Servant Leadership: Leadership the Right Way
By José M. Díaz, President
Board of Directors
What an incredible year has been 2021 for Orphan Prevention Community despite the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19! Every time I reflect on the challenges we faced this year, and how God allowed us to serve and reach out to the people we serve... I remain surprised at what God can do thru us if we remain with a willing heart. God really showed up even before we arrived. We could bring many excuses to prevent progress in our work and it is very likely we would have found them reasonable and possibly logical but our OPC's team did not do that.
“The true heroes of the new millennium will be servant leaders, quietly working out of the spotlight to transform our world.” Ann McGee-Cooper
The secular world points to top-to-bottom leadership as optimal. According to the world this is the gold standard of leadership style to pursue. If you look at the military, educational institutions, governments, or the private sector you will see an emphasis on this approach to leadership. No wonder faith based organizations can also fall for this model. At OPC we have taken a different approach, our leadership is down side up when compared to normal leadership. We are resolved to follow Jesus leadership model.
The Bible shows us that Jesus is the perfect example of leadership. His actions are an example of sacrificial service under the will of God (Luke 22:42), and he sacrificed his life freely out of service for others (John 10:30). It is clear the He came to serve (Matthew 20:28) although He was God’s son and was thus more powerful than any leader in the world that has ever existed or will exist.
We assumed a servant leadership posture and supported our Guatemala partners in every way possible and then some. Being unable to travel does not equate to being unable to coordinate or communicate with our partners. In 2021 we held more Google meet meetings that even in 2020! A new Board of Directors for OPC started working in April 2021. We touch basis with our team weekly and sometimes multiple times during the week. We have become experts at WhatsApp, Google Workspace, Google meet, and email.
The Kingdom work we are called to do does not stop and it is comforting to realize that in hard times like this God is at work ahead of us. I am also very grateful for our partners in Guatemala. Specifically our friends from the "Asociación Casa del Redentor, Panajachel" (CDR) who are working non-stop and their "Junta Directiva" (CDR Board of Directors) which provides leadership to the local team. I am so proud of the administrative grow of the whole team, breaking new ground in taking ownership of their ministry landscape. This year in particular we (and CDR) have grown in areas such as: 1) Social media management to communicate better with our supporters, 2) Self-assessment of our ministry and strategy, 3) Leadership development, and 4) Internal controls just to name a few. Our field strategy was adjusted due to COVID-19 pandemic but we continued to serve.
Thank you Jesus for showing us how to be servant leaders. We pray that you help us to continue being an instrument of your mercy, grace and peace in every community we serve. We pray you give us the strength and resiliency we need to keep honoring you and bring you glory. We pray that in the year 2022 you continue giving us the Vision for your ministry and the wisdom on how to do it.
Thank you LORD for blessing your (and our) ministry, our staff, the volunteers, our partners and the people in the communities in which we serve, to you be the glory!
Amen.
