Catalyst Consulting

Have a THOUGHTFUL Tuesday! A quick story to get you thinking!

What a great opportunity to share with the North American Caribbean Leaders of Child Evangelism Fellowship the three L's that were the foundational pillars of growth for the Guyana chapter. Experiencing Lordship, Building Leadership - servant leadership, and Leaving a Legacy. October 7th, 2025. When the leader, Mr Beltane, asked how I felt being with the CEF family, I answered, "Surreal"!! I had spent 20 years building this NGO - from literally Two Boxes and a 5-year plan.

Robert Greenleaf - “The servant-leader is servant first … It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then, conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead."

In the Christian NGO space, as well as the public sector, the top-down authoritarian approach appears to be the natural disposition of most. We generally take on airs when given an important position. We suddenly become "bosses".

Strong leadership/ servant leadership is not dictatorial; it empowers. It does not stifle creativity; it encourages it. The pressure for increased productivity is not primarily on the "leader in charge" because he knows how to share leadership. Some have learned to be "miserably-happy" in the workplace or mission field under toxic leadership.

Can change occur? A different paradigm? What are your thoughts?

***Friday's Focus*** - Leading for long term impact?
I was talking to a young leader this morning! There was a kindling of like minds! Just precious! As I shared the 3 Cs of the approach for facilitation of the Ethnic Reconciliation project, we got to talking about what it's like to be in the thirties while working in the marketplace and at the same time doing ministry. Of course, he had an impressive array of projects, positions, and performance updates. Wow!! I was so impressed!! However, as I discovered in my thirties, too, it's prime time for those 3 Ps I mentioned.
I was also full of ideas and a menu of options - Daniel Prayer Network, Party Club, Five Day Club, Christian Youth in Action, Good News Club, MailBoxClub, etc. One lady had remarked: " I am confused Sis Veda, what ministry are you doing?" But the 30s was euphoric - I had trained 250 persons from several churches in the first year of ministry. In 2006, we reached 19,512 children with the gospel.
IN my 40s, though, I began to question the impact of all our work and the sacrifices we made. I wanted to see more long-term, transformative results. And, yes, we had those in CEF. PTL!
But the discipleship of the children - to be sustainable... and the effort to help churches see the necessity to follow the mandate Jesus Himself gave - Mt. 28:19-20? Were we seeing less stealing, more honesty, fewer teenage pregnancies, more holiness, less fighting, more kindness, less racism, and more heartfelt friendships ...? Well, we did not run a longitudinal study but there was evidence that we could pick up along the way to become concerned about.

So, this conversation turned my attention to - how can we work / do ministry to ensure that we are going for more long-term, transformative results? How can ministry lower the crime rate in Guyana? How ministry impact civil society in such a way that we are concerned about corruption - about our NDCs, the management of our towns? How can ministry teach us how to love across the race spectrum and vote based on principles, policies, and performance?

Thank you, Globespan for airing this discourse - February 26, 2024.
So disappointed that someone representing the government's position did not participate.
Today, l helped a 7-year-old child from a government primary school do home assignments. The grade 3 child had to create consonant digraphs with examples, put together a mathematical puzzle, explain the water cycle with pictures, and make sentences based on food items. I loved the effort of this teacher and the creativity in her approach during this strike.❤🎉❤
Unfortunately, the child could not sound out the consonants and vowels. The child could not read. Not even the word "and". 😢

No, l am not going to blame, shame, or complain. I am not going to pit one party against the other.
There have to be some greater levels of collaboration in the education & labour space !!
Common sense calls for collaboration.
There are myriads of education development issues to be dealt with. Our children depend on the common sense of our leaders. Ahh!

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Find ways to build mental resilience as you seek to be a force for good. Connect with someone this weekend who will give you ideas to strengthen your resolve to stay the course.