Member Care

Some of you might remember last year I did a course with the Mobile Member Care Team on How to Manage Crisis.  This was a course designed to help people who have gone through a trauma whether it be within their own mission but not limited to.  We addressed issues such as grief and loss, chronic stress, burnout, anxiety and depression to list just a few.  It was a very helpful course and so I have been working towards becoming a peer responder.  One who would be a point of contact to help someone manage a crisis that they have just gone through or presently going through.  In two weeks time I will be attending another course by the Mobile Member Care Team on Sharpening your Interpersonal Skill (SYIS).  During this time I will be discussing with MMCT how I can get more involved in this line of work.  The plan is to then be able to develop this kind of support within MAF if a need arises.  More talks on how this would work will be addressed with someone from MAF International in September.

As you might be aware missionaries/ex pats living overseas can face different circumstances than people from their own home countries.  Armed robberies, unrest, car hijacking, insecurity are just a few things that can happen on a fairly regular basis in some countries that people serve in.  Often times there is not a support network in place to help people who have been through a trauma hence the reason a MMCT East Africa branch has been opened up.  It is great to have people on the field with the expertise to help people through a crisis.  This can be a major deciding factor on whether the individual or family concerned remain on the field.  We hope by developing this support network within MAF and leaning on the expertise of the MMCT that MAF missionaries and national staff will feel supported when they go through a difficult situation.

In addition to this I have been asked to go on their Advisory Council.  The purpose of the Advisory Council ... "is to help the EA team understand member care needs and priorities in the region, to give feedback about how people are using our services and how we might improve, and to encourage and pray for the EA team."

I am honoured to have this opportunity and to gain experience from those in this field.  The first meeting of the Advisory Council will be in Nairobi, at the end of August, when we return from furlough.  I will keep you up to date as to how it all goes and what developments might take place.