Why Flexibility is Your Friend

The opening chapter of Simply Serving (our short-term mission leader training guide written by Global Outreach Development founder and president, Bob Wielenga) reminds team leaders to make flexibility their number one leadership quality. It’s usually how I start all my training sessions with new teams that are preparing for a short-term trip. I’ve quoted the chapter hundreds of times in conversations about short-term missions. It seems like I’ve reminded team members of the importance of this simple concept every day on every trip I’ve been a part of. Flexibility is fundamental! With as much as I have talked about flexibility, you might think that I had the concept mastered. That’s not the case. Part of the reason why I remind people about it so often is because it is a tricky little concept to keep in mind.

The essence of the concept can be said this way, “It’s not about you, your team, or your plans. It’s about God!” (p.11). God has a funny way of quickly and unexpectedly altering our plans. Staying flexible means leaving space for God to do the unexpected and not getting disappointed when things don’t work out the way we’d planned. My recent trip to Guatemala was yet another example of how God changes our plans for the better. Let me quickly recount the story. I had originally planned on making two trips to Guatemala this month with two separate teams. This plan had been in place for several months, but in late June (only a few weeks before departure) a conversation with our partners in Guatemala led me to try to merge these two teams into one. What I thought was going to be an impossible task was nearly resolved after a short series of phone calls. I even managed to get everyone on the same flights (quite possibly a miracle, considering the time frame). These were a few of the first signs that God was behind this new plan.

As our time in Guatemala unfolded it became more and more clear that the new combined team was exactly the right combination of personalities, gifts, abilities, and strengths. Throughout the week our team bonded and some outstanding relationships were formed among people who otherwise would probably have never crossed paths. Looking back at how it all came together, I am reminded once again that flexibility really is our friend, and that God is usually on the other side of situations that require our flexibility.

Pray for us as we remain flexible with God’s plans for us throughout the rest of the summer.
- joe

Mississippi Team Blog- I had a great week serving alongside a team of Jr. High students in Mississippi last month. Read some reflections here.

Guatemala Team Blog – Our Guatemala team also took time each day to write a little reflection on their experiences. Read some reflections here.