THE NEW NRO VISION!
DO 1279
9/82
--National Reporting Offices!
1. My original dream was that there would be a Combo in each country that would have adequate VSs & NASs who could really tend to the people better locally. When trouble comes, it's not going to be quite so easy for everybody in a country to send their report OUTSIDE of the country. It might be a lot easier to get one Letter through even by courier from a National Supervisor, VS & NAS combination. In other words, we're going to have to push it down lower on lower levels & lower people. We now have it more or less down to a CONTINENTAL level, at least, with the CROs (Continental Reporting Offices). (Maria: We've got the VS Combos already in a lot of places.)
2. Well, I have just been thinking & praying that it's been a year-&-a-half since we started the Fellowships, since we started having them organise locally--which is what it amounts to--up to a National scale. We've had VSs for a long time, & the VSs & NASs by this time should have pretty well sorted out their areas of jurisdiction & spheres of administration. Some of them have got Combos set up already, so I think it's time to begin to push more responsibility down lower, taking it off of our backs & off of the CROs at the CONTINENTAL level, & pushing it more down to the NATIONAL level.
3. So I think we ought to start pushing the responsibility down to the lower level & take some of the load off of the backs of the present CROs! It's even possible in so doing--if we were able to spread it out enough--to push the reading of the reports down to the local level. That's the thing I'm particularly concerned about: The reading, analysing & study of these individual reports really should be done on a closer level to the people who are reporting, & my suggestion would be as close to the NATIONAL level as possible.
4. It needs to be done more on a local level in local areas where they know the field, the people, the problems & are better able to solve them & make suggestions & recommendations & supervise them or even VISIT them if they have to--LOCALLY! We need better local shepherding!
5. Between the VSs & the NASs & the Fellowship Revolution we were hoping to get sufficient organisation locally, that there would be better local shepherding. Well, we now need to DO that & make sure it's being done, & the only way we're going to be able to do that, I believe, is by having the people report locally to a local National Shepherd.
6. It's pushing the whole job down to within-the-country supervisory operation by the locals, by the Nationals, by the people within the country who KNOW the country, the people, the language, the situation, the problems & everything & can much more closely scrutinise & supervise the local people & their problems & their needs etc.
7. These National Supervisors, or Snoopervisors, will be like field superintendents. Maybe we could call him a National Shepherd, but we already have a National AREA Shepherd! Maybe the NAS will be the one, or someone else who's got the office & sufficient office staff to receive the National reports directly on a local level from the local people where they've got time & there's not so many reports to have to study!
8. The National Supervisors might be the same as the VS or the NAS, or he might be an entirely different man who isn't busy with Fellowships & visiting. For the sake of convenience I'll call him the National Supervisor for the time being, & he would be the head of the National Reporting Office to whom the individual Reports of Homes would come directly within the country, the stats tabulated locally & the funds taken care of by the bookkeeper & banker, all done on a local National basis. Then he would write a National Report each month to send on to the CRO.
9. This is what I was looking forward to then, that we needed to bring out the local talent & local officers & local leadership or we couldn't even do this! This is what I was dreaming of THEN, & now it's coming into being & in a lot of places already going well. Now we need to start giving them more responsibility--administrative responsibility, financial responsibility, bookkeeping responsibility of stats etc. We need to push this responsibility down to the NATIONAL level & have NATIONAL ROs.
10. But we need a National Supervisor whose main job would be the same as the Continental ROs do now: To receive, open & read reports, have his bookkeeping staff tabulate stats, & a banker do the banking! This would eliminate a lot of problems in the matter of local currencies & recycling as well.
11. His main job would be to study & analyse those local reports & supervise what's going on in his whole country from the national bird's-eye-view, to really supervise his field more closely, administer the needs of the field, coordinate the various activities of the field etc., & to kind of supervise the whole works!--The VS, the NAS, & the National Reporting Office.
12. And once his bookkeepers have tabulated the stats & funds & those are disposed of, his main job will be to sit down & really STUDY those reports & PRAY over them & ANALYSE them & decide what needs to be done in each individual case of each individual Home, even to see if they need any particular help. He can write them letters advising them on their problems or even suggest the VS pay them a visit to settle difficulties.
13. He will supervise the NAS on what he's doing & make sure he's doing his job, make sure the VS is doing his job, make sure the Homes are taken care of & just be the general Field Superintendent or National Supervisor of each national field or group of fields--depending on the number of the Homes--so that he'll be able to do a really good, thorough, prayerful, spiritual job of shepherding the sheep locally on a more local level.
14. This is the thing I'm concerned about: The reports are being handled by people too far away. In the first place, the Continental ROs do not really have the time to thoroughly read & analyse & pray over those reports & all their problems & write them individual letters about what to do about it & all that sort of thing. They couldn't POSSIBLY have time to do that! I know! They've got too many reports to handle. They've each got two, three or four hundred reports or more & it's absolutely physically impossible to do it! About all they can do is tabulate the stats & the finances & shove'm off!
15. The National Supervisor can handle the local problems better in his own country. He knows the country, the people, the laws, the problems, the language & it can all be done on a more local level. This is bringing supervision down to where it belongs on the local field--which is what we were trying to do through the VSs & the NASs. But now even the VSs & NASs need supervision!
16. The National Supervisor actually would be more along the VS line as far as being responsible to us is concerned, because in a sense, he's paid by us & his office is supervised directly by us; but it could be that the NAS is the better man. (Maria: He might just be able to get a set of bookkeepers in there & then continue to do his job with the addition of the extra work.) Whoever it is, however it works out, whatever is best, the point is, we need National Supervisors! The Alliance called them District Superintendents at home & Field Supervisors on the field.
17. He's got to be an office man who is in direct contact with us! (Maria: Or HAVE an office man, right?) Yes, he's got to supervise a local National Office which collects reports, tabulates the stats, banks the funds, studies, analyses & prays over the reports & their problems & their praises & all the rest, & if any questions need to be answered, any phone calls in emergencies need to be made or letters need to be written immediately, he is right there & he can handle the local situation!
18. I want the reports to go to the National Office directly, immediately, where they'll get those reports within a few days & be able to take action on them right away before the LITTLE problem becomes a BIG problem!--Where they can do immediate supervision, give immediate answers, take immediate action right there & then on the local level!--NOW!
19. It is impossible for the Continental ROs to handle the contents of the reports regarding problems, situations, questions & things which require administration & attention locally, Homes which want ANSWERS, areas which want HELP, local situations which need immediate ACTION. This has got to be handled on a more local level, that of a NATIONAL Reporting office on the NATIONAL level where they get the reports in just a few days & can immediately take action on them as they're being read locally by people who know the people, the Homes, the situation, the problems, everything, & can take immediate action on them, administer their needs immediately, shepherd them immediately, answer their questions immediately, take care of their sheep immediately, feed their sheep immediately, whatever they need right now!
20. The NRO will have a staff who are not only bookkeepers to tabulate stats & finances, & bankers to handle the funds, but the National Supervisor will either have the time himself personally to study thoroughly & read every report, or good helpers, secretaries or a wife or somebody who can share them with him & STUDY those reports!
21. --Not only just quickly grab their stats & their money & run, but have time to sit down & really STUDY those reports & everything they say & ANALYSE their problems, analyse their needs, ANSWER their questions, take ACTION on any situations or emergencies IMMEDIATELY, there, on the spot, now! Grab the phone! Write a letter! Make a visit or send the VS or the NAS or whatever!--Immediate local action!
22. It's got to be done locally & at the very least on the national level where they receive the reports directly, immediately, one or two or a few days after the first of the month. The bookkeepers tabulate stats & the finance men handle the money & get that out of the way, while the National Supervisor or administrator sits down & really studies & reads--either he or his wife or both or their secretary--or if there are so many reports he can't read them all, maybe he farms'm out or parcels them out to the VSs & the NASs & they all sit down & really STUDY those reports & everything they've got to say: Problems, victories, emergencies, questions, answers, everything!
23. This man does not have to be a public personality & a leader of meetings! He may not ever have to have anything to do with public shows or entertainment or Area Fellowships, because his main job will be an OFFICE job, glued to his desk & his eyes glued to the reports!
24. But he must be spiritual, he must have a heart for the sheep, be a genuine shepherd at heart & be concerned about the problems enough to thoroughly read their individual reports himself, individually & personally--&/or his wife, &/or his secretary, &/or his VSs or NASs or whoever it may be--to make sure those reports are read immediately, individually for their CONTENT!--Not just the content of stats & finances, but their content of the heart & problems of the people personally!
25. He has to be able to have a heart for those people & be concerned about them enough to immediately grab the phone, if it's an emergency, & answer their problem; or if it can wait a few days or a week, write a letter & try to give them answers or action or help or some kind of suggestions.
26. If it's a Fellowship problem, send a NAS! If it's an individual Home problem, send the VS! If it's an organisational problem between VSs or NASs or whatever, call a Board meeting or an Administrative meeting of NASs, VSs & top personnel to discuss what should be done about it.
27. We need more local organisation & supervision & shepherding on the local level! It's gotten too big for anybody to handle on the Continental level, & the first step right now is at least: Let's get it down to the NATIONAL level. Let the National Office receive the reports directly & pass the stats & the finances, whatever they don't need locally, on to the Continental RO; then let the Continental RO be an office that handles nothing but National Reports that they can quickly tabulate & handle their stats & finances, & their condensed National reports of conditions in the field as well. The Continental ROs don't have to read every single INDIVIDUAL report, that's got to be done on a LOCAL level. They should only read NATIONAL reports.
28. We have got to push it down lower, & we have got to do it now, or soon, in order to get the administration, supervision & shepherding of the local Homes down to the local level where the reports will be read much more quickly, thoroughly & prayerfully because there will be so few of them. They're sitting right there on top of the local scene & certainly have a greater natural concern for them & knowledge of them & knowledge of possible solutions than any Continental Office could have.
29. The National Supervisor is not going to be able to leave his National Office, he's got to stick there & supervise the whole National work: VSs, NASs & Area Fellowships. He's sort of a field Supervisor of everything, but his main job will be to handle the local reports, their stats, finances, NEEDS & problems!
30. No matter who he gets to do it, that National Supervisor will be responsible to get it done, period! (Maria: But will he still be able to travel if he has people taking care of the office?) If he has a good office there with a good staff that can handle those things, if he still has to do some travelling as a Field Superintendent, yes, of course. But he's got to see that it's done! He can't be so busy travelling & visiting local situations that he hasn't got time to read the reports!
31. I 'd much prefer to see a man who is tied to his desk in the National Office & does nothing but study & read & analyse & pray over the reports, & get OTHER people to do the action, & appoint OTHER people to do the visitation, other people to make the phone calls. But he sits there at the top of the heap & he merely takes executive action to see that it gets done! I don't want him running around all over the country trying to do it himself! (Maria: But see, it's got to be the top person of the country that would do this, & the VS IS the top person!)
32. The VS or the NAS is the top leader of the country, so therefore he is going to have to appoint somebody else to do his old job, he can't do it any more. He HAS done it, so he KNOWS it, so he knows who can now do it FOR him! There can be exceptions where it requires his more mature judgement or even presence or leadership ability to handle an emergency situation where he could depart from his office for a day or two & go help the guy take care of it, but normally I would rather see him stick to that office & that desk & be there where we could get him on the telephone & where he's not out somewhere in the field, God knows where & how long it'll be before he gets back to even get his mail or read his reports or take care of his job!
33. He can turn the stats over to a secretary & the finances over to a bookkeeper, but he or his wife or whoever he can get to help him need to sit down & read those letters & reports right then & there that VERY DAY they came from the Post Office & take care of that situation IMMEDIATELY, right then, if he has to telephone or do whatever is necessary to be done NOW!--Today! On the spot! That's what I'm talking about.
34. I want him right there on the spot doing the job every minute, every day, minute-after-minute, hour-after-hour, day-after-day there at his desk taking care of those individual reports & MEMORISING them if he has to, so he knows every single Home like a book & can take care of every single Home. He knows the people by his reading of their reports, he knows their problems, he knows that this is something that comes up all the time & is always bothering them or bothering him & he's able to take care of it.
35. He knows every situation, every local Shepherd! He's got the knowledge & the head & the heart to take care of those sheep locally, & he's always there! They know they can pick up the phone & call him if they have to! They know that they can always get in touch with him IMMEDIATELY if they have a need or a problem or a question--IMMEDIATELY!
36. The reports will keep him busy for the first two weeks, & the other two weeks he will have enough organisational problems, Area Fellowship problems, VS Reports back from the Homes, this condition, that condition to keep him busy! He is going to have enough shepherding responsibilities to keep him busy fulltime, moment-by-moment, hour-by-hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 30 or 31 days a month!
37. They need somebody locally who can help take care of them & who will be able to answer them locally & not have to wait for a Letter from me, because the time will come & may come soon when they will not be ABLE to get a Letter from me. And my God, for most of these needs we don't have the time NOW for them to get a Letter from me! They've GOT the Letters! There's hardly a question I'm getting now that can't already be answered by the Letters, by somebody who really knows the Letters.
38. And the more & more this World situation develops, the more it is going to be needed! I'm thinking about the time when we could be cut off COMPLETELY & the International publications could be cut off COMPLETELY!--They then could handle their problems on the Continental level & even down to the National level WITHOUT our help if necessary. They've got the Letters, they've got the guidelines, they've got the Lord, they've got the Holy Spirit, & if they are completely cut off & isolated as a nation--which is very possible & likely during a major war or emergency or calamity--they can handle their own situation on a local level.
39. Many an officer in an Army prefers the front & the action & the battle & to be in the thick of the fight, because that's where he can shine & where he sees his fulfillment. But he has to be picked out for a Colonel or a General to MANAGE that field & the guys in the field because he knows it like nobody else, & he knows the situation!
40. He knows what they ought to do because he has been there himself & he knows how to do it, therefore he can tell OTHER people how to do it now! And even though he doesn't like his office desk job & being an arm-chair General, like it or not, he's got to do it because he's the only man that KNOWS it & knows HOW to do it & CAN do it! He's going to have to find & train somebody else to do his old job for him! This has always been our policy: Teach others, to teach others, to teach others!--2Tim.2:2.
41. If you haven't already taught somebody to do your job, you have failed at the job already! So he is now going to have to teach somebody to do his old job & he is going to have to move a step upward & SUPERVISE them to make sure they DO the job!
42. They should be someone who can pick up the phone & say: "What's the question?--OK: Letter number so-&-so, that's your answer! Read it!"--Somebody who knows the Letters, somebody who knows the Lord, somebody who knows the field & who can act as the genuine Shepherd of that field with a heart & the knowledge & the experience & the ability for the job. We've had some years now to develop VSs, we've had almost a couple of years now to develop Area Shepherds, so we should have found sufficient leadership by this time to be able to do these jobs.
43. This is something I've been thinking & praying about for years, something I tried to put into operation under the Chain: More local supervision, push the administration down to the local level with more dispersion, decentralisation, local Shepherds etc.
44. I think now we have developed a new leadership that we're going to have to trust, & the closer the End gets, the more we've got to push the local shepherding down to LOCAL Shepherds who are there on the scene & can take care of it WITHOUT us if necessary!--Even without me or you or the publications or anything! It's apt to come to that, at least for awhile.
45. My heart aches, it weeps, it breaks for those poor little people down at the bottom who have nobody to look to & don't know who to ask--maybe the VS, maybe the NAS--& they don't know what they're doing half the time! They don't know for sure who they should go to to solve their problems, ask questions & phone to an emergency. Nobody really has that definite local overall responsibility.
46. They need to have one man, one shepherd of the sheep, one person--or he & his staff--to be able to sit down & memorise those reports & learn to know the people personally. They're right there in their own country, they've already been a VS or a NAS, they've travelled all over, they know the Homes & situations.
47. They know the areas, they know the Fellowships, they've seen the people, they know what they're like personally face-to-face! They KNOW them, they know, therefore, what they need to do about it! They can do local shepherding on the local level! It's got to be, whether we like it or not, & the time is now!
48. And we still need the NASs to carry the load of the various FELLOWSHIPS. That's a fulltime job in itself, to supervise the local & various regional Fellowships, & make sure they HAVE'M, & make sure they have'm RIGHT & in the right PLACES & SUPERVISE'M & probably ATTEND as many as they can. The NAS should be a ROAD-MAN in a way, only he's not visiting the local HOMES like the VS, he's visiting the various FELLOWSHIPS instead.
49. The VS & the NAS are both road men, the right & left hands of the National Supervisor, & they report back to him what the conditions are, the people & everything. He's the National clearing office for all the information. He knows everything, he knows the people, he knows a lot of them personally, he knows the local situations, he's been a VS or a NAS already himself so he knows their problems, he knows the towns, the areas, the language, the people, he knows it all--or he should! He's got to! If he doesn't know it already, he's GONNA know it! Amen? That's the burden of my heart today & I just can't hold it!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family