JC et al.--Living in Truth 2

Discerning Truth (and Lies)

 Approaching the 40^th anniversary of Tolkien's death in 1973

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 There I was at fault…I was lulled by the words of Saruman the Wise;

but I should have sought for the truth sooner,
and our peril would now be less....

And then alas! I let the matter rest, watching and waiting only,
as we have too often done.

Gandalf at the Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien

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 If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure.

Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.

 Jesus Christ, John 8:31

MC and Global Health--8

Home Coming

Back home in our garden in France
--and in member care--
 after travels in the Global Health domain.

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
(JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit)
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In these entries we’ve explored some of the concepts, challenges, and practices of global health (GH) and GH's relevance for member care and mission. It is just a start for us and hopeuflly others will take GH further, sharing how GH is and can be actively part of mission and member care.

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Central to GH are the notions of equity and quality care for all. Our exploration has taken us to places all over the world via articles, web sites, short video docs, and analyses about issues and opportunities. We highlighted vulnerable populations, coordinated efforts, and further integrating both physical and mental health into the work of mission/aid. Health statistics, democratizing GH, and preventing sexual exploitation/abuse were also specifically addressed. Global mental health (GMH) was especially emphasized and  a crucial part of what we called mhM--mental health as/is misson.

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We advocate for a broader vision and a new phase for member care, in keeping with the challenges and opportunities facing humanity.

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We encourage maintaining the focus of the MC core while expanding the function of the MC corps (i.e. emphasizing wellbeing/effectiveness for mission/aid workers vs pursuing skills/involvement for  GH/GMH).

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Reflection and Discussion

Can we develop a consensually-derived global framework (agenda) for member care, even as there have been global frameworks within the health and mission domains?  

 

Could a Global Summit be set up to pursue this framework, including a diversity of people interacting before, during, and after such a Summit?

 

Here are some examples of frameworks/agendas to stimulate our thinking and inform our actions.

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Global Health

**A Framework Convention on Global Health: Health for All, Justice for All
Journal of the American Medical Association (16 May 2012)
**One Health Summit 2012: One Health, One Planet, One Future
Global Risk Forum (human, animal, environmental health, agriculture, food safety/security)
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Global Mission

**Missiometrics 2008: Reality Checks for Christian World Communions
International Bulletin of Mission Research (January 2008, see line 79 in summary chart; for 2012 statistics: click here)
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Member  Care

**An Agenda for Member Care in Frontier Missions
International Journal of Frontier Missions (July 1992)
**Global Treasures for a Global Field (resources and directions)
Member Care in India: Ministry Call to Home Call (MUT, 2012)
(initial version in Momentum May/June 2006, pp.49-52)

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).