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Change Starts Within: Bleach and Water Are Cheap




When I arrived at the doorstep of Frontline Outreach in the fall of 1998 it was a ministry organization that was rich with history. There was a 42,000 square foot building in disrepair and a staff of people uncertain about their future and the ministry’s as well. The programs while well intentioned were not integrated. Everyone knew we worked with children, but no one could quantify what we did or how we did it.

It was apparent the Frontline Team needed a large dose of focus. The dilemma was where to start? Should the emphasis be emergency food assistance, teen pregnancy, boxing, daycare, GED or any of the ideas du jour that I was approached with regularly.

It became clear that Frontline Outreach as a ministry could not help anyone else until it and we (the team) helped ourselves. I announced , “Bleach and water are cheap, let’s clean this building up.” Immediately, the team and I began cleaning out old areas that had accumulated well intentioned “gifts” that were unusable and sprucing the building and the grounds up so that they because inviting. Amazingly, as we cleaned and developed a greater vision of how the building was a tool to help implement ministry, not the “ministry” itself support came from donors, contractors and others.

Lesson:
Most people in adversity look for external stimuli to prompt change. I contend that change starts within. Until our team began to do the best it could with the existing building and resources no one would or could support what we were doing. By looking for opportunity in our current position the Frontline team was able to implement multiple renovations and improvements. Then partners were able to see the vision as we began to live it. We could not wait to implement the vision until we had enough resources.

Next issue Building and Cherishing Relationships
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