Ashley Mark: Life Mission Ninja... er... "Intern"

If you've attended GCC for very long (and if you're on this blog site, you have since you're serving in a leadership capacity), you've probably noticed how immaculate the facilities at GCC stay on a continual basis. If you're like me, you've probably also wondered how it's possible, with all the traffic that goes on through the building, for it to stay in such condition, and whether or not there are House Elves, a fleet of covert Ninja, or some other mysterious force that works behind the scenes to make such happen. Well, as it turns out, there actually IS a fleet of covert Ninja who continually storm the GCC fortress, but rather than reeking havoc and burning the offices, assassinating the staff and poisoning the water fountains, they instead keep everything running in tip-top shape for everyone who visits the campus at any time of day or night.

One of the most critical members of this elite Ninja force is a young lady named Ashley Mark (great... now that you know her name, she'll probably have to hunt you down or something). Ashley has been a member of the Facilities Ninja Force for nearly three years now, but while she has been serving in that capacity, she has also been pursuing a degree at Bethel College in the field of Sociology. As part of the finishing requirements for her degree, Ashley recently approached me about the possbility of her serving as an intern in our department, and after coming up with a plan of action and general course outline, received clearance to proceed for the summer as an enlisted member of our Life Mission Team.

While serving with us, her primary responsibilities will include the following:

1) Observe
In order for Ashley to complete her objectives, she will be attempting to observe each ministry in its "natural" context.

2) Interview
As a function of her observations, she may also attempt to schedule time to speak with ministry leaders or interact with ministry volunteers and participants.

3) Document
After observing and interviewing, Ashley will be producing a number of various types of digital and "published" media to serve each of you better.

"How will this help us?", you ask? At the end of her Internship, Ashley will be helping us to produce the following items which will be directly beneficial to you:

1) Life Mission Tracking Report
Twice a year, we attempt to produce a full scale analysis of "what we do, with whom, and for whom" in publishable form as a method of checking our efficiency and effectiveness as a ministry. This hefty document is called the Life Mission Department Ministry Tracking Report, and gives a survey of both each ministry and the department as a whole for all who inquire "how we 'do missions' here at GCC". This resource is a fantastic opportunity to highlight and spotlight each individual ministry, and provides a great cursory overview of all that we do "at a glance" for anyone who asks.

2) Life Mission Promotional DVD
We recently thought that it would be a great idea to have a 5 minute, weekend service quality media that surveys all the Life Mission ministries. It will be a great tool for you to use when people ask you "what you do" and what you are a part of, and will also help greatly in forming partnerships, writing grants, and generally serving as a fun way to display all that you work so hard to do and make possible. In addition, we hope that this DVD will also have a "Features" menu in addition to the media that will give a brief synopsis of each ministry and more information about how to be involved.

3) 401 Core Class Digital Curriculum
Need more volunteers? Leaders? We have found that one of the biggest needs for people is to get them through the 401 core class and "into" the ministries that are available (namely yours). As a result, we will be pursing a type of "digital 401 core class" which will be able to be taken to small groups rather than requiring that people come to GCC's campus for 4 hours, once a month. We believe that this set-up will ease the current bottle-neck of people who want to be involved, but don't know how or where, and will give them an opportunity to find out about doing just that in a more efficient fashion.

4) Feedback Vein to Life Mission Staff Leadership
We recognize that while it is our deepest desire to be deeply involved with every member of the leadership team and your ministry, such is not always possible on the level that we would like. As a result, we hope to provide an opportunity for you to provide valuable feedback through Ashley about how we can serve you better as a staff, how or if we can remove any obstacles currently in your path, and what you would like to see executed with greater precision or earnestness in the future.

But how really does all that affect you as a Life Mission Leader? Well, for starters, Ashley will be contacting you at some point in the near future to see how she can meet up with you to talk about your ministry so that she can carry out the tasks listed above. She may also ask you to plug her in to a function coming up so that she can get a practial feel for how things work so that she can document them more accurately. Finally, she will want to be a genuine help to you by both serving as a conduit for communication and improvement for how the Life Mission Staff can serve you better, as well as a "recorder" of your ministry so that it can be displayed and modeled for other ministries.

As a result, if you see communication from Ashley in the next few days or weeks, please help her in any way that you are able. And if you see a black clad figure stealing carefully from shadow to shadow at your next event? Well... don't be too alarmed.