This month Five Multiplied is serving at a camp in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa called Uniting Christian Students Association, or UCSA, which we pronounce “ook-suh.” Last week we jumped headfirst into our first camps, which were leadership camps for middle and high school students. Even though the camp was for those students to learn leadership principles, I learned so much from it, too, and I want to share those things with you!
Our ministry host, Matthys (pronounced mah-tay-yus), led a really great activity in which the teams of students transferred stacking blocks from one nail to another but they could only move one block at a time and a bigger block couldn’t go on top of a smaller block. They finished it easily, almost as if they were bored. Then he changed the game. He hid the blocks behind chairs laying on the ground so they couldn’t be seen, then the teams had to send up one person at a time to move one block at a time. It was brilliant. It was so funny and interesting to see the strategies of each team, and also their mistakes. One team of all boys spent the first five minutes doing the same two moves over and over because they kept reversing the move that had been made by the previous teammate. I was quite amused.
At the end of the activity, Matthys debriefed it with them. He said, “There is one word to describe the strategy used by the first two teams who finished…” and he proceeded to write “CHEAT” on the board in big, bold letters. They were up in arms immediately defending themselves!
One by one he called out the ways they had cheated: moving two blocks at once instead of one at a time, sending the same two or three people each time instead of using the whole team, and sneaking peeks at the board to see what moves needed to be made next. He was right about them all.
He then took each point and discussed with the students how each of these cheats can be reflected in leadership.
When a leader “moves two blocks at once,” he or she is taking a job from someone else, is doing something that is not their job. When a leader does something that is not their job, they create and foster lazy and opinionated people.
Cheating by only using two or three people from the team is reminiscent of a leader stealing opportunities from others. Matthys shared with the students that leadership is not about being in control and doing all the things, it’s about equipping others to also be leaders. He said that leaders should not create followers, but instead create more leaders.
These both were such a new concepts to me and I was thoroughly convicted. In all my leadership positions I have fallen short in these areas. I struggle in almost all areas of my life with wanting to be in control, so that has also been reflected in my leadership. Even that day I had stolen opportunities for leadership from my teammates! Woo doggy conviction was heavy on my heart that night!
“Sneaking a peek,” Matthys explained, is actually a quality of a strong leader. He said that a strong and effective leader sees where the group needs to go and is able to give direction to the group. He said that every group needs a leader who looks where the group is headed and then mobilizes his or her group to move in that direction.
Above all, Matthys encouraged the leaders: do not do everything and work hard to mobilize and empower their followers.
That’s all I have for now! I hope you enjoyed this little leadership lesson! I’m loving camp and South Africa and UCSA and Jeffreys Bay and our own little “Central Perk” location called The Tasty Table and my ministry hosts YAY this month is awesome! Thank y’all for your constant prayers and support <3
Love, Jess
P.S. I still have FOUR sisters who still need help with their fundraising! Check out Shea, Elyssa, Anna, and Lynden! They ROCK and I LOVE them and NEED them! WOO!
