The Problem We've Always Wanted

  “Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.” Paul Hawken


Since Casa Compasiva opened in January of 2011, we as a staff have made frequent wistful comments about how nice it would be to have too may clients. Like: “How many chairs should we set up for class? What if we don't have enough chairs? Wouldn't that be a great problem to have?!”


Up until recently, that particular problem has never been our experience. On a couple of past occasions we have even prepared and advertised for an entire series of special pre-natal classes only to have nobody show up....no-one...zippo...nadie. Disheartening, to say the least! For so long we have been praying and brain-storming trying to discover “how to scratch where Oaxaca itches.” How do we find the right combination of education, pre-natal services, group interaction, etc to attract clients to our classes? In the early years we congratulated ourselves if we had three couples come to class, and four was almost unheard of.


But the times, they are a'changin ... lately our problem is one that we have always wanted: a packed-out houseful of pregnant mamas and their partners showing up for class! Sometimes we have sixteen ladies (and family members) in the Oaxaca City class, and up to eight ladies in Mitla!


Thanks to the hard work of our doctor and midwives in developing an excellent childbirth educational series, both Casa Compasiva Oaxaca and Casa Compasiva Mitla are currently experiencing a boom in clients attending the pre-natal classes. Our very real challenge now is how to organize the rooms to make space for everyone, and how to still provide warm, personalized attention to each attendee. Also, the dynamic involved in presenting a winsome gospel message to thirty or thirty-five people is very different than that of presenting to six or eight people!


I am reminded of the wording in Isaiah 54:2-3, where the prophet is prophesying of Jerusalem's restoration: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.”


Growth, expansion, development, progress, boom—all related terms referring to the current situation that we face. Please pray for our Casa Compasiva leadership that we will manage these excellent problems well, making them and their solutions interesting and constructive—and all to the glory of God!  

Lila Quezada