Monday 25 June 2007

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.

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