Start Something: Living on Mission in the Everyday
By Alison Emery
When I was in college (back in the late 1900s!), I became passionate about environmental issues, protecting the environment, and being a good steward of God’s creation, as we were intended to be. I read books on the subject. I designed and printed posters for Earth Day and posted them all around campus. I started a recycling program in my dorm with designated bins for recyclables that my roommate and I sorted and delivered to the local recycling center.
When I reflect on that time, I had boundless enthusiasm, energy, and creativity. I had some good ideas and even took some action steps to implement my ideas. But ultimately, my passion was not sustainable because I didn’t have a plan or know where to direct my efforts in the long-run.
Perhaps this experience rings true for many of us who feel the tug on our hearts for a specific cause, conflict, or injustice. Or when we see a need in our community that we’d love to help meet. We feel paralyzed because the issue seems so overwhelming, and we don’t know where to begin. Even when we have a good idea that could make a real difference.
Wayfinders’ “Start Something” framework puts flesh on the bones of that idea for good. It provides practical steps to give language to what’s been floating around in your mind and heart as an abstract concept. Rather than looking at the whole, we ask, “What’s one step you can take to move toward impact?” Maybe it’s volunteering at a local charity that’s already addressing the issue so you can more fully understand the need and where there are gaps. Perhaps the step is talking to the people you want to help to find out what their actual needs are. It could be just writing down the idea in black-and-white so you know the questions to ask and any additional research you need to do.
Organized like a workbook, the “Start Something” guide asks direct questions that require a thoughtful answer - like “what needs and problems do you see around you?” and “how will you know when you have accomplished what you’ve set out to do?” This process helps you think through your vision, the resources you already have in hand, and what or who you may need to help make your idea a reality.
You don’t have to start something huge to benefit from this process. It could be a new nonprofit or a redemptive for-profit business. Or it could be something as simple as an intentional plan to meet the needs of your neighbors in your apartment complex.
To get started, please contact us about participating in a “Start Something” workshop to gain new insights, exchange ideas, and receive guidance in a supportive and encouraging environment with other missional leaders who work in similar spaces. We would love to help you move from ideation to reality in implementing your idea for good. Subscribe to our blg and stay updated
