Baptist Housing Values: Compassion

At Baptist Housing, we have 6 values which correspond to the acronym CHRIST. These 6 are Compassion, Honesty, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Teamwork. We also have the added 7th value of Fun – an essential aspect of our ministry which reminds us to take our work seriously, but not ourselves. As Servant Leaders, we are focused on serving others in humility and grace while demonstrating the character behind each value. In this blog series, we’d like to reflect on each value and invite you to learn about who we are as an organization.

Value 1: Compassion

In Baptist Housing's values statement, "compassion" is defined as “showing care, love and sensitivity in consideration of the unique needs of Teammates, Residents, Families and others.”

Yet, compassion is not as simple as mustering up the will to do good deeds for others. As our definition asserts – we do so by considering “the unique needs” of the people around us. We believe that compassion is only possible when we accompany others into their weaknesses and needs and relate to them at this level.This requires time and effort – but we believe that it is worth it! As compassionate people, we long to come alongside others, understanding that it is only through the love of God that we as care providers have anything to offer.

Henri Nouwen, a Christian writer, has a wonderful quote on compassion which is worth considering:

Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. As busy, active, relevant ministers, we want to earn our bread by making a real contribution. This means first and foremost doing something to show that our presence makes a difference. And so we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer.

- Henry Nouwen in The Way of the Heart

In Baptist Housing’s mission to extend care to those whom society often neglects, compassion is an important value. We long to esteem and dignify those whom society forgets, and this value drives us to treat our Residents, family members, and fellow Team Members, as we would want to be treated. Compassion further underlies our desire to achieve a high level of operational excellence by 2018, and to continue to offer an exceptional level of holistic care as we assist seniors to experience life well. Without the value of compassion, we might easily become mindless, automatic, and quickly wearied. Because we value compassion, we are able to offer ourselves as humble servants, directing the love of Christ to those in need because we know that we are also in need of this love.

Photo credit to Miroslav Vajdic