Working Together to Make One plus One equal Four

In This Issue

Previous Issues

print page

Posted by Larry & Melodee Gruetzmacher
in Hispanic Ministries

For many years I’ve had the privilege of teaching church planters about the value of working as a team. One of the illustrations we commonly used is called “the two-horse rule” which states:

"The concept of teamwork can be illustrated by the two-horse rule. If one horse can pull 700 pounds and another horse can pull 800 pounds, how much weight will they pull yoked together? The answer may surprise you. The two-horse team will pull its own weight plus the weight of their interaction. Therefore, yoked together, the horses can pull 3000 pounds!"

Although this may be more of an urban legend than scientific fact, Ecclesiastes 4:9 in The Message affirms that “It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth.”

Another term to describe the concept is synergy---working together in such a way that the result is greater than the sum of each individual’s efforts. Something new is created in the process, like blue and yellow coming together to create a dazzling new color: green!

I’m excited about the teamwork and synergy I see taking place in Hispanic Ministries. Last month we teamed up with Robin Garvin and Kids Ministries at the Power Up Conference to provide Spanish workshops and translation of the general sessions. This was our third year to work together and we’re excited to see the numbers of Spanish-speakers in attendance continue to grow.

This month, we are teaming up with Nonda for the SoCal Women’s Leadership Training. We look forward to welcoming Spanish-speaking WM leaders who are hungry to increase their effectiveness and widen their vision.

In March, the Women in Ministry Balance Conference will welcome both Spanish and Farsi speakers. A great deal of intentionality has gone into designing a conference that will be inclusive and open to women from all ethnic groups.

As we come together, there is opportunity for new connections to be made, for greater understanding to occur, for all of us to benefit from the strengths and viewpoint we each bring to the table. We can accomplish more together, and something beautiful and new can emerge from the synergy that takes place in these encounters.

I think of the picture John paints in Revelation 7:9 when he sees the great multitude that no one could number, clothed in white with palm branches in their hands, and he observes that they are from every tribe, nation, people and tongue. We’re going to have a little bit of heaven on earth, some great synergy and team work taking place at these upcoming events. You won’t want to miss it!

Comments:

There are no comments for this entry yet.

Southern California Assemblies of God