Global MC—Pearl Twelve

Resources for Good Practice

Eastern Orthodox painting of Jesus Christ

as the Pantocrator (The Almighty)

We have been exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote (12 total) is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This twelfth and final entry is from Part Three in the book, “Developing Guidelines in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Twelve

Christian hope produces life-givers, not life-takers. The crucified Christ calls his people to live and die for their enemies, as he did. The only risks permitted by Christ are the perils of love. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). (page 208, excerpt from John Piper, A Call for Christian Risk)

The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley’s Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. (pages 217-218, excerpt from Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol)

Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.

You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends!

The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

Luke 12:31-32, The Message

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.

Global MC—Pearl Eleven

Expanding the Foundations of Good Practice

Read It. Discuss it. Apply it.

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote (12 total) is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This eleventh entry is from Part Three in the book, “Developing Guidelines in Mission/Aid.”
https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Eleven

This chapter explores what I believe is the foundational stone in our search for trans-culturally relevant ethics. Stone Five is fascinating! It is based on doing what we “know” is morally right to do. It shines light on our inner sense of duty. I believe that it must especially take into account human rights in a way which hitherto has received minimal consideration in the member care field. This includes understanding and protecting the rights of mission/aid staff and the people with whom they work, as described for example in international human rights documents (discussed below).

However, the primary focus of this stone is not just mission/aid staff. It is also on the ethical responsibility—ethical imperative—for personal and group duty (often sacrificial duty) on behalf of humanity. It is about the duty and choice to risk one’s own rights and well-being in order to extend member care, broadly speaking, to vulnerable populations. More specifically, it is a principled commitment to improve the quality of life and seek justice for those whose human rights, including religious liberties and freedom of conscience as well as physical safety and economic livelihood, are habitually threatened through neglect, disasters, poverty, discrimination, fear, and persecution.

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.

Global MC—Pearl Ten

Pursuing Trans-Cultural Ethics

Planting a flower aftertaking a swim in pools
formed by rain waters in the Mathare slums, Kenya.

(c) 2008 Juilius Mwelu/IRIN www.irinnews.org

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote (12 total) is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This tenth entry is from Part Three in the book, “Developing Guidelines in Mission/Aid.”
https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Ten

Where There Are No (Well-Resourced) Senders

There are a couple important counterpoints for the guidelines suggested [for sending groups]. First, not all mission/aid workers actually have “senders.” At least many may not have an ongoing long-term sender as they may work from contract to contract and from agency to agency. Others workers do things much more on their own without a sending group per se. Their charitable work and Christian witness are done as part of their lifestyle in a host culture. Many mission/aid workers surely wish that a sender would be able to support and manage them in ways that are recommended in [these guidelines]!

Second, for some sending groups themselves, these guidelines may seem overly idealistic at best and inappropriately constrictive at worst. Senders coming from philo¬sophically different, or less-experienced, or financially-limited settings may not be on the same page about what is “needed” to do mission/aid and member care well. For instance some senders may default to the practice of sending out “naked” mission workers who have no apparent resources other than to follow the biblical injunction Christ gave his disciples to go without an extra coat, staff, or money. These folks embody that commitment, without an expectation of returning to their home country for furlough or retirement. This may seem extreme, but it does reflect the other end point of the sender’s continuum for providing “comprehensive” member care. On a related note, in her concluding chapter in Sharing the Front Line and Back Hills (2002), Danieli describes how some potential contributors to her edited work dismissed her effort as “preposter-ous or obscene.” The reason was that she was focusing on aid workers themselves—the protectors and providers—rather than on what was perceived to be the far more needy victims who needed help (p. 388).

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.

Global MC—Pearl Nine

Encountering Ethical Member Care

Read It. Discuss it. Apply it.

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This ninth entry is from Part Three in the book, “Developing Guidelines in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Nine

Premises for Ethical Member Care

**First, staff are humans with intrinsic worth and not just resources with strategic worth. We appreciate them for who they are as well as for what they do.

**Second, ethical care is concerned with the well-being of everyone involved in mission/aid. This includes the well-being of the organization, its purposes, and its personnel.

**Third, sacrifice and suffering are normal parts of mission/aid work. We acknowledge yet try to mitigate against the serious negative consequences that accompany work in risky places.

**Fourth, we encourage balancing the demands of professional work with the desires for personal growth. Personnel need to find a good work-life balance so they can both run well and rest well.

**Fifth, how we provide services to staff is as significant as the actual services themselves. We respect the dignity and rights of all people and thus provide quality care, carefully.

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.

Global MC—Pearl Eight

Resources for Good Practice

Eastern Orthodox representation of Jesus Christ
as the Pantocrator (The Almighty)

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This eighth entry is from Part Two in the book, “Promoting Health in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Eight

“People ought not to be encouraged or allowed to acquire the rights of statutory tenants to any part of the organization. In the voluntary world this applies particularly to management and executive committees, which have a preference for the re-election of their existing members, for co-option and for committee nomination for new members. Such ways encourage vested rights, and while there is a lot to be said for retaining wisdom and experience in the organization it need not always sit in the same place.” (Charles Handy, Understanding Voluntary Organisations, 1988, page 148) (page 140 in GMH book)

Some examples [of “bad” leaders, based on a lecture from Dr. Robert Sternberg, Tufts University, October 2007]:

• They see themselves as being above accountability—“ethics” are for other people.

• They do not avail themselves of needed input from others to complement, balance, and correct themselves.

• They lapse into an unrealistic and often disguised sense of omnipotence, inerrancy, mega-importance, unrealistic optimism, and invulnerability.

• They become entrenched in their ways, even when it is obvious to others that these leaders are digging a bigger pit of mistakes into which they and others will fall.

• They may have high intelligence, but ultimately all the above makes them “foolish.”

Ultimately, bad leaders distort and ignore reality. They create their own reality.

Bad leaders also display a significantly diminished moral competency. (page 144 in GMH book)

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.

Global MC—Pearl Seven

Supporting Good Governance
and Good Management

Read it. Discuss it. Apply it.

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This seventh entry is from Part Two in the book, “Promoting Health in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Seven

“Keep in mind that any guidelines are only as helpful as the skill levels of the managers who use them. I also note, sadly, that when guidelines are bypassed or inadequate, we may tend to make them up to our own advantage rather than with impartiality and in the best interests of everyone in mind. As one colleague has shared with me, somewhat skeptically, “Poor organizational management is all about the other “golden rule” in which the person with the most gold, rules.” ” (page 117)

“I really appreciate a Middle-Eastern proverb which says. “The greatest crime in the desert is to find water, and remain silent.” I would like to suggest a rejoinder to this proverb: “The second greatest crime in the desert is to find poisoned water and remain silent” (see also Prov. 25:26). Sometimes mission/aid workers at all levels of organiza¬tions can get into trouble by blowing a whistle and confronting the poisoned water of dysfunction. This is not easy to do as we have said repeatedly. Neither is it easy to do well, nor to do well by oneself. It is often scary, risky and easy to make mistakes in spite of good intentions. There is often a high cost to pay when advocating for personal and organizational health, People need integrity and skill (Ps. 78:72) to consistently and resolutely act with moral courage both publicly and privately.” (page 135)

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.

Global MC—Pearl Six

Upgrading Relational Resiliency

Painting of Francis of Assisi

(The account of his story about true joy is included in chapter six.)

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This sixth entry is from Part Two in the book, “Promoting Health in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Six

“Over the years I have acquired an immense appreciation for church history, the humanities, and the wealth of instructive materials that have been written over the centuries. One example is Sirach, circa 190 BC, whose fifty chapters in the book of Ecclesiasticus make up a significant portion of the wisdom literature in the Septuagint version of the Scriptures. Chapter 6 on friendship and trust is especially relevant...” (page 102)

"Let your acquaintances be many, but for advisers choose one out of a thousand. If you want to make a friend, take him on trial, and do not be in a hurry to trust him; for one kind of friend is so only when it suits him but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. Another kind of friend will fall out with you and to your dismay make your quarrel public, and a third kind of friend will share your table, but not stand by you in your day of trouble: when you are doing well he will be your second self, ordering your servants about; but, if disaster befalls you, he will recoil from you and keep out of your way. Keep well clear of your enemies, and be wary of your friends. A loyal friend is a powerful defense: whoever finds one has indeed found a treasure. A loyal friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth. A loyal friend is the elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find one. Whoever fears the Lord makes true friends, for as a person is, so is his friend too" (Ecclesiasticus 6:6-17, New Jerusalem Bible, Reprinted with permission of Catholic Online http://www.catholic.org/). (page 102)

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.

Global MC—Pearl Five

Unmasking Dysfunction

Read it. Discuss it. Apply it.

*****

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. The next four entries are from Part Two in the book, “Promoting Health in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

 Pearl Five

“Most of us have been part of both healthy and dysfunctional work settings. The healthy ones are personally rewarding and we feel we are contributing and growing, and challenged and respected. The dysfunctional ones on the other hand drain us, stealing our time, focus, effectiveness, and even our emotional and physical health...Dysfunction disables our people and purposes, but most importantly from a Christian viewpoint, it dishonors God (Rom. 2:21-24).” (page 88)

“The problem is further complicated when there is not proper accountability in place, or when there is not enough relational history with a person or an institution to really confront it and require verifiable changes. Again I want to be clear that I am not talking about how to handle situations where folks simply differ or where both the normalcy of conflict and the need to work it through in helpful ways are understood. Rather I am referring to instances where there is significant personal and organizational dysfunction. So in other words organizations and people, whether they are aware of it or not, and whether they are willing to admit it or not, are having an ongoing “toxic” influence on people. And as a result, unless we have the necessary life skills, training, and profes¬sional support (which would include being well-versed in the behavioral science areas of systems, recovery, and clinical disorders; and well-grounded in mediation practices and in the breadth of Christian scripture for dealing with conflict and dysfunction) we can end up being “wise as doves” as we interact with others who may be “innocent as serpents.” Truth without grace may be brutal, but grace without truth can be lethal.” (page 92,93)

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.

Global MC—Pearl Four

Resources for Good Practice

Christ the Pantocrator (The Almighty)

Opening image from chapter four.

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Four

“In the context of complex humanitarian emergencies and the rigours of life in developing nations, aid workers arrive on the scene expecting to enhance life, not just to neutralise pain. Humanitarian work is, afterall, a celebration of life, not homage to death and despair. …International aid is a challenge to the power not only of hunger, war, and poverty, but to cynicism. Faith-driven or secular, the workers who bring aid…are the living embodiment of a human conviction that wrongs not only must be righted, but that they can be righted.” (p.1)

“…the objective of stress and trauma management is not merely to protect local and expatriate staff but to encourage them to grow, flourish, and sow the seeds of well-being among colleagues and communities in which they work and live…One of the most effective ways both to protect and to flourish is to maintain excellent social relationships within and outside the work environment. (p.5) …Our findings suggest that strong relationships afford the best protection in traumatic and stressful environments.” (p.6) John Fawcett, excerpts included from Stress and Trauma Handbook (2003)

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.

Global MC—Pearl Three

Embracing Future Directions

Read it. Discuss it. Apply it.

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Three

"The need for [both foundational and future resources—the old and the new] must also take into account the significant shifts in demographics among the world’s 2.1 billion “affiliated Christians,” especially the growing majority of Christians in/from the diverse Global South(s) and the proportional decline in Christians in/from the diverse Global North(s) (Corwin, 2010; Johnson and Kim, 2006). These [resources] must also support the efforts to resolutely and responsibly deal with the world’s greatest problems, including the need to eradicate poverty (e.g., the 910 million urban slum dwellers), provide universal education, promote gender equality, combat HIV/AIDS, foster environmental sustainability, etc.
(United Nations Millennium Development Goals, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals)."

"The member care field therefore, while maintaining its core focus on supporting the diversity of mission/aid personnel, must expand into new international and cross-sector areas. Each of us for example, would do well to stay current with at least one related health area and/or global issue that we are particularly passionate about (including organiza¬tions, practitioners, resources etc. related to the area/issue). We will need courage to face new challenges to enhance human well-being and combat evil in its many forms. And we will need a solid, practical theology that sees God at work throughout the variety of human efforts…around the world." (page 54)

*****

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.

Global MC—Pearl Two

Listening to Our Global Voices

(c) IRIN, 2008.   Internally displaced humans

in the Democaratic Republic of the Congo, 2008.

*****

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing from the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Two

I’m a humanitarian worker living in a location in Africa that is in prime need of help/missions. I’ve experienced many types of stress as I have worked in various mission programs. The most sustained tension that I have experienced has been related to the urgency and the amount of work to be done in a potentially explosive social and political environment. The challenge here is not only to produce expected results quickly, under tense and sometimes risky circumstances. The challenge is also to deal with the constant worry about the security and health of those within my immediate world and where I, my family, and friends fall within that world….

I have another line of sustained tension that comes from belonging and yet being apart. I belong to those who are helping and to those being helped, but I’m neither an expatriate nor a beneficiary. There is a tension between my life as a national, with blood and other deep ties to those around me, and my life as an aid worker coming from the outside to help those threatened by death. It is as if I am being followed by a ghost which constantly reminds me that the needy person—for example, the displaced person in the transit camp—could have been me….

Since I am a committed Christian, a core part of my survival strategy is to keep in touch with God by communicating with Him and referring to His Word…It’s also easy to become pessimistic as we wonder why God allows wars and suffering. To keep sane, I constantly have to pray for grace and wisdom, refer to God’s commands in scripture, do my assigned duties to the best of my ability, and let God be God. I also need the support of those around me and from the organization for which I work.

(Viola Mukasa, pages 26, 27)

*****

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.

Global MC—Pearl One

Highlighting Member Care History

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls;

each one of the gates was a single pearl.

Revelation 21:21

This new set of entries explores member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). There will be 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.  https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl One

"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). 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, 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. ...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." (pages 5, 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.