Equipped to Serve

Preparing volunteers to serve with confidence & integrity.

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Training Deep Dive: Humility

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As we have lived through these past months of pandemic, quarantine, isolation, and the race to the White House, I have realized more and more the importance and power of humility. Humility is often confused with being quiet or fearful or a doormat.

Humility is anything but those things.

I recently joined Community Bible Study and we are studying the Gospel of John. In the first chapter, soon after John introduces us to “The Word,” he tells us part of John the Baptist’s story. His story is a wonderful lesson in humility. (John 1: 13-38)   

We have to look to the other gospels as well to get the whole beautiful story which I hope you take the time to read in Luke Chapter 1, Matthew Chapter 3 and Chapter 11:1-24, and Mark 1:1-11.

Humility demands that we have an accurate assessment of our strengths and weaknesses, your giftedness and your place in God’s plan. John the Baptist understood his calling, his place in God’s plan, and accepted it fully. He always clarified to whoever asked that he was not the Messiah but the one who was called to prepare the way for the Messiah.

How did John the Baptist embody humility?

  • He was clear about his identity – who he was and was not.
  • He squelched any thoughts of rivalry with Jesus
  • He knew his success came from heaven.
  • He prepared the way and made the path straight for people to recognize and follow Christ. He exalts Jesus above himself.
  • He understood that he must decrease.
  • He was obedient even in the face of hardship and eventual death.
  • He viewed things in light of eternity.
  • He never complained about his place or purpose.
  • He was joyful at Jesus’ success and was happy to see his disciples leave and follow Christ.

John knew his calling was to prepare the way and then get out of the way.

What can we learn from John the Baptist about humility that we can take into our ministry work at the Pregnancy Center?

  • We need to clearly know our strengths and weaknesses.
  • We must trust God to use us as we believe our success comes from heaven.
  • We prepare the way for the Lord to do the work in the clients. Humility builds safety and earns us the right to speak into their lives but the Lord does the real heart work.
  • We have a clear calling to speak the truth in love that can give us strength in the face of hardships and difficulties we might have while ministering at the Pregnancy Center
  • We must see our work at the Pregnancy Center in light of eternity. The results of what we do and the people we serve is often unknown or uncertain in terms of outcomes. We must trust that the Lord is in control. We must not be deterred or frustrated by our lack of knowledge concerning the outcomes of our times with clients. If we have done the best possible job in loving and caring for a client we must trust that the Lord is able to carry her and call her no matter what she decides. Every Pregnancy Center has stories of clients they thought would choose an abortion but found out months or even years later that the client chose to carry to term and parent their child.
  • We must not compare ourselves to others but trust that the Lord will give us the grace to complete our mission with his help. Remember God created you in all your gifts and uniqueness and he never compares you with anyone else.  
  • Be joyful and celebrate both the small and large accomplishments of yourself and others.
  • Prepare the way and get out of the way.  What is your job in preparing the way and making the path straight for a client to meet Jesus while they are at the Pregnancy Center? Sometimes we must decrease after our job is completed and let the Father, Son and Holy Spirit do their job.

Jesus’ words about John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11a)

“I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

I hope that these insights might give you a new perspective for training your volunteers on the concept of humility during your initial volunteer training.

I would love to hear about how you teach on the concept of humility. We could all use an extra dose of humility during these trying times.

Peace,

Cyndi

Role-playing During In-service Training

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Photo by Tatiana Syrikova from Pexels

In-service meetings are a great time to really focus on role-play. Each in-service should include at least one round of role-play.

Role-play is very important in the Pregnancy Center ministry for the following reasons:

  1. Role-play keeps volunteers skills sharpened
  2. Role-play gives volunteers an opportunity to practice various scenarios outside of their time with clients.
  3. Role-plays let someone explore how they could have interacted differently with a client they has in the past.
  4. Role-play enables center staff to see volunteers’ strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly to help them.
  5. Observing role-plays gives center staff good ideas for needed topics for future in-services.
  6. Role-play is a good time for exercising vulnerability and learning which is a key concept for volunteers who work directly with clients.
  7. The more your do role-play the less scary and awkward it becomes

Addressing Role-play Fears & Anxiety

Often there is a lot of fear surrounding role-play. People come up with all sorts of excuses not to participate. Center staff/trainers need to be ready for this and ease people into role-play.

Allowing trainees and current volunteers to practice together with one other person is important before you are doing any role-play in a group setting. Setting up role-plays with clear instructions and the purpose and focus of the role-play will create safety. Establishing guidelines for feedback is essential.  Creating an environment of “We are all learning here,” and “This is where it is okay to make mistakes and learn,” helps volunteers relax and focus more on the learning and less on their performance.

Be A Role-Model

Utilizing realistic role-plays and showing volunteers how it is done by being the “counselor” in a role-play, shows how important you believe role-play to be and are being vulnerable to your group of volunteers. We cannot ask others to do what we are unwilling to do.

Use Role-play Early and Often

If you build in role-play from the very beginning during the initial training and continue it throughout your on-the-job and in-service training, volunteers will learn to expect it and become more comfortable with the process.

There are a variety of role-play formats that can be used:

  1. A “scripted” role-play that is determined ahead of time between two people and the other participants are instructed to watch for specific things like good skills or bas skills, different client and volunteer reactions or behaviors, etc.
  2. Groups of two (dyads) where all groups are given the same role-play scenario and given time to play out the scenario. In this situation it is important that each person in the dyad give feedback to the other person focused on the purpose of the role-play
  3. Small groups of three (triads) where there are three roles: client, volunteer and observer or coach. The role of the coach would help either party if they got stuck and the role of the observer would be to stay silent and give feedback to both parties when the role-play ended. Every triad would be doing the same role-play so the processing at the end would apply to all triads.
  4. Round-robin role-play where two people start the role-play in front of the group. When one person playing the “counselor” role gets stuck, they call time, discussion about the difficulty is worked through, and then another volunteer takes the “counseling” chair and the role-play resumes from where it was left off or stopped.  It is best for center staff to play the client or someone who is very good at role-play and can move in and out of the role-play easily as well as facilitate the discussion.
  5. A variation on the round robin above is that two volunteers are in the role-play and the staff person facilitates the discussion when one or the other of the people in the role-play become stuck or when the staff member chooses to stop the role-play for a teachable moment.
  6. A volunteer shares a personal scenario that they encountered with a client and asks for someone to role-play with her to see if she could have possible done something different in her interaction with the client. As a second option she might ask two other volunteers to play out the scenarios to observe how another volunteer might have handled the situation.

Creating Role-play Scenarios

I have created a list of short scenarios that might be helpful when planning role-plays for your in-service trainings. It does not matter the scenario as long as it is basically realistic and a volunteer would be able to identify with the scenario to be authentic in the role-play.  Almost any scenario will do because role-play is an opportunity to practice using the Seven Fundamentals and receive feedback from others who are trying to recognize and utilize the same skills. The focus should be on the volunteer’s use of the  Seven Fundamentals and not on the client’s story.

Your client documentation should give you a plethora of client scenarios to draw from if you want the role-play scenarios to directly relate to the clients you are seeing at your center. When writing the scenarios give just enough information so the person playing that role can use the information but not be restricted by it. Set the stage and then let them use their imagination to put words and feelings into the role-play.

Drop me an email and let me know what you struggle with when facilitating role-play in your trainings and I will try and help in future blog posts.

Happy role-playing!

Courage to Do What Needs to Be Done

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Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash

Here is the definition of courage that I found in the dictionary:

the ability to do something that frightens one; strength in the face of pain or grief.

It takes courage to persevere in this ministry. It is important to think about how to build or at least invite courage into your volunteer program.

Let’s think about this:

  • It takes courage to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
  • It takes courage to persevere in the face of women choosing abortion.
  • It takes courage to love.
  • It takes courage to believe that love wins.
  • It takes courage to pursue people who believe differently than we do.
  • It takes courage to choose relationship over being right.
  • It takes courage to listen to people’s difficult stories and painful choices.
  • It takes courage to be vulnerable.
  • It takes courage to believe that Jesus is in charge.
  • It takes at least some measure of courage to do almost everything that volunteers are asked to do, especially when meeting with clients.

So how do we build courage into our volunteer programs?

I think we must remind ourselves, as trainers and leaders, the courage it does, in fact, take to work with clients at the Pregnancy Center. Then we have to hold that reality as we plan all aspects of the volunteer program.

In all aspects of the volunteer program we can build in the reality of the courage it takes to volunteer.

  1. When recruiting volunteers it is important not to “sugar coat” what it means to work with clients. Our prayers must be that God sends us volunteers who are up to the task and come with willing and open hearts to learn how to interact with clients based on your ministry model.
  2. When screening potential volunteers we must ask the hard questions to help us  both understand what is the motivation behind their choice to volunteer.
  3. Volunteer training can give volunteers the skills they need to utilize when a situation arises where they need to be courageous. Having skills to help volunteers navigate their way through difficult client situations can provide them with the ability and strength they need to be courageous in the face of personal fears or pain and grief.
  4. Setting clear job expectations and giving regular positive and helpful feedback allows volunteers to know what is expected of them, how they are doing and that you are available to help them improve. This can sometimes be difficult and time consuming for staff. If this is not in place volunteers are often left wondering how they are doing or not knowing how to evaluate their own performance. Without standards, feedback and encouragement volunteer rarely grow in their abilities to work with clients.
  5. Encouraging volunteers with prayer and the word of God is invaluable. Finding scriptures, books quotes, films, etc. that will encourage them to live-out your ministry model is essential in building courage.
  6. I think any kind of volunteer appreciation should include a nod to the courage it takes to volunteer and continue to volunteer.

Courage in the Pregnancy Center ministry is like a muscle that your volunteers are constantly building with your help. How you screen, train, evaluate, encourage and appreciate volunteer are the tools that will help them build the courage muscle they need to become long-time volunteers in your ministry.

How are you building courage into your volunteer program?

Experiential Learning

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If you have ever had me come and train at your Center or have a copy of the Leader’s Manual then you know I am a lover of experiential learning.  This type of learning is based on adult learning theory and has many advantages.  Here are just a few:

  • Experiential learning is the opposite of passive learning. It requires participation and engagement.
  • You can use experiential learning for motivation as well as teaching content.
  • The experiential learning model is an inductive rather than a deductive process:  the participants discover for themselves the learning offered by the experiential process.
  • Trainees will remember the learning longer because they have to come up with the answers themselves during the exercise. It creates “A Ha!” moments.
  • Exercises break up the monotony of a lecture format.
  • Trainees can get to know one another while learning content.
  • It serves kinesthetic learners. Deep learning occurs via the process of doing.
  • Trainers can take a break and observe trainees while they interact and learn new skills.

Experiential Learning Process is broken down into five parts.

Experiencing 

The process starts with experiencing.  The participants become involved in an activity.  They act or behave in some way. Or they do, perform, observe, see, or say something.  This initial experience is the basis for the entire process.

Sharing 

Following the experience itself, it becomes important for the participant to share her reaction and observations with others who have either experienced or observed the same activity.

Interpreting

Sharing reactions is only the first step.  An essential, and often neglected, part of the cycle is the necessary integration of this sharing.  The dynamics that emerged in the activity are explored, discussed and evaluated (interpreted) with other participants.

Generalizing

Flowing logically from the interpreting step is the need to develop principles or extract generalization from the experience.  Stating learnings in this way can help participants further define, clarify and elaborate them.

Applying  

The final step in the cycle is to plan an application of the principles derived from the experience.  The experiential process is not complete until a new learning or discovery is used and tested behaviorally.  This is the experimental part of the experiential model.  Applying, of course, becomes an experience in itself, and with new experience, the cycle begins again.

Equipped to Serve Leader’s Manual

Included in the Leader’s Manual are the general processing questions for each of these stages of the experiential learning cycle. This is called the disciplined reflection of the experiential learning process. In the Leader’s Manual there are about 30 different experiential exercises created by myself and others who have attended my training the trainer seminars.

You can download two of my favorite experiential exercises to utilize in the evangelism section of the Equipped to Serve Training. They include all the instructions and processing questions you need to successfully facilitate the exercises and walk trainees through the disciplined reflection after the exercise has been completed. Click on the exercises below to download.

  1. Step to The Cross
  2. Evangelism as Teamwork

I would love to know if you use experiential exercises in your trainings and which ones are your favorites.

The Importance of In-service Training

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In-service training often does not feel it has much ROI (Return On Investment). There is a lot of staff time and work that goes in to planning an in-service training and then the number of volunteers who attend can be low.

Here is why I think they are important:

  1. In-services build community among volunteers who might not see each other because they work on different shifts.
  2. Everyone gets a larger view of the ministry no matter what their volunteer job description.
  3. Volunteers don’t feel alone in their struggles and victories.
  4. It deepens their understanding of how to utilize the fundamentals taught in basic volunteer training since they have begun seeing clients.
  5. It shows the importance of continued learning to help them connect better with the clients they see.
  6. You cannot teach all topics in depth during basic training. You need in-service training to delve deeper into topics such as adoption, post-abortion stress, evangelism, etc.
  7. It is a vehicle for Center staff to be able to observe and evaluate volunteer skill levels in a non-threatening manner.
  8. It is an opportunity to connect with speakers from other organizations and to utilize volunteers to help plan and execute the in-services.
  9. If you plan ahead you can make sure all volunteers are able to hear the guest speak or the main topic online after the training is over.

Here are some tips that might be helpful in encouraging attendance:

  1. Invite volunteers to be on a small planning committee for in-service training.
  2. Plan well in advance and ask volunteers to put the dates on their calendars
  3. Remind volunteers of the upcoming in-service early and often.
  4. Ask volunteers what topics they would find helpful
  5. Make attending a designated number of in-services each year part of the volunteer commitment and emphasize this in pre-training interviews and make it prominent on volunteer applications.
  6. Engage volunteers to help and they will be more invested in the training
    • They can help with:
      • Planning & pre-training communication
      • Scheduling the guest speakers
      • Making copies of any handouts
      • Planning for and acquiring refreshments
      • Recording the speaker
      • Editing the recording
      • Creating your private You Tube channel

But what about the volunteers who don’t attend the in-service trainings?

  1. There should always be a process that enables volunteers who did not attend to have access to at least the guest speakers or the main topic of the in-service.
    • Watch a recorded version of the main topic presentation
      • Create your own private You Tube Channel where all your recorded speakers can be saved
    • After viewing the speaker, ask volunteers to fill out a quiz or reflection questions and hand it in to their supervising staff person
  2. Due to Covid-19 you might have to take in-service trainings to a virtual platform such as Zoom or Google Meet.
    • Record the meeting and make it required viewing for anyone who did not attend the virtual training.

Days and Times

When I was the volunteer coordinator at the hospice where I recently worked, I scheduled two in-service trainings in one week. This was to hopefully give volunteers two options for their schedules. One was scheduled on Saturday morning from 9:00 to 12:00 and the other on an evening during the week from 6:00 to 8:00. You would need to only record one of the sessions.

Planning Worksheets

I have designed an In-service Planning Worksheet and an In-service Checklist that might help you or your planning committee to plan for upcoming in-service trainings. I imagine that most in-service trainings would last about 2 hours and I have divided the times in the planning worksheet around that time frame. You can write in the actual time slots on the worksheet based upon the time(s) you choose.

You can click here if you would like a copy of the worksheet and checklist. They are in Microsoft Word format so you can alter them to fit your needs.

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash