2025: Hometown Churches Providing Holistic Care

Overseas parents often feel overwhelmed, stuck and isolated, particularly if their children are struggling. Disciple That Connects with Your Child’s Heart is based on a framework that guides parents to communicate four gospel-centered messages: You are SAFE, LOVED, CALLED & CAPABLE, and RESPONSIBLE. In this workshop, you will walk away equipped with a coaching guide and resources to support struggling families, no matter the age of their children.

In this workshop, you will walk in the feet of those in transition and feel what a missionary in transition is experiencing. We’ll cover what comes up during transition and what they need, both practically and professionally. You’ll leave with tools for understanding the complexities of transitions, developmental opportunities, and some ways to open up the conversation with those you’ve sent.

As cross-cultural work expands beyond traditional ministry, churches may struggle to understand new roles like BAM and marketplace ministries. This workshop will offer practical ways to bridge the sacred-secular divide, helping churches support these workers with insight, empathy and a broader vision of holistic ministry.

Join us for an insightful workshop designed for church members and member care people supporting neurodivergent individuals. Gain a brief overview of neurodivergence and learn how to support TCKs, couples and singles on the field who are neurodivergent. Whether your people are neurodivergent or have teammates that are neurodivergent, you will be able to support those you’ve sent on this important topic.

Ephesians 4 tells us that we have a calling, and we have received gifts to build the body of Christ. A clear path to spiritual formation will serve the local and the global church. This workshop will outline five clear steps of a Spiritual Formation Map toward the ultimate outcome of Ephesians 4:13 – to attain unity, maturity and the fullness of Christ.

Missionaries often feel pressured to present only their “acceptable” selves, hiding struggles, doubts and emotions. This workshop empowers supporters to embrace all aspects of a missionary’s identity by fostering deep trust and authenticity. Learn strategies for communicating expectations and acceptance, earning lasting trust, and maintaining open dialogues. Discover approaches to ensure that missionaries feel safe disclosing their entire selves – including imperfections – and how to respond compassionately when unexpected facets arise. By cultivating a truly supportive relationship, we can enhance personal well-being and spiritual growth, ensuring our missionaries serve with genuine wholeness and resilience.

Take a deep dive into grief, loss and trauma, what it is, how it impacts us as humans, and how to be an oasis for those journeying through deep pain. We will explore how to support workers on the field and their unique needs in this delicate area, as well as the gift of hope in the muck of life. You will leave with a deeper understanding of what grief and trauma is, how to practically provide support to those journeying through it, and a window will be given into the kindness of God in the midst of it all.

Sometimes you need to offer compassionate presence to those you send, and other times, practical support is what’s most helpful. Join Jenilee Goodwin, “Life Hacks Specialist,” as she helps you untangle messy situations. Jenilee will guide you in creating helpful lists, asking questions that help you get unstuck, and offering tangible assistance to those you send.

Cross-cultural workers often encounter toxic leadership that challenges their resilience and calling. This workshop will help you recognize the signs of toxic leadership and provide actionable strategies for supporting workers caught in unhealthy leadership dynamics.

Understanding the unique stages of missionaries’ diverse needs is crucial for effective support. This workshop equips church-based caregivers with a strategic roadmap to address challenges over the lifespan: from initial transition, culture shock and language acquisition, to deepening ministry and relationships, spiritual dry spells, stages of family life, and planning an eventual return home. Discover the essential skills required for providing effective care, available training options for your support team, and learn to identify when a missionary’s needs may exceed church-based capabilities, warranting professional help. Gain actionable insights to enhance your role in missions, ensuring missionaries are well-supported and effective throughout their journey.

We will look at recent missionary family trends, care models, transition and grief, spiritual reality and identity. We will also consider connectedness and ways to support both kids and the entire family in mission.

In this workshop, we will have a formation-centric discussion on how church communities can cultivate wholeness and healing in care of their cross-cultural workers. Using the metaphor of a harbor, we’ll discuss topics of prayer, presence, holding space, commitment, hospitality and so much more. Being a safe, gracious, loving church community is central to the well-being of cross-cultural workers and the ministries in which they serve. Come learn how interconnected you are with God’s work in the world by being a safe harbor church.

The discipline of prayer walking provides a vital link between “home” and “overseas” ministry that engages believers right where they are but stretches their prayers to a larger vision of the nations.

Debriefing is one tool the church can engage to help our cross-cultural workers thrive for the long haul. Come learn about what it means to help our cross-cultural workers unpack the bucket full of things they’ve collected over a period of time. We will cover the basics and benefits of debriefing.