As part of the Ministry Services department in Bolivia, we know that our role is to support the core functions of Program Communications and Program Implementation. We also know that one of the pillars supporting the bridge we represent is service.

But our question was whether we could serve our church partners in some other way than what we normally do every day.

We decided to do something different, something that made us feel not only good but satisfied. One day our whole team went to a church partner located in a city a considerable distance away. When we got there, the people of the church received us very kindly. Of course, they imagined that we were there to supervise their work.

Great was their surprise when we told them that we had come to give them whatever help they needed.

We had a plan to help them, and we each had a role. Some of us made supper while others cleaned up the kitchen. Another group cleaned bathrooms. Others visited some children’s homes and some supported tutors in the classrooms.

It was an unforgettable experience: wearing aprons and gloves, washing huge pots and striving to make everything in the kitchen shine.

And then to see children’s smiles when they received a little help in their tasks or when one of us simply listened!

We really saw the innocence, humility and purity of God’s love in every one of them.

It may be that many of us had sore backs the next day, but our spirits were overflowing with happiness. It was an experience that helped us appreciate the work that our church partners do day to day and realize that the work we all do as part of the ministry of Compassion is a service dedicated to God.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. …”  — Colossians 3:23, NIV

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the opportunity we have to serve others as You served us.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Just take a look at your church.

If it has a senior pastor, five associate pastors, two youth pastors, three children’s ministry directors, two worship pastors, three small group directors and a congregation of 50 people, that’s a problem, wouldn’t you say?

Top heavy, perpetually over budget, ridiculous amounts of overhead.

Now say it’s located near an inner city and its main goal is to do targeted outreach. Now the church is potentially lacking in both talent and funding to achieve its outreach goals.

Mission and budget are crucial pieces of the puzzle for an organization. They drive strategic planning one year and five years down the road and govern the here and now.

They help dictate the best structure of an organization and enable managers to make important decisions around hiring — Who? For what purpose? When?

Last year alone Compassion grew by 371 full-time employees — a 19 percent increase. We have more than 1,500 International Program staff in the field — 67 percent of our total staff is made up of nationals. That says a lot about how we use our resources and go about our mission.

Organizational structure is important, especially for us as we have been growing so rapidly.

You all know we’ve surpassed 1 million concurrently sponsored children. What on earth does it take to support a boatload of new employees and more than 1 million sponsored children?

Well, let’s take a quick look at the mission-keepers and budget preparers at Compassion. They fit under the umbrella title Global Support Services and are one part of what makes things tick here in Colorado Springs.

Global Support Services serves all of Compassion across the board. Made up of Ministry Services and Administrative Services, it is one of four main business units within the Global Ministry Center.

The International Program Group, International Partnership Development, and USA are the other three. (We’ll talk about them another day).

Above those four business units are the Chief Financial Office, Executive Vice President David Dahlin and a small group called MI2 or Ministry Integration and Innovation, which provides across-the-board leadership and coordination for the long-term success of all of our ministries.

Providing oversight and invaluable leadership is the Chief Executive Officer, and the heart of Compassion, the beloved Wess Stafford.

But we wanted to get into the nitty gritty, right? Well, here goes.

The business unit I work in, Ministry Services, is made up of a few different departments. Some are fairly self-explanatory and others might need a descriptor or two.

In no particular order, we’re talking about Human Resources, Information Technology (IT), the Global Strategy Office, Facilities, Travel, the Distribution Center and Procurement. (Apologies if I’ve missed any).

Administrative Services is made up of Finance and the Office of Risk Management. And maybe these sound like laundry lists, but each one is a living, breathing organism. These are some of the gears in the great Compassion machine.

In Administrative Services, take Finance, for example — the budget preparers. (And budget preparation is only one small aspect of what they do). The Finance department alone has a key objective, values and a vision statement.

The Finance function enables the mission of Compassion by

“providing excellent financial services that promote integrity and stewardship while equipping the global organization to make wise ministry choices.”

Its values center on trust, teamwork, communication and being proactive and customer-focused.

Lastly, its vision by 2015 is to transform in order to

“provide value-added, influential and outstanding financial services globally while modeling excellence in customer service, innovation, collaboration and education and training.”

These are talented folks. I’d personally like to invite a few to work some magic with my personal finances, but alas, they are busy serving Compassion’s mission to make sure that we are financially viable now and in the future to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

In Ministry Services, let’s take a quick look at the Global Strategy Office.

It is made up of the Office of Corporate Planning, the Global Project Office, Global Internal Communications and Business Enterprise Architecture. Intimidating sounding names, eh?

I thought so when first coming on board.

Well, Corporate Planning folks are essentially the mission-keepers. They work to ensure that “both the long-term (three to five years) and short-term plans (within the fiscal year) for Compassion and all Compassion domains are clearly aligned with the mission to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name and move Compassion closer to our envisioned future.”

Biz talk for they keep us on track. They connect our mission to measurable outcomes so we can know we are doing what we set out to do.

Mission. Budget. Organizational structure. There is a lot more to talk about with regard to these things, but I’ll leave us here for now.

Next time we can explore some of the other major business units or dive into a smaller division, like the Distribution Center, to finally figure out how all our child letters get in and out.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates