If you were the one on the other end of the phone, how might you have answered? For example, would you send the church leader to…
http://www.missionarycare.com/ebooks/Member_Care_Introduction_%20Book.pdf
which is a free ebook introducing missionary member care? It’s incredibly comprehensive and it essentially introduces everything else we would have thought of introducing anyway, right? The only other thing I could think about was asking a member care practitioner herself (a part-time worker on Team Expansion’s staff) to contact the church leader directly to come share directly with the leadership at this church. Of course, some orgs specialize in helping churches focus on these questions. For example, TRAIN International offers…
http://traininternational.org/Strategizing.html
So how would YOU have answered?
I would have offered the resources of Thrive (www.thriveministry.org) as a help. Having been a global worker, I know the genuine and practical help Thrive provides. Through my husband’s and my 501c3 we now are able to support their unique ministry and I now regularly serve as a volunteer. Thrive encourages women serving cross-culturally through their online magazine, international retreats and other resources to not simply survive, but Thrive.
We recommend Thrive a lot, as well as Velvet Ashes. Also consider Paracletos (www.paracletos.org). We offer advocate team training, sending church coaching, and missionary debriefing and retreats.
I would also send them to http://www.eri.org for the expanded version of SERVING AS SENDERS~TODAY, which gives specific ideas of “how to” in the six areas of care Paul, the Apostle, requested for himself. Also, THE REENTRY TEAM, which teaches friends how to help their missionaries return home. Also, several DVDs for training on member care: Serving As Senders, What’s the Big Deal? They’re Just Coming Home, etc. Also, the is a now book on member care recently published, MIND THE GAPS at Amazon.
This church is asking a GREAT question at at GREAT time! Churches are called to be partners in the Gospel with our missionaries and together impact the world! In addition to the excellent resources mentioned above, in just a few weeks, a new workshop track launches at ICOM (International Conference on Missions) called EQUIPPING LOCAL CHURCHES FOR MISSIONARY CARE. We will be answering the question: What is the role of the local church in sending and caring for missionaries? This is a place for churches to learn together how we can rise to our high calling of being active senders who provide excellent missionary care. For workshop details, visit http://www.cccgo.com/equipping