We are getting excited as we will be participating in a mission trip within the Canadian north. There are thirteen of us from our church who will be visiting and staying with the local families in a native reserve in Alberta in May. We did not know each other therefore our leader arranged a series of meeting to help with team building. This afternoon, we had a meeting and learned how to build a united team.
Pastor Ed. started the session by sharing some scripture passages and discussing with us the
factors which would help building a healthy and effective team. They are:
1. Forgiveness - being able to forgive is important. When someone has wronged us, we need to forgive and let go of the anger. Otherwise the anger will build up in us and we are the one that would be hurt.
2. Humility - Don't feel that we will be there to save the world, but to learn and understand each other. This spirit of humility helps to build a united team
3. Love - Showing our love to team members by being considerate of others. Smiles and encouragement will help to lift each other's spirit.
4. Obedience - Pastor Ed. shared with us that what broke apart a team was usually mutiny.
Our host - Philip would be our leader and we'd need to be humble and to submit. A lot of times when we'd be doing things or making decisions, it is not about right or wrong, but about preferences. For example, do not worry the colour of chair you are sitting on, but be thankful that you have a chair on which to sit.
5. A Servant Heart
Pastor Ed asked the team " What is one thing that really bothers you by members of your team?" He asked everyone to take turns and share what what really bothered him/her. We all did and
below were some of the behaviour that would bother members on our team:
Being late to meetings etc
Breaking promises
Complaining about everything
Not pulling his/ her weight on the team
Ill mannered people
Talking too much
Being treated like a kid - from a young person
People don't take time to listen
People not paying attention to instructions so they have to be repeated
Inconsistent
Being tired and can't handle the situation
Pastor Ed then asked us: " If I have done something to make you upset, what would you do?
How do you resolve the issue? Do you need time to figure out or deal with it right away?"
We had a good discussion on resolving conflicts and about our impending cross cultural experience and we learned that the following would be important:
a. Having a learning heart - want to learn more about the people we are visiting, and try to be a blessing to them. Because we will be visiting a remote community, our presence will be a blessing to them. In addition, we will need to listen,be supportive. Listening rather than giving people answers as we haven't heard their stories yet
b. Serving heart
The more we immerse in their culture, the more we would feel the culture shock.
The team plans to bring some cultural gifts to our hosts as well as each person would bring one bible and give it away on the trip. The following are bibles recommended to bring with us on our mission trip:
Messages
New Living Translation
Children's bible
We will be visiting twelve to fifteen households while we are there on the Reserve. I am really excited and look forward to visiting our aboriginal people in the Canadian North!
R.T.
Toronto
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