My Role with NieuCommunities

I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what my role as NieuCommunities South Africa staff will look like. There are NieuCommunities sites in Pretoria, South Africa, Vancouver B.C., and there is one underway in San Diego, California. I’m joining the staff in Pretoria for at least the next couple of years. As a community, all staff agree to the common covenant, which you can click on (under “Pages”) to see for yourselves. Within that, though, every person’s role looks a little different, depending on what his or her unique abilities, gifts, interests, and callings are.

Last year, as an apprentice, I learned a lot about what some of my personal and spiritual gifts are, and I foresee myself growing into many of these as a leader in the coming years. I learned that in the context of an intentional community, I know how to listen, encourage, and care for others. I can also be good at gathering people together and moving them forward towards a common goal. I am very concerned about the communication and unity of the group, and I can be a motivator as well as someone who helps the group to conceptualize new ideas. Spiritually and relationally, I am fairly discerning, whether that means sensing what may need to be addressed or getting a feel for where the group is at. I also like to facilitate group discussions and activities. I have always been a big one-on-one person primarily, though, and somewhere down the line, I think I may be good at mentoring or what we call “coaching.”

As far as what I see myself bringing to the community, I can envision a variety of things. Some things that come to mind are helping people to think “out of the box.” In a community of Christ-followers from all different backgrounds and denominations, I think this naturally occurs to some degree, but people still benefit from being challenged to do this more intentionally. And in general, I see myself encouraging the team to think of new ideas and motivating us to carry them through. I also see myself being good at drawing in quieter, more “subtle” personalities in a group environment. As a quieter person myself, I am good at contending for those of similar orientation/habit. As part of my shepharding and unifying temperament, I can see myself leading “check in” (when Melissa poops out) or other such “how is everyone doing?” type groups.

One thing I hope to do is to help to implement more art into our activities through the year, be they reflective, expressive, or even “revolutionary”! (Community mural, anyone?) I believe that in the special context of reflecting so deeply on yourself, how you relate to others, and your relationship with God, art (when approached in a non-intimidating way) can be such a great way to process and release some of what you are experiencing. I also really love the outdoors! And for those of us who really connect to God through nature (and those who maybe do but don’t know it yet), I hope I might be able to bring more outdoorsy activities into the scheme of things.

One last thing to mention is that all NieuCommunities staff are encouraged to have their own ministries as well as the apprentices. As I seek to tell others’ life stories (see my “Vision Statement”) through writing and art, I hope to draw others, including the apprentices, into that ministry, and that it will be an inspiring project for me to share within our community.

To get a better feel for what it is specifically that we do at NieuCommunities, click on the Community Blog and NieuCommunities sites under “Blogroll.”