Layers

Service—leading to lasting change—has a multitude of layers and approaches to success. I could go into a Shrek reference, but I will use the concept as a starting point. There's a lot more to service than one might think. It's one of those entities that leads to exponential exploration: the more you know, the more you realize you don't know. As one might expect, the past year of (indirect) service has helped me barely scrape the surface of what it means to serve, and evaluating ways to do so.

Participating in mission trips leads to great experiences, fantastic growth opportunities, and apparently in regards to my past trip to Jamaica, they could lead to meeting your future spouse (not in my case though, but congrats to Hilary and Stu!) These forays into the lives and cultures of a others for a snippet of time to learn, serve, and then head home are just the beginning. My time of indirect service, building capacity and sustainability for nonprofits, is a step further. I've done direct service in this job and in parts of many other opportunities. Next, I would love to springboard off everything I've learned as an observer and a participant and finally move onto policy. Grassroot movements to actual change. Bandaids to cures. I'm excited to see where life will take me after June 17th, and crossing my fingers that I'll peel back a couple more layers of ways to serve my neighbors.

Direct vs Indirect Service

9:30 every morning like clockwork, my stomach creates a ruckus that disturbs my work as I’m sure everyone around me. Why is it so needy? My trip to the break room to stave off hunger with a cup of coffee reminds me that I am finally part of this elusive “adult world” of office buildings that have water colors and break rooms with coffee (as opposed to my entire job consisting of making and handing out that coffee). The other difference is my work now consisting of indirect service, where before I was only doing direct service. Basically this means before I was hanging out with people, playing with kids, interacting with the community, giving out meals, etc, where now I am on an organizational level, building capacity and connecting organizations and people with tools. I can’t get a clear picture yet of which type I prefer, though granted I have only been at this less than a month. Already in my indirect role I feel like I can see results better, as I am dealing more with numbers equated to success.