The Motivation of Team

This past week I received a note from a reader in response to my article published in the October 2015 Evangelical missions Quarterly.  Miguel writes,

“I enjoyed your article on EMQ (How Teams Work: A case Study in Senegal, West Africa), and I was impressed for the way you concluded on regard of the different level of involvement of the members. I am currently writing a book on high-impact teams (in Spanish) and I have a question: How different layers/tiers provide members to next levels? How members increase the involvement and get access to the next level?”

My answer below,

“Thanks for the note and reading the article.  As to your questions, the article points out that there are no "steps" in levels of role or leadership.  The Beersheba Project team is egalitarian with limited leadership roles.  As a football team works in tandem for the completion of the goal, so, too, does the Senegal team.  Each member of the BP team work within their areas of giftedness which contributes to the overall goal of reaching their community with the Gospel as well as strengthening the local church. It is because of this structure that makes the Senegal team unique.”

Using sports teams as a metaphor, be it basketball, football or baseball, the only thing that members “compete” for is to be a part of the team.  The left tackle doesn’t aspire to be a tight end; the forward does not aspire to be a guard. 

Too many times in business, missions and the local church, the ambition to get to the next level of leadership hinders the stated goal.  Structure is important, but a team that wins is when everyone is playing to the best of their ability in their position and giftedness.

The Tale of Two Teams: Case Study In Senegal

At the outset let me say the title of this post is a misnomer for, though I analyze two different sets of cross-cultural workers in Senegal, only one is a true team, the other is a group. 

Team is one of those popular mission buzzwords.  Sending agencies like to promote their team concept, in planting churches or the ethos of their organization.  I saw a T-shirt a few years back with the slogan “It Takes A Team” written in large print below the agencies logo.  However, as this post points out, team is sometimes more of a concept than actual fact.  This short case study helps define what a team and missions is all about.

IT TAKES A GROUP – Over fifteen years ago my brother (who is a business consultant) and myself met with a group of missionaries working in Dakar, Senegal.  The mission organization they were members of had been in the country for over forty years.  At that time we met them there were five families living and serving in the city.  They met every Wednesday for a team meeting and prayer with a team leader facilitating the meeting.  Each member gave a report of his or her projects.  None of the ministry activities were related.  There were no decisions that were made at these meetings, suggestions, perhaps, on how a problem might be resolved within a particular work, but little to no integrated effort in any of the programs throughout the city.  At the conclusion of our time in Dakar my brother stated that they were not a team at all, but a group.  A good group to be sure, as they clearly supported each other and enjoyed getting together, but they were certainly not a team.

Fast-forward fifteen years and it could be said that today that they are barely a group and certainly no closer to becoming a team.  They are in fact a fractured group as one member stated categorically to me that as a group living in the same country they were on the verge of “imploding” (partly due to poor leadership management from the home office in the U.S.).

IT TAKES A TEAM – Visiting another area of the country I met with a relatively new team that are involved in an agricultural project.  This team is comprised of seven families (five expatriates and two Senegalese), and three singles (one Senegalese).  The team was formed just four years ago; all seasoned cross-cultural workers, from different mission agencies, all of them having a good grasp of the language.  Through personal interviews and sitting in on team meetings it was apparent they truly function as a team.  Each member of this team has a specific role; each person also has a part of the decisions that make up this ministry.  At least five families are a part of the pooled finances for the operation of the farm and they freely share property, i.e. vehicles and tools.  This team has a strong focused purpose; to train local Christians in appropriate farming techniques as well as biblical studies.   They have one hundred acres of land to teach farming and train fifteen interns for a year who live and work on the farm.  After the interns have completed the program and they return to they’re village, the team members visit them, following-up to help the interns implement what they learn through they’re training.

This brief description of the two sets of cross-cultural workers in West Africa is not to disparage one and exalt the other.  The agricultural team has weaknesses; the group in Dakar has (individual) strengths.   The point is, there is a difference between being a team that works together for a common cause and a group, who just happen to be members of a the same sending agency.

Please click HERE to read the detailed analysis of the agricultural team and judge for yourself.  Are you a team or just a group?

NEW MISSION BOOK FROM LCCTI

New Mission Book From LCCTI  It's Tuesday.  Now What Do I Do? It doesn't have to be a mystery. "I need some help," a missionary wrote. "I bought into the vision of saturation church planting, the Great Commission and taking the Gospel to unreached people groups. I joined a mission sending agency, raised support, and now that I've been in this country three months, I'm stuck. I don't know how to get started.  It's Tuesday; what am I supposed to do today?" "If you don't know where you're going, you might end up somewhere else."  Yoggi Berra   From my notes in teaching missionaries in over 40 countries, Tuesday is the first and best step in missionary preparation. Mission committees  and churches should purchase this book; mission schools and training programs would do well to make this a part of their library.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT TUESDAY

Each page of this book contains enlivening pearls of wisdom and practical messages.  The author's passion and knowledge of miss work and missionaries are reeled and sustained throughout the reading. What makes this book unique is the author's inclusion of insightful examples readers can apply when adapting to a foreign country, such as: making friends, remaining aware of surroundings and networking.  Included in this book is a chapter on things NOT to do in ministry.  Anyone interested in serving in missions will find this book a valuable guide in knowing where to start when working overseas.

Go To This Link 

Order Today   

A complimentary copy of Tuesday has been sent to monthly partners of LCCTI.   We hope that those who receive these books will want to purchase a copy for their missionary friends.

Send order to: LCCTI, PO Box 6900, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 or go to our website: Lewis-Training.com  (please add additional postage for bulk orders).

Team Time

My current writing project, It’s Tuesday.  Now What Do I Do? is a guide for first term missionaries.   Often new missionaries are not really sure how to get into culture and begin ministry when they arrive on the field.   Tuesday gives tips on what people can do their first year overseas.  In one chapter I discuss what NOT to do.  One thing I suggest a missionaries not do is spend all their time with people from their own culture.   An expatriate who is always with people of their own culture will have a hard time learning language and making friends with people of the host culture.   I am not suggesting they never visit people from their own country, but moderation and discipline needs to be applied if the missionary hopes to adjust to their new surroundings.

One trap missionaries get into that keeps them from getting into culture is team activities.  “Teams” are a popular concept in missions today.  Some organizations spend a great deal of effort in putting teams together believing that a team is more effective in ministry than individual effort.   Jesus had his disciples, Paul had his Barnabas, Silas, Luke and Timothy.   No one person has all the gifts for ministry and there is wisdom in developing teams to maximize efforts on the field.  I have observed, however, that sometimes team activities are so numerous that there is little time left for actually doing the work.   Because learning language is a chore and making friends with people who are not like you is challenging, it’s pretty easy for some people to just hang around the team, in fact team becomes THE ministry.  There are team meetings, team retreats, team prayer time and team dinners.  To have good teams there are team leaders, regional team directors and even team pastors. 

Adapting to new surroundings and adjusting to a new culture is not an easy task.  The enculturation process is hampered if we spend too much time with our colleagues.  The team should be in place for support in ministry.  Team activity can too easily become just busy work that keeps us from actually doing ministry.