The Centre for Lifelong Learning

In 2018, a newly appointed ministry area leader looks back on her eight years of ministry and growth since joining TEAM as the administrator in a new church planting initiative. She could go online and click through a series of her growth plans, reflections, and progress reviews that she keeps in her e-portfolio, but right now, she just wants to sit with a cup of tea and think about what God has done to prepare her for this new adventure. A few learning opportunities stand out in her mind, pointing to a pattern of learning from and with her colleagues around the world, challenging her to grow in ways that increased the scope of her ministry and her effectiveness in serving.

“…I remember that week-long “New Leaders’ Path” I joined when I was asked to take the lead in this multi-church co-operative project. We talked about leadership styles and strategies, and for one of my projects we put together some useful plans that I was able to implement right away when I got back to the city. I still Skype some of my friends from that group to get their help when I hit a tough situation. …

“... and I really loved that four-day seminar on teambuilding for “Advancing Leaders” that we did two years ago, when the four new ministry initiatives were added in our Ministry Area. The online resources they gave us to work on ahead of time I still use with my coaching partners who are heading into church-planting teams. The other Ministry Initiative leaders who were there came from several ministry areas in this cluster, and our Senior Director did a wonderful job helping us to become a learning team ourselves, making it practical, and fun. We got to know people from the nearby ministry areas, and to understand a little more of the “big picture” in TEAM for working in collaborative teams in virtually every ministry setting.

“Now that I am taking on the Ministry Area Leader role, I know there are areas where I still need to grow, but I have felt affirmed and encouraged every step of the way; by my ministry coach and the Senior Director for my cluster, and also by other leaders I work with, who seem so eager to help me be all I can be, helping me grow into this new role. This “Advancing MALD Path” that meets together next month is helping me think more strategically already, as our project group got online last week to discuss the papers that were written by the previous cohort, stored on the Franson Resource Database. I never knew there could be so much involved in bringing 50 missionaries in 6 initiatives into a synergistic alignment with TEAM’s work around the world. It is exciting to think about the possibilities that our Ministry Area has for impacting the growing sending movement from Asia by partnering our local young people with their first multi-cultural team going into India.

“But there are complexities that I feel inadequate to deal with on my own. That’s why I am looking forward to meeting face to face with the other new Ministry Area leaders, along with a couple veterans and the Senior Director, to hash out some strategies, and to think through some of the details of managing such an exciting group of individuals, diverse in background and ministry focus, yet enthusiastic about moving together toward our complementary goals. There are new levels of responsibility for the financial integrity of handling our resources well, and communication with the home office and our partnering churches on a new level, and coaching our Ministry Initiative leaders as they lead their own teams. It is all so daunting, but I am confident that God will use TEAM’s leaders and my colleagues to help me become comfortable as a Ministry Area Leader, and fully prepared to thrive in this new role.

“... now where is the lemon for my tea?

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