Patience For Perfect Work

We try to live by example in demonstrating to whom much is given, much is required. So instead of having a day off on Monday, our son spent the day with me, working and giving back to the community. Thanks to Ava Graves, my sister-in-Christ and mentor-in-servitude, we spent the afternoon at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, partnering with Growing Communities Inc., facilitating workshops on team work and team building.

 

We try to incorporate concepts of engineering and manufacturing in our community outreach initiatives. Our participants ranged from ages 5-12, so we decided to use Jenga to demonstrate basic mechanical ideas required “to build,” the Swahili term in which the name is derived. We wanted to illustrate that to build something well that will stand up and not come tumbling down, you must begin with a solid foundation. Secondly, we wanted to stress the importance of balance and equilibrium (rules of the Leaning Tower of Pisa do not apply). Finally, we wanted to show them that the best buildings are built, one block/stone at a time from the bottom up (like the Egyptian pyramids).

James 1:3-4 - knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Q (shown sitting in the back left of the image above) facilitated the team work sessions. He explained that the purpose of a team is to win. Just like in sports, individual points (picking a block from the stack and placing on the highest level) are great. But we could improve the team score faster by working together and helping other team players to find a loose block. Winning was defined as the team who built the highest tower in the specified time. In this case, we used two sets of Jenga blocks so that teams could compete in building the tallest towers.

So how did this become a test of faith to encourage patience? Imagine  trying to engage 40 kids with varying age of interest and experience in playing Jenga. Our project coordinator decided to divide them into groups of eight and rotate them through five workshops every 30 minutes. We further divided the groups of eight into two teams of four. Set-up was actually one of biggest time wasters, so we encouraged the participants to stack by threes to minimize time. However the satisfaction and anticipation increased with the younger groups. There’s a lot of adrenaline for six year olds finding loose blocks and confidently placing them back on the stack, sometimes reaching 25 levels or higher. It took patience to get them to that competitive level of teamwork.

Comparing the history of building the Egyptian pyramids with the Jenga games was a teaching moment for me about building the Latrobe business model. The Egyptians were known as creative and skilled engineers. Their perseverance and determination were attributes to building pyramids, one block/stone at a time, exemplifying God’s perfect work, that have lasted for centuries. Latrobe’s success in the community requires many hands to do good works, determination, and great patience-built on a solid foundation of faith.