MC2 2018: The Promise and Peril of Team Life

In their transparent and unique style, Neal and Anna share God’s Word woven with personal experiences from nearly twenty-five years of full-time missions, including almost two decades of living and working in war-torn Islamic countries. Their passion is for Christ and encouraging others to develop courageous passionate faith in Him. They share from the reality and depth of their own experiences of meeting overwhelming obstacles with faith and joy while living in a war zone and leading a large international humanitarian effort….while raising a family.

They have traveled in almost 70 countries providing consulting, training, debriefing, pastoral counseling, leadership, member care, crisis response, developing materials, monitoring global trends and opportunities while developing expertise on cross-cultural risk as they’ve focused on global workers on the front lines of Central Asia and the Middle East.

Anna’s recent book, Facing Danger: A Guide Through Risk and the training Neal developed from it, Risk Assessment and Management (RAM) Training are quickly being utilized by global workers all over the world. Visit her at her blog at http://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/ to learn more.

When they are not teaching, speaking, or facilitating a workshop, they begin their days drinking a cappuccino and end them laughing around the dinner table with their teenagers. Neal and Anna serve with Barnabas International. Their family recently completed five years basing from Turkey and reside in Minnesota during their current home leave.

Using Paul’s instruction to Timothy as well as their own 20+ years of leading diverse mission teams, they will explore God’s potent model for growing His global Church: Team.

When Neal received word he had been selected to lead a large international team, the team was described as a toxic team about to implode.  His task?  Get it healthy fast.  Come to discuss how to identify a toxic team, and explore strategies for guiding teams to healthy missional performance. This will be an interactive, participatory workshop.

I have served in WBT and SIL International for 60+ years, most of that time with my husband, Dick. My contributions or roles included: translator, candidate assessment, trainer, counselor, developer and administrator of International Counseling Department, creator of Member Care for missions, International Vice President For Personnel, and International Personnel Consultant and Trainer. I have traveled, trained and consulted in 65 countries, done a lot of crisis work, interventions and debriefing. I am also an author including the book Healthy, Resilient and Effective in Cross Cultural Ministry which has now been translated into Indonesian, Korean, Chinese, Ukranian and Russian. I co-authored with Dr. Lois Dodds the three-volume series on Global Servants. Other writings include chapters in books, and probably 500 articles. I have a theological diploma, two undergraduate degrees and two advanced degrees, including a doctorate from Denver Seminary. I am an adjunct professor at Columbia International University. I have served on a number of boards. My husband, Dick, preceded me to heaven a few months ago thus I continue on alone reading, speaking, teaching, consulting, and serving as requested.

Patrick Lencioni is an American writer of books on business management, particularly in relation to team management. He is best known as the author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a popular business fable that explores work team dynamics and offers solutions to help teams perform better.  Lencioni is president of The Table Group, a management consulting firm specializing in executive team development and organizational health.  As a consultant and keynote speaker, he has worked with senior executives and executive teams in organizations ranging from Fortune 500s and high tech start-ups to universities and non-profits.  He also gives talks on leadership, organizational change, teamwork and corporate culture.  His business principles are now course material at the University of Saint Mary. He is frequently interviewed for national media including features in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.  Lencioni was a featured faculty member at the 2016 Global Leadership Summit sponsored by Willow Creek Church.

Just because he has a secular approach in a business context doesn’t mean Lencioni can’t inform us in missions.  His five dysfunctions are ours.  Now what?  What do the Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions look like in missions?  How are they different? This session proposes to support the validity of these five dysfunctions as well as demonstrating how they may be more complex or appear different.  There are at least 6 factors that are unique beyond Lencioni’s model.

Diversity is the most difficult thing to manage and the most dangerous thing to be without.”  And most teams are diverse.  There are many ways to shoot a team down, and a few essential elements in a healthy team.  Two sabotaging behaviors are unforgiveness/bitterness and attitudes toward authority. Why are these so significant?  Two essential behaviors are relational integrity and communication that is clear, unambiguous, delivered with clarity and courage.  We will examine these sabotaging and healthy behaviors by looking at case studies of some good teams, and some bad ones.

This huge, “most researched” generation is here and we are in danger of losing them to the church and to missions.  Digital natives are often exasperated by digital nomads and digital tourists.  We need them in missions!  How can the generations come together?  What can churches and missions do to bring them on board and benefit from their skills and uniquenesses?  We offer some ideas.

The realities of a community formed on Christian Scripture (Acts 4:31-35) in which members divest their material possessions will be discussed as a model for missionary communities.  Moving from greed to grace led to a community on earth worth yearning for.  Participants will be able to describe the possibility of transformation from insecurity to security.  They will be able to discuss the scriptural foundation of a transformed missionary community.  And they will be able to identify psychological and behavioral changes from living in a transformed community.

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 travelled and served with Jarry in Africa, Asia, and PNG, as have their three now adult children.

Paul K. McAlister M. Div., D. Min., taught for 30 years in areas of Theology and Missions at Minnesota Bible College. He also taught Ethics courses for Augsburg, Bethel, and the Mayo Medical School.  He currently serves as Chair of the Community Relations Board of the Federal Medical Center (U.S. Bureau of Prisons) and does Hospital Chaplaincy training for the Mayo Clinic.  Paul has served with Pioneer Bible Translators first as a Board member then full time in the area of member care with special attention to Child Safety and Development.  He also serves as a training consultant for PBT and does interventions in interpersonal issues on field visits.  He has provided numerous Perspectives lectures as well as serving as program coordinator for Perspective courses.

In this panel we will hear from member care specialists who provide oversight and support for people serving in high risk environments. The focus will be less on the specific risks, and more on effective ways of evaluating risk and how churches and organizations can provide the necessary support.

Joann Pittman served in China for 28 years, as a teacher and educational program director. She currently serves as Senior Vice-President at ChinaSource.

Title: Caring for Teams in High Risk Situations
Moderator: Joann Pittman
Panelists: various personnel from 3 sending organizations

(note: due to security concerns, the panel was not recorded and the panelists will remain unnamed)

In this panel we heard from member care specialists who provide oversight and support for people serving in high risk environments. Here are some key points that were made during the panel discussion: 

• It is hard to give a definite definition of a risky situation. It is a situational question. Whether a team member stays or leaves a high risk situation will depend on many factors. 
• During missionary preparation, it is important for the prospective missionary to develop a theology of suffering and risk. 
• Having a crisis management plan is crucial. The plan should be at the personal, team, and organizational levels. There will be multiple voices speaking into a crisis situation.
• The loudest voice must be the Holy Spirit. 
• Those who opt to remain in a high risk or crisis situation must not condemn those who opt to evacuate. Those who evaluate should not condemn those who opt to stay. 
• Suggested resources:
  •  cernysmith.com — an online tool to assess individuals and teams in high risk situations
  •  OSAC.GOV — United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Sigh up for regular security alerts. 

Conventional wisdom in the missions community has often insisted that the legitimate path to intercultural competency demands a voluntary separation from the expatriate community in order to adequately “bond” with the local community. At the same time, the member care community champions “peer care” and “team care” for missionaries calling for higher touch between missionaries for support and success. In this session we will explore how the sending church and the sending agency can encourage an intentional community between missionaries which can provide collaborative support in building understanding that leads to becoming intercultural.

Paul Hartford serves as VP for Academic Affairs at Bethany Global University – a school focused uniquely on training cross-cultural missionaries. In his role he oversees the school’s Global Internship component where students live and learn for 16 months – 4 consecutive semesters – in assignments around the world. Paul holds a PhD in Adult Education, an MA in Intercultural Studies and a BA in Missions and Theology. He previously served as a church-planting missionary with Bethany in Isabela, Philippines.

Most missionaries always work with a team and it is not uncommon to have conflicts and issues on these often multi-national, interdenominational teams.  Missionaries need support in these difficult situations.  Not only mission agencies, but also supporters and supporting churches can play an important part in encouraging their missionaries when they are discouraged with their team experience. Learn how to listen and what actions to take to be the most helpful to your missionaries in the challenges of difficult team situations.

Debbie Klaver served with World Mission Prayer League as a teacher and counselor in Cuenca, Ecuador for eight years.  Since then she has served in the same mission’s Home Office as Personnel Director and Regional Coordinator and currently serves as the Missionary Member Care Coordinator.  As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Debbie also provides counseling to missionaries and their families as well as others in the church and community at Minnesota Renewal Center.

The majority of mission work is now operating through the efforts of ministry teams, and because of this, the mission is either enhanced or hindered by cooperation and conflict among God’s chosen servants. Since diversity was part of God’s design from the beginning, we recognize that conflict is inevitable, so our missionaries are better ambassadors for the Kingdom when they handle differences in a holy way.

The scriptures will be one of our sources for study, in addition to a broader array of analysis on human nature including perspectives on marriage, church, workplace and family life:

•     Emotional Intelligence (Travis Bradberry)
•     Cross-Cultural Conflict (Duane Elmer)
•     Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Patrick Lencioni)
•     Love & Respect (Emerson Eggerichs).

Dave and Lorene Wilson served in the local church as Mission Pastor for 20+ years. Now they serve the mission agency in the role of Director of Church Relations. This topic has been refined in their hearts by the Refiners Fire after experiencing a three-year period of extraordinary conflict within a local church setting. During that time, a revolving door of 23 consultants sought to help the church recover, each with a different approach. Because of this, they are now equipped with not only empathy for those who experience conflict, but they also have a toolbox filled with helpful resources.

There are a variety of challenges which teams working cross-culturally face.  We will identify those challenges, and give you some very practical tools for helping teams through discussions and solutions for those challenges.

Lois McMartin spent her early years in Zambia as a child of missionaries.  Her years of ministry with her husband David include two years in Zambia and 35 years in the pastorate with the EFCA.  They joined ReachGlobal in 2000 to serve as Pastor-to-Missionaries, and in 2006 Lois took up leadership of the Member Care Team.  They have two married children and five grandchildren.

Michael will share and teach from personal experience from serving as a North American on a predominately African team in Ghana, West Africa.  Multi-Cultural teams can bring great joy and promise, but also can be very difficult to navigate at times.  These teams are well worth pursuing and glorify God when we push through our differences to find unity in Him and His work!  Michael will dive into issues related to the missionary’s perspective and attitude, creating open communication channels to build team unity across cultural differences, and how to effectively support a missionary in this type of situation from a field, home office and church perspective.

Michael VanHuis has a B.A. from Hope College and an M.A. from Fuller School of Intercultural Studies. He’s served as a missionary in Ghana, West Africa and in varying leadership roles within Pioneers.  He has also served as the Missions Pastor at Northland Church (Longwood, FL), a Senior Vice President for OneWay Ministries/Prayercast and joined the Missio Nexus team in 2015 as the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives.  Michael lives in Aurora, IL and is married to Laura with five children – Emily, Matthew, Anna, Andrew, and Elizabeth.

Do you want to improve the interpersonal dynamics of your Mission Team members here, near and far? Do you know what personality type you show up with?  Do you know what personality type your team members show up with?  The bringing together of personality types is fraught with promise or peril. How we are wired, how we show up impacts communication, making decisions, handling conflict, dealing with change, setting goals and taking action.  This workshop will give participants a language and framework for understanding themselves and others better which they can put into practice immediately.

Susie Schultz has a passion for people learning about how God has gifted and wired them so that they can navigate life with confidence and serve others with joy! Through her consulting firm, Excelsior Park Associates, LLC, she works with individuals, teams and organizations to assist them in reaching their goals of personal and corporate success.  She is a guest speaker at women’s events, speaking on topics such as: Being a Confident Woman, Myths of Motherhood and a Walk on the Wild Side with Jesus.  She serves on the Bethel University Business Advisory Board for mentors, worships at Westwood Community Church in Chanhassen, Minnesota and is currently co-leading, LifeKeys: Discover Who You Are”.  She and her family live in Excelsior, Minnesota.

Our focus will center on how congregations can form effective support teams for their missionaries.  We will do this by looking at keeping communication lines open between your congregation and your cross cultural workers, being sensitive to stressors/dangers these workers experience in their daily lives, sharing practical prayer needs and helping keep these sent ones be resilient, healthy, and effective in life and ministry.  We propose forming “go teams” within your congregation to practically partner with those people who God sends into the world.

Mike and Gail Koski have served from 1973 to the present with the World Mission Prayer League.  During that time, they have been seconded to five different churches/organizations serving in Zaire/DRC, South Sudan, Uganda, and three different locations within Kenya.  They have worked with Theological Education by Extension (TEE), English as a Second Language (ESL), primary evangelism, curriculum development, hospitality, member care, and many different mission leadership roles. Currently they have a member care position in the WMPL head office in Minneapolis.

Churches can be significant team members to its missionaries.  Unfortunately, many churches are often silent, unsupportive, or delegate too much to mission agencies where help is not always consistent or present.  In this session, Todd and Tamara Rasmuson will discuss two key strategies that churches of any size can do to bless missionaries:  1) Developing support groups for every missionary, equipped and encouraged by the church and 2) Providing member care from the church that recognizes spiritual, emotional, relational and financial needs for single missionaries and every member of a missionary family.

Todd and Tamara began serving in their current roles at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis in 2012.  Todd is the pastor for global outreach and Tamara is the coordinator for global partner care.  Todd and Tamara served for eight years with Mission: Moving Mountains (M:MM) in Tanzania. In 2002, Todd accepted the role as president of M:MM.  From 2006–2011, he then served as Executive Director of Daystar U.S., serving to advance Daystar University in Kenya.  Todd & Tamara live in the Phillips Neighborhood of South Minneapolis.

Effective support for your church’s missionaries involves a lot more than sending them money each month.  In this session, we will consider the non-financial needs missionaries have at various stages of ministry, and we will discuss practical ways churches can walk alongside them, from pre-field preparations through re-entry to the U.S., and every stage in between.

Heidi Tunberg spent her childhood in Malaysia and Singapore where her parents were missionaries with the Evangelical 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 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.

When single missionaries and missionary families serve together, team relationships can be both complicated and wonderfully rich.  Join us to discuss some of the challenges teammates of different ages and in life stages may face, and how they can build life-giving relationships and support one another, not in spite of, but because of the differences in their life situations.

Heidi Tunberg spent her childhood in Malaysia and Singapore where her parents were missionaries with the Evangelical 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 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. 

Builders, Boomers, Xers and Millennials…members of each generation bring with them distinctives that can exacerbate conflict and synergize powerfully. What does it mean to bring together a group of people from different ages to serve together in mission? Join us for a time of interaction on this eternally relevant topic.

Terri Miller is the SERVEurope Resource Team Leader for ReachGlobal.  She’s called Bloomington, Johannesburg, Wheaton, Hefei, and Moscow “home,” and loves to think creatively and strategically about life and ministry.

This session will be a guided interactive exploration of the roles, expectations, and strategic responsibilities of the partnership between missionaries, sending churches, and mission agencies. We will also explore some ideas to help macro teams function in ways that are mutually supportive and effective.

Pastor Scott serves as a missionary with Global Training Network. His ministry focus is to equip, encourage, and empower pastors and Christian leaders in the majority world.  Scott began his missionary career in 1983 with the Torchbearer Bible School Bodenseehof in Germany and served as Bible School Principal from 1995-2001. He served as Pastor of Global Outreach at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, MN from 2001-2011. From 2009-2010 he was also Regional Director for Europe and North Africa for Converge Worldwide (BGC).   Scott received his M.Div. in the School of World Mission and Evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL and pursuing a doctoral degree in Global and Contextual Leadership at Bethel University.  Scott and his wife, Lisa, were married in 1985 and have three adult daughters.

What makes a great short-term experience?  Who benefits most?  The volunteer, the missionary you help, the ministry ‘over there’ or the church?  How can you create a short-term experience that is a win-win for all four?  What questions do you need to ask before you commit your church to a short-term ministry?  When is short-term valuable enough to warrant the money spent and when does it hurt – both those who go and those they go to?

Todd and Tamara began serving in their current roles at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis in 2012.  Todd is the pastor for global outreach and Tamara is the coordinator for global partner care.  Todd and Tamara served for eight years with Mission: Moving Mountains (M:MM) in Tanzania. In 2002, Todd accepted the role as president of M:MM.  From 2006–2011, he then served as Executive Director of Daystar U.S., serving to advance Daystar University in Kenya.  Todd & Tamara live in the Phillips Neighborhood of South Minneapolis.