MC2 2016

It may come as a surprise to consider many global workers struggle with spiritual thinness. Are these not the mature ones? The accumulative effect of chronic stressors, spiritual oppression, pressures from others to perform, lack of resources and often lack of knowhow on how to go deeper spiritually in the context one finds oneself in all adds up. In fact, this can be a compound effect in one’s life. Some themes and responses will be considered.

The demands of cross-cultural ministry require and ever increasing spiritual depth, emotional resilience and relational maturing. The spirituality that works for us in our own culture can become quickly outstripped in new environments.  Practical resourcing, permission and trainings will be considered to help facilitate repeated seasons of renewal.

The demands of cross-cultural ministry require and ever increasing spiritual depth, emotional resilience and relational maturing. The spirituality that works for us in our own culture can become quickly outstripped in new environments.  Practical resourcing, permission and trainings will be considered to help facilitate repeated seasons of renewal.

There is a uniqueness and beauty to each season of the year as one period changes and flows into another. The same is true for the changing seasons of a global worker’s ministry and personal life. We will identify and describe the four primary seasons of the worker’s journey. Next, we will highlight the unique features and challenges of each season of service and finally address the vital pastoral and soul care needs, both proactive and reactive care, for the worker and their families during these four seasons. You will find this Saturday morning stroll through the seasons both beneficial and inspiring.

Why are so many field workers experiencing loneliness, a lack of encouragement and or a feeling of not being known? No matter who we are we need meaningful friendships as part of our soul and self-healthiness. Yet field workers often experience great difficulty to have friendships which minister to them in mutual and purposeful ways. We will discuss the challenges for ministry workers to have such friendships. We will describe the types of relationships needed to sustain and satisfy such as peer friends, family relations, local friends, friends with history, mentors, counselors, pastors, etc. We will look at the book of Proverbs for the attributes of Biblical friendships, which will give us greater understanding of the purpose and expectations in these invaluable friendships for the field. And also, how churches and pastors can encourage workers to create, pursue and maintain such friends.

A most magnificent invitation awaits each and every one of us week after week. Why is it that this life-giving invitation of celebration and rest goes neglected? Just who is the Invitor, what are we invited to and what if we do not RSVP? Sadly Sabbath is an often neglected aspect of soul care yet it is one of the most critical and life giving practices for field workers. Several issues comprise Sabbath neglect such as; guilt (how can I take time off), confusion (what is it), pride (I don’t need it), drivenness (too busy), lack faith, (all will fall apart if I stop to res), etc. Hundreds of workers have shared of the transformation in their ministry and personal lives when Sabbath is observed. Why is Sabbath rest and celebration so central to soul care? Is there any way in which agency leaders, pastors, home churches, friends can encourage and assist towards a Sabbath priority for their field workers? You are invited to come and refresh yourselves during this Sabbath journey and reflection.

Conflict can cause a lot of damage to the missionary soul. It can lower morale, cause discouragement, sap energy, and create distance between people. It’s hard to feel at peace with God when we are not at peace with ourselves or with one another. In this session we will think about three aspects of conflict: 1) how much damage conflict does – to ourselves, our spirit, our morale, our perspective, our peace of mind; 2) how to deal with my own conflicts, past and present; 3) how to be an agent of healing from conflict in our circles of relationship and influence.

These are all on a personal level. However, much conflict exists at higher levels of an organization, and we will think briefly about how to be an agent of healing in group situations.

Is debriefing just a technical strategy within missions, useful for times of crisis or disaster, is it something too sophisticated for most of us to do? Debriefing is a little bit like a crescent wrench (for you men). It can be adjusted to a given situation, and used by anybody. In this session we’ll explain what debriefing is, and how any of us could use it to help one another.

I WOULD LIKE TO DO THREE THINGS IN THIS LAST SESSION:

A. WHAT HAVE WE HEARD? (A QUICK SUMMARY OF MAJOR SESSIONS)

B. WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH WHAT WE’VE HEARD?

C. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE—WALK AWAY WITH A GROWTH PLAN.

Members of the older generations sometimes find connecting with Millennials difficult and uncomfortable. This younger generation sometimes sees the church as simply a club looking for more members and money. Millennials tend to question authority and past traditions, which creates anxiety in Boomers and Xers. We will consider how to understand and relate to Millennials from unchurched backgrounds, as well as those who have grown up in the church but may have left. Are traditional Bible studies and worship effective in reaching the younger generation? How important is a relational element in the church, where these young adults can feel safe to talk, be themselves, and search spiritually without being judged? The workshop will include Millennials adding their own perspectives.

If we could do only one thing to care for the missionary soul, one thing with lasting impact, it would be to listen. Henri Nowen puts it well,

“The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously, and start discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even dare to be silent with you.”
This interactive breakout session will help improve one’s listening skills by offering practical tools in living out James 1:19, “…be quick to listen and slow to speak.”
Speaker bio:

Speaker Bio: John Certalic is the executive director of Caring for Others, a member care ministry devoted to increasing the effectiveness of missionaries and reducing their attrition rate. Along with training and debriefing work with cross cultural workers, John has trained lay counselors and taught pastoral care seminars in Brazil, Turkey, Tajikistan, Mali, and North Africa. He also conducts workshops to help churches better care for their missionaries. To date, Caring for Others has ministered to over 950 missionaries from 62 different sending agencies serving in 85 countries around the world.

It has been said that if you want to know a person, ask what they are living for and what hinders that goal. The deep desire that motivates each missionary is to share the love of Jesus. There are a myriad of things that obstruct that goal – culture, busyness, and spiritual struggles, to name a few. But in the face of massive moral and cultural shifts Christians near and far are asking more than ever, “How then shall we live? How are we to be light and share the Light with those around us?”

Author Anthony Esolen says one of the greatest tools we have for witnessing is to become an “Outpost of Normality.” In a world that calls evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), we are called to create places that exude the truth, beauty, and sweetness of Christ. An outpost of normality offers simple things like good conversation and prayer, ways to nurture body, mind, and spirit, breaking bread together, growing a garden and sharing it’s bounty and taking time to be with others.

This session will show how giving your missionaries permission to do the slow work of being an “Outpost of Normality” can be a foundational strategy of soul care for themselves, and a witness to those around them.

Speaker Bio: Nancy is the founder and Director of Venite Ministries – a Prayer Retreat Center ministry of rest and spiritual renewal in the heart of Minneapolis (veniteministries.org). She has been a spiritual director for 15 years. She is a graduate of Bethel Seminary (MATS) and received training for spiritual direction through Christos Center (MN) and New Way Ministries (CO). Nancy’s passion is encouraging others to find the goodness and joy of God’s presence in all of life. She has a special heart for missionary care and travels internationally to teach and encourage Christian workers. She and her husband Bill have been married for 35 years and have three adult children and four grandchildren.

Typically, Missionaries are eager to begin the exciting call God has given them and are diligent about support raising, studying the land and the language, and buttoning up details in their hometown so they can “Go!” where God has called.  However, an often overlooked part of preparation for missions, is care of one’s soul.  The first year of missions will immediately bring to the surface many soul issues that might have been overlooked back home.  Now, in a foreign land, missionaries are discovering they have few resources to tend to these issues.  

Prior to leaving, much can be done to help a missionary care for their own soul.  But what are the necessary personal and spiritual formation topics that need to be intentionally addressed? What are common issues they will face in the first year and how can a missionary purposefully create a healthy foundation for themselves prior to leaving?   These are questions that will be discussed in our 60 minute breakout session entitled “Feeding the Soul Before They Go”

Facilitator:  Dr. Christine Osgood, LMFT, D.Min. 

Speaker Bio: Christine has been working and teaching at Bethel University for the last 17 years in a variety of areas including the undergraduate Psychology department as well as the Center for Personal and Spiritual Formation at the Seminary.  Currently, she teaches a course on Personal and Faith Formation.  In addition, Christine has started The Urban Retreat, a place in the north metro that fosters personal and spiritual development in individuals and teams.  She does what she can to foster soul care so that people can function from a place of well-being as they participate in God’s kingdom work.  www.theurbanretreat.info

This presentation will discuss how missionaries use music and hobbies/recreation to help nurture their spirits. The presenter and participants will discuss how to encourage and support missionaries to take these things with them to help their spiritual resilience.

Speaker Bio: Jarrett (Jarry) Richardson, MD, is an adult MK who grew up in Nigeria. He is on the staff at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, where he serves as a Geriatric Psychiatrist, Hospice Medical Director, and Sleep Specialist. His main extracurricular service has been working with missionary mental health and helping organize Christian Medical and Dental Association’s continuing education conferences for medical and dental missionaries. His wife Linda has traveled and served with Jarry in Africa, Asia, and PNG, as have their three now adult children.

“Are most of the kids you visit pretty bitter about their parents putting them in boarding school?” That is one of the most common questions that Eunice Hill, former dorm mother and current TCK member care specialist hears. In this session, Joann Pittman will interview Eunice Hill, who served at Murree Christian School in Pakistan for many years. In addition she has travelled the world, visiting and ministering to adult TCK’s. She retired in 2006, but continues to be involved in the area of member care, serving with the Timothy Network of TEAM. She makes her home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Drawing on Ms. Hill’s unique experiences mentoring and shepherding TCKs, in this session we will explore the unique challenges of providing soul and spiritual direction to TCK’s. Joann Pittman is a TCK from Pakistan who has known “Auntie Eunice” since she (Joann) was a child. Joann served more than 20 years in China, and currently works for ChinaSource. She is based in the Twin Cities.

Realities of missionary life- it is difficult to go, it is difficult to stay, and it is difficult to return back home.  Support raising, good byes, uprooting, losing a sense of home, losing your mother tongue, moving on from a ministry you have poured your life into, watching your children struggle, watching your spouse struggle, returning to what doesn’t feel like home anymore.  

In this workshop we will look at how we can come alongside missionaries and help them to lament their losses.  What really is helpful?  What is not helpful?  Is it biblical?  This is an area many missionaries get “stuck” and often work hard to hide what feels like negative, unspiritual emotions.

Speaker Bio: Mike serves as “Soul Care Facilitator” within TEAM’s ministry of Member Care. His ministry focuses on providing soul care for missionaries around the world including those preparing to go and those returning. He received his training in Spiritual Direction from North park Seminary in Chicago. Mike and his family served overseas for 17 years until returning to the States in 2011.

What is it really like for a missionary to return back “home”?  What is going on inside their soul?  Can we get beyond the ministry reports and care for their hearts?

In this workshop we will explore a bit of the “raw” side of what many missionaries go through during re-entry and home assignment.  We will consider ways to provide “Soul Care” during a time that for what many missionaries is a dark and difficult season of their lives.

Speaker Bio: Mike serves as “Soul Care Facilitator” within TEAM’s ministry of Member Care. His ministry focuses on providing soul care for missionaries around the world including those preparing to go and those returning. He received his training in Spiritual Direction from North park Seminary in Chicago. Mike and his family served overseas for 17 years until returning to the States in 2011.

Every missionary will experience crisis. When they do, how can we be poised to step into the pain and bring light and life? This workshop will explore soul-needs during crisis and how we best minister to the whole person.

Facilitator: Stacey Conard

Stacey serves as the Trauma Healing Coordinator for SIM. Trauma Healing is a developing compassion ministry within SIM. As a Master Facilitator, she travels globally to lead Trauma Healing Equipping sessions and engage new fields. She also works alongside her husband Mark in offering Chaplain care to missionaries worldwide.

Stacey and her husband Mark, an ordained minister, first served overseas as church planters in the western province of Zambia, then for several years in the US military Chaplain ministry and more recently as the pastoral care team for SIM South Sudan. Today, they are based in the SIM US Member Care department, serving SIM fields globally. They have five children ages 11 to 18: Grace, Katie, Benjamin, Josiah, and Isaac.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians, celebrates the choice that some make to serve as singles. As the church, we can join together with single missionaries to celebrate all that God is doing in their lives. In this session we will look at strengths of single life as well as some of the soul care needs of single missionaries. We will hear from several single missionaries with both short and long term experience. How can we, as supporters, celebrate the victories and strengths of singles on the field? How can we support the single missionary and the particular challenges they face? How are issues like trauma and burnout unique to singles? And how can we, as a member care community, identify and provide for them in areas of felt need? We will address the big issues as well as practical steps in how to care for our single missionaries around the world.

Speaker Bio: Amy Owen is the Associate Director of Global Internship at Bethany Global University. She has lived and served as a single missionary with Bethany International Ministries for over 5 years between 2005- 2014, in countries including Bosnia, Cambodia and Thailand. Amy has served in her current role with BGU for the last 5 years, helping to train and oversee missionaries in training. Much of her role includes member care for Global Interns around the world as well as long term missionary site leaders. Her passion is to see missionaries lead mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy lives in order make healthy disciples of Jesus. Her favorite time of year is that spent visiting and encouraging missionaries around the world.

Few things grieve missionary parents more than seeing their own children step out of fellowship with Jesus. Whether missionary kids renounce their faith entirely or simply set it aside to pursue an ungodly lifestyle, their decisions affect the entire family and sometimes the ministry as well. What factors influence MKs to turn away from the Lord? And how should we respond when they do? Join us to consider how we can best walk alongside MKs, lovingly caring for their souls even when they stray far from the Lord.

Speaker Bio: Heidi Tunberg spent her childhood in Malaysia and Singapore where her parents were missionaries with the Ev. Free Church. She is a licensed psychologist who spent seven years in private practice, but her love of missionary kids (MKs) prompted her to move into caring for them full time. Since 1999 Heidi has been with ReachGlobal as MK Care Coordinator focused on MKs in their teens and twenties. In this role she offers pre-field and re-entry training, encouragement, and practical support to those MKs both on the field and during their college and post-college years. In addition, she seeks to be a resource to parents as they raise their kids internationally. She currently lives in Minneapolis, MN with her two matching schnauzers, though she spends much of her time on the road visiting MKs in the U.S. and overseas.

Bethany International Ministries’ workers on the front lines are our greatest asset and are critically needed to take the Church to where it’s not. This session will show how Bethany, as an agency, applies Kelly O’Donnell’s model of member care to address the needs of its global family. What are the greatest needs missionaries have that churches can address? What are effective things churches are doing that other churches can do? How can agencies and churches work together to provide a fuller experience of care for their missionaries? What do churches need to know about caring for the souls of their missionaries?

Speaker Bios:

Milta Dudek earned a B.S. in Biology from Westminster College, PA; a M.S. in Genetics from the U of MN; and a M.A. in Human Relations from Liberty University, VA. Milta served with her husband and 4 children in Brazil with Bethany International (1975-1993) as a teacher and principal of Bethany Academy, Altonia, Parana. Milta is a certified CSA coach, has attended Mental Health and Missions conferences since 2001 and currently is staff at Bethany Global University and Member Care Coordinator of Bethany International Ministries. Ed and Milta enjoy their 6 grandchildren.

Theresa Hartford is the Assistant Director of Bethany International Ministries. Theresa served on a rural church planting team in the Philippines (1981-1992) with her husband, Paul. Since 1994, they have served on Bethany’s campus in Bloomington, Minnesota assisting in training, sending and supporting missionaries. Before assuming her current role, Theresa served 10 years as director for the mission. She enjoys visits to the field to encourage missionaries. Her passion is to see people find their fit and thrive in ministry. Paul and Theresa have been married for 36 years and have three married daughters and seven grandchildren.

Life is painful sometimes. In this fallen world, we have all found this to be true. But what extra struggles arise when missionary kids are deeply wounded by abuse, early separation from parents, or other traumas because God called their parents overseas? And why is soul care from the Body of Christ so significant for these MKs? Together we’ll explore these questions and look at how we can extend hope and minister healing to these wounded souls.

Speaker Bio: Heidi Tunberg spent her childhood in Malaysia and Singapore where her parents were missionaries with the Ev. Free Church. She is a licensed psychologist who spent seven years in private practice, but her love of missionary kids (MKs) prompted her to move into caring for them full time. Since 1999 Heidi has been with ReachGlobal as MK Care Coordinator focused on MKs in their teens and twenties. In this role she offers pre-field and re-entry training, encouragement, and practical support to those MKs both on the field and during their college and post-college years. In addition, she seeks to be a resource to parents as they raise their kids internationally. She currently lives in Minneapolis, MN with her two matching schnauzers, though she spends much of her time on the road visiting MKs in the U.S. and overseas.