Delegation

I am reading through Exodus during my morning devotions, and this passage stood out to me this week:

17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” (Exodus 18)

Jethro was a wise man. When a person tries to do too much on their own, especially in leadership positions, they and the people around them suffer. I have seen this very clearly in my own life when I feel overwhelmed.

This winter, I have been learning to delegate. Raúl has been working with me for two years now, and slowly but surely I am learning how to let go of some things and let him do them. Starting in January 2020, Teresa joined the Church Friendship team as well, and I am learning a whole new level of delegation.

Teresa was a Cohort of Missioner participant in Costa Rica from 2018-2019. She is from Chinandega, Nicaragua and found out about the Cohort program by being a leader for IMPACT clubs. Another Cohort graduate, Nereyda, is coordinating IMPACT clubs and recommended the Cohort experience to Teresa. She left Nicaragua to serve in Costa Rica for a year. When she came back to Nicaragua in July 2019, Resonate started the process of trying to get a US visa for Teresa to be part of a pilot Cohort program in Detroit. (For those of you who don't know, I started in Nicaragua as a volunteer in the Cohort of Missioners program, called Caminantes in Spanish. You can learn more about the Cohort watching This Video.) Resonate asked the Nehemiah Center to help vouch for Teresa and see if there could be a job for her when she came back to Nicaragua after being in Michigan, so I started getting to know her. We invited her to some prayer meetings in Chinandega and the Nehemiah Center's 20th anniversary celebration. Unfortunately, Teresa's visa was denied so she didn't go to the United States in January as planned. After observing her at these events, we asked if she would like to volunteer with the Nehemiah Center in the Church Friendship program, and she agreed. She started with us at the beginning of January 2020.

Teresa is a very personable, joyful person who is interested in learning. She seems to be able to strike up a conversation and start laughing within the first five minutes with most people she talks to. She speaks English and was teaching beginner English classes to kids in Costa Rica as a Caminante. As we worked with her, Raúl and I observed that Teresa is very teachable. When we gave her feedback, she tried to put it into practice right away. Teresa was always willing to run errands, help translate, call to confirm reservations and even lead the teams on their tourist days so Raúl and I could have a break. She started learning both the financial part of teams (which Raúl usually takes care of) and the coordinating and translating (which I mostly do). 

It has been a challenge for me to take the time to explain (and explain again) what needs to be done and how to do it. I feel like it takes longer than if I were to do it myself. However, I know that this is part of the process and good for character formation in Teresa as well as myself. She has been a huge help. Together with her and Raúl, we led four teams in 8 weeks and participated in other Nehemiah Center activities, and I didn't shout at administrative staff or break down crying during that whole time.



Jethro was right. Trying to do it all wears a person out. Even though delegating takes more work initially, it helps alleviate the strain and all the people go home satisfied. I'm thankful for Teresa helping bear the load over these past few months! We will see what the next months bring. Pray for Teresa and the Nehemiah Center as they explore options for the future.

Love in the time of COVID-19

While the rest of the world has been taking measures like closing borders to travelers and self-isolating, Nicaragua has been carrying on with business as usual for the last several weeks. People have been talking about the virus, but few were changing their lives. When the US made announcements about policies, many mission organizations, including Resonate Global Mission, Raúl and my sending organization, gave missionaries in Nicaragua recommendations for different actions, but it was hard to swim against the current.

Since Raúl and I flew to El Salvador via Panama for our consultation there March 7-10, we decided to take some measures like avoiding social gatherings and working from home as much as possible. However, we weren't sure how far to take those measures because life around us was normal. We spent some time at home and stocked up on groceries.

The weekend we were laying low, the Nicaraguan government announced public marches to show love and solidarity to the rest of the world. Raúl and I had a meeting at the beach hotel we were going to have the CRCNA regional retreat, but we went there to cancel the meeting. It was a lovely, quiet day at the beach - perfect for us. On our way back to Managua, we saw one of the "love in the time of COVID-19" marches. An interesting national response, but well-intentioned.

Nicaragua announced its first confirmed case of coronavirus last night.

Now we have lots of company in taking preventative measures. The Nehemiah Center is urging staff to follow medical recommendations, wash hands frequently, clean surfaces, avoid being in closed-in areas or meeting with more than 15 people, maintain at least a meter of distance between people, and prepare for sickness or shortages. They are also asking people to avoid using public transportation.

In some ways, I feel like we have been through something similar in Nicaragua because during the crisis, we stocked up on food, stayed home, didn't assemble in large groups and avoided public transportation. Maybe our experiences over the last two years help us be better prepared for the world crisis we are facing now.

Thankfully, God stays the same. Whether it's the bubonic plague or COVID-19, God remains in control. We can trust HIM. Bible verses can comfort us, but the true peace comes from knowing that in life or in death, we belong to Jesus.