How are 410 Bridge Leaders and Communities Selected?
When we look at a potential community, the question of "who we work with?" becomes more important than "where we work?". Above all else, The 410 Bridge seeks communities with Christ-centered leaders who can see beyond their own personal needs, the needs of their family and of their church. In short, we look for leaders who want to impact and transform their entire community, often sacrificially.
When we begin the community selection process, we focus on building relationships with potential leaders through a series of meetings. These relationships help us determine if the community leader is a match with The 410 Bridge mission strategy. As these relationships strengthen, we begin to learn what the greatest needs of a particular community are, as well as, the level of influence that an individual leader has in his community. The last question, but most powerful question, we ask a potential leader is:
"If you had to close your eyes and imagine your community in 3-5 years as completely transformed, what would you see?"
The answer to this question cannot be coached or compromised. It is asked in a very straightforward manner to determine how the leader envisions success. The answer we are looking for is one that reflects a desire and willingness to not only work towards transforming the physical needs of the community, but also the attitudes and perspectives of the people as well.
Another important step in selecting a community is assessing the community's needs and standard of living in relation to other Kenyan communities. We believe our model is best served in a smaller rather than larger rural community. A smaller community provides the best opportunity for us to measure the impact of The 410 Bridge model. We also believe our model is best served in communities where the needs are considered more vital. For example, if a community has running water, electricity, or substantial commerce already in place, we will typically look elsewhere. It is our belief that communities with these types of infrastructure already in place are better poised to bring about transformation without outside help. There are communities with far more critical needs, where we believe The 410 Bridge model is better served.
What is Community Leadership Council?
Once a 410 Bridge Community has been selected and a qualified community leader has been identified, that leader is then asked to form a leadership council to serve the community. The chairman must look for other leaders in the community who share the same vision for community transformation and are willing to lead and serve the community in their efforts to accomplish this. The council members must be well respected, and have the ability to influence their community. They must be able to cast vision and rally the community members around a plan to execute on the vision. Typically, the council consists of 8-10 members often representing different churches and denominations within the community.
The primary goal of the community leadership council is to serve and represent the community, as a unified whole. To accomplish this goal, the council must:
- Gain input and support from community members by hosting regularly scheduled community meetings.
- Create a Community Development Plan that reflects the priorities of the community for long-term transformation. This plan is under ongoing review with The 410 Bridge.
- Plan and coordinate projects as outlined and prioritized in the approved Community Development Plan.
- Measure and report to The 410 Bridge the current status of ongoing projects, project results and financial summary.
How do 410 Bridge Partners work alongside a 410 Bridge Community?
The relationship with a 410 Bridge Community is a long-term relationship designed to bring about long-term sustainable transformation. While each community is unique, our approach to working in the community remains the same. There are essentially three phases to working in a community.
I. Making an Impact that builds Trust in the Relationship
Phase I focuses on making an impact and building trust in the relationship. In the beginning, there is often a level of skepticism among the people, because they have seen Western organizations come with good intentions of helping them, but then being unable to follow through. When The 410 Bridge first enters a community, we want to make a solid impact that proves to the people that we are authentic in not only our intentions, but also our actions.
We usually begin with a project that will show that The 410 Bridge is an organization they can depend on, while also building confidence in their own abilities to transform their communities. As we begin to work alongside the people on a specific project, relationships are formed that are built on trust.
II. Creating Sustainability
As the relationship develops into the second phase, The 410 Bridge begins a process of moderate pushback that encourages the community to take more ownership of their efforts towards transformation. Often, this means that we look for the community to provide more of the funding for specific projects and to assume an even greater leadership role in the implementation of projects.
This also involves creating an intentional focus on solutions that meet the community's needs in order of priority, and bring long-term sustainability. For example, with the children being the future generation of the community, a project providing a quality education for the children would contribute to the future growth of the community. If school buildings and medical clinics are essential to the development of a community, there needs to be an investment in educating and training a generation of teachers, doctors and nurses who can give back to the community by filling those roles in the future.
During this phase, our hope is that we make an even greater impact, develop deeper relationships with the people, and at the same time, transition more of responsibility for long-term transformation directly to the people.
III. Developing an Exit Strategy
When a community has successfully implemented core infrastructure and programs that support long-term growth, The 410 Bridge begins to work with the leadership council to develop an exit strategy. The exit strategy may look different for each community, depending on their progress and long-term goals.
In this phase, most of the responsibility for projects and programs that support their long-term vision lie on the community. At this point, the leaders and the community have evolved to being able to independently function and grow.
It is the hope of The 410 Bridge that by using this approach, God can use each one and the gifts he has received to come alongside the people of Kenya for a period of time so that our Kenyan friends are empowered to lead their nation in spiritual, physical and economic prosperity long after their western friends have departed. Through this approach, we also hope to develop life-long friendships that make an eternal impact on both sides of the bridge.