Servant Leader #1: Mother Teresa

   

   Mother Teresa is, without a doubt, one of my biggest role models and one of my heroes. I currently have three Mother Teresa quotes in my room and I have always been inspired by her faith and her story. But beyond the surface of my love for her is a deep respect for the way she acted as a leader. She truly knew the meaning of servant leadership and lived a life devoted to her faith and the ideals of servant leadership. 
     Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 to a Catholic family in Albania. From the time she was a little girl, her faith was something that was a big part of her life. When she was eighteen, she felt a call from God to be a missionary so she left her home to join the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland. Although she loved her time with them, she felt another call from God many years later to leave the Sisters and establish a new religious order dedicated to serving those in extreme poverty. She officially established her order, the Missionaries of Charity, in Calcutta, India in 1950. She continued to serve with her order and the Sisters who joined her for the rest of her life. Her work expanded to countries all over the world and her joyful witness to serve was recognized by many during the course of her life. She died on September 5, 1997. She has since been beatified by the Catholic Church and was recently canonized, or declared a saint, by Pope Francis on September 2, 2016.   
      While she was undoubtedly a remarkable women of faith, Mother Teresa was also an incredible example of a servant leader. Her work in Calcutta was not easy; she was working in the slums with those who were experiencing the lowest levels of poverty. She started her order with very little support and very little money. She tried to serve the needs of the slums of Calcutta as best she could and was committed to serving the poor where they were at. She lived a very simple and humble life and was willing to share in the suffering of those she served. She needed to be a leader in order to find the resources she needed to start her community, but she did so in a humble way. 
     This is one of the characteristics of a servant leader that Mother Teresa exemplified. She was always very humble and was committed to serving others in all she did. Even after her order was established and she had many sisters working with her, Mother Teresa still was involved in the most humble tasks like bathing the patients who were sick and dying. She led by example, put others first, and was never comfortable with the recognition that she received, especially in the later years of her life. 
     Throughout her whole journey, Mother Teresa lived a life committed to serving others and sharing with them the love of God. She established an order that has spread to many different countries around the world. Her legacy and her example of servant leadership lives on in the lives of those she served and in the Missionaries of Charity who continue her work all over the world. 

References:
http://www.motherteresa.org/layout.html
http://www.motherteresa.org/Can/index-eng.html
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-65/ministries-of-mercy-mother-teresa.html
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https://http://blog.franciscanmedia.org/mother-teresa-from-holy-life-to-eternal-lifewww.google.com/urlsa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwju35Kdgu_RAhULxoMKHYPZAtwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatholicfoodie.com%2Fmother-teresa-of-calcutta-and-the-express-novena&psig=AFQjCNHQEv4A1OaME6_ILUHl_lG-QQXOxw&ust=1486042597920399