My ICF Coordinating experience

As you all know Bebe is currently one of the incumbent ICF coordinators. I am no longer your ICF coordinator. It had been a great one and a half year experience as an ICF coordinator. ICF coordinating role has certainly taught me a lot namely: leadership, community development, time management, event planning, and critical thinking. But, the skills I have garnered for the past 1.5 years are in fact no more important than the people I was priviledged to work with. It is my honor to be given such an opportunity to work with the top ICF leadership representatives, which I have always considered the chosen one.

This posting is solely written to share my coordinating experiences to the readers of this blog.

It was back in 2007 when I was offered the ICF coordinating opportunity. Before jumping into my leadership experience, I owe the blog readers an explanation about ICF's context in 2007. Back then, the incumbent coordinators were Tole(a.k.a Irawan Gunadi), Yesy, and Meme. For the longest time ICF was privileged enough to be led by loyal females (excluding Tole of course!) There were also several other figures such as Diana(a.k.a Nonik) and Enny, who had been impactful and influential to the growth of ICF. The concept of Medium Group had been developed in their era and many thoughts had been invested to make our fellowship more effective in pursuing the vision. These people that had become coordinators before me have shaped my perception about ICF coordinating role. They have provided many leadership nuances to ICF and to that leadership legacy I contributed my dedication to lead ICF.

When I was offered the coordinating opportunity, I asked myself one question: Do I really believe ICF vision for the Indonesian community? This question is very crucial because I know the answer to this question will surely drive my motivation to lead and influence people in ICF for God's glory.

The answer to the question is YES!! I do believe that we need to bring impact to our nation and this is why I was ICF coordinator for the past one and a half year. For those who read this posting and don't really know what ICF vision is, please visit http://www.icf-cmh.org

Leading ICF was an enjoyable experience because the people I work closely with are believers and advocate for ICF vision. We may have our differences and disagreements but one thing for sure we are all passionate about pursuing ICF vision. The disagreements and differences are not by any means divisive but in fact a model of a body working together. Sony with his meticulous traits, Joe with his out of the box ideas, and Rina with her passion in execution. These people are the reason that have made leadership so enjoyable. They are definitely one of the top motivating factors for me to be a better ICF leader.

As a coordinator, It is important that I keep contributing to ICF. ICF leadership can be an overwhelming experience because now you are expected to bring something to the table. I was challenged to give more of my thoughts, time, money, heart and power to the fulfillment of God's will in ICF. I believe that I won't be able to help ICF grow, if my own relationship with God isn't growing. I have realized that our decision, the coordinators, will affect the whole fellowship. It is by scale a weightier responsibility than leading a small group. The leading experience can be overwhelming, if I think ICF success is all up to me. I do have that tendency :) messiah complex... With ICF coordinating role, I learn to pray for ICF future and surrender ICF success in God's hand. In many occasions, I have to face the reality that my own thoughts are not sufficient and I will need a lot of help and support to lead. These occasions had challenged my pride issue and learn to humble myself before God.

The drive to serve people in ICF led me to develop the passion of learning. I started picking up many books to read, talk to people that I don’t normally talk to, and try things that I’m not comfortable with. I was definitely stretched beyond my comfortable level and challenged to grow in these situation. The intention was that I want to be able to contribute to ICF growth with new perspectives. There were many things that I was clueless about. Back when I led ICF with Sony and Joe, Sony and I (we lived in the same apartment) had to sit in many informal meetings and say to ourselves," Ini mo diapain ya? Ini gimana mo ditacklenya nih? Kita musti ngapain ya?" We were definitely apprentice to leadership but in fact these situations were the times where we learnt to dream, imagine, and envision. ICF Leadership has trained me to see the unobvious and seek for solutions. Sony and I had to continuously challenge ourselves to walk the unclear path and take the risk of failures. It was a needed experience because those situations, where you’re clueless and helpless, draw me close to God and others in the leadership circle. I realized that ICF movement will not be as successful without the support of other leaders and workers.

Some examples of the things we try to do with continuous evaluation:
1. Engineered events
2. Local discovery trip to UC
3. DT-3 to Makassar
4. Discussion groups
5. Ministry houses
6. etc

These activities are by no means done. Though I’m not ICF Columbus coordinator anymore, I will keep on trying to inspire people to contribute their talents to the development of God’s Kingdom in Indonesia.

so... if you are given the opportunity to lead as a coordinator, please don't hesitate to jump on the wagon. The cluelessness should not deter you to take the opportunity. Don't ever think that you need to be the best before taking an opportunity to lead. Look inside of you, whether you are willing to learn from failures and participate in God's plan. Leading with Christ has nothing to do with being the best in terms of skills. It has everything to do with your range of humility, passion, willingness, and availability to serve and love others. I am not the best visionary, executioner, thinker or time manager but I know for sure I learn from my mistakes.

For everybody in ICF Columbus, Thanks for entrusting me with the credibility to lead ICF as a coordinator :)

I apologize for all the mistakes that I have done.