Global Integrity 16

Integrity Training

Moral Wholeness for a Whole World

Integrity = Accountability + Competence + Ethics - corruption
(Integrity Action's formula for integrity)

Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness. Its opposite is corruption, the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the exploitation of people. Global integrity is moral wholeness at all levels in our world—from the individual to the institutional to the international. Global integrity is requisite for “building the future we want—being the people we need.” It is not easy, it is not always black and white, and it can be risky. These entries explore the many facets of integrity with a view towards the global efforts to promote sustainable development and wellbeing.

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How do we train people for integrity? Integrity Action is an example of a civil society organization that is actively providing training in integrity. Their mission is to “empower citizens to act with and demand integrity.” “Integrity Action is an organisation and an active network of committed NGOs, universities and policy makers, working closely with governments, media organisations, businesses and our peers to identify ways of making integrity work in some of the worlds challenging settings.” (quotes from the website: http://integrityaction.org/)

Resources

--Closing the Loop: Empowering and Mobilising Communities (video, 6.5 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YleZveI-XoA

--Integrity Textbook (2015)

http://integrityaction.org/sites/default/files/publication/files/IAC_017_Integrity_Textbook_r5_WEB.pdf

“Integrity Action has taught integrity for over ten years in different contexts and with various audiences such as high-level government officials, academics as well as school students. Over the last few years, we have been asked many times to document our pioneering approach to making integrity work and produce a sourcebook that academics and students can refer to when teaching or studying integrity. The result is, in my opinion, an excellent textbook which we hope will equip you to live and work with integrity in all aspects of your life.” (page 2)

-- Integrity Clubs Manual (2016)

http://integrityaction.org/sites/default/files/training_materials/IntegrityClubsManualOutline_%20V2%2020%2004%202016.pdf

“This manual outline is the result of a joint effort of Community-based Organisations, educational experts and representatives of institutional agencies from DRC, Kenya, Nepal and Palestine, who met at a workshop hosted by Integrity Action in Jordan, from 22 to 25 February 2016. The outline in particular - and the workshop in general—was requested by some of Integrity Action’s partners who wished to establish Integrity Clubs in their communities. Integrity Action noticed that although examples of Integrity Clubs can be found in a number of countries, and guidelines are widely available, none of the current examples reflects what Integrity Action and its partners want to achieve: establishing student led clubs where members can learn - as well as practically apply - the concept of Integrity. This manual outline aims at developing Young Integrity Builders, by equipping them with skills and knowledge needed to be able to monitor projects and services in their communities using Integrity Action’s Community Integrity Building (CIB) approach.” (page 3)

Applications
--Interact with this quote below from the Integrity Textbook, regarding its underlying mission to build integrity as the means to and reduce corruption. (page 2).

“This is the underlying mission of Integrity Action–emphasizing the overarching role of building integrity as a means of reducing corruption. Integrity Action incorporates the original ideas of ethics, and joins this to accountability and competence as the fundamental way of combating corruption.

Integrity Action wants to re-balance the understanding of corruption - to build institutions and ways of working that proactively prioritise integrity as a bulwark against corruption, rather than spend time solely trying to act against instances of corruption. Integrity Action believes that there is a need to have and build strong and resilient societies that can resist the attractions of corruption, and can suggest and live with a better alternative - integrity.

This book starts with the personal perspective and builds on this foundation of personal integrity to how it can be applied to management in government, business or civil society. From this view of professional integrity, the book then moves onto building integrity within communities and society more generally.”

Global Integrators--10

GI Training

Pathways for Preparation

Connecticut College, USA, 17 May 2015*

(graduation, good-byes, global pathways)

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A much traveled person knows many things
and a person of great experience will talk sound sense.
Ecclesiasticus 34:9, circa 190 B.C.

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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We were recently asked three questions by a university student about preparation for work in GI. This entry includes the three questions and our answers, with applications mostly in our fields of mental health/member care and mostly in a North American context. We hope this material can be used as a springboard for discussion that could help stimulate and shape GI training in its many emerging forms. To begin...

There are many experiential paths for the foundational and ongoing training needed to do GI well. And since GI and GI related areas are still being developed, there is definitely no definitive word on which path or even paths to take!  So think of GI training as involving a great variety or “pathways for preparation” which reflect the great variety of “pathways for practice.” Keep in mind too that GI is a domain, a mentality, a practice, an ethical necessity...

There are a growing number of books for the general public that fit well with the GI domain.  For example we recently read the first chapter in A Path Appears (2014) by Nicolas Kristof and Cherl WuDun. The book includes stories of people around the world who in different ways and with different backgrounds are helping to forge paths for doing good. These inspiring, factual stories reflect what GI is about. Another example is the Summer 2014 special issue of the Journal of Psychology and Theology on Psychology in the Global Context.

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Question 1. What academic and experiential recommendations would you have for starting out in GI? Specifically for those involved in undergraduate studies in mental health/behavioral sciences, would you recommend gaining experience with mental health in other countries as well as one’s own passport country, before pursuing doctoral studies?"

Based on the definition of GI (i.e. linking values and skills, connecting relationally and contributing relevantly, skillfully addressing major human problems):

--Do everything you can to get solid training and certification in a professional field, like psychology.
--If possible do a double major including 'international relations' or something like it. If that is not possible then track with anything global/international happening at your university (and areas of interest like online events). 
--In addition, for the long term, as in our case, we have pretty much developed our own ad hoc, ongoing 'international relations' training by what we attend and study.
--Find a mentor involved in global things.
--Do a dissertation that includes something global. 
--Find or create a 'caravan of colleagues' who want to go in the GI direction.

In general, we suggest continuing studies from a BA into an MA or doctoral program provided that the above suggestions are happening including opportunities to work with a diversity of people and some global issues. If you have an opportunity to do an internship in an area related to GI (noting that GI is a broad domain) then that could serve you well too as an interim link/experience to post-grad studies (as far as we know there is one program in international psychology in the USA at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology--with programs in a couple cities like DC). There are also masters programs in global mental health (GMH)--e.g. Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (now called William James College, which also includes counseling psychology and the required courses towards certification). More MA programs and courses/training related to GMH (many connected to universities with psychiatry/medical schools and schools of public health) are listed at the GMH-Map website.

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Question 2. What are three of the main characteristics needed to be successful in this field?"

The short answer regarding characteristics: ability to build and maintain healthy relationships, commitment to integrity in spite of the costs, ongoing learning including intentionally and humbly crossing sectors and comfort zones, staying current, and well, something about perseverance and suffering...

a. Build and maintain relationships over the long term. Expect problems, dysfunction etc. and develop relational skills and above all real integrity for navigating the ups and downs of relationships. Part Two in Global Member Care (volume one): The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (2011), is all about this area—i.e. personal, leadership, and organizational health/dysfunction.

b. Ongoing learning and familiarity with the integrated efforts to promote human wellbeing and sustainable development--hence major on your specialty but at least minor on the broader context and realities that are dramatically shaping people/planet. Towards this end we encourage folks to track with the current efforts for 'sustainable development' (see our recent CORE Member Care weblog entry on sustainable development).  

www.coremembercare.blogspot.com

c. Similar to the above--"cross sectors." See the previous weblog entries which are based on chapter 2 in our book Global Member Care (volume two): Crossing Sectors for Serving Humanity (Charting Your Course through the Sectors").  So a willingness to expand one’s “experiential and professional boundaries” is important, which may also involve being able to tolerate:  uncertainly, ambiguity, not being fully recognized for one’s contributions or potential contributions], etc.

d. Learn another language--it opens doors, minds etc. We did this with Spanish and French. (we see language learning is primarily a social experience and not just an academic course.)

e. Support friends and colleagues as they explore/find their "global niches' knowing that people have different interests and capacities and commitments that affect their "going global."

f. Note: The student writing us was an Evangelical Christian. So we said: Stay close to your First Love (Rev. 2), memorize and meditate on Scriptures. Also read and connect with things outside of the Evangelical community.

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Question 3. Is there anything about starting and working in Global Integration that you wish you had known at the beginning?

a. During graduate school, I (Kelly) wish I could have connected my studies in psychology with the wider world and the need to cross sectors. Even though I actively worked in short-term mission during my graduate studies, it has its own bubbles and limits. Back then (1980s) doing mission in some ways was seen as involvement in the broader world which it was of course yet in some ways mission was seen as synonymous with the broader, international world, and it actually was/is only part of it.

b. "Christian" "leaders" and organizations can have serious gaps in their integrity. Corruption is widespread. Protecting turf, livelihoods, and cover-ups can trump doing what is right.

c. Making a living for people is a core concern (school loan debt too) and altruistic ideals are not enough to sustain people's interest/involvements over the long haul.

*Photo: Ashling O'Donnell, our youngest of two children,  in the midst of colleagues and a professor. She graduated from Connecticut College a few days ago, with a BA in international relations and religious studies, and as part of an increasingly globalized academic community--and world. Ashling was also part of the three-year CISLA program (Center for International Studies and Liberal Arts) at the college which enables a selected cohort of student-scholars to further internationalize their majors through intensive language study, special workshops, and a funded international internship. Most of the students we know recognize the privilege they have to be able to study at a private institution like Connecticut College and their responsibility to  be forces for good in the world--do well and do good.

Culture and Diversity in Member Care—Part 1

Overview

Mental Health in a Diverse World

I met a little Elf man once, down where the lilies blow.

I asked him why he was so small, and why he did not grow.

He slightly frowned, and with his eye, he looked me thru and thru.

"I'm quite as big for me," said he, "as you are big for you."

John Kendrick Bangs

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The next eight entries on diversity and culture describe important resources for good member care practice. The resources are primarily from the mental health fields and reflect the growing mental health movement around the world. We encourage you to go online to download and/or purchase some of these resources. They are designed to promote understanding, respect, and competency regarding human variation and multicultural settings.

The materials in these entries are meant to complement the practical knowledge that we all acquire from connecting with others from different backgrounds and cultures. The capacity for greater cultural understanding is available in our very own culture(s) too. As Pierre Casse says in Training for the Cross-Cultural Mind “There is no need for you and me to go around the world to search for some type of cross-cultural adventure. Just stay where you are. Talk and listen to the person next to you.” (1981, x). For those of us working in multicultural settings, this type of basic “training experience” can be all the more valuable when we simply take the time to interact with the person next to us.

We have also found it invaluable to learn from multicultural mentors/friends and to stay in regular touch with international media/issues (examples are in the Media that Matters section on the Member Caravan website). For us, developing competency in human diversity and multicultural settings, at its core, is part of life-long learning. It involves first-hand experience, intentional study, curiosity about others, and a mindset that appreciates human variation.

What’s Ahead--The Lineup

Part One: Overview (Culture and Diversity in a Changing World by the World Federation of Mental Health)

Part Two: M etal Health for All (Where There is No Psychiatrist: A Mental Health Care Manual by Vikram Patel)

Part Three: Cultural Sensitizers for Good Practice (Culture and the Clinical Encounter: An Intercultural Sensitizer for the Health Professions by Rena Gropper)

Part Four: Well-Being for All (No Health Without Mental Health by World Health Organization)
Part Five: Resolutions--Multicultural Compentency (Resolution on Culture and Gender Awareness by the American Psychological Association)

Part Six: Global Mental Health--Issues and Interviews (Various inverviews from Global Health TV)
Part Seven:  International Cases--Understanding the Divertsity of Disorders (Cultural Formulation/Culture Bound Symdromes and International Cases, from DSM IV TR and DSM IV Casebook)

Part Eight: Summary

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This resource below is available to download for free.

We encourage you to study it and discuss it with others.

Mental Health in a Changing World:
The Impact of Culture and Diversity

World Mental Health Day 2007
World Federation of Mental Health

Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish

Click on the title/link above for the full version.

Excerpts
"There are approximately 6.5 billion people living on planet Earth. Within that number, there are more people living outside their country of origin than at any other time in history. One person out of 35 is an international migrant — 3% of the global population. If we look at our world to-day, is there any single culture, race or religion that is 100% contained in one single country? We can find dramatically different languages, religions, family relationships and values, as well as views on health care and treatment wherever we go, including in our own respective countries. A female mental health professional born and trained in India may have moved to the United Kingdom and is seeing a male client born and raised in Ecuador — how do they communicate and how do each view the same mental illness?”

“Culture may influence many aspects of mental health, including how individuals from a given culture communicate and manifest their symptoms, their style of coping, their family and com-munity supports, and their willingness to seek treatment. Likewise, the cultures of the clinician and the service system influence diagnosis, treatment, and service delivery. Cultural and social influences are not the only determinants of mental illness and patterns of service use, but they do play important roles.”

“In the mental health care setting, culture impacts how people:
• Label and communicate distress
• Explain the causes of mental health problems
• Perceive mental health providers
• Utilize and respond to mental health treatment."

Reflection and Discussion

1. What were some of your first cross-cultural experiences?

Were any like the one described in the opening poem, The Little Elf?

2. List a few ways that you have developed your cross-cultural skills.

Which ones have been the most enjoyable and why?

3. With which cultures are you most familiar?

Which culture/nation would you really like to learn a lot more about?

4. How do you continue to grow in your work in multicultural settings?

What roles do the media and movies have for you?

5. Which of the topics in the above resource interest you the most (World Federation for Mental Health)?

Are there any parts that you would want to adjust or further develop?

Member Care Training—Historical Perspectives

Here are a few quotes over the last 15 years concerning training in member care.
More specifically, these quotes are consistent appeals for the creative and strategic development of quality training around the world.

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1992
One of the pressing issues facing the missions community today is the care of its people. This is especially true of those who are pioneering work among the unreached, where isolation, social opposition, political unrest, spiritual warfare, and a lack of supportive care can incapacitate even the most robust, committed missionaries….The goal then, is not just raising up more member care resources. Rather the goal--or agenda, if you will--is to strategically raise up and direct these resources so as to put greater closure on the Great Commission….I now outline several ideas for further developing member care resources and services….

3. Training
Training programs in member care areas are needed, as are continuing education opportunities for member care workers. It would be helpful to develop a missions component or track within several existing graduate programs in counseling, psychology, and human resources. Likewise it would be important to include a member care track in seminaries and mission departments.

a. Develop member care tracks in Christian graduate schools. Identify several key programs in which to develop such a track. Some possible schools would be those represented at the Rech Conference, which focused on training issues for Christian graduate programs in psychology (Tan & Jones, 1991). As part of the training, include a core course on "member care in missions" as well as the "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" course. Where there is no specialized track available, consider offering a three day seminar, or better, an elective course on member care. Also develop practicums and internships with supervision for students wanting to prepare for work in member care. Include practical short-term experience overseas in a missionary role as part of the training.

b. Organize seminars and workshops on member care areas at conferences where there is an interest in member care in missions. Examples would include the conferences sponsored by the IFMA/EFMA, the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, the Association of Christian Schools International, and the International Conference on Christian Counseling. Also continue to provide workshops at ongoing conferences related to member care, e.g., Enabling the Missionary, Mental Health and Missions Conference, and ICMK.

c. Encourage and provide workshops for member care workers within mission agencies themselves. Train missionaries in basic people-helping skills, either pre-field or else while they are on the field. This would strengthen their ability to offer mutual support to each other. Team, department, and ministry leaders would be strategic candidates for this training. Training could be done in coordination with several programs, such as the Pastoral Counseling Institute or YWAM's College of Counseling and Health Care.

d. Hold member care consultations and conferences at different places around the world. Include nationals as part of the steering committee. Regional consultations will provide a sharper focus and greater opportunity for specific issues to be discussed.

excerpts from An Agenda for Member Care in Frontier Missions, International Journal of Frontier Missions,1992, Kelly O’Donnell

1996
…there is a need to deliberately join together with a core group of like-minded colleagues in order to further develop the member care field, especially within frontier missions…we want to see a solid group of motivated, creative member care friends come together and go after some "do-able" projects. Here are some possibilities…

3. Training
*Find ways to equip national Christians and mission leaders with member care skills.
*Teach at key graduate schools, such as a course on member care.
*Develop practicum opportunities in missionary care for graduate students.

excerpts from For Everything There is a Season and a Summons;
personal email to several member care colleagues; Kelly and Michèle O’Donnell, July 2006

1997/2002
Developing member care well is a process....I believe that there must be an intentional and Spirit-led direction as to how this global member care net is developed. Here are five such directions—PACTS—which will help us to work together and further “provelop” member care. PACTS involve forming close relationships with colleagues as we pursue cooperative tasks with each other...

3. Continuing Growth/[Self] Care:
Member care is an interdisciplinary field, requiring considerable effort to keep abreast of new developments and to maintain one’s skills. Prioritize time to read, attend seminars, and upgrade (see the materials listed in chapter 50). Grow! It would be helpful for some to link with a few of the secular umbrella agencies…Build connections and bridge gaps between the “faith-based” and “non-faith-based” organizations involved in international health, exchanging information on the management and support of personnel. Some examples would be attending conferences, reading journals, and reviewing the peer support network and psycho-social support program for staff offered by humanitarian aid organizations…We must not become isolated by interacting solely with the evangelical community. Also, member care can be a burnout profession. So we must maintain accountability with others, pace ourselves, find ways to “refuel” emotionally, seek God, and practice what we preach!

4. Training:
Resource missionaries and member care workers alike via workshops at conferences. Impart both your skills and your life (1 Thess. 2:8)! Include member care tracks at major conferences. Teach member care courses, seminars, and modules at key graduate schools/seminaries, including the Bible colleges in Africa and India and the missionary training centers in Asia and Latin America. Training in peer counseling, marriage enrichment, family life, team building, spiritual warfare, and crisis intervention are especially important (see chapters 15, 16, and 37 for examples). Further, help mission personnel from both NSCs and OSCs develop member care skills (e.g., by attending the “Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills” courses that are taught in many places). Also assist in developing member care programs which are culturally relevant. There could be opportunities to join with groups such as Youth With A Mission and Operation Mobilization, which offer counseling courses in different locations to train their missionaries in helping skills, or the Operation Impact program at Azusa Pacific University, which provides various field-based courses in the area of leadership development.

Extracted from the “PACTS” sections in:
**Member Care in Missions: Global Perspectives and Future Directions”, Journal of
Psychology and Theology, 1997. Kelly O’Donnell
**To the Ends of the Earth, To the Ends of the Age, Introduction, Doing Member Care Well , 2002, Kelly O’Donnell
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2000 Special Note:

In November 2000 there was a special meeting on member care training at the November Mental Health and Missions Conference, Indiana USA. It was organised and facilitated by Kelly O’Donnell. About 10 colleagues attended to discuss the member care courses (mostly “overview” courses) that they or other colleagues were presenting. The desire to further coordinate and network together in this area was obvious, although no concrete outcome towards this end resulted.

2006
One of our guiding principles as a working group was to consider both current and new resources for supporting the diversity of mission/aid workers among UPGs. This principle is reflected in Christ’s conclusion to the Kingdom parables. “Therefore every scribe that has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of the house that brings from his treasure new things and old things” (MT 13:52). Here now are 12 such treasures—current and future resources—that we believe are crucial for member care.

Treasure 7. Training and More Training
Member care is not just a “specialist” function—something to be only provided by “professionals”. Rather it is essential to further equip various member care workers (MCWs), leaders, senders, and mission personnel themselves with “special” member care skills. These skills help to sustain workers for the long-haul. Strategic, ongoing training is needed all around the world! It includes such areas as: counselling, crisis care/debriefing, organisational systems/dysfunction, interpersonal skills, personnel development, and family/marriage. One course in particular that continues to make its international rounds is the one week intensive “Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills” (www.itpartners.org). Offering member care-related courses via the internet (e.g., http://www.headingtoninsitute/. org), and via workshops at conferences, are also good ways forward.

**12 Treasures for Member Care: Future Directions www.ethne.net/membercare/resources
Kelly O’Donnell on behalf of the Ethne Member Care Working Group

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Reflection and Discussion
1. What are some ways to realise the above suggestions and aspirations?
2. What are some of the hindrances?
3. Any additional suggestions to see a coordinated and comprehensive approach for training internationally?

4. How might you or your organisatoin contribute with further training resources?

5. What additional training would you like personally?

Member Care Training—Some Ways Forward

Here are some suggestions for making quality training more available internationally.
In the next blog entry we’ll share some key quotes related to training, from the last 15+ years.

1. Develop a global listing of training opportunities.
Consider updating it every month (or at least every three months), and include brief descriptions and web/email links. Organising it by date, location, and content, would also be helpful. A coordinator or coordinating group with the time to do the updates would be necessary. Some commentary/analysis on where/what training is being offered—who is benefiting and where the greatest needs are—would also be important.

2. Form a network of trainers.
Consider connecting with other people who are doing training. Interact via the internet and at conferences. Establish some criteria for being part of such a network. As shared previously in other blog entries, accrediting/vetting member care workers (MCWs) can be very difficult due to the international diversity of backgrounds and training for MCWs. Develop an agenda to coordinate as much as possible some of the training, and do some joint projects.

3. Increase access to training.

Develop materials and courses to be used by correspondence (mail/post) and the internet, in addition to face to face training. Training materials in different languages and in audio and DVD format would be very important.

4. Maintain an annotated listing of key materials in member care.

Include books and articles, and web sites. Organise these also by language. Currently for example, there is a listing of some of the key books at http://ethne.net/files/uploads/mc/50+%20books%20for%20Ethne%20web.pdf and a listing of many articles at http://missionarycare.com/dbTopics.asp

Several web sites are included in the web links section at: www.ethe.net/membercare

5. Some topics to consider for training:
Member care overview
Spiritual renewal/growth
Stress management/self-care/well-being
Travel/tropical medicine
Interpersonal skills/mutual care
Conflict management
Personnel/member care departments
Education for children
Crisis/contingency management
Financial support
Team development
Transition/grief/loss/reentry
Depression/anxiety
Marriage/family/TCKs
Developing member care/networking
Addictions/recovery/dysfunction
Depression/anxiety etc
Organisational development
Leadership development
Language/culture acquisition
Counselling/consultation skills

Reflection and Discussion
1. What other suggestions do you have for further developing member care training internationally?

2. What are some of the greatest needs?

Member Care Training

What types of training and continuing education
are available for member care?

Here are a few examples.

We need a mechanism within the member care field to both track and communicate the various training opportunities.

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Member care conferences (workshops at regional member care consultations)
Mental Health and Missions, Indiana USA, November; http://www.mti.org/
Pastors to Mission, North Carolina, USA, December; http://www.barnabaas.org/
Personnel Conference, Virginia, USA, December; www.ifmamissions/personnel
Periodic Regional Consultations, such as in Europe and the Middle East

General mission conferences (workshops related to member care)

Member care-related conferences (secular)
Society for Human Resource Management. http://www.shrm.org/
Families in Global Transition; http://www.figt.org/
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies; http://www.istss.org/
Antares; http://www.antaresfoundation.org/

One to four week general courses (within an organisation or open to those from many organisations)
YWAM South Asia, systematic/modular/ongoing training (in-house)
YWAM general (a few different courses, one week to four weeks)
Face to Face course by Operation Mobilisation (two weeks; October 2007 in RSA)
Link Care; http://www.linkcare.org/ (California, next course January 2008)
Heartstream; http://www.heartstreamresources.org/ (Pennsylvania, USA)

Specialised courses/meetings/workshops (interpersonal skills, leadership development, coaching, peer debriefing, crisis management)
Mobile Member Care team; http://www.mmct.org/
Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills; http://www.itpartners.org/
People in Aid; http://www.peopleinaid.org/

Academic and degree courses in member care
Columbia International University, USA; www.ciu.edu/faculty/bio.php?id=57

On-line modules
Headington Institute; http://www.headiington-institute.org/

Correspondence courses

Academic courses and degrees in related fields

Self-directed reading and research (informal, as needed)

Informal and formal mentoring/supervision/peer consultation

Continuing education requirements for professionals (e.g., courses/materials on substance abuse, marital mediation, vaccinations)

Other things to think about:

1. Share more training opportunities, in addition to the above

2. Share ideas about a "global mechanism" for further tracking and communicating about opportunities for member care training

3. Future directions for training?

Member Care Course

To continue from last week's entry--here is the syllabus of a member care course that we have offered. It will be updated soon and also developed as an interactive, on-line course. Additional materials from the international humanitarian, health, and human resource sectors will also be included.

Course Description
This course overviews several facets of the member care field. It is based on a graduate-level course taught initially at Fuller Seminary's Graduate School of Psychology in California, USA. We will explore four broad areas of member care, drawing on the experiences of many colleagues and the extensive literature in this field, along with contributions of clinical psychology, human resource development, and missiology. These four areas include: (a) the current status and future direction of this field; (b) the adjustment challenges of mission/aid/development personnel; (c) the different helping roles in mission for caregivers including mental health professionals, mission leaders, and mission/aid workers themselves; and (d) the development of innovative approaches to member care, such as field teams, crisis care, radio programs, the internet, and interagency consultations.

Course Format
Our time together will involve lecture, group discussion, and case studies. We encourage participants to interact with the teacher(s) as much as possible. To get the most out of this course, it would be helpful to do as many of the suggested readings as possible prior to the actual seminar, emphasizing the 10 core readings listed in bold type. After the course we encourage you to do an optional summary back home, which involves writing a brief description of 50 key member care principles based on the readings and lectures.

Topics and Suggested Readings1. Overview of Member Care in Mission
Readings: MC chapter 1; DMCW chapter 1; DMCW chapter 2
Handouts: Statistics on Global Mission--Barrett, IBMR 1/2003

2. Theological Foundations for Member Care
Readings: EMV chapter 7; MC chapter 3; DMCW chapter 4
Handouts: Jesus, A Man and Message for All People--Richardson, Perspectives

3. Stress and Adjustment for Mission/Aid Workers
Readings: TVL chapter 6; MC chapter 8; DMCW chapter 23
Handouts: Proactive Care of Mission Personnel--Gardner, Helping Missionaries Grow

4. Families and Single WorkersReadings: TVL chapter 23; DMCW chapter 7; DMCW chapter 41
Handouts: Missionary Family Restoration--Lindquist/Lindquist, Helping Missionaries Grow

5. Selection and AssessmentReadings: TVL chapter 13; MC chapter 6; DMCW chapter 29
Handouts: Choosing a Mission Board--Reapsome, EMQ 1/1988

6. Counseling and Consultation
Readings: EMV chapter 21; DMCW chapter 30; DMCW chapter 46
Handouts: Short-Term Missionary Counseling--Lindquist, EMQ 7/1995

7. Ethics in Member Care
Readings: MC chapter 19; EMV chapter 54; DMCW chapter 26
Handouts: People in Aid Code of Good Practice for Aid Personnel, 2003

8. Team Development
Readings: DMCW chapter 38; DMCW chapter 39; MC chapter 11
Handouts: The Wisdom of Teams (excerpts)--Katzenbach and Smith

9. Crisis and Contingency Management
Readings: MC chapter 10; DMCW chapter 43; DMCW chapter 44
Handouts: Guidelines for Crisis and Contingency Management--Goode, IJFM, 10/95

10. Preparation and Future Directions for Member Care
Readings: MC chapter 21; TVL chapter 26; DMCW chapter 48
Handouts: PACTS--O’Donnell

TextsThere are readings from four texts for this course:
*MC = O'Donnell, K. (1992). (Ed.). Missionary care: Counting the cost for world evangelization. Pasadena, CA, USA: William Carey Library.
*TVL = Taylor, W. (1997) (Ed). Too valuable to lose: Exploring the causes and cures of missionary attrition. Pasadena, CA, USA: William Carey Library.
*DMCW = O’Donnell, K. (2002). (Ed.). Doing member care well: Perspectives and practices from around the world. Pasadena, CA, USA: William Carey Library.
EMV = Powell, J., & Bowers, J. (2002). (Eds.). Enhancing missionary vitality: Mental health professions serving global missions. Palmer Lake, CO, USA: Missionary Training International.

Member Care Course--Overview

Let's say that you are going to offer a one or two week intensive course that overviews member care.

What topics would you include?

Here are the topics that we include in a 10-lesson course that we have offered. Next week we'll post the readings/materials that we use for each of these topics.

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Lesson 1--Overview of Member Care
Goals--Define the nature, scope, and relevance of member care. Overview the current status of this field and give various examples of member care.

Lesson Two--Biblical Foundations of Member Care
Goals--Explore examples of caring for the people of God in the OT and NT, in the context of God's desire to bless all the peoples of the world. Show how member care is both a Biblical responsibility and a key strategy of world missions today.

Lesson Three--Stress and Adjustment for Mission/Aid Workers
Goals--Overview the main challenges facing missionaries based on research and the CHOPS grid, highlighting burnout, reentry stress, spiritual warfare, and cultural adjustment.

Lesson Four--Families in Mission
Goals--Review family strengths needed to succeed in missions and the special challenges families face in raising children overseas (MK identity, education, common problems, and reentry), the mission family life cycle, and resources for couples, children, and family life.

Lesson Five--Personnel Selection and Assessment
Goals--Explore the qualities needed to work in missions, the criteria used for selecting missionary personnel, and practical helps for identifying "good-fit" and "at-risk" people.

Lesson Six--Consultation and Counseling
Goals--Discuss different approaches to providing services to mission agencies and their personnel: member care teams, assessment tools, brief counseling principles, field consultation logistics, the use of email, and helping with depression, conflict, deliverance.

Lesson Seven--Ethics in Member Care
Goals--Outline basic ethical issues that occur in member care and identify ethical principles to guide member care services.

Lesson Eight--Team Development
Goals--Develop precise thinking about what makes a team cohesive and effective, including understanding team characteristics, relationships, roles, team stages, multinational teams, the use of team building tools and with a special emphasis on conflict resolution.

Lesson Nine--Crisis and Contingency Management
Goals--A clear overview of how to prepare for, handle, and provide care for several types of traumas and crises affecting mission personnel

Lesson Ten--Preparation for Member Care and Future Directions
Goals--Identify the training and life experience necessary to work effectively in member care. Explore strategic ways to further develop the member care field internationally.

*****

Reflection and Discussion
**What suggestions do you have for additional or different topics?

**How much time is needed to do such a course?

**What types of settings could be used to offer such a course? (e.g., on-line, within an organisation, following a conference, at an academic institution, etc.)

Training for Member Care

What types of training and continuing education

are available for member care?

Member care is a broad field with a wide range of practitioners. In spite of the diversity, all member care workers (MCWs) are encouraged to pursue opportunities for additional training and personal growth (i.e., competency and character development). MCWs are committed to:

• Ongoing training, personal growth, and self-care.
• Ongoing accountability for personal areas and member care ministry.
• “Doing no harm” and having high standards in one’s services.
• Recognizing the strengths/limits in one’s self/skills/services.
  (excerpts from “15 Commitments for Member Care Workers”)

For many MCWs (including leaders with member care responsibility), training comes through life experience and modular education (e.g., seminars and workshops). Their main services may be via encouragement, listening, pastoral support, connecting people with resources, and/or hospitality, in addition to any special skills that they have acquired (e.g., peer debriefing).

Others have studied in a specific member care-related field (counselling, human resource management, psychology, medicine, etc.) and linked with their life experiences, are often considered to be “professionals.” “Professional” is a term that can be misunderstood. It simply refers to those who: a) “profess” competency in an area and are b) “recognised” as being able to offer services skilfully and ethically. Such recognition usually comes in the form of some type of certification/academic degree and organisational position.

Currently some of the main member care-related training is offered via:

• Member care conferences (workshops at regional member care consultations)
• One to four week general courses (within an organisation or open to those from many organisations)
• Specialised courses, usually one-week long (interpersonal skills, leadership development, coaching, peer debriefing, crisis management)
• Academic courses and degrees in related fields
• Academic and degree courses in member care (e.g., Columbia International University, USA)
• On-line modules (e.g., Headington Institute)
• Self-directed reading and research (informal, as needed)
• Informal and formal mentoring/supervision/peer consultation
• Continuing education requirements for professionals (e.g., courses/materials on substance abuse, marital mediation, vaccinations)
• Other?

Currently there is no ongoing, comprehensive listing of some of the main member care training opportunities around the world. Such a listing is very much needed. In the coming weeks we will list some of the main training opportunities including examples of member care courses, and explore some ideas for developing additional training opportunities.

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