Our current SIM Peru personnel coordinator is leaving at the end of the year, and in May I was asked to consider taking on the role (which is part-time). I spent a couple of weeks praying and thinking and asking advice (including from some people at Barnabas – thank you for your encouragement!), then said yes. June was a handover month when I started to learn my new job, and now I am doing it!
So, what does the job involve?
I see it basically in 2 parts - helping people to get here,
and helping them once they are here.
I deal with enquiries from people looking to come to Peru
with SIM long-term. This means I need to
know a lot more about our teams and the different ministries we have – when
things start up again and I’m able to travel I’ll hope to visit all our areas
so as to be able to answer questions and advise people what the opportunities
might be. It’s quite exciting to think
of helping people discover God’s plan for them. I’ll also need to coordinate (but not
necessarily always do) the orientation process when they arrive, and any
information they need before arriving.
Then I’m also responsible for “People Care” within the
mission –this is something that everyone is supposed to do to some extent, but
key things that I’ll do are to arrange annual reviews, deal with any issues
(like conflict within the team or misconduct, which I hope won’t be a big part
of the job!) and encourage people to take appropriate rest and training. I’ve not done much of this before but it’s
something I’m keen to grow in, as I see how important it is for me and for
others.
Where is the time coming from?
The personnel job should take up about half of my time, and
a big part of my decision process was figuring out whether this would be ok. There are a couple of roles I’ve been doing
that come to an end about now, which frees up some time. I will also spend a bit less time on water
projects, but plan to still visits villages – just 2 visits a month rather than
3. I’ll also need to reduce the work I
do with youth and students, focusing more on the student group (I’ll still be
involved with the youth group to a lesser extent as part of my church
membership). I’ll be heading into my third term here, where the plan is to
train up a team of people to take over the work. This is another challenge coming up, but
having less time available may actually be a good thing, forcing me to give
responsibility to others.
How’s it going so far?
It’s quite good timing for starting the job, as I’m still
working from home and unable to travel.
There are lots of SIM systems that I’m getting to grips with – although
this for me may be the least challenging part of the job as I’m good at
documents! I’m looking forward to being
able to visit all the people and ministries again, and am prompting myself to
do things via phone if possible – talking is rarely my preferred method of
communication if email is an option, but I know that a key part of the job is
knowing the SIM Peru members well.
How can you pray?
- As I learn my responsibilities and work with all the different cultures and personalities in the team – that God gives me a great love for them and that people feel cared for.
- For new enquirers, that God guides them to where he is sending them, and that I can help.
- For the SIM Peru team as a whole to care for and support one another
- For the right time-balance between different elements of my work when travel becomes possible again
- For the next few months when I was planning to be in the UK and now have no idea what will happen!
