At Every Nation, we work with a combination of ministry staff (pastors and campus missionaries) and administrative staff (employed professionals). While the administrative staff are there to support the mission that’s expressed and carried out by the ministers and missionaries, they are just as committed to the mission as us.
Here are some of the qualities that make our administrative staff a pleasure to work with:
1. They work to please God.
After our Every Nation Campus conference last year, we had dinner with some of our amazing conference team leaders, Ryan Alimon (head of videos), Jael Garcia (head of production), and Paul Uson (head of design). While celebrating and evaluating the past event, we asked them what was harder – their work before or their work now.
We were surprised to hear that it was working in Every Nation. When we asked why, they explained that it wasn’t the overtimes or workload. Those were the same. It was the level of performance that they put on themselves.
“When I had clients outside, I would only deliver as far as they required, even though I felt I could do a better job. But here, even if you missionaries don’t ask for more, I push myself to give more because this isn’t just for you. It’s for God,” one of them explained.
Now, we don’t need to work within a church or missions organization to work for God. (Colossians 3:23)
People who see their work as an act of worship to God are a pleasure to work with.
2. They are just as committed to the Mission.
Fiona Alvero oversees the admin arm of our campus ministry nationally. She’s planned dozens of events with excellence and grace. It’s easy to think of her as an events machine.
But she recently explained to me how this machine runs. While discussing the possibility of adding an extremely difficult event, especially at this late time, but very valuable – she said,
“It’s not the difficulty that matters. When you guys describe how important it is, and I see how it will help the campus ministry, we can do it no matter how hard. But when I know it’s unimportant then there’s no energy there, even though it’s easy.”
People who are committed to the Mission of the organization are a pleasure to work with.
3. They go beyond the 9-5.
I do my best to send my staff home early because I believe that a healthy personal life feeds a healthy work life. But the commitment of these men and women is beyond their exact job descriptions. They volunteer at their local church, they make disciples, and they build strong relationships.
Aaron Santelices, in charge of graphic design, spent his Christmas holidays on a mission trip to Kyrgyzstan. He came back to work with a joy and a passion to keep working. He seemed more energized after engaging students in the Central Asian mountains while taking hour-long walks in the freezing weather.
People who take it beyond the 9-5 are a pleasure to work with.
