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.

Member Care and Resiliency--Part 4

Salquatic Humans

Tear system for the right eye,
including the lacrimal gland (top left) and tear ducts (center right)—Wikipedia.

Human resiliency is the ability to face reality:

to deal with and grow through life’s challenges.

How resilient are you?

You may never know until you weep.
*****

Sometimes its helpful to create new terms, like salquatic. Its roots are Latin-based. This term is made up of two words: salis for salt and aqua for water. When you combine and contract them a bit you get the adjective/word salquatic, meaning "capable of crying"—ranging from being tearful to having tear flows.

Let’s combine the first two entries on resiliency (16, 28 December 2009)--emphasizing water and salt metaphors. We want to now focus on our special capacity to cry as humans.

Tears are a hydro-saline substance comprised of water (H20) and salt (NaCl). You know, saltwater. They are formed and stored in special repositories (glands, see illustration above) from which this substance is emitted, especially during times of strong emotion. I like to think of our tear glands as being filled with emotional saltwater.

Humans are salquatic.

And some are more so than others.

It is an amazing, healing, resiliency-building ability.

Resiliency and Pain

Resilient people are able to express their pain to others and to share the pain of others. They can cry. They can weep. They can express a vast range of “healing feeling” as humans, including deep sadness. They can certainly be negatively impacted by injustice and abuse, lost friendships, death of loved ones, and a host of other wrenching experiences. Yet because resilient people endeavor to squarely face their challenges, they are not usually overwhelmed. Their hearts can break but not be shattered. Their hearts can wound but also mend. They can call upon three intertwining qualities to help them manage reality:

1. inner strength, especially perseverance

2. good social support

3. deep sense of meaning in life, including belief in God.

Crying and at times weeping are key parts of human relationships, the healing process, and the further development of resiliency. Resilient people embrace all of their emotions and they help others do the same.

We along with other colleagues have certainly been learning what it means to be salquatic humans over the last few years. At times we have felt very much like Jeremiah, known for his broken heart as he persevered unsuccessfully in exhorting Judah to return wholeheartedly to YHWH (e.g., ‘but if you will not listen my soul will sob in secret and my eyes will bitterly weep;’ Jer. 13:15-19). We can also relate very much to “Paul et al” who were so often ‘afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not despairing…so that the life or Christ would be more fully manifested through them’ (2 Cor. 4:7-12). Like the many Biblical models, we do not give up. We persevere until truth and justice prevail.

Jeremiah, by Michelangelo, 1508-1512

Quotes, Notes, and More

1. Conference. Here is another entry from Dr. Vance and Dr. Bethyl Shepperson’s weblog, The Encouragers (22 November 2009). It is a notation from a presentation by Scott Shaum on resiliency at the Mental Health and Missions Conference (19-22 November 2009).

“Comfort does not mean removal of trouble. Comfort means Presence in midst of trouble. God’s presence requires my presence. God with skin on Him. My and your arms, legs, ears. So in midst of trouble look for God at work. It’s a construction zone. Slow down. Hard hat, open heart—the path of Gospel ministry. Don’t assume you are doing something wrong, bad, or are being punished. Look with the eye of a miner who is digging for treasure. The whole book of 2 Cor provides the best glimpse of suffering’s superiority. We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus, for ex, so that the life of Jesus might be repeated in our body. 4:10-12."

2. Book. The next brief quote is from John Fawcett’s edited book, Stress and Trauma Handbook: Strategies for Flourishing in Demanding Environments (2003—click here to see a book review). The quote is from the chapter by Cynthia Eriksson et al. It summarizes research on the adjustment of World Vision aid workers from over 30 countries:

"...for each of the mental health risk adjustment measures (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and burnout) 30-50 percent of staff scored in the moderate to high-risk range. This is a significant number of people who are working and 'surviving' while experiencing considerable emotional distress. These staff may not be incapacitated by these symptoms presently, but we cannot deny the effects that depression, burnout, and PTSD can have on relationships, work, and personal health. An NGO's commitment to people includes the welfare of beneficiaries around the world, but it also includes the well-being of staff who commit their lives to serving and saving others." (p. 95)

3. Video. As we enter into a new decade we recommend watching the 13 minute United Nations Year in Review (located in the “See the Latest” section on the homepage of UN’s webcast site). This Review summarizes several major world challenges and the efforts of the United Nations in 2009. We see many disturbing events yet many encouraging examples of human courage and resiliency throughout this Review. Other examples of personal stories and international media reports are listed on the Media that Matters section of our Member Caravan website.

4. Tool. Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss. This resource is a creative and powerful way to help people work thorough grief. Tear Soup tells a simple story—with beautiful illustrations and trans-cultural relevance—of a women’s experience with deep loss in her life. Many important principles for dealing with loss are woven into the story. We highly recommend and regularly use this resource, available as a book and in DVD. Published by Grief Watch.

5. Music. Jon Foreman. The Cure for Pain. Jon Foreman is a 33 year old musician--singer, guitarist, songwriter. His music is creative, evocative, and varied. Struggles, yearnings, friends, and God are central themes which he effectively and often somewhat divergently weaves together in his lyrics. Listen to his above song (YouTube link) as well as to brief samples of his latest, superb CD: Limbs and Branches.

Courage.

Trust God.

Stay the course.

May your tears strengthen you and others.

Reflection and Discussion
1. How salquatic are you---how “well” are you able to cry? What in life has influenced your ability to cry?

2. Describe a time when you wept (“tear flows of emotional saltwater”) or supported another person who was weeping.

3. List three of your main worries right now. Then rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of:
               Difficulty to resolve  Emotional pain  Impact on you/others
Worry 1:
Worry 2:
Worry 3:

If your worries could talk, what would they say to you, in a couple sentences? What would you say back to them, in a couple sentences?

4. What is Jon Foreman’s “cure for pain” in his song? (see link above, point 5)

5. Read the short and thoughtful piece linked below. It overviews the life of Jeremiah. List a couple ways that your life or the life of someone you know is like that of Jeremiah. www.frontlinemin.org/jeremiah.asp

Member Care and Resiliency—Part 2

Hydro Humans

Molecular structure for H2O—Hydrogen Hydroxide—Water (Wikipedia)

Human resiliency is the ability to face reality:

to deal with and grow through life’s challenges.

How resilient are you?

You may never know until you experience a drought.
*****

If resiliency were a molecule, what would it look like? I think that it would look like the H2O molecule above. The two H’s would be: Human inner strength on one side and Human relational support on the other side. In the middle and at the core would be one's connection with GOD. This connection especially includes the experiential knowledge of God’s goodness in spite of the presence of evil in life as well as one's overall sense of meaning/purpose in life.

Resiliency is like water. Water is the most common substance on the planet and a basis for life. Three days without water and our bodies and minds quickly shut down. Death becomes imminent. Likewise resiliency is necessary for a healthy life and at times even for survival. Without the three intermingled components of resiliency—inner perseverance, relational encouragement, and God/meaning—we quickly succumb to the demands of this life. Both water and resiliency are basic human needs.

Resiliency is best understood as being on a continuum. It is not an all or nothing quality. And resilient humans are normal folks with ordinary weaknesses who are learning how to access sustaining/refreshing water even during the “droughts” of life (Jeremiah 17:7,8). Resilient people have developed three essential aquatic qualities:

1. They have sustaining/refreshing water deep within themselves

(characterized by ongoing perseverance; Romans 5:3-5)

2. They know how to give and receive sustaining/refreshing water

(characterized by ongoing encouragement from one another; Hebrews 3:13)

3. They stay close to the Main Source of sustaining/refreshing water

(God, the Fountain of Living Water (Jeremiah 2:13) who gives perseverance and encouragement (Romans 15:4) as well as purpose and meaning (Ephesians 2:10).

Water characterizes the lives of resilient people.

They are hydro humans.

A young boy drinks rain water at a camp for displaced people

in Eldoret, Kenya, 2008. (c) 2008 IRIN . Used by permission.

Notes, Quotes, and More

1. Conference. Here is another entry from Dr. Vance and Dr. Bethyl Shepperson’s weblog “The Encouragers” (22 November 2009). It is a notation from a presentation by Scott Shaum on resiliency at this year’s Mental Health and Missions Conference (19-22 November 2009).

“Resiliency lives with adversity and is honed by it. We don’t rejoice in suffering but in the result it achieves within us…Unfairness in marketplace, medical conditions, parenting problems, elder care—all of this counts to create endurance and the character of Christ within us.”

2. Book. The next brief quote is from John Fawcett’s edited book, Stress and Trauma Handbook: Strategies for Flourishing in Demanding Environments (2003)--click here to see a book review.

“But protection against the major impacts of traumatic stress is not only possible—it is critical for al humanitarian and welfare agencies…A significant method of protecting staff against serious stress injury is to work on improving organisational factors such as management capacity and team functioning. (p.2)…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)

3. Video. MediaStorm is one of many organizations providing helpful video reports and stories about life and international issues. It describes its online publications as “an eclectic showcase of multimedia storytelling.” For instance, check out the eight minute video gem, Friends for Life on the supportive relationship of two older men in the USA. Other examples of personal stories and international media reports are listed on the Media that Matters section of our Member Caravan website.

4. Tool. There are a number of brief tools for assessing areas related to resiliency. One example is the Social Provision Scale which measures different aspects of interpersonal relationships. The link here includes no norms. We use such tools to help folks get a general sense of how they are doing and to discuss strengths, weaknesses, and coping strategies.

5 Music. Carole King. You’ve Got a Friend. This is Carole King’s classic song which appeared on her 1971 album, Tapestry. It was also popularized by James Taylor.

Courage.

Trust God.

Stay the course.

May water flow to and from you.

*****

Reflection and Discussion
1. What are some of the characteristic of someone you know who is a hydro human?

2. Think of a trusted friend. How do you know he/she is trustworthy?

3. What types of responses did you have as you watched the Friends for Life video? Who will be there for you when you are old? Who will you be there for when he/she is old?

4. Recall a situation when you have wondered about God’s goodness and/or whether God had your best interests in mind. How was this situation resolved and what did you learn?

5. The above descriptions and applications of resiliency can also be applied to teams and organizations. Give a few examples.