the orphanages where the children live. Obviously, having eight team members gave us the ability to accomplish so much more than one person could have done. It also freed me to participate in several important meetings in my capacity as an SEAPC board member, including a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia. Without the team, it would have been an either/or opportunity rather than a both/and.

As you reflect on these differences, think how they may apply in your workplace, church or other organization. It’s tempting to be “Lone Rangers” in our efforts, because everyone knows if you want something done right it’s best to do it yourself. That may well be true if you are the best person at the task, for that particular task, but if the goal is to multiply our impact, then a Lone Ranger approach is only minimally effective. After all, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto, and even they could only address one situation at a time. Having a team gives us the ability to multiply both our skills and our efforts.

Let me make one final point today regarding the benefits of team, and that is a distinction between a team and a committee or a collection of individuals. A collection of individuals may all have great gifts, skills and abilities, but they won’t multiply the impact of the group, because they’re working for themselves. A committee is a group of people with a common purpose, but often that purpose is more the maintenance of a particular effort rather than the effective completion of a vision or task. In a team, the individuals submit their gifts, skills and abilities to one another in order to accomplish the vision or task at hand. Cooperation and communication are key components of accomplishing the vision and task and the group is committed to one another.

I had that experience in Cambodia in so many ways. The team went to serve Jesus and submitted itself to Him. In practical terms that meant the team accepted leadership from those who were in charge of the projects they undertook. Whether that was Pastor Sinai, the SEAPC Cambodia director, or one of the area directors for the area of Kid’s Kamp to which each team member was assigned, or to the project director at the orphanage where repairs were done, the team members submitted themselves to the appropriate authority and much was accomplished as a result.

As you go about your work today, I hope you will consider the multiplying impact of teamwork, and then implement it into areas where it will make an impact.

Here’s to leading better, by working together–today!

On a Mission–Literally!

Hi Everyone! As I mentioned last week, New Life’s Mission is to share, grow and live the new life of Jesus Christ with the world–one person at a time. I’ll be out of the country this week as I complete two weeks serving on a mission in Cambodia as a way of setting a leadership example in fulfilling that mission. As Bill Hybels always says: speed of the leader, speed of the team, so I make it a point to take at least one of the country mission trip each year, where I can share, grow, and live the new life of Jesus with folks of another land.

Please, pray for God to use me to encourage the orphans with whom I’ll be investing time the first several days, and for wisdom when I have the opportunity to lead as a guest in that beautiful nation.