Member Care Updates Expanding the global impact of member care
Working together for wellbeing and effectiveness
Special News--January 2025Global Pearl: 1Following and Serving Jesus Christ  Image from cover of GMC 2
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46-------------------- Overview----------------- Warm greetings, Kelly and Michèle   --See more resources on our MCA website and MCA Facebook page --Send us your ideas and resources for future MC Updates
--Forward to your colleagues and networksMCAresources@gmail.com
Featured Resources
Global Pearl: 1
Following and Serving Jesus Christ
 Image from cover of GMC 3
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.
My Father will honor the one who serves me.
John 12:26
--------------- Resource One
New book--Relentless: We Press On
Doug Lucas and Tina McCormick (2024) 
"Have you ever listened to an inspiring story from a missionary serving in a far-away land and wondered, 'How do they forge on through such difficulties?' In Relentless, you’ll hear answers from Team Expansion team members across the planet. In the pages of this book, they share not only the narrative, but also the backstory too – the 'why' and the 'how' they press on. Relentless: We Press On captures the essence of unwavering faith and determination. The compelling stories illustrate God's relentless love and its transformative impact. It will serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration for navigating life's complexities – for you and all those you know." (quote from Amazon site and based on the back cover)
Note--See also Tough People for Tough Places: Member Care Reflections from Team Expansion by Doug and four colleagues (chapter 16 in Global Member Care Volume 3).
“In this chapter, we describe the development and practice of member care in our organization, Team Expansion. We now have 10 member care specialists on staff (four full-time and six part-time) who work closely with our leadership structure. The stakes can be very high for our workers and those whom they serve, so we want to do all we can to back them up with good member care. We have organized this reflective chapter into five sections—one per author. We cover the development of member care during the 45-year journey of a mission CEO, managing chronic stress and trauma in the field, drawing near to the Good Shepherd, understanding how ‘spiritual bypassing’ can hinder personal growth, and identifying what is working well in our member care approach.” (page 265)
 The fifth episode of Staying the Course in Mission and Member Care features two of the four authors from chapter 20 in Global Member Care Volume 3 (GMC 3). Senior member care colleagues Edward and Kendall discuss the pastoral coaching ministry--a comprehensive team approach--that they have helped to develop over the years for their organization. They share about some of their early struggles in cross-cultural ministry and some core emphases and resources that they use to foster resiliency--emphasizing abiding in Christ and mutual support--to help workers navigate the challenges of unreached settings. Power point HERE. Full video version--45 minutes and Full audio version--45 minutes
Previous podcasts: Overviewing Global Member Care Volume 3 (August), Prioritizing Frontier People Groups (September), Developing Member Care in Indonesia (October), and Mental Health as Mission–Trauma Training and Care (November). Note--This new podcast series (video and audio versions) features our interviews with and materials from several of the 50+ contributors in GMC 3. GMC 3 is a collaborative book with over 50 contributors and 20 chapters full of stories, strategies, reflections, and resources from member care and mission colleagues around the world. It is inspired by the vision to see member care further develop globally to support mission among all peoples. See the Table of Contents HERE and the full endorsements HERE.
Resource ThreeNew assessment tool--Marital Check-Up Inventory for Cross-Cultural Workers Laurie Tone (2024)This new marital check-up inventory tool is designed for use by pastoral counselors, member care providers, or other behavioral health professionals exploring key domains that impact Christian couples serving in a cross-cultural context. There is an additional optional set of questions for married couples with children. The inventory tool is intended to identify marital strengths, help recognize areas needing attention, or pinpoint problem areas before they exacerbate. A tool kit including instructions for use, the inventory, scoring sheet and handout on keys to a healthy marriage are available upon request. Contact Laurie at membercareconsultant@gmail.com to request these materials offered free of charge. Note--See Growing in Grace and Good Works–Featuring the Resources of Dr. Laurie Tone ( Member Care Update--March 2024 ) which also includes Laurie's update of the CHOPS Stress Inventory.
Global Member Care--12 PearlsTwelve blog posts to explore good practiceI saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband....
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.
Revelation 21 2 21 Image from cover of GMC 1 This set of blog entries from 2011 explores member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care Volume 1: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice. There is one quote from each of the book's 12 chapters. Each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. Challenging and relevant!Pearl One--Highlighting Member Care History"Over the last twenty years, a special ministry within the Christian mission/aid sector, really a movement, has developed around the world that is called member care. At the core of member care is a commitment to provide ongoing, supportive resources to further develop mission/aid personnel. Currently there are an estimated 400,000 full-time "foreign missionaries" and over 11.8 million national Christian workers from all denominations (Johnson, Barrett, and Crossing, 2010) [2024 estimate is 445,000 and 13,500,000 respectively]. Our member care parish (or catchment area), so to speak, is huge! But these figures do not reflect the number of Christians involved in the overlapping area of humanitarian aid [add other sectors], nor do they reflect the unknown number of "tentmakers" or Christians who intentionally work in different countries while also sharing their good works and faith. Sending organizations and churches, colleagues and friends, specialist providers, and also locals who are befriended are key sources of such care." (page 5)
"Member care, I have learned over and over again, is not about creating a comfortable lifestyle. Nor is it about trusting people instead of trusting God. Rather, it is about further developing the resiliency to do our work well which includes our character, competencies, and social support. It is also about developing relational resiliency, which includes working through the inevitable differences and impasses with international and local fellow-workers." (page 7)
Reflection and Discussion
Recall one aspect of your life/work that relates to the quote above.
Have a go at connecting the above quote with a current international area that interests/concerns you.
See also The Missional Heart of Member Care in the International Bulletin of Mission Research (2015), 39(2), 91-96. --------------------- For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Member Care Associates
MCAresources@gmail.com
Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a Christian non-profit organization working internationally and across sectors. We focus on personnel development for mission, humanitarian, development, and health workers and their organizations; global mental health; ethics and good practice; and integrity/anti-corruption. Our services include consultation, training, research, developing resources, and publications. MCA is shaped by the Global Integration framework and the Missio Dei model of global member care (updated in Global Member Care Volume 3 in 2024). ----------
Our Special News-Updates 1) promote the wellbeing and effectiveness (WE) of staff and sending groups and 2) support the diversity of colleagues with member care responsibilities. The focus is on the mission sector with applications for/from the overlapping health, development, humanitarian, and other sectors.
Global Integration (GI) is a framework for responsibly and actively engaging in our world--collaborating locally through globally for God's glory. It encourages connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing and the issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity and core values (e.g., ethical, humanitarian, human rights, faith-based). See more perspectives about GI HERE. |
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