Finding your place to put your gifts & strengths to work, making a difference for eternity

 
As we know there are countless opportunities to volunteer.
Pretty much we can pick and choose where we want to volunteer.
It can be confusing.

 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

For people of faith, the first thing we should do is pray!
What has the Lord already called you to do?

  "However, I consider my life worth  nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Acts 20: 24

So where can I make the most difference?

Isn't that what we all want to do?

How do we evaluate and decide where we can use our passion and talent in the most effective manner?

A good place to start is right in your own neighborhood, one person at a time, when you choose... 

We might want to review and consider where we are already donating our financial resources!


According to Peter F. Drucker in his The Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool   for Non Profit organizations...he talks about what making a difference means to a potential volunteer...and I quote "What nonprofits do for their volunteers may well be as important as what they do for their primary customers. The reason is that volunteers search for opportunities to make a meaningful contribution. They feel the need to do something where "I can make a difference." But again, you must discover what "making a difference means to each volunteer and how they must be satisfied in order for them to give their commitment."

Before we do anything or make any decision, we need to ask the questions Why?
Why am I or why do I want to do this?  A short blog post on this subject!

The best way for non profits to convey their Vision and Mission is on their website!

The most important consideration for us as volunteers or potential volunteers is "What is my passion?"

Then I can begin to search for the best organization that has a Vision and Mission that aligns with mine!

Check their website.  Is their Vision and Mission statement clearly visible?

Are current volunteer opportunities clearly visible?
What type of background, training and commitment are they asking for?
 
"The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." -Frederick Buechner

"Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring." Ralph Waldo Emerson 


What do you believe God is calling you to?

"A God-ordained vision will begin as a concern." Andy Stanley  

And then:  What Type of People Do I like to Work With?


Then I can begin to search for the best organization that has a Vision and Mission that aligns with mine!

Check their website.  Are current volunteer opportunities clearly visible?
What type of background, training and commitment are they asking for?

Another ingredient in finding your best volunteer opportunity is to know your Strengths!

It has been said that only 2 out of 10 people use their strengths on the job.
So that is and may be a reason or motivation for one to search for a volunteer opportunity.
So we can "Make a Difference in the world"
God has use our impure motives!
A good video about "Strengths" Strengths

More on Vision and Mission

 

How nonprofits can appeal to volunteers to join them in their vision and mission!

 

How to Evaluate a charity if you are considering giving financial assistance or even VOLUNTEERING with them!

 

  "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

 

"However, I consider my life worth  nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Acts 20: 24

 

Finding peace with God.

 

 My latest TWEETS!

 A few good books worth reading to help with confirming where the Lord may want you to serve!

Help wth findng a specific organization where you can make a real difference!

A good book on how to make good decisions.

Mission and Vision: For non profits. The heart of the matter

Mission and or Vision? 
What comes first?
What is most important?

Read this post first: Then come back to my post! 

What's the difference between Vision and mission?

From Ministry Ventures website:  A complete discussion on this topic

Vision: The preferred future your organization wishes to bring about.
A good vision statement paints the picture of a preferred future. It helps people visualize the outcome. It lets everyone know there’s a problem that needs to be fixed and casts the vision for a time when the problem is solved.



Mission: The strategic focus your organization will employ in order to bring about it's preferred future. Your mission is what you do. 
A strong mission statement clearly describes the unique way your ministry is going to fix the problem. It says what you do and who you serve.
Your mission is what you do and your vision is what it looks like when it's accomplished.  

Great information for a  non profit!

  When you are checking out a non profit to invest in or volunteer with...does their Vision and Mission statement show on their home page?  If not, why not?

Are they clear on their vision and mission...or have they maybe unknowingly "drifted" from their mission?  

The best book I have read on the subject of Visions: Visioneering: God's Blueprint For Developing And Maintaining Vision.  

"What is a vision?

Where do they come from?

Visions are born in the soul of a man or woman who is consumed

with the tension between what is and what could be. Anyone who is emo-

tionally involved—frustrated, brokenhearted, maybe even angry—about

the way things are in light of the way they believe things could be, is a

candidate for a vision. Visions form in the hearts of those who are dissat-

isfied with the status quo."   P.17 of PDF   A PDF of 1st Chapter of the book

If we are NOT clear on our Vision and Mission Mission Drift occurs!

 Mission Drift

 How does this apply to individuals?

Are we clear on our individual mission?  Do we have a vision for our life?

If not, how do we know where we can be most effective in our financial giving and volunteering? 

If you are already clear on your Vision and Mission in life...go to my post on where to invest  your life:    How to Make Wise Choices in Your Financial Giving & Volunteering

 So if we are not currently clear on on Vision and Mission for life...how do we find it or develop it?

 We might start with looking at our Worldview. Everyone has one.

More on this: More on this;

Where does our worldview come from: 

"Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philipians 4:8 NLT 

What you think about is influenced by "The events you attend, the relationships you build, the materials you read or don't read, the music you listen to, the media images you're exposed to, the conversations you engage in, and the thoughts you entertain all shape your mind, and eventually your character and your destiny."

From The Word For You Today. By Bob and Debby Gass.  August 12, devotion. 

Also, we can look at our prior experiences, spiritual gifts, strengths, and abilities.
Don't forget your past volunteer experiences! Why did you volunteer where you did?

These all provide clues to help us in developing our vision and discovering where the Lord might want to use us in His plan for the world!

Again, so how do we develop our vision and mission for life?

Is it important?  

 As a believer in Jesus Christ and desiring to be a good steward and a faithful "follower" of Jesus on our way to glory...we can be a light for others to see the Truth.

At the end of our lives, I would like to say or have said, "I  have fought the good fight, I  have finished the course, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7) 

 
"In his insightful and challenging book, The Call, Os Guinness defines our purpose as "the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service" This perspective give meaning to every moment, and it challenges us to live with integrity in every choice and relationship because we represent God at all times."

" So, does this perspective inspire you to use every part of your day more effectively as God's servant, or does it threaten you because you realize some things in your life aren't what they should be? It should do both."

Taken from Daily Insights with Zig Ziglar and Dr Ike Reighard   January 29th

 Your Calling, Purpose and Worldview

  A summary:  

Vision: The preferred future your organization wishes to bring about.
A good vision statement paints the picture of a preferred future. It helps people visualize the outcome. It lets everyone know there’s a problem that needs to be fixed and casts the vision for a time when the problem is solved.


Mission: The strategic focus your organization will employ in order to bring about it's preferred future. Your mission is what you do. 
A strong mission statement clearly describes the unique way your ministry is going to fix the problem. It says what you do and who you serve.
Your mission is what you do and your vision is what it looks like when it's accomplished.  

 So what should you do? Start each day by praying. 

Asking the Lord to give you wisdom, clarity and discernment in how to use your life to bring glory to Him. 

As Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

 ●"The Lord created each of us individually with different Spiritual Gifts, Passions, Abilities, strengths and a unique personality with different experiences.  Helping each other put the pieces of the seeming puzzle together so we each can be most effective in our families, church, community and the world and finish our lives well and leave a legacy that gives glory to the LORD so when we stand before Him one day, we will hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

More on this: Bloom Where You Are Planted Now!

So what's your Passion?

 

That may be the best clue to your vision and then mission in life!

 

  What is "Passion"?

 

  "Actually, passion is morally neutral. It is simply a strong feeling or deep longing for something." 

  "Passion is the God-given ability to feel so deeply about something that it causes us to move toward the object of desire. This passion stems from an urge given by God-a burden, an emotional response to a need or opportunity He wants us to move toward. It is not a feeling that we experience and then lose easily. It's persistent and powerful. We can't ignore it."   Discover Your Destiny by Bill & Kathy Peel  P. 77

 

 How our giving is an indication of our passion.

 

Have you found your Passion?

Have you found a good non profit where you can volunteer at...in your city?

Are they true to their mission?   Find out if they are and how you can help them stay "On Mission"

 

If you are already volunteering with a non profit...do you feel apart of their "TEAM"?

 

Do you know why you are here? Why God placed you where you are right now?

 
 

Clue to your passion! Type of people you link to work with!

 

Have you found peace in your journey?

 

A great book on Visioneering by Andy Stanley

_____________________________________________

  More on Calling!

Your Calling, Purpose and Worldview

"There are things only you can do, and you are alive to do them. In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song , and you owe it go God to play them both sublimely."  Max Lucado

"In his insightful and challenging book, The Call, Os Guinness defines our purpose as "the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service" This perspective give meaning to every moment, and it challenges us to live with integrity in every choice and relationship because we represent God at all times."

" So, does this perspective inspire you to use every part of your day more effectively as God's servant, or does it threaten you because you realize some things in your life aren't what they should be? It should do both."

Taken from Daily Insights with Zig Ziglar and Dr Ike Reighard   January 29th

 More on CALLING!

  

 

Come back soon. For an update!

Mission trip to Oaxaca Mexico: Foundation For His Ministry (March 2005)

Preparing for another trip this year.  November, 2017

Our group from Divine Shepherd November 2017

__________________________________________________________________________

 Original post & pictures: Original post of prior trip.
2005 pictures



 Aerial view from nearby mountain.





We first heard about (FFHM) Foundation For His Ministry in the early 80's while members of Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. 

In the early 90's we ventured down to the Baja, Mexico mission for our first trip with 2 of our 3 teen's and several families from our church. Flying to San Diego, staying overnight in a motel, renting a van and starting out early in the morning for the 6 hour trip to the mission before it got dark!

 

At a later trip we met Frank Tichnor at the mission and while there he left for Oaxaca to scout out the area for a new mission base. 

 

  After reading about FFHM and the ministry in Oaxaca, we felt led to go there. One Sunday at church (Eastbrook) we asked Ron and Dolores Blust and Carol Beimborn if they wanted to go with us. The rest is history!

 

  Now we can fly to Oaxaca City 

 

   SHORT TERM MISSION TO OAXACA, MEXICO

 

  March 2005 

 

On March 9th, 2005, five Eastbrookers – Richard and Naomi Dassow, Carol Beimborn, and Ron and Dolores Blust – left for a nine-day mission to Oaxaca, Mexico.  We had an opportunity to serve at a new home for children, Hogar Para Los Ninos, founded by the Foundation for His Ministry which has been established in the Baja Peninsula of Mexico for approximately thirty years.

 The Dassows and other members of Eastbrook Church have served this ministry in the Baja.  Dr. Patrick Murphy and his wife Anna (Gini and Fred Schneider’s daughter) spent more than a year there early in their marriage, providing for the medical needs of the Mission.

 Because the Oaxacan graduates of the Bible School at the Baja Mission wanted to return to Oaxaca to minister to their own people, a branch was started in Oaxaca about 8 years ago, with a mission serving 40 children.  Now a new location has been secured and construction has begun on a facility that will accommodate 100 children.  Ian Croft, Construction Manager for the facility, along with his wife, Elaine, hosted us while we were there.  Ian schedules and works with the teams of volunteer workers in their assignments.   The plan is to move the children into the new facility by mid-July.  They also have future plans to build a church, conference center, school and medical clinic on the grounds.  

 Our team worked together with a team of five from Montana and two couples who are SOWERS, Servants on Wheels Ever Ready.  They traveled to Mexico in their RV’s and are planning to stay for 3-4 months as needed.  Others serving there are giving a year or more of their time to benefit the Mission, in answer to God’s call on their lives.  In addition, there are talented Mexicans working in the kitchen providing meals, as well as skilled Mexicans laying tile in beautifully artistic designs throughout the facility.  So it was truly a time for many different people to come together.  We were able to practice our Spanish as the native Mexicans practiced their English on us.  We visited other churches while we were there and celebrated community with our fellow Indian (primarily Zapotec) believers.  They joyfully shared their love of Jesus with us. 

 We took part in a wide range of assignments including painting, carpentry jobs, sewing, cleaning, kitchen kp, and caring for the grounds.  It was our delight to do whatever was asked of us, knowing that we were serving Jesus.  In the process, we established relationships with selfless Christians who were being used of God.  People from all over the U.S. and Canada form work groups to go down to Mexico at their own expense in order to help.  One of the things our men helped with was placing forms for concrete work in preparation for a team of 13 coming from Chicago the week after we left.  Their particular skill was pouring concrete so we prepared the way for them to exercise their gift.

 Mexico is a marvelous country, the weather was beautiful – 80 to 85 degrees in the daytime, 55 degrees at night.  The Mission is in a lovely valley nestled in the mountains of southern Mexico.  An out-of-season shower brought us a beautiful rainbow – another reminder of God’s promise.  The bougainvillea and geraniums were blooming and even though we returned to blizzards in Wisconsin, we had a wonderful taste of Spring and of eternity – faithful people saying “Here I am” to Jesus Christ.

Dolores Blust 


Thanks Dolores for this great summary of our trip!

 Oaxaca (wa-ha-ka), in southeast Mexico, is a rugged, mountainous land of diversity. One of the great treasures of this beautiful state is its people,
many of whom have never heard the name of Jesus. To these we have been called, “…so that they may turn from darkness to light from the dominion of Satan to God…so they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. ” Acts 26:18

BOOMERS in action!  Blooming where we were planted or transplanted!

Naomi,Carol, Ron and Dolores.
I took the picture. 

Vision of FFHM (Foundation For His Ministry)  

 
Link to info on mission base.

Locations of the various mission bases

 

 A link to 2 videos of what God is doing in Mexico through Foundation For His Ministry!

How to get viewers to your website to donate or come back again.

For a non profit, that is the bottom line. You are not just telling about what you do...you want them to donate to your cause. 

If you are a Christian non profit, you believe or should believe that God supplies the funds...but He does that through people.

If a potential donor has a substantial amount of funds to invest in your organizations... whether it's $1,000, $10,000, $100,000 or 1 Millions or more...

What are they looking for? How do you think or believe they evaluate your organization?

 

You do need a good website that grabs their attention and instantly conveys 


 1.  Your Vision Statement

2.  Your Mission Statement

3.  Your Strategy for reaching your Mission


 
The Basic info you need on your site! 

But what are donors really looking for?

Relationships...It's all about relationships!
Connectedness
Friendship

 We must have clarity about the mission. I look for people I respect who are practical-minded. I want to be sure it's the sort of project that I can bring something of value to, and in which I'm being involved in a meaningful way. So I always ask myself: Is it a mission I believe in? Do I believe in the people who are in it? and Does it use my talents and gifts in a way that engage me?"


There's a lot of noise going on in the world. We need to listen to God speaking to us and that it is God that is speaking.

When I stand before Jesus one day, I want to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant". Isn't that what you want to hear?


So what are donors asking themselves as they view your website and consider if they should invest in your cause?


So what is God calling me to do?
We all know there is no I in TEAM.
What is God doing in the world through this organization?

Can I be a part of their TEAM by donating to Our cause? Yes, it's our cause!

IF you are already donating or volunteering with this charity...do you feel a  part of the TEAM?

(8 p.m Tuesday update...Just returned from a American Red Cross Volunteer Appreciation event. Some 60 or so local volunteers attended. Once a year event...food, fun and fellowship.  
The Salvation Army also has a Volunteer Appreciation Lunch.

With the organization you donate to or volunteer with...do you feel a part of the TEAM?
How?
How do they communicate with you?
Newsletter?
Phone call for funds?
Phone call to see how you are doing and if you would like prayer?? 
If you are on social media, Linkedin and or Twitter...do you communicate that way? Retweets on Twitter and Status Updates on Linkedin? Do they acknowledge your efforts? Do you feel a part of the "Team"?

Have I prayed about how I might be a good steward and use God's funds to further His cause through this organization?

Do I need more help in evaluating this organization?

See this site:  Checking out a non profit before investing in it.

 

 If you have questions about the non profits mission and if they are TRUE to the founders original mission, Check my blog post on this very important concept!

 

  Would love your feedback!

Blessings on your journey!

Helping Your favorite Christian Non Profit Stay On Mission!

"Peter Greer and Chris Horst have identified one of the deepest challenges any leader faces." - Andy Crouch, editor, Christianity Today.

As Christian organizations grow and professionalize, their mission often becomes cursory or expendable. Again and again, leaders have watched their ministries, businesses, nonprofits, and even churches lose sight of their original goals in the process of expansion.

Mission Drift provides the tools leaders need to keep their organizations "Mission True" or get back on track. All leaders will face Mission Drift at some point. In this important resource, Peter Greer and Chris Horst show readers how to leave an enduring Christian legacy and avoid drifting off course.

 Mission Drift Book Trailer

  

If you want to be more intentional in your giving and volunteering with your favorite Christian non profits, the following blog posts are helpful.

 

If you are an employee of your Christian non profit, you should be vigilant to see if they are true to their mission and if you wish to continue investing your life in this organization.  If they have drifted from their original mission statement, you have the opportunity and obligation to help them get back on track. Here is what you can do:   Mission Drift: What Is It, Potential Impacts, & Recovery Methods 

 

Mission Drift website 

 

Ok, so if you are still with me...what is in my best interest to do now?

 

Maybe we may be like the frog immersed in lukewarm water...and don't know what is soon going to happen. We don't know that our favorite organization is drifting off course.  

 

Most of us reading this are contributors to a non profit and if we are blessed with the opportunity to volunteer also we are most fortunate!

 

Some of us may be "Staff", employees or interns.

 

A few of us may be Board members.

 

And maybe someone is connected or working with a foundation or grant maker.

 

What should we be looking at and watching for?

 

1. As we look at our charities website, is their Mission and Vision statement and strategy for reaching it clear and to the point?

 

 2. What do they post on Twitter and Linkedin? Easy to check these sites.

 

2.  Is there a listing of the Staff and Board of Directors?

    Check them out on Linkedin. Connect with them. 

 

3. Is there a clear CTA (Call to Action) ? What do they want you to do? 

Are you part of the team?

 

 How To Get Viewers of your website to Come Back and Be a Part Of Your TEAM!

  

Look at the following websites to get more clarity on why this is important!

 

How to know if a non profit is true to their mission by looking at their website!

 

More on Vision & Mission

 

 

 

 

My latest Tweets on "Twitter"