What is an Iceberg?

3/05/2014 04:30:00 PM sendtheroths 0 Comments

We have just over 70 active members in the Goma Community Center, 100 children in the Peacemaker Program, 50 young girls in the Kibati women’s program and about 20 leaders in Masisi that are already involved in the Masisi Community Center (which is an ongoing building project at this point).

We made a large color coordinated calendar for the whole year, incorporating all aspects of each training center location: Goma, Kibati and Masisi.

We have 10 people who are in very serious positions of leadership who we personally disciple on a one-on-one basis (only by God’s grace). These ten people are the people who oversee and lead all of the people and projects that are mentioned above. They are a diverse group that represent 8 different tribes, multiple walks of life and various talents and giftings.

Our leadership team is the lifeline behind all of our work in Congo. This team goes above and beyond what we could ever do in reaching the darkest areas in this region and lifting some of the most oppressed people of this world out of the ashes.

They are our best friends. They are our disciples. Truly, there isn’t even words to describe what our leadership team means to us.

We spent 3-4 days doing training and planning with GOF-C leadership last week. It was a time of intense vision casting, capacity building and team building.

One point that we discussed extensively with our leadership was something that we described as "THE ICEBERG CHALLENGE".

First, we had to describe what an iceberg was and illustrated its power by watching a movie clip from James Cameron's film Titanic.

Amethyst sitting with Claude "Tawi", to create benchmarks and timelines for the Peacemaker Program.

An iceberg is a large piece of ice that broke off of a glacier. It is more than what meets the eye. An iceberg’s tremendous power to stop ships lies beneath the surface of the water— 90 percent of it is hidden. This means that only 10 percent can be seen above the water!

We used the iceberg as a way to describe our model of development as individuals and as a team. Ninety percent of what we do goes on beneath the surface: in our prayer lives, in our homes, in our character and how we interact as a team.

We talked about what a culture of trust and honor was in an organization and why it is necessary to keep this at the forefront of the ministry. Andrew spoke about our multi-dimensional goal of bringing people to Jesus and seeing them barring fruit in their lives—whoever they are or wherever they are at in life.

The thing about working in an area that has been a state of an emergency for more than 20 years, is that ‘relief’ becomes a way of life for the people. Relief is not true development--- it is a means to saving lives, but it is not sustainable. It is ultimately a band-aid.

What happens when you put a band-aid over a serious wound for 20 years?

The affect is very destructive to the society as a whole.

Our leadership team is surrounded by humanitarian relief organizations, many of which are not Christian at all. This can be very difficult on them. It’s a bit intimidating to sit in meetings with larger organizations with huge budgets that boast statistics and metrics and sneer at faith-based initiatives. 

“We have to know our identity, culture and values and stand in unity to accomplish what God has called us to do.” Andrew reinforced in one the teachings.

We ended our sessions with creating a calendar for the entire year that included all of our programs, timelines, benchmarks and tangible, measurable goals for every aspect of our organization: prayer, evangelism, discipleship, development and justice.

It was a time of laughter and unity. It was a time that reminded me why I do what I do. These leaders, are truly where my heart is. If we could empower them to change the darkest arenas of this country, then we wouldn’t need another adventure in the world to go on.

Until then, we will embark on these adventures alongside them.

Explaining 'The Iceberg Challenge' that our team faces, which involves building healthy internal values and culture as a necessary infrastructure for long-term work.