Partner Care: Supporting Well

One area of missions is caring for cross-cultural workers. Partner Care addresses the needs of single people, couples, families and children. It seeks to empower missionaries to make healthy choices by offering ongoing training, resourcing and equipping for effective and sustainable life, ministry and work.

This is a crucial element to sending well, being a long-term faithful partner, and assisting during the various transitions that happen during the life of a cross-cultural worker.

Invest in Training!

Member Care 101 Course: The Essential Foundations of Pastoral Care, a four-segment basic member care training. The staff providing the training are all experienced, highly-qualified member care workers. The mechanisms they use include personal stories, case studies, role plays, table groups, and much more. (Costs $150)

Pastoral Training in MemberCare (PTM) Conference is unique among member care conferences. For anyone involved in caring for global workers—whether with a local church, a sending agency, or a member care organization—PTM provides ample opportunities to network, learn, and be encouraged. Committed to caring for caregivers, the PTM Conference exists to develop the shepherding skills and heart of the member care community.

Mission Resource Network comes alongside you to develop a plan for missionary care. Then, based on your plan, they will provide workshops for your church so that you can better train, develop, and care for your missionaries.
(Note: this organization believes it is the church’s responsibility to be the primary caregiver for their missionaries. If your missionary is going through an agency the role of their sending church is still critical but may be a little nuanced.)

Here are a couple great organizations with training that will help your member care team or whole church be better able to meet the needs of those sent out.

Barnabas International shepherds the hearts of global workers through caring for these workers directly, training and resourcing organizations to provide care, and through organizing or sponsoring conference around the world.

Explore

Here are some resource archives and guides to help equip you for all the little and big things you can do.

For Cross-Cultural workers in secure areas, our communication about and to them is extremely important in keeping them safe. Check out these guidelines, which are a helpful rule of thumb—always confirm with your worker for any specifics and/or areas they want to emphasize for their situation.
The Mobile Member Care Team created a “toolbox” of resources for you to access and use as you care for global workers around the world. Their “toolbox” includes crisis response and other member care resources in several languages (with more to come), as well as links to other agencies, some of which provide services and resources in other languages.
Our list of 11 Ways to Care for Missionaries
A comprehensive Guide for Good Practices in Member Care.
A guide for Caring for Missionaries on Home Assignment.

Reading is a critical part of learning. Here are some great books and blogs that will give you a better understanding of the needs and how you can play an important role in meeting them.