TEAM Chad Infrastructure
Infrastructure is often an unfortunate synonym for 'bureaucracy' and 'waste'. But good infrastructures are a distinguishing mark of effective organizations the world over. They are the catalyst that makes the impossible possible, and the impractical thinkable.
TEAM-Chad's infrastructure is just such a catalyst in the mission of proclaiming the gospel of Christ among Chad's 100-plus un-reached people groups. Whether it is the education of missionaries' children, maintenance of all-terrain vehicles, or handling international bank transfers, the dedicated men and women who form the backbone of Team's infrastructure in Chad are held in the highest esteem by the scores of missionaries from the many evangelical organizations they serve.
TEAM-Chad's infrastructure is a lean mean operation. In order to keep our missionary personnel requirements and overhead costs to a minimum we have sought to engage capable Chadian personnel whenever possible, and pool our resources with other evangelical organizations to avoid duplication of effort wherever possible.
Missionary statesmen who have visited Chad from time to time have invariably made the same observation: seldom in their travels throughout the world have they seen the extraordinary unity that prevails among the missionary societies who work here.
In the best tradition of this unity, TEAM's infrastructure is 'open' to the service of other missions insofar as our personnel and facilities allow. Many non-TEAM missionaries, especially in smaller European mission societies without any infrastructure whatsoever, are able to function in Chad largely because of the services we are able to offer them. Considering the number of non-TEAM missionaries we service through our guest-house facilities, MK school, banking, printing facilities, importation, and travel services it is fair to say that from the perspective of infrastructure our 'field' is effectively 4 times larger than what its officially 'TEAM' numbers would suggest.
This infrastructure is in peril. It does not need to become any larger than it is, but it must not become smaller, which will most certainly happen if capable men and women are not recruited to assure the future staffing of these critical positions. Failure to do so will mean that this 'lean mean' infrastructure will become tyrannical bureaucracy drafting into its service the very missionaries it was meant to serve. There is no question as to whether there will be an infrastructure in a developing country like Chad. The only question is who will staff it: will it be capable, experienced missionaries obliged to leave their ministries, or qualified individuals dedicated to keeping those missionaries serving out in the field where they belong.
If the idea of serving with high caliber missionaries from numerous organizations working in difficult circumstances in one of the worlds neediest countries sounds like something you would be interested in, do not hesitate to get in touch with us. We'd love to communicate with you.