The 80/20 Percent Rule

When I still worked in a commercial job, I usually knew exactly what to expect. There was a boss who set the lines, my working hours were fixed, and I roughly knew what was expected of me. Of course, there were exceptions, but most of my work—maybe 80 percent—consisted of routine and was planned. Only 20 percent required improvisation or was influenced by a scheduling issue. And when the workday was over, “5:00 PM, door locked, and gone. End of workday.” Also, things like pension, health insurance, etc., were simply taken care of for you.

In missions, I have noticed that this is completely reversed in our work in the place where we are now.

Maybe 20 percent of what I do follows a fixed pattern or a familiar path. The rest—80 percent, the vast majority—is surprising, chaotic, unplanned, or suddenly rescheduled.

Over and over again, you have to figure out how to approach or solve something, when something is possible or not. It often feels like you are constantly in a mode of improvising and replanning.

That makes the work wonderful, and no day is the same. You increasingly learn to depend on God and trust less in your own plans. At the same time, it is also intense, because there is no one telling you exactly what the next step is. There are no fixed working hours, often no clear schedules, and sometimes no clear expectations from outside. You have to make choices yourself, set boundaries, and continually reprioritize.

These are therefore “tropical years.” Intense, but valuable. In Poland, we aged 5 years per year; in Germany, we “only” age 2 years per year.

I increasingly recognize what Paul writes:

“When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

In the moments when I do become exhausted by the unpredictability, I also discover that God’s grace is sufficient. It is not my routine or planning that sustains the work, but He who teaches me anew each day to trust amid the chaos.