A letter from Leslie Clay in Nicaragua
June 2011
Dear Friends,
Ironically, our newest lessons in Nicaragua have been coming out of Africa. As we continue living and learning, connecting and stumbling, we have had two sources of wisdom from Africa that keep appearing and reappearing from a variety of friends, books and networks.
The first goes like this: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
When I came across this quote just recently, I was blown away by its wisdom. I am sure it is because the truth of the quote met my need for a life lesson at just the right moment. If you Google the quote (as I did), you will find it has been attributed to everyone who has used it recently to make a point—for instance, Warren Buffett and Melinda Gates. But the most notable use of the quote was by Al Gore in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize.
He said it is an African proverb, so I’ll go with that.
Whatever the source, it spoke to me because Nicaraguans have recently been echoing the same advice: slow down, you work too fast, tranquila chica (chill out, girl). And when I have ignored that advice, I have found myself alone. Sometimes very productive, but always alone.
The other piece of African wisdom is a story that I have been sharing with mission delegations for the last year, and it almost always makes a connection with their experience. The story is told by mission expert Miriam Adeney and is quoted in the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor.
Elephant and Mouse were best friends. One day Elephant said, “Mouse, let’s have a party!” Animals gathered from far and near. They ate. They drank. They sang. And they danced. And nobody celebrated more and danced harder than the Elephant.
After the party was over, Elephant exclaimed, “Mouse, did you ever go to a better party? What a blast!” But Mouse did not answer. “Mouse, where are you?” Elephant called. He looked around for his friend, and then shrank back in horror. There at Elephant’s feet lay Mouse, his body ground into the dirt. He had been smashed by the big feet of his exuberant friend, Elephant.
“Sometimes that is what it is like to do mission with you Americans,” the African storyteller commented. “It is like dancing with an Elephant.”
I often use this story as a teaching tool, trying to prepare groups visiting from the United States for the delicate work of cross-cultural partnership. I paid attention in my own mission orientation two years ago. Presbyterians do mission in partnership. I thought I knew this lesson forward and backward. But I feel like my Nicaraguan friends have held a mirror up to me and, lo and behold! I see a joyful proud elephant. This elephant has so much energy and exuberance, and thrives on pleasing others. I want my partners to say, “Wow, there goes one great mission co-worker!” I want to win a prize.
But more than anything I want support my partner, CEPAD, in its foundational work of supporting the most vulnerable families and church communities. I want to accompany them in a profound way and dream big with them and see the results of our work together. I want to have a party and dance!
Learning to dance in Nicaragua is a humbling experience. They are amazing dancers. I know I should watch and learn, study the language, and study the rhythms. Many times my Nicaraguan peers will let me take the lead because I am a guest. But when I let them lead, I can learn a different way of dancing.
Because my job as facilitator is to support the communication between Nicaragua and our Northern church partners, I find myself stumbling between the new dance I am learning and the project-focused mindsets of many mission volunteers. I have to be intentional to avoid taking on a Type A personality to please my Northern partners and go the way of the elephant: fast, effective and solo.
The music of the dance is Trust. You have to learn trust and earn trust before a coordinated effort takes place. That’s when you grow out of the superficial and into authentic God-paced partnership. I am so happy that we are learning this lesson together with our Nicaraguan neighbors.
So hold the exuberance and learn the rhythms. My message is to relax, pay attention, stop trying so hard, and learn the pace of being together. We may not go fast, but we will go far.
How blessed I am to have partners like that!
The Rev. Leslie Clay
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 289
By the way …
We will be traveling on mission interpretation assignment in the months of October, November and December of this year. Our route so far takes us from Michigan to New York, traveling as far south as Tennessee. If you, dear reader, are anywhere near this area we want to see you! We are available for a minute for mission, a sermon, a Sunday school, church or committee gatherings, or just any way you would like to visit and hear our story. If you would like to hear from us, contact us by email.
