MC Tools—11

CHOPS Inventory

Supporting A4 Workers

Chennai, India: family en route with sleeping child
April 2012 © MOD
 

This is our 200^th weblog entry.

The first weblog entry was exactly six years ago, on 28 December 2006.

So we are celebrating six years and 200 blog entries of

reflections, research, and resources for good practice.

Deo gratias.

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 The final tool in this series of entries is an updated version of our favourite one: the CHOPS Inventory. We developed the first version of this tool in 1990 as a way to review struggles for mission workers. Since then it has been expanded to include: more categories; an emphasis on successes and strategies in addition to struggles; applicability for mission/aid workers (not just faith-based workers); and translations into seven languages.

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The latest version of CHOPS (shared below for the first time) now includes examples of additional challenges that are often experienced by mission/aid colleagues from the A4 regions (African, America-Latina, Arabic-Turkic, Asian). These additions can be summarised in terms of family, finances, and freedom, with all three being permeated by the challenges of maintaining faith-focus vs fear-anxiety. See the items below in green font.

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CHOPS Inventory

Revised December 2012: Click here for a pdf version

Cross-cultural workers can have experiences that make them feel like "sheep in the midst of wolves." This exercise explores ten "wolves"—which we refer to as stressors—that these workers frequently encounter. We use the acronym "CHOPS" as a way to help identify and deal with these stress-producing "wolves". Note that each stressor can be both a source of stress and/or a symptom of stress. 

Directions 1. Using a separate piece of paper, write down some of the stressors that you have experienced over the past several months. Refer to the 10 stressors and some of the examples mentioned below. Put these under a column labelled "Struggles."   2. In a second column, "Successes", list some of the helpful ways you have dealt with stress during the last several months.   3. Next, under a "Strategies" column, list ideas for better managing stress in the future.   4. You may also want to do the same with or for some important people in your life, such as individuals and groups found at the bottom of this page. Discuss your responses with a close friend.

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Struggles      Successes ___Strategies

Cultural (getting needs met in unfamiliar ways: language learning, culture shock, reentry) feeling rejected, overlooked, or undervalued by the dominant “international” mis/aid culture; gender bias, prejudice, lack of opportunity/freedom

 
Crises (potentially traumatic events: natural disasters, wars, accidents, political instability protracted armed conflicts and physical threats, one’s own community and country affected
 
Historical (unresolved past areas of personal and social struggle: family of origin issues, personal weaknesses) lack of educational, health, economic opportunities (i.e. social determinants of health)
 
Human (relationships: with family members, colleagues, nationals: raising children, couple conflict, struggles with team members, social opposition) caring for ageing parents, few school options, human rights violations, persecution, discrimination, stigma
 
Occupational (job-specific challenges and pressures: work load, travel schedule, exposure to people with problems, job satisfaction, more training, government "red tape") job insecurity, short-term contracts, mis/aid work not understood or respected
 
Organisational (governance and management: incongruence between one's background and the organisational ethos, policies, work style, expectations; incompetence, corruption, abusive leadership, dysfunction, disability practices) legal protection, training
 
Physical (overall health and factors that affect it: nutrition, climate, illness, ageing, environment) no medical resources/insurance and inadequate nutritional options, injuries/road traffic accidents
 
Psychological (overall emotional stability and self-esteem: loneliness, frustration, depression, unwanted habits, developmental issues/stage of life issues) cumulative impact of “adverse life events”
 
Support (resources to sustain one's work: finances, housing, clerical/technical help, donor contact minimum pay and financial support, finances used for survival and not just for one’s mis/aid work
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Spiritual (God and/or transcendent values: meaning, evil, inner growth, practices/disciplines) lack of trust/respect for spiritual leaders
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Answers apply to (circle):
self, spouse, child, friend, department, team, company, other

Earlier version available in
Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, German,Spanish, and Portuguese

©2012 Dr. Kelly O’Donnell and Dr. Michèle Lewis O’Donnell

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Want to know more about challenges for those from A4 regions? See the article by John Fawcett, Supporting Local Staff, including the two short case studies at the end by Viola Mukasa.

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Want to go even further? See the three articles that overview challenges for workers from Latin America, India, and Africa as well as the short case examples for workers in and/or from China. Available at: www.chinamembercare.org (see table of contents in English; this site also includes materials in traditional/simplified Chinese along with Mandarin audio files).
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Do you have suggestions for improving CHOPS, including A4-related items? Contact us at:

MCAresources@gmail.com 

MC Tools—7

Giants, Foxes, Wolves, and Flies

 

 We are sharing some tools to support personal growth, relationship health, organizational development, and overall effectiveness for mission/aid workers. Hopefully you will find them to be creative, useful, and at times even fun. They are some of our favourites.

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These items build upon the 12 tools for “Running Well and Resting Well” that we included as a chapter in Doing Member Care Well (2002). More tools and guidelines specifically for team building are included in our “Tools for Team Viability” article, in the member care book we edited in 1992.

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Our Reality DOSE! website has several self-assessment tools that you may find helpful.  One item in particular is the short article-tool we developed for the faith-based, Christian sector called Giants, Foxes, Wolves, and Flies: Helping Ourselves and Others. We often recommend and use this short article as a creative way for people/groups in mission/aid to look at their life and work—the challenges, struggles, successes, competencies, etc.  It is also available in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. Here is the opening section.

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Have you ever seen the movie, "The Wizard of Oz?" Filmed in 1939, this fantasy classic portrays the adventures of a young girl who tries to return home from a magic land lying somewhere over a rainbow. During one scene, Dorothy and her companions approach a dark forest en route to the Emerald City. Anxiously wondering what wild beasts might lie within, they begin to chant, "Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!
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Watch the 30 second clip! ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NecK4MwOfeI

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For cross-cultural workers, frequently beset with analogous challenges, a similar refrain can be heard: "Giants, and foxes, and wolves, and flies!" Who are these creatures, and what do they have to do with our life and work? In brief, they are Biblical metaphors representing the struggles that we often experience as we try to serve God in new ways or unfamiliar places.

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Here's a quick overview. Giants seek to disable us by exploiting our vulnerabilities (2 Samuel 21:15-22). Foxes try to distract us and cause us to drift off our primary tasks (Song of Solomon 2:15). Wolves endeavor to distress us, keeping our stress levels high and our lives out of balance (Matthew 10:16). And flies purpose to disgrace us by the contaminating effects of sin (Ecclesiastes 10:1). The Enemy seeks to use all four of these creatures to sift us like wheat, and ultimately destroy our life an work for the Lord. Let's take a closer look at these creatures and explore some ways to deal with them.

GP2: Good Practice by Good Practitioners

Growing as Good Practitioners

We think that our goal as good practitioners is not primarily growth.

Rather the goal is doing what is helpful in a "right" way.

Here's a few final thoughts on GP2.

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As Christian practitioners, doing what is "right" is intertwined with our desire to be pleasing to God. And doing what is "right" is in line with clear, solid ethical commitments and one's sense of "duty". See some of the earlier blog entries for more information/discussion about ethics. Plus stay tuned for an expanded article on "ethics and human rights in member care."

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We know so many mission/aid workers and member care practitioners, who in their commitment to please God and serve humans, end up in some dire straits. They seem to "bear on their bodies the wounds of Christ," as Paul said of himself in Galatians 6: 17. And so many bear wounds on their souls too.

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Well-done.

Thank you for your examples of good practice!

We are heading to California now to talk more about such things.

GP2: Good Practice by Good Practitioners

Growing as Good Practitioners:
Practicing Positive Psychology

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On-line Tools

Here is a link to some on-line tools from the field of "Positive Psychology".

http://www.authentichappiness.org/

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These tools are free, and mostly include self-report inventories. One of our personal favourites is the "VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire". The link for this tool is found on the home page. It measures 24 important character strengths, categorised in terms of six "virtues."

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These tools are easy to use and can be quite enjoyable! They can help you in our self-understanding and hence personal growth. They can also be used as part of our member care work with mission/aid workers. Note: You need to register on the site in order to have access to these tools. Registration is quick and easy.

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Articles

Also on the home page of the above site, you will see a link to some articles.

1. One article reviews some research on the effectiveness of "Positive Psychology". The quote below is from this article and it briefly describes what this field is about.

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2. This field or "Positive Psychology" ("the science of happiness") has also been featured as a cover story on Time Magazine (January 17, 2005). We are grateful to Dr. Martin Seligman and his colleagues who have heped to pioneer this new and devloping field in psychology.

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Quote:

"Positive psychology is an umbrella term for the study of positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions. Research findings from positive psychology are intended to supplement, not remotely to replace, what is known about human suffering, weakness, and disorder. The intent is to have a more complete and balanced scientific understanding of the human experience—the peaks, the valleys, and everything in between. We believe that a complete science and a complete practice of psychology should include an understanding of suffering and happiness, as well as their interaction, and validated interventions that both relieve suffering and increase happiness—two separable endeavors."

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Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions

Selgman, Steen, Park, and Peterson

American Psychologist, July-August 2005, p. 410

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Reflection and Discussion

1. Visit http://www.authentichappiness/

Take an inventory, do it with a friend if you want, discuss it, and grow!

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2. Read one of the articles mentioned above.

How could you use some of the perspectives/approaoches of the Positive Psychology in your member care work?