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Introduction - Paul Dyck |
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Project #: C0519
Member Care
Just as we are life long learners, so we are constantly reevaluating how we provide Member Care.
Member Care involves 7 Principles; 7 values; 7 "we believes" which provide us with a clear focus on what's important and why we care! Those members that we provide care for are: staff, long term missionaries, volunteers, alumni & board members.
Member Care is about caring for our people, encouraging them; supporting them; implementing accountability measures for their health;
We focus on the health of our people and teams rather than ensure that performance is up and program initiatives are implemented
1. We believe member care is an expression of God's love for people.
2. We value people as our greatest resource. We start with people.
3. We believe God raises up and entrusts to this mission people to be invested in and equipped.
4. We believe member care is a way of life, not an event.
5. We commit to thinking and speaking the best of each other.
6. We believe holistic care begins with my personal health. Becoming and staying healthy (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, sexually, financially & vocationally) is my responsibility and will determine my effectiveness.
7. We believe organizational health contributes to personal health and team health.
Life is about building relationships. It's all about relationships. The member care process looks like this:
1st: Introduction: We're introduced to a candidate; we make contact with them in anticipation of a lifelong relationship.
2nd: Friendship: We build a relationship with our missionary candidate; it's not a clinical evaluation so much, as it is a friendship building process.
3rd: Evaluation: We walk alongside them as they go through the candidating process. We come to know their strengths and weaknesses. We complete assessments, check references, read and re-read applications and listen to testimonies again and again. This is where the candidate begins to learn more about themselves as well.
4th: Speaking Truth: We challenge them in their life-walk. There comes a time when we've earned the right to speak into someone's life. Sometime's that "right" has been given to us by the candidate, as they have indicated they're willing to be poked and prodded in every area. Other times, we've built a relationship to the point that they allow us to speak truth into their lives.
5th: Spiritual solace: We pray with them; we get to hear their passions and desires; we become closer with them through one of the most intimate ways of relationship building; prayer! We pray with them in various settings and at various levels. Intercessory prayer plays a key part in preparing and mobilizing our candidates.
6th: Preventative: While we enjoy fun together, even more importantly we go through difficult times together. Areas of their lives that need change; unhealthy habits; their personal history that keeps coming back; all are focused on. Counseling and support is offered. Measurements are taken as to their level of health, whether or not it's improving. It's important that we face as much of the issues in their lives now while we're together. We take preventative steps towards their long term health.
7th: Clearance: We recognize that no missionary candidate is perfect. We go through life being shaped by the Master, becoming more and more like Him! There comes a time when we believe our candidate is sufficiently ready to be mobilized overseas. That's when we meet as a group of interested people who have been investing in the candidate. As a group we come to consensus as to their state of readiness. With full clearance they embark on the next step of their journey.
8th: Team: We support our missionary overseas. At this point, member care becomes a more difficult and yet increasingly important support mechanism. We see them less, yet we need more face to face interaction. This is where the real value of the team becomes apparent. Team health and member care provided through fellow team members carry the individual through their awkward first few days and weeks, through their language acquisition, through the process of the theory becoming reality!
Every team in their first year needs active resourcing by prayer intercession team, member care team & psychological counseling
9th: Renewal, Refreshment, Resourcing: Regularly stepping away from the work overseas; being cared for; taking time to invest in ourselves; refocusing our vision; reconnecting with our home support team members; remembering that this time is not ‘a requirement' but a very important and much needed time of connection at many levels.
10th: Longevity: the #1 reason for missionaries the world over returning prematurely is other missionaries. Relational health in our marriages and with team members is crucial to long term service. Building for long term mobilization is an important reason for member care. We provide them with the necessary resourcing through professional resources: Psychological; Psychiatric & Medical. We personally provide important resources: Debriefing & Listening.
11th: Reassignment: Recognizing that retirement is not a biblical concept, we will at some point be reassigned from full time overseas work to a different kind of work, and with a different work load. How we prepare for our senior years, and how we care for those who are in their latter years is an important piece of member care.
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