So Much More To Do At NeighborLink

I developed an advisory group within the first 6 months of being the executive director at NeighborLink Fort Wayne almost 4 years ago with the goal of invited a group of people to support me, guide me, and bring fresh ideas from their practical experiences without the fiscal commitments of a board of directors position.

This group is made up of ordinary people with an extraordinary ability to lead others into the margins and serve out of their obedience to God. Every month we gather to share, listen, and work on new ideas. 

I was again deeply encouraged by their love for NeighborLink and for me as the director at our last meeting. It’s not often that I have a group of people who genuinely ask me how I’m doing at my job and can answer them honestly. It’s not that it doesn’t happen, just could happen more. 

Any job where your responsibilities are to respond to some of the most difficult social and life issues people and a community can face, it’s going to be hard. Social services is hard and there are workers who have it much worse than I do on a daily basis. 

So, after almost 4 years of doing this, it’s wearing me out a little. It’s hard not to run the project being requested through your mind that’s seen thousands of projects and want to tell the person asking that it’s unlikely that anyone will take your project.

That’s the reality for over 40% of the requested projects. It doesn’t really matter how much I can see the potential life transformation or if I can see the Kingdom more clearly in the project. If no one else sees it enough to walk into it, then it’s just a vision. I hate that feeling. I want others to feel the way I feel about them, but it’s not up to me. Loving others is hard business.

At the last meeting I was able to share a vision for NeighborLink that’s been brewing in me all year that leads to the fact that there is so much more to do at NeighborLink. There are so many relationships and opportunities for true community development to take place. 

Our recipients hold so much value but I don’t know exactly what that is yet. The transaction and transformation that happens is heavily skewed to the volunteer side of things. With over 700 connections made this year it makes me wonder what kind of knowledge, power, and resources reside in the recipients. What could they offer the community and their neighbors if given the opportunity? What could they offer our volunteers in return? I don’t know, but someone at NeighborLink should be figuring that out. 

Our volunteers not only need to serve, but I feel like I have a responsibility to make sure they do it well. As volunteers we want to be appreciated for serving and often don’t want to hear that we’re not doing it well. We want the organization to just be happy we showed up. I’m definitely happy you showed up, but I also care deeply that whatever you do, you do it well. For the recipients sake.

So, I have a lot of work to do to create trainings, illustrations, and resources that help educate on minimal expectations and how-tos and not inhibit progress. I know many people don’t like to come to trainings, especially when you don’t know what you don’t know. Watch for some subtle and interactive training in the near future. 

We’re just scratching the surface at 700+ connections! We’ve only begun to tap into and track the generosity of The Church of Fort Wayne and concerned neighbors. I can sense the awakening spirit in Fort Wayne to help each other out in simple, practical ways. I fully expect neighbors helping neighbors reaches well over that 1,000 project mark in 2012. 

At the end of the day, I don’t want NeighborLink to be known for just an innovative way to meet needs in a community or that organization that does hundreds of projects and mobilizes thousands of volunteers each year. I want us to be known by the relationships we’ve developed that are mutually beneficial and by a group of people that put the full love of Jesus in everything we do.

If we do that, everything we do will be done above and beyond what’s asked and expected of us because that’s what He did for those that believe in Him. 

Here’s to a challenging and successful 2012