the voc and me

So most people reading know that in a few short months I'll be living in Nicaragua. One of the things I'm doing in preparation for that is completing what Food for the Hungry (the agency with which I am going) calls the "Corporate Identity Training Module". It sounds dry but it's actually quite interesting. The CITM binder contains approximately 250 pages of reading about FH, its vision, objectives, strategies, and history (and a lot more). And lots of reflection questions.

The largest unit of this binder (which I finished last night) describes something FH calls their Vision of Community. The VOC represents what all of the work FH does is about. Churches increasingly reaching out into their communities. Leaders increasingly solving problems. Families increasingly meeting one another's needs. How, you might be wondering, is FH attempting to achieve these objectives? Through the presence of appropriate ideas (vision/truth/knowledge), people (enthusiastic/committed/competent), and resources (financial and material) to strengthen each of these critical components in each community they work with. Through walking alongside communities, equipping, training, encouraging, mobilizing, partnering, praying, teaching, modeling, and in it all, demonstrating the love of Christ which compels us (me) to action. (This is a vast simplification of about 100 pages.)

What I find most challenging about my learning experience is considering how the VOC applies to me, in my own cultural context right now. Not because I don't believe we need churches, leaders, and families to increasingly fulfill their roles and potential in my community, but because it is harder to identify the specific ways I can contribute to that process here. This is something I hope to give much thought and prayer to in the upcoming weeks.