International (MNN) – When passion and ministry collide, great things happen. Namely, the Gospel is shared more effectively.
Compassion International recently received an award recognizing their ministry as a great place to work. Jack Wilson of Compassion says that making sure the Christian workplace is a healthy, vibrant environment is an extremely important component of sharing the Gospel and being the hands and feet of Jesus.
He says, “Our mission statement is to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. By nature, we’re a very developmental organization. That’s really what we believe God has called us to. But we also believe that the developmental necessity extends not only to our beneficiaries but to those who provide the services that God has kind of charged us with doing.”
In other words, it’s important to equip the leaders and those who are shepherding the churches where their projects take place around the world.
The award is given out by Gallup, based on an annual survey given to employees. Wilson says they’ve had a relationship with management consulting company going on ten years.
(Photo Courtesy of Compassion International)
“This is actually the sixth time we’ve won what’s called the Gallup Great Workplace Award. And this is an international award that … the competition is among the Gallup clients around the world of which there are about 350 companies and organizations.”
Compassion is the only Christian organization who received the award. Wilson says the polling process is extremely helpful to their organization because it helps provide actionable areas of improvement.
Jimmy Mellado, Compassion’s president, is a former Olympian who represented El Salvador in the 80’s. His take on this award explains why it matters for Compassion International.
Wilson shares, “When we received the award a year or two ago, he said, ‘You know, trophies are nice. I’ve one a couple of them myself,’ he said jokingly. ‘But what it means to me and this organization is not so much that there’s a trophy in a display case, but rather what it means to us as an organization: it means that we are actively working at increasing the engagement of employees throughout the organization. And, consequently, we are a better organization. And by God’s grace, we’re able to provide better services as a result of that.’”
So, you may be wondering, what exactly is employee engagement?
“Employee engagement is the extent to which an employee actively adds his or her discretionary energy and passion into their activity. I truly believe this is a God thing. God does not want us to have a blasé existence, obviously, he wants us to thrive, he wants us to have an abundant life.”
When Compassion first started with Gallup, they had an employee engagement of about 40 percent. Today, it’s at 64 percent. Wilson says they are pleased with this progress.
“The United States workforce, when measured by different organizations, Gallup and others, they’ll tell you that about 30 percent of workers are engaged in the work that they do. The sad part, of course, is that what does that mean for the other 70 percent? What are organizations missing out on because folks, employees, are not feeling that passion, that engagement?”
(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)
Therefore, Wilson says, this survey isn’t about numbers, but it’s a matter of passion.
“Again, how does it affect the Kingdom? Going in reverse, it’s equipping the leadership, it’s equipping the staff to feel more highly engaged with the ministry and the mission. And the results are, better things are happening.”
There are many ways to come alongside Compassion International. You can start by learning more about their ministry and how they operate their child sponsorship program, here.
You can also contribute financially or sponsor a child, here.
And finally, perhaps you are passionate about the Great Commission and want to work with others who are also passionate about helping others. For more details on job openings at Compassion, click here.
“We are constantly looking for great people with great competencies to share this love of Jesus Christ, who share this desire to join us in a mission environment.”
