Introduction
Knowledge Sharing goes beyond sharing; it’s about helping one another, working together and collaborating. Knowledge sharing takes place when people are truthfully interested in helping each other in initiating new abilities for action; thus forming learning processes. Different organizations have different methods of sharing knowledge; knowledge sharing is important when people are working together because it helps in the realization of the intended goals.
Body
I have worked with the Vietnamese-American United Methodist church, as administrative support to its congregation in Northern Virginia, and through knowledge sharing the church accomplished so much. The church had effective ways of sharing knowledge; I began working with Vietnamese brothers and sisters in a Bible Study Group and we started by planning the goal for our mission. The group focused on the plan so as to build the new ministry. The members of the group came together, discussed different plans and strategies and came up with different suggestions.
Even though some ideas were irrelevant to the mission, some were very practical and so they were implemented. For instance, the BSG settled on a strategic plan to nurture and initiate the Gospel into the Vietnamese cultural context via educational and programs, like court interpretation, aiding in taking a driving test, opening ESL classes, and setting up the Vietnamese language academy for Vietnamese kids who were born and raised in the USA. Fervently working together, and sharing knowledge, the strategic plan was successful and the church had a growth rate of 670 percent.
The church started with 10 members and added 67 members in the following year. Integrating Vietnamese culture/ethnicity into the church community and making it applicable to the present was however the greatest setback presented to all Vietnamese generations i.e. children, youth and adults. Knowledge sharing is about coming together and working as one, the BSG in the Vietnamese Methodist Church practiced knowledge sharing and their strategic plan was very successful.
Through this experience, I learned that having a comprehensible plan, goal and knowledge sharing was significant to the organization’s vision. In a church surrounding, this means that there ought to be continuous readiness and willingness on the part of church leaders to establish a new and practical plan and create a planning team that will help in implementation (Dixon; 2000). Vietnamese Methodist church had a good leadership panel that shared its knowledge with other team members to execute the discussed plans; this ensured effectiveness and efficacy. Through knowledge sharing, short-term and long-term plans were also made.
Knowledge sharing sessions helped in promoting effectiveness and creativity demands execution, at the intended time. Moreover, to the Biblical leaders, communication and knowledge sharing represented a “messaging ministry” or a “sharing ministry” when knowledge sharing occurs, people get together, and community is created because group upholds common things. Knowledge sharing in the church helps volunteers and staff to connect church messages to the congregation and to the community. Church leaders in the Vietnamese-American United Methodist church shared knowledge with the congregation and this made the execution of strategic plans easier.
Vietnamese-American United Methodist church in Virginia valued knowledge, that’s why they encouraged bible study groups. When people come together they gather a lot of ideas and they are able to learn from one another. Knowledge sharing should not be neglected by churches or any other organization. As a minister in Vietnamese-American United Methodist Church, I learned that knowledge sharing is imperative and people should genuinely help each other so that organizations can run well. Some organizations do not consider knowledge sharing as important but in a church setting, it is very crucial (Huysman; 2002).
In our Bible study group, we joined together to set goals for our mission; this helped us establish the method of approaching issues. The church is about unity, love and togetherness and so people should share with others. Today, the world has globalized and so the communication field ought to be modernized (Webster; 2009). In churches, for instance, an efficient website is important as a means of sharing knowledge and communication. Knowledge sharing helps leaders to grow and learn together. They share, learn, grow and multiply disciples and expand the kingdom of God (Convertino; 2008).
Vietnamese-American United Methodist church in Virginia had Bible study groups that helped church members and leaders to come together and discuss church matters. This church valued knowledge because they formed bible study groups that brought people together so as they can share and learn from one another. These groups also helped us discuss the purpose of the church mission. Church leaders shared their knowledge by organizing people into successful teams, considering that there will be a broad range of ideas concerning attitudes, intelligence, responsibility, fruitfulness and trustworthiness (Smith; 2005).
Conclusion
When knowledge is shared good decisions are made and church resources are used wisely. My ministry in the Vietnamese-American United Methodist church in Virginia was successful because there was knowledge sharing and knowledge was greatly valued. To have good knowledge sharing entails smooth information flow, so that church members and leaders are well-informed. When knowledge is shared, clear responsibilities lines are drawn and so church members are able to sync with one another. Hence, the entire church community is able to operate and function efficiently and smoothly.
References
Convertino, G. (2008).Awareness and knowledge sharing in collaborative computing: Experimental methods. New York, NY: ProQuest.
Dixon, N. (2000). Common knowledge: how companies thrive by sharing what they know. New York, NY: Harvard Business Press.
Huysman, M. (2002).Knowledge sharing in practice. New York, NY: Springer.
Smith, P. (2005).Knowledge sharing, Volume 12. New York, NY: Emerald Group Publishing.
Webster, J. (2009).Information and knowledge sharing. New York, NY: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.