FOUR LEVELS OF MEMBER CARE

~~~Neal Pirolo

ESTABLISHING A SOLID FOUNDATION

There is no doubt that the ministry of member care is multi-leveled and multi-faceted: Multi- leveled in the cooperation of at least four levels of care: church, partnership, agency, and crisis care givers. It is also multi-faceted in the diversity of need of each individual field worker (including each child) in each of numerous ministry locations and situations. Each level has its strengths and weaknesses. Yet, the weakness of one is the strength of another. There is a vital need for these four levels to continue to increase their cooperation so that our missionaries are better cared for. After all, missionaries are too valuable to lose.

Agency Level Member Care: There are certain logistical.... Yes, this is part of the problem—starting with the agency level. Member care should begin a long time before any agency is involved. I believe that we need to begin at the church level because the Commission was given to the Church. I realize the Church like a wayward spouse “divorced” itself from the Commission in 1793, when William Carey’s passion for the lost was squelched with the words, “If God wants to save the heathen, He will do it without your help or ours!” But also, like a repentant “spouse,” the Church is declaring their need to reengage fully with God’s Commission: “Go ye into all the world...preach the Gospel; make disciples.” Therefore, let’s begin with the Church.

CHURCH LEVEL MEMBER CARE

To Identify and Nurture The first issue at this level is the identifying and nurturing of a prospective missionary. This will probably begin long before that person realizes a personal call. We do not need to go as far as the Church in Jerusalem did in changing Joseph’s name to Barnabas when they identified his giftings. But, having done so, it was clear that he would be the one to be sent to Antioch. They definitely did not need an evangelist; they did need a reconciler—one who could make sure all things were being done decently and in order. (See Acts 11:22-24)

Likewise, the Antioch church wisely sent out (at the Holy Spirit’s direction) an evangelist (Saul) and a reconciler (Barnabas) when it was time to go to the “regions beyond.” (See Acts 13:1-4)

The focus of our church life should be outreach. Yes, the life of the church is worship, the growth of the church is nurture, but the mission of the church is outreach! And we should be ready to send out our workers as needs present themselves.

Nurturing the prospective cross-cultural worker is giving him opportunity to exercise his “cross- cultural muscles.” Giving him the opportunity of working within the missions fellowship of the church, praying for missionaries, ministering to internationals who live among us, participating in a good short-term trip. Doing something so seemingly mundane as helping a first term missionary sort through what to sell? What to give away? What to store? Where to store it?

He must learn the discipline of commitment. He must become a real “seedy” character! That is, filled with the Seed of the Word of God to be able to produce spiritual fruit. (Seedless fruit, you know, cannot reproduce.) Then also, to be a Student of the Word to be able to see that fruit mature—to go out and reproduce again.

To be clear, this nurturing could even begin in the church nursery! The bobbles on the mobile above the crib could be globes of the world. That baby could be “touching the world” before it even knows there is a world in need. And the carpet in the toddlers room could be cut in the shapes of the nations of the world. He may not understand what he has “toddled” on until his third grade teacher brings the class to that room and shows them the location of the people group for whom they are currently praying.

To Sound A Clarion Call As the church continues to nurture their prospective cross-cultural workers in their Body, the leadership needs to be sounding a clarion call that reflects the ethos of the church. Should our focus be on Pauline-style evangelism, going where the Gospel has never been preached? Are we more inclined to come along side of existing national churches and nurture them in the Word in such a way that they will go out and teach others, as Paul instructed Timothy in II Timothy 2:2? Do we have a compassion for the humanitarian approach? Do we want the personal call of the individual to determine our focus? (“Write the vision, make it plain, so that he may run who reads it!” (Habakkuk 2:2)

Decisive Point of Battle Yet, in answering those questions, we must be clear that wherever that call would take the field worker and whatever it is that he would do, it must be at a decisive point of battle. The church must be able to answer two questions—both of them—in the affirmative: Is it worth taking? Can we take it? Is it worth spending ten to twenty years translating the Scriptures into an indigenous language? Do we have the personnel and stamina to support such a long-term project? If the first answer is yes, but the second answer is no, it is not a decisive point of battle for your church. Both answers must be in the affirmative. Is it worth directly partnering with national ministries? Do we have the resources (personnel and financial) to support their initiatives? Both must be answered, yes.

The Rest of the Team A major part of the pre-field preparation of a missionary is the development of his partnership team. Paul, a missionary of the First Century, wrote a Letter to one of his sending churches. In it, he addressed six areas of care they were providing for him. It is the church’s responsibility to ensure the missionary has a vital, functioning partnership care team.

In a local church, the leadership had confirmed his personal call. (See Acts 13:1-4) The missions pastor handed him the book, Serving As Senders~Today, to read to help him develop his partnership team. “I’m not gonna read dat book!” he shouted. The pastor calmly, but deliberately said, “We cannot stop you from going to that country, but if you want us to send you, you must read this book and develop a partnership team.

Agency Accountability A fifth, equally vital responsibility of the church is to actively relate with the agency in the care that they have agreed to provide for the church’s feet. I liken the missionaries being sent out by a local church as the feet within that Body. (Isaiah 52:7) And it must be clear by all four levels of care that missionaries are members of the spiritual Body, the Church, of which the local fellowship is a microcosm. A tragic myth within the missions community is that once a person joins a mission agency, they become a member of that body. But a mission agency is not a spiritual Body. Assuredly, all who work within that organization are spiritual, but the spiritual Body is the Church. This clarifies the need for the agency to be just that, an agent, assisting the Church in fulfilling its Commission.

A solid foundation having been laid by the local church, let’s turn our attention to the least understood of the four levels of care:

PARTNERSHIP LEVEL OF MEMBER CARE

A Scriptural Foundation Paul has heard of an “unreached people group” in Spain. On his way there, he wants to visit the Christians in Rome. The Scriptural foundation for this vital aspect of the missions process—the partnership level of care—is found in the Letter of Romans.

In chapter 10, Paul was ready to spell out for us the whole missions process. Using the Gapless Linear Logic form of reasoning so well understood by the people of that day, Paul laid out his premise in verse 13. And because he had something very important to say, he, too, established that premise in Scripture by quoting Joel 2:32: “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be SAVED.” Using all the varied and creative “means” available to us, the goal of all missions endeavor is the salvation of the lost.

Now, Paul begins a series of four (not three) questions with each new thought directly connected (without a gap) to the previous thought. Thus, he must begin his reasoning with the thought of calling. Question One: “How shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?” An easy concept to understand. No one is going to call on one in whom they do not believe. Next question, tied to the previous newly-introduced thought of believing: “How can they believe on Him of Whom they have not heard?” Again, a simple progression of thought. A third question: “And how can they hear without a preacher?”

The Process Truncated There it is! The question we have all been waiting for, or so goes the average missions conference. And with all the passion of a skilled orator, the one making the appeal can work up the emotions of many. Even to misuse the Scripture in Isaiah 6. For, after Isaiah said those “famous” words, “Here am I. Send me,” God sent him to his own people, not into a cross-cultural ministry! But, not to be concerned with such detail, to the front they come, making a “commitment” to be a “missionary!” Of course, many wake up the next morning, wondering what in the world did I commit to? This is one of the great tragedies in the Christian community. Whether it is in that appeal or just in the structure of a missions conference, disservice is done to those who could be mobilized into the ministry of serving as senders. Ninety per cent of conference attendees will never go to the field. Yet, without a clear understanding of all that is involved in Paul’s last question, they go home wondering “Why did I waste my time at yet another missions conference? I’ll never go to the mission field, but that is all they talked about.”

But the beauty of timeless Scripture is that Paul didn’t stop at the third question. He asked one more. And it is relevant to note that when one is using this form of logic, he ends with the very most important point he wants to make. So, here is his final question. It has to be tied to the preacher, the one who goes, the cross-cultural worker, the missionary: “And how can they preach (How can our missionaries be effective.) unless they are SENT?”

This final question then, draws our attention to the whole subject of “the rest of the team!” All involved in the sending process are vital, each in their roles. But, again, in the beauty of the Holy Spirit-inspiration of Paul’s words, so that those who serve as senders (partnership level caregivers) do not get to thinking that they are the focus of missions, in verse 15, Paul brings our thoughts back full circle to the missionary by quoting Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.”

Those who go and those who serve as senders form a partnership team for effective cross-cultural ministry. The whole team owns the vision. “This is our ministry; the missionary is our field representative,” the team has been formed to understand. And each understands his part is vital to the successful fulfillment of the mission.

Though the one who scores the goal on a football (soccer) team may be credited with the “win” and might even bask in the applause given to him, he knows that the game would not have been won without the rest of the team. Likewise, though the missionary might allow the church to walk him up to the top step of the pedestal when he comes home, having experienced some notable success, he knows that he could not have succeeded on the field without a strong support team.

Paul shouts out in the first verses of Philippians 1, I rejoice greatly...that you are Partners in the Gospel with me! They had never traveled with Paul, yet he saw them as partners. The six areas of care that Paul addresses in his Letter to them (and that every missionary needs today) are moral support (the gift of encouragement), prayer support (the gift of intercession), reentry support (the gift of hospitality), logistics support (the gift of administration), communication support (the gifts of discernment and encouragement), and financial support (the gift of giving).

From my experience, there is no doubt that those missionaries who took the time (whose church’s required the time) to develop a personal, relational Partnership Team have fared better during their time of preparation, while on the field and upon their return home!

The local church has taken its place in identifying and nurturing the cross-cultural team, both those who go and those who serve as senders. The missionary is forming a Partnership Team of volunteers to engage with him through encouragement, in prayer, during reentry, and with communication, logistics and finances.

No one needs to emphasize that we are living in a more and more dangerous world. Thus, the church needs an agent to help fulfill the Great Commission. Now enters the Agency and Crisis Levels of missionary care:

AGENCY LEVEL MEMBER CARE

Sometimes, it can be challenging to draw the line between the role of the agency and church in member care. Let’s look briefly at eight areas of agency level member care: Recruitment, Pre-field preparation, On-field care, Reentry, Home assignment, Prayer, Conflict management, and Contingency management.

Recruitment The agency is best suited to assign the right candidate to the right team to the right field work in which he will be engaged. With policies and expectations communicated clearly between agency, church leadership and candidate, there will be fewer “oops” to hinder progress.

Pre-field Preparation The agency will ensure all their candidates go through Biblical, cross-cultural and language training as well as the agency’s orientation process of home office and field practices. Logistical policies from proper tax forms to the legal paperwork for who will be the parents for the children should both parents die on the field need to be addressed.

On-field Care The agency will ensure that missionaries have well-balanced spiritual, physical, emotional, and social health. The agency, in coordination with the sending church, will give time (while still on the field) to begin a “wind-down” of work responsibilities, allowing the missionary to begin preparing for the changes he will experience back home.

Reentry The agency, in discussion with the missionary and his church, will plan for further education, debriefing opportunities, a time and place for the family to “regroup” in their new home setting. Agency level debriefing must ensure freedom for the missionary to speak freely, to be transparent in sharing the good and the not-so-good of their field experience.

Home Assignment Even during the recruitment process, possibilities of the agency’s requirements during home assignment should be clearly expressed. They should include rest...yes, a vacation, opportunity for additional training, representing the agency to new candidates/churches, spiritual renewal, and massive opportunity to relate with the extended family and friends.

Prayer The agency will aggressively promote and participate in specific intercessory prayer for each missionary by understanding the spiritual dynamics of the ministry the missionary is working in. They will ensure the sending church is aware of the missionary’s needs and opportunities for rejoicing.

Conflict management The agency will have clear, Biblical procedures to deal with conflict. Over the years, missionary teams have become more multi-cultural, adding that dynamic to interpersonal relationships. The agency will deal with team/personal conflicts quickly and with appropriate actions so issues will not escalate or continue to erupt and cause disunity on the team. They will engage the sending church with situations before they escalate.

Contingency management The world has become a very dangerous place in which to live. During the pre-field preparation, the agency will require a seminar on contingency training to the degree of intensity of the ministry location. The agency will ensure that each ministry location has a contingency plan in place for individuals, families and teams, based on the needs of that location. New-on-the-field personnel will immediately be given access to this plan. A review for “old-timers” would also be of value at that time. Missionaries will understand that in the time of a crisis, normal lines of communication will yield to the one given the charge of directing the situation. The agency will have clear policy on handling hostage situations. They will make provision for counseling of missionaries, to the degree of need. The agency will evaluate ongoing work in that ministry location. The federal government has enacted laws governing the requirement for various documents to be on file, signed by the missionary, allowing certain procedures to be followed in certain hostage situations.

CRISIS LEVEL MEMBER CARE

The working relationship between the people and organizations concerned with member care has grown exponentially in the past twenty years. And it has proved its worth in missionary retention. This is good!

As we consider the Crisis Level, I believe there is an interesting parallel in a story I would like to tell: A psychiatrist (before he trusted in Christ) believed that if a concise and simple to understand prescription for healthy living could be written, and people could be taught to follow that prescription, we would have to spend less time and effort trying to help people out of their detours into mental disarray. Quite by chance, he says, he discovered that the booklet had already been written: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6,7).

In like manner, I believe that to the degree that the already mentioned levels of member care more and more function in unity, allowing each to function in the areas for which they are best suited, the need for this fourth level of care would diminish proportionally.

However, unfortunately, in every war there are casualties. And missions is spiritual warfare at its highest consequence. Thus, the need for the Crisis Level of Member Care.

Though this training is mentioned above as a responsibility of the agency, I believe that organizations that regularly deal in crises are best equipped to train field workers in crisis management. It is redundant to say that the world is becoming a less and less safe place in which to live! Thus, learning the preventative and survival methods of crisis situations should be mandatory.

Then, for field workers who have “lost their way” in the eternal struggle between good and evil, those trained in mental health are best able to bring about a good solution. And, the other three areas of member care need to know when a situation is beyond their ability to handle. This, too, is training the Crisis Level people should provide for the other three levels.

Missionaries are too valuable to lose. Unfortunately, thousands are quitting before their appointed time. In several extensive studies, it was clarified that a lack of member care, particularly on the Partnership Level, was a major cause of missionaries leaving the field. Having read this far, what is your next step?

Take-away: Digest this concept of four levels of member care. Read/study additional material on this vital subject. Share this knowledge with your pastor/missions pastor. Contact your missionary friend. Ask which of those six areas of partnership level he is lacking. Find those to fulfill that need.

_____________________________

Emmaus Road International offers White Papers and Mp3s (free download), books and audiobooks to give further insight and training in the area of member care.

Crisis Consulting International (cricon.org) offers excellent training in this increasingly necessary preparation for missionary endeavor.

EMMAUS ROAD INTERNAITONAL

7150 Tanner Court ? San Diego, CA 92111

[email protected] ? 858 248-3330 ? www.eri.org