Learning to be Led

I recently had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua on a missions trip with my church. It was my first time on a missions trip, and first time outside of North America. The furthest south Id ever been was Florida, when I was 16. Now being almost 26, it been almost 10 years since I left Canada, let alone gone to a country that was so different than what I knew.

Because this trip was done through my church the 9 of us that went, attended different training nights to try and instil a change of perspective and create a greater understanding around how to help without causing more hurt. And when I saw those trainings as helpful as they were could not prepare my head and heart for that message to be so clear once I got there.

Leading up to the trip, I had some many thoughts around how my photography was going to be such a big support for the community down there and that if there was time maybe I could teach community members some photography and they could utilize technology in a way that they may not have been wanting to previously cause they didn’t know how. Boy, was I wrong. While my photography skills can and will go into helping that community, it’s not through teaching them or pushing my technology onto them, but rather showing how full their lives are without what I’ve come to know as the ‘ideal’ lifestyle.

And this has been something I’ve been struggling with ever since I got home. My idea of missions was completely thrown off. My idea behind why we do missions and the headspace we need going into them was not what I was expected. For me, I thought I and the team would do more time teaching than learning. But when I tell you that small community taught more than I could have learned in Canada. I am utterly amazed. The joy, the community, the resourcefulness, was absolutely mind blowing. And I feel very honoured to have been welcomed into their community, even for just a week.

The small community, the missionary family, the humanitarian organization that took us in (Compassion Nicaragua), showed us around, and welcomed us with open arms; not caring about making sure their homes looked perfect or they had enough food for themselves after feeding us, they welcomed us. Took us in as family.

You don’t get that very often any more in North America. You can’t just drop by without calling or texting first. You need to give enough warning before stopping by or you get sent a link to schedule you into the already booked up calendar. In Nicaragua, you show up and they say “welcome, I’m happy you’re here” and mean it. They are overjoyed when they get to be in community with each other even on their bad days. Even when their house is a mess. Even when there hasn’t been time to prepare. You are always welcomed.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you might be thinking, “Of course they welcome you and don’t care, they don’t know any different. Their floors are dirt and they haven’t adopted modern technology that could make their lives easier”. I had this train of thought. I had this mentality. And maybe it’s cliche and may be it’s not. But that community is so tight, because they don’t have technology. They haven’t lost the art of community and communication.

They have to be intentional with every action and decision, which I think means more. And it allows them to thrive instead of just survive. They don’t have the opportunity to just send a booking link or a calendar invite for a 15 minute conversation.

When I came back to work or right before I left (I don’t remember when but it was close to the trip), my colleagues and I were discussing how in person meetings take up so much time and you end up being with someone for an hour and you’re unable to do anything else because the person is in front of you. But at least with online meetings you can make them short, you can multitask and you can ensure that your time is being spent wisely. There’s this mentality to see as many people as possibly and get them in and out quickly. Figure out the highlights, provide resources and move onto the next person. But there’s no room for genuine connection in a world that was created for connection.

We’ve lost the vision and mission on how to connect and make an impact or be impacted on a personal level. We’ve lost the initiative to learn from others first. Instead we go into things wanting to teach, wanting to lead, when in reality we need to go into them hoping to learn. Longing to connect. Longing to be led to something greater than ourselves.

I encourage you to take a moment to pause and reflect on who you can connect with and learn from.

Education is everything. Education is the first step in making a difference. Learn about the issues in your community. Learn about what you can do or what is being done already. Learn to be led. Then learn to lead.