Konoina (3e)

III. THE FIRST PROPOSAL

After a few months of conversation and reflection in March 2010, even with lots of details still up in the air, I sent out a proposal on behalf of the Formation Team (Ban Huan Luyen), dreaming for a gathering…

LEADERSHIP GATHERING PROPOSAL

“How do we support our brothers and sisters who are serving in various leadership roles, especially in the role of group coordinator?” is a question that has been asked for a long time. To be chosen for these important roles, to have life-giving influence to the local group and region, our coordinators, full of love and good will for others as well as Dong Hanh-CLC way of life, can become victims of burn-out, discouragement. They sometimes give up due to the workload, but also because of loneliness and the inability to find meaning, life-giving energy in their responsibilities.

The need of “supporting our group coordinators” is a real and urgent need in order to help each other grow in God’s grace through Dong Hanh-CLC charism. This need is not only limited to the coordinators, but also to all of us who have, are and will serve the community in various roles, officially or in silence… for the coordinator is only limited in time, but the need of serving others is continuous, endless.

We are grateful to God for all the people in the Dong Hanh family abounded with good will, enthusiasm and talents. These people are the biggest gifts that we have. If we don’t find a way to help them grow, we cannot collaborate with God effectively and long lasting. With this hope in mind, the Formation Team decided to propose a Leadership Gathering on a national level.

Before going into details, we need to put a “side-note” on the word “leadership”. The term “leadership” here is used in the context of Heroic leadership, describing a leader as someone who influences others, not someone who controls. Somehow, the noun Lãnh Đạo still has a negative impact in our mind. However, instead of avoiding this by trying to use a different term, the Formation Team proposes that we face the misunderstanding about “leadership” and hopefully change our mindset to live out the right spirit of leadership in its true meaning. We hope that everyone becomes more aware that all of us in Dong Hanh-CLC, in one way or the other, are leaders for ourselves and for one another.

In this spirit, the Leadership Gathering hopes to gather all the leaders of Dong Hanh-CLC:
- To meet, to deepen our bond
- To share good and bad experiences
- To support one another in mission and services
- To help one another discover and confirm the essential values, charisma of the Dong Hanh-CLC way of life through lived experiences
Concretely, this is a weekend long gathering for:
- our brothers and sisters who currently serve in a leadership role such as BPV, YaYA ministries, Formation Team, Family ministry, Finance ministry, etc, to deepen the connection, to learn from experience and to consolidate the current role
- our brothers and sisters who have served in various roles or level in the past to reflect and share the valuable experience
- our brothers and sisters who have the desire to serve in any role or particular ministries to confirm God’s calling, bringing positive influence to others
- our brothers and sisters who have made commitment to serve God through the Dong Hanh way of life, to confirm their calling that they have discovered and chosen


Therefore, the gathering will be designed in order:

- To reflect our Empowering Growth model of formation
- For the gathering to be fruitful, to share real experiences and not theoretical presentation
- To move from a vertical model of formation (Dong Hanh Formation Team --> Local) to a horizontal model of formation (Leaders --> Leaders)
- The Formation Team will help support and coordinate the activities and conversations between leaders and help to confirm, adjust or systemize the discoveries of the values, principle and foundations of the Dong Hanh way of life
- To help provide the opportunities for networking among leaders to facilitate on-going communication and support with their own implemented strategies
- To utilize appropriate method such as Open Space, World Café…


Right now, the Formation Team suggest to have annual Leadership Gathering on a national level, beginning with the first “prototype” this coming December in California, with the agreement and collaboration of Ban Phuc Vu.

Concretely, we need:
- To decide to experience this gathering (all)
- To decide on a date and location (all)
- To introduce and invite all the teams and ministries
- To plan for the program (Formation Team)
- To plan for the logistics, such as location, budget, transportation, registration… (BPV)

***

A few days later, the Leadership Gathering was put on the agenda of the BPV meeting. After listening to this desire, this dream for the Formation Team, everyone, starting with Kim Anh and Thai Son, was ready to “strain foward to what lies ahead” in this adventure. The following conversations for this gathering deepened, along with the preparation for the Regional Gatherings (HMV). Thus, the theme “Magis” was developed with the preparation of this Leadership Gathering in mind.

July 2010, Kim Anh and Thai Son officially sent out the invitation letter to all Dong Hanh-CLC for this Leadership Gathering. The desire, the dream is shared. In some way, the dream can become reality as we usually say to each other: “When we dream alone, a dream remains a dream. When we dream with others, a dream can become reality.” For me, I believe that the dream can become reality, because “when we dream with God, dreams become reality.”

How about you?

(To be continued…)