MC: Global Letters for a Global Community--1

Resilient Love

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The world is indeed full of peril

and in it there are many dark places.

But still there is much that is fair.

And though in all lands,

love is now mingled with grief,
it still grows, perhaps, the greater.

--Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

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We are writing to member care workers and all those with member care responsibility within international mission/aid who identify with the historic Christian faith. We write to encourage us all to stay the course in our service to God and humans and to take full advantage of the many opportunities to provide and develop member care. We write fully aware of the problems that can discredit, divide, and disable the church-mission community (CMC) and all of our member care efforts. We write with a commitment to the love that is necessary to resolve these problems and to promote health within the global CMC.
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Member care is founded upon the Biblical command to love one another (John 13:34-35) and on the ethical sense of duty to help vulnerable people (Proverbs 24:11-12). The commitment to love one another and duty to others is tested in many ways for all of us, individually and collectively. The testing is often in the furnace of health, relational, and organizational struggles.

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Member care above all involves the trans-cultural practice of fervently loving one another. Such love, as affirmed in I Cor. 13:8, never ceases. It is both sacrificial and celebratory. We grow together in the mission/aid community, we celebrate life together, and by God’s grace we do our utmost to stay close together. Resilient love is the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of our member care.

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Kelly and Michèle
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Reflection and Discussion

Identify a current situation where you want to apply or develop resilient love.

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Note: Letter 1 includes some adapted excerpts from the Preface in Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (2011).