Protecting volunteers
/
Protecting them from themselves, that is. A day will come when I post about protecting volunteers from safety and liability standpoints, but that's not today's post.
A few weeks ago, I had one of my precious one-on-one buddies call me about the week after Easter. Her husband and children were going to be heading to her in-laws' home for the weekend, and she was planning to stay home.
Why? Because she didn't want to trouble me with finding a sub and because she wanted to ensure stability for the child she works with. She was planning to split her family up for a long weekend - a weekend in which they would all be celebrating Easter together, albeit a week late - so she could serve.
When I assured her that we could take care of it and that I wanted her to spend the weekend with her family, she said that she would check back with me to make sure I found someone before she left town. Then, when I emailed her to let her know that one of our high school students would take her place that Sunday, she replied with the offer to drive separately from her husband and kids so that she could easily get back if the sub fell through. I told her that I would really like her to drive with the rest of her family.
In another recent incident, we had a volunteer who needed to step down for personal reasons, and she was brokenhearted about leaving when she approached me about it. Without getting into the specifics, I'll say that I didn't simply respect her reasons; I had been praying that God would help her grow in a certain area, and I rejoiced in her choice to leave special needs ministry because I think Christ is doing some awesome things with her where she is now.
These scenarios have provided me with two major takeaways:
That week we needed three subs - because another helper was out as well - and my husband had to coordinate it all without me because I had to stay home with a fever-stricken little girl. Was that week easy? No.
Leading isn't always easy. Loving others isn't always easy.
Actually, it can be exactly the opposite. Leading is doing what's hard when it needs to be done. If I'm serious about showing love to others, I'll do it in hard times too. (Which, by the way, would be impossible if it were up to me. Praise God that I don't have to be sufficient because He is more than enough!)
In Matthew 5:46, we read Jesus asking, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" Likewise, if you're only willing to serve Him when it's easy, can we really consider ourselves servants? There are plenty of people willing to step to the plate when it's easy.
If I claimed to care about the families in our ministry but I failed to protect the families of the volunteers in our ministry, I would be a hypocrite. To truly protect volunteers, I have to care about more than just the role they fill.
I need to care about the person filling the role.
A few weeks ago, I had one of my precious one-on-one buddies call me about the week after Easter. Her husband and children were going to be heading to her in-laws' home for the weekend, and she was planning to stay home.
Why? Because she didn't want to trouble me with finding a sub and because she wanted to ensure stability for the child she works with. She was planning to split her family up for a long weekend - a weekend in which they would all be celebrating Easter together, albeit a week late - so she could serve.
When I assured her that we could take care of it and that I wanted her to spend the weekend with her family, she said that she would check back with me to make sure I found someone before she left town. Then, when I emailed her to let her know that one of our high school students would take her place that Sunday, she replied with the offer to drive separately from her husband and kids so that she could easily get back if the sub fell through. I told her that I would really like her to drive with the rest of her family.
In another recent incident, we had a volunteer who needed to step down for personal reasons, and she was brokenhearted about leaving when she approached me about it. Without getting into the specifics, I'll say that I didn't simply respect her reasons; I had been praying that God would help her grow in a certain area, and I rejoiced in her choice to leave special needs ministry because I think Christ is doing some awesome things with her where she is now.
These scenarios have provided me with two major takeaways:
- I am amazed by how serious our volunteers are about loving Christ and serving His bride, the church. They teach me more about commitment, resolve, and humility than I could ever impart to them.
- If I am more committed to making sure I have volunteers in place than I am to making sure those volunteers are growing in their faith, then I am not leading. It is my responsibility to do more than coordinate logistics and manage resources. To lead, I need to love because Christ first loved us.
That week we needed three subs - because another helper was out as well - and my husband had to coordinate it all without me because I had to stay home with a fever-stricken little girl. Was that week easy? No.
Leading isn't always easy. Loving others isn't always easy.
Actually, it can be exactly the opposite. Leading is doing what's hard when it needs to be done. If I'm serious about showing love to others, I'll do it in hard times too. (Which, by the way, would be impossible if it were up to me. Praise God that I don't have to be sufficient because He is more than enough!)
In Matthew 5:46, we read Jesus asking, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" Likewise, if you're only willing to serve Him when it's easy, can we really consider ourselves servants? There are plenty of people willing to step to the plate when it's easy.
If I claimed to care about the families in our ministry but I failed to protect the families of the volunteers in our ministry, I would be a hypocrite. To truly protect volunteers, I have to care about more than just the role they fill.
I need to care about the person filling the role.