What is a Coordinator? The Story of “The Tree”


Doug Clark - March 11, 2013

On a busy street in one of India's congested cities, traffic has ground to a halt.

Frustrations are high as a young man yells at a hapless policeman. A large tree has fallen across the narrow thoroughfare, and nobody knows what to do.

Snarled traffic, glum looks, despairing gridlock. A young woman says in English on her cell phone, "I hate this country."

Then the situation gets worse: it begins to rain. Buckets.

A young boy, maybe seven or eight, pokes his head out a bus window. His expression is serious. He walks to the tree, backpack over his shoulder, surveying the impossible barrier.

The boy drops his backpack and then leans his full 30 kilos of body weight into the many tons of tree trunk — water cascading off his nose and hair as he strains with all his might against the unmoving obstacle.

People begin to notice. A few other boys join the game, laughing as they push in vain against the huge log. Adults begin to see their effort, and one by one, they come alongside. Soon, there is an army of monsoon-soaked citizens, and they have become a team.

The group reaches critical mass and is able to lift the tree, pivoting its incredible mass to the side of the road. Then, from down a side street, you see traffic moving again.

The vignette ends with the team celebrating its sloshy victory with high-fives and cheers, including the young boy, who is shown slipping back into his backpack with a supremely satisfied grin on his face. We did it!

"The Tree" was a 2007 ad in India for a televised contest/reality show called "Lead India."

The winner didn't get a recording contract, win money or stay on an island. It was a contest "to identify new leaders for a new India, men and women with the vision and ability to empower India with the kind of leadership that is so conspicuous by its absence," according to Times of India, the sponsor.

I didn't know much about Lead India. But I can't get enough of the story in this commercial! It illustrates our need to raise leaders, network coordinators, who will overcome obstacles in their communities by applying three world-changing principles about networking.

Somebody has to go first.

In the story, it is one young boy who demonstrates the courage to start pushing on the stuck tree.

We often pray that God will raise up one or more leaders in every community who are willing to be first; to call others to reach their community for Christ and build His kingdom.

Maybe that's you. Maybe it's you and one or two friends who know the job is bigger than your churches can accomplish alone.

Who's qualified? Someone whom God has called, who is affirmed by others. Someone who is mature and stable enough in their position to rally others to lead an effort to reach and equip teenagers for kingdom ministry. In NNYM's structure of support, it's someone who will connect what you are doing in your community to collaborate. We call that "someone" a "network coordinator." Maybe that's you.

Cooperation is powerful.

One boy can't move a tree, but there is a critical mass that occurs when enough people begin to lift — and the roadblock is removed.

God has revealed again and again in Scripture the power of unity and cooperation. "One can chase a thousand; two can chase ten thousand." "Two are better than one, because they have a better return for their labor...a three-fold cord is not easily broken."

With roughly 32 million teenagers in this country, the vision of reaching them with the gospel — let alone discipling and equipping them to reach the world — is daunting. Encouraging leaders to work together is a central way to accomplish that mission. Encouraging them to not give up is also hard-wired into Network's DNA.

Joy comes when we work together.

As you watch the "Lead India" video, satisfaction is evident on the faces of the adults and children who decided to invest their cumulative muscle power and become uncomfortable so they could move the tree out of the way. It's clear the young boy who started the effort will never forget this day. He started something!

God is happy when we work together to build His kingdom. He fills us with joy when we obey Him in the area of unity, because it's important to Him. Psalm 133:1 says, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Life is a party when we're doing God's thing, together. (Okay, there are hard times too...).

I think of my friend Stan Leach as I write this. We worked together in youth ministry at our church in California. Stan has a spiritual gift of "making hard things fun."

Long after sunset, following the last day of a grueling week of ministry in Mexicali, the kitchen staff at our mission base camp asked for volunteers to help clean the grills that had been used to feed 2,000 campers. All I could think of was sleep because I had to drive our team bus back home the next day.

But Stan volunteered our youth group (including me) to tackle the job. He kept enlisting "volunteers" until he had enough. I think I finally was shamed enough to get out of my tent on his third recruiting trip. Oh, Lord, I love to sleep!

In spite of my reluctance, Stan's enthusiasm was contagious. We actually had fun working together, scrubbing grills. We were a little like our Indian cousins on that city street,moving "the tree."

And I didn't crash the bus on the way home.

Someone has to step up. Adults and youth may never experience the communal satisfaction of accomplishing something God-sized until they do.

What "fallen trees" need to be turned to firewood and lumber in your community? Are you ready to push?

What is a Coordinator, Anyway?

A coordinator has the commitment, character, competencies and connections to mobilize those who love youth to reach and equip teenagers in their community. They have maturity, stability, credibility and commitment to the mission and values of the National Network of Youth Ministries. Here's a quick description of what a ministry network coordinator does:

  1. Integrate prayer for youth in your community into everything you do.
  2. Build relationships with youth workers and others who care about reaching and equipping youth in the community.
  3. Mobilize strategic collaboration among people and ministries in the community.
  4. Register yourself and your network at www.youthworkers.net, and connect with other coordinators for mutual support.
  5. Invest in online coordinator training and consider taking advantage of free coaching.
  6. Develop a leadership team to share responsibilities and ensure long-term ministry by providing a smooth transition to new leadership.
 
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