Pelle’s Thoughts

Did you know: Many teddy bears can accomplish a lot more than just one!

Many teddy bears can keep you a lot warmer than just one. Many teddy bears can absorb a lot more tears than just one when you are sad.And people are not that much different. O.K they are a little different: Real people are not as cute as we teddy bears are – in my opinion at least. But if it comes to teamwork we are pretty much the same. Many people can accomplish a lot more than a single person if they work together. TOGETHER is the key word!

I remember Pr. Pamela telling a story about an experience she made when she used to be a missionary in Papua-Newguinea. Together with two other women she went to Mount Hagen, a little city in the highlands of Papua-Newguinea, to do some grocery shopping at an outdoor marketplace. (By the way: You need to know that the roads in Papua-Newguinea are even worse than they are in Michigan.) After finishing the shopping the three women got back into the car – a very light weighed van - to drive back home. Pr. Pamela wanted to drive the van backwards out of the parking lot. What she didn’t know: There was big and pretty deep pothole right behind her. And: She drove right into it. The car got stuck halfway in the pothole and was about to tip over on its side because it was so light weighed. The two other women jumped out of the car and tried to keep it from falling over. But it was only the two of them and although they were clinging on the front of the van it was still swaying and about to tip over. Then suddenly a crowd of people came running toward the car. They were just around doing their shopping. But when they saw the swaying car in the pothole they came to help. Together they managed to get the car out of the pothole easily.

I know Pr. Pamela is still embarrassed about this but she is also very grateful for the help. Without that help the three of them would not have been able to keep the car from tipping over - let alone get it out of the pothole. But with so many other people lifting and pushing it was not a big deal.

You see: if people work together problems can easily be solved. If we put the weight of a problem on many shoulders instead of just one the problem isn’t so much of a problem anymore. Many people sharing what they have – strength, talent, ideas, resources – can make a great impact. I recently overheard Pr. Pamela talking to Kate Zywicki, our Director of Lay Ministries, about building teams. During that conversation Kate mentioned a wonderful acronym for the word team. I know: You are tempted to think that T.E.A.M. would stand for Teddies are most Exquisite, Adorable, and Magical. But that was not what was mentioned. (Too bad, I really like this one.) Kate said that T.E.A.M. stands for: Together Everyone Achieves More!Teamwork – working together -  makes us all a lot more powerful than working alone. But “together” is not only about accomplishing more. “Together” is not only about accomplishing things faster. “Together” is not only about accomplishing things better. “Together” is also about having a lot more FUN in accomplishing things.  

Pr. Pamela and her husband for example found out that they have a lot more fun when they cook together instead of taking turns. Even I am part of their cooking TEAM. Together everyone of us achieves more: more food, better taste, and of course more fun.  When they start cooking together I usually take my place on the windowsill and give important advice about ingredients, or I just make them laugh. I would do all the chopping, peeling, seasoning, and frying as well, but I am too small for that. I wouldn’t even be able to hold the kitchen knife because it is bigger than I am, but still: I’m there, and I help with the little I can give. 

And you know what: Even Jesus didn’t do everything by himself. He had help. He had his disciples. And there were not only the twelve disciples who were closest to him. There were the seventy-two he sent out after sending out the twelve. And Jesus was asking for even more because he knew that more people can achieve more: “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Luke 10:1-2, New Living Translation)   

I don’t know if you realized something else in this text except from the fact that Jesus wanted to have as many people as possible for the work in the Lord’s fields. I went through the text a few times before I noticed two little but very important words. Jesus didn’t send the seventy-two all by themselves! He sent them in pairs! Everyone of the seventy-two had someone else to walk with! They went in TEAMS of two. Remember: Together Everyone Achieves More!  

Jesus still wants this TEAM to grow because the bigger the working team the greater the harvest in the Lord’s fields. A single person cannot take care of a whole field, let alone several fields. But many people can. A whole team can. The more we are the more we can get accomplished. But: it only works if we do it together. 

So, whatever it is that needs to be done in the Lord’s fields:  Let’s do it TOGETHER as a TEAM! 

Yours Pelle