"What do you do all day??"
Ok, I've never actually heard that question from anyone, but I'm sure people have wondered! What does it look like to serve in the Minneapolis Office as the Director of Global Mission Trip Operations? Here's all you want to know, and waaaay more, about a typical day in the office. 710am Time with God Today I strolled in a little earlier than normal. I typically get to the office by 730 or so to spend some time with God before the day starts. I don't do this at home because it's hard for me to focus, and usually no one else is in the office until 8am, so it's nice and quiet! Today I finished some homeletics homework on Acts 22 for a meeting with my mentor, and read/meditated on Psalm 18. 8am Planning Did a quick review of the day and made sure I knew where to find my notes I would need to reference on my upcoming calls. I also spent a good amount of time planning for my team's retreat in April. Everyone will be getting together in Minneapolis for three days, so I started our agenda of what to cover and when. 9am Video coaching call with Cru City I chatted with a guy who is new to Cru. He worked in a church for many years and is now going to be in charge of helping resource trip leaders and send short-term mission trips through Cru's City ministry. We spent a little time getting to know each other and connected about an in-person coaching meeting we are having when I head to Indianapolis in a few weeks. 940-10am Answering Email So. Much. Email. Here's a smattering of questions I answer in a typical day: - What are the ramifications of having students from different states apply for a Chinese visa? - How do I get a cash advance from Cru to pay for ministry expenses I can't put on a Cru credit card? - How does taking vacation time / sick days work in Cru? - Filling out a form for someone to transfer to my team and work remotely from the East Coast (this makes 7 on the team I lead!) 10-1130am Peer Team Coaching Call We have this call once a month - it's me and the other staff I work most directly with in Operations who also lead teams. We talked about shepherding and leading our teams well: - What can we learn from 1 Peter 1 about shepherding? - How do you lead different people differently? - How do you lead well in the midst of ambiguity (aka... the organizational structure change)? 1130-Noon ...more email... Noon-1230pm Lunch! Often whoever is in the office eats together at the lunch table - today's topics of discussion included March Madness basketball and the piles of leftover pretzel's from a coworker's wedding. 1230-230pm Mission Operations Director Video Call This happens just once a month and is a time for all Directors within Mission Operations (maybe 30 of us?) to be motivated, aligned to vision, learn new things and to be developed in general as we lead. The executive directors of Operations, Joe and Jenny, are also on these calls. - Check-in about spiritual rhythms on an individual basis, people shared about the Daily Examen, Rest, etc - Deciding what spiritual rhythms to implement as a Mission Operations Department - Quarterly goal updates / process - Deciding on locations for Operations Summer Mission trips in 2020 230pm Ministry and Business Systems Call Connected with a staff member at our headquarters in Orlando about the status of one of our trip budget tools and how it's not working well for non-Cru staff trip leaders (like students who lead mission trips). 3pm Random conversation with my boss Which took place in person (shocker, right!?) as he printed envelopes for his prayer letter. 315-4pm Development Call with New Staff Applicant In the spring, I usually evaluate a few applications of people who are joining staff with Cru, This year I'm specifically evaluating applications for people who have applied to roles within Mission Operations, which has been really fun. I've evaluated somewhere around 20 applicants in my years with Cru, and it's been so cool to get a small glimpse into how God's worked in someone's life and how he's called them into ministry. And by 4pm or so I head home - because I will work a little more on email and/or raising support in the evenings. Each day can be totally different from the rest, but I'm thankful to have a job I love, in a city I love, working alongside coworkers I love!
2 Comments
|
Amy WellnerEncouraging others to intentionally live out their God-given identity. Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|