GP2: Good Practice by Good Practitioners

GP2: Going and Growing

Morality must match with capacity.

David Bornstein, How to Change the World, 2004

Capacity must match with morality.

CORE/MCA, Growing as Good Practitioners, 2009 :-)

*****

So let's think about what is needed for GP2:

in light of the diversity of member care providers around the world

in light of the diversity of challenges and opportunities everywhere.

1. In GP2: We go broadly to humans in need.

Going is about "crossing" into different types of areas.

Practitioners in this field must increasingly cross into multiple cultures, sectors, and disciplines.

For some, they actively integrate some of these areas.

Others primairly just try to stay informed by some of these areas.

But the interconnections and growth from "crossing" are essential.

*

2. In GP2: We grow deeply as humans in need.

Growing is about our character and competence.

Practitioners in this field must continue to develop personal virtues and professional skills.

It is about being stretched, taking risks, getting more training, lifelong learning commitments, iron sharpening iron, and being refined by life's challenges and opportunities.

*

Reflection and Discussion

1. I think GP2,

in the Christian faith-based sectors,

is ultimately intertwined

with laying down our lives,

as pierced pratitioners,

in order to follow

the Pierced Practitioner.

What do you think?

*

2. "Crossing" leads us into new areas

(cultures, sectors, disciplines)

and it also leads us into dying daily

(sacrifice, struggles, service).

There are two types of "crossing".

What do you think?

Member Care and Human Rights--8

Helping others can be costly--and scary and "inconvenient".

**There are consequences for defending human rights--including our own and those of others.

**There are consequences for providing member care to workers whose human rights have been violated through harrassment, discrimination, forced exile, and imprisonment.

**There are also consequences for not defending human rights and for not helping others whose rights are violated.

Recently a team of four psychologists was providing member care services to workers in an Asian country. These workers were a mixture of locals and internationals. Their perseverence and love for people were remarkable.

*

We were part of this team of psychologists. In addition to teaching on parenting skills, marriage, stress managemnet, and grief/loss, there was also teaching on surviving hardship and understanding human rights. Most of the workers had limited knowledge of national and international laws that pertained to their rights. For many it seemed that generations of "learned helplessness" had left them with little sense that soomething could be done to change human rights abuses. Many of these rights and laws were said to be interpreted in terms of the "national interests" or at least in terms of the interests of the people with the most power.

*
We listened a lot. And then we taught some. Here is a summary (part one of three) oriented for those in the faith-based community (Christian).

*****

Difficult experiences are every where, at every time, for every one. No one escapes. These expereinces include both: external stressors like persecution, harassment, and relationship conflict; and internal struggles like depression, fear, and frustration.
*
Philippians 1:1,2 and Ephesians 3:1
We are prisoners and bond-servants of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the gentiles.
We are not prisoners of governments nor of our circumstances.

Message to church in Smyrna--Revelation 2:8-11
You may go to prison but do not be afraid. Be faithful. Member care helps us to be faithful in all aspects of life--to do what we know is right—serving God and others. He will reward us.
*
Exercise: Hide a holy book for one week and what will happen to you? You will likely appreciate it more, and memorise it more! What three verses would help sustain you if you were in prison and did not have access to a holy book?

Reflection and Discussion

***What three verses (or principles) sustain you the most in your own life?

***Comment on this assertion: Ultimately followers of Christ are "prisoners" of Jesus Christ, not of anything else.

Core Challenges for Aid/Mission Workers

During the month of January we are discussing some of the core challenges of aid/mission life. By core we mean the main inner issues and the main external issues that affect us, for bettter or for worse. They are those inner struggles that we all wrestle with—the matters of the heart (e.g., discouragement, forgiveness, grief). And these struggles are often stimulated by external circumstances or problems (e.g., cultural adjustment, separation, safety).

**********

Let's be sure to consider our own inner experiences too--the core issues for ourselves--as we converse about the challenges of aid/mission life.

Core Challenges for Aid/Mission Workers

• Pessimism--loosing perspective on the good things in life, due largely to the ongoing exposure to human problems and misery
• Staying centered--remaining connected with oneself in the midst of many responsibilities and the demands of living; and remaining connected with God
• Focusing on others' interest--self-preoccupation to the exclusion of others’ needs; not checking in to see how other people around us are doing
• Forgiveness--holding on to perceived injustices which arise from conflict with colleagues, the host culture, frustration with oneself, etc.
• Drifting--getting off the main tasks and the reason why we work in aid/mission, via distractions, interruptions, avoiding responsibility, etc.
• Transitional grief--the pain from saying many good-byes, multiple moves, missing loved ones, unresolved relationship issues, etc.
• Contentment--being satisfied in knowing that one is following his/her values, in spite of minimal work results, pressures to perform, and limited sense of fulfillment in one’s work

Reflection and Conversation:

• In what ways have these seven issues been part of your life?
• What helps you work through these issues?
• What other areas would you include as being core challenges?
• How do these issues relate to the research on stress and adjustment?

Note: This material is adapted from the article “Running Well and Resting Well” in Doing Member Care Well (2002). This article and book are available to view or download for free at http://www.wearesources.org/