Teams

Mobile Member Care

By Darlene Jerome ⋅ January 1, 2007 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ View comments

The Mobile Member Care Team (MMCT) is a cooperative, inter-agency service that provides training, consultation, counseling, referral and direct crisis response for missionaries. The first team, of what is hoped to eventually be several teams across the world, is located in Ghana and serves West Africa.

Traumatic events such as evacuation, civil war, kidnapping, carjacking, armed robbery, rape, theft, assault, burnout and severe illness are increasingly common experiences for cross-cultural workers in West Africa. Crises such as these, in addition to the ongoing stresses of everyday life and the challenges of working on multi-cultural teams, contribute to attrition and discouragement among God’s workers.

There are approximately 10,000 cross-cultural workers in the 14 countries from Senegal to Nigeria (about half of these would be Africans serving cross-culturally with agencies which are in the beginning stages of developing member care services).

Workers in other regions of the world also experience crises, but some areas have different concerns such as chronic stress from living “under cover”, isolation, spiritual oppression, etc. Mobile Member Care Teams in those areas would need to adapt the MMCT services to those situations.

MMCT exists to strengthen cross-cultural workers for healthy, loving service in the midst of challenge, change and crisis with the following objectives in mind: equipping, preserving and restoring personnel. We envision multiple regional teams around the world providing these services for members of any organization in cross-cultural ministry.

An Global Advisory Board, established in 1998, launched MMCT West Africa in May 2000. This team was located in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire until December 2002, when the civil war forced them to relocate. They are now centrally located in Accra, Ghana. The Global Advisory Board passed its vision for MMCT International on to an International Governing Board, which it formed in 2006. The IGB is overseeing the process of developing MMCT Regional Governing Boards and teams in other parts of the world. The West Africa team is contributing to this process by consulting with and offering workshop slots and possible internships to interested key players from other parts of the world.

Personnel—

The West Africa multidisciplinary team currently consists of three resident staff: Dr. Karen Carr, a clinical psychologist who serves as the Clinical Services Director; Marion Dicke, the Member Care Services Director and Darlene Jerome, the Personnel and Training Director. Sherri Schneidermann will join as Administrator midway through 2007. In addition, there are several associate staff members who help out on a short-term basis with workshops or crisis response as well as a Regional Governing Board. The International Governing Board gives leadership to the development of new MMCT Regional Governing Boards and teams in other regions, and meets annually in Europe.

Overview of Services—

Equip: MMCT provides training through a number of workshops designed to help workers prepare for and meet the challenges they face. These workshops are held across the West African region and serve many different agencies with the added benefit of increasing cooperation and sharing of resources among agencies and their workers.

Preserve: Through these workshops, a network of inter-agency trained workers, who are able to provide practical help and “emotional first aid” in traumatic situations, continues to grow and develop.

Restore: The MMCT staff also responds directly to crisis situations by providing early intervention, consultation to peer responders and agency leaders, assessments, short-term counseling and referrals. Psychological assessments are also done at the request of individuals or administrators.

Member Care Training Workshops—

1. Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills (SYIS):

As of November 2006, MMCT-WA has facilitated 33 SYIS workshops with 743 participants. This workshop is designed to enhance cross-cultural ministry effectiveness by providing training in key knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for developing and maintaining healthy relationships. The SYIS has been developed over a period of nearly thirty years by Ken Williams, Ph.D., of Wycliffe Bible Translators (see www.itpartners.org…). Topics include listening, managing conflicts, living in community, grief, stress and encouragement.

The training is very interactive, utilizing various methods of adult learning. Learning activities include some lecture, small group tasks, whole group interaction, demonstrations of skills, practicing skills and prayerful reflection.

MMCT-WA hosted and staffed a SYIS Facilitators Training Workshop for International Training Partners in 2002 and will host a second in Ghana in November 2007.

2. Peer Response Training (PRT):

93 peer crisis responders have been trained in five PRT’s in West Africa. A six-day workshop, the Peer Response Training prepares workers to serve as peer responders within their community. PRT workshop topics include crisis theory and assessment; grief and loss; stress and burnout; crisis management; the cross and crisis, peer debriefing; secondary trauma and self-care; ethics and protocol. The workshop includes opportunities to practice these skills in coaching groups. Participants are also encouraged to further develop their own theology of suffering through Bible studies and times of reflection.

These trained peer responders serve as a “first responders” when a crisis occurs in their area of service. Their role is to assess, liaison with MMCT staff, help coordinate the response, give practical help, and provide debriefings. They receive ongoing mentoring and resourcing from MMCT staff. In addition to training workers for the West African area, MMCT offers one or two places in each PRT workshop for interested workers from outside the region.

3. Member Care while Managing Crises (MCMC):

Four MCMC workshops have been held with 147 organizational leader participants. This five-day workshop gathers together interested field leaders of cross-cultural agencies to share and learn about the strategic role they play in member care while managing crisis situations.

Topics include normal response to a crisis; stages of grief after loss or trauma; theology of suffering and risk; helpful policies, procedures and protocols; confidentiality and communication; assessment of vulnerable members; leadership style in crisis; the when, why and how’s of debriefings and how trained Peer Responders can be of service in their communities.

Like the SYIS and PRT, the format is very interactive and includes a variety of adult learning activities and opportunities to practice skills.

4. Member Care Providers Consultation and Retreat (MCPC):

Through the SYIS, PRT and MCMC workshops, our team has developed relationships with a growing group of member care providers serving with many organizations across the region. We coach and encourage them via email and visits, but many feel lonely in their role. This year we had our first six-day Member Care Providers Consultation and Retreat with 22 gathered at a hotel on a river in Ghana. Staff and participants ministered to each other and enjoyed resting, worshipping, playing, learning, networking and consulting with one another. Many supportive and mutual-resourcing relationships began and our team came away convinced that we want to offer this on a regular basis.

5. Other Workshops and Seminars:

At the request of mission leaders, MMCT at times facilitates short workshops on selected topics for a particular group, often at their annual conference or retreat. The content might include selected SYIS modules, team building, transitions or prevention of burnout. For an example of the work of MMCT, see The Mobile Member Care Team as a means of responding to crises: West Africa, at www.mmct.org….

Darlene Jerome is Personnel and Training Director; for more information, contact her via e-mail to