Membercare is vital to healthy ministry

“Member care itself is caring for people,” says Deänne Boesel, Director of OC MemberCare. “It is an ethos of who we are as a mission. It is our responsibility to make sure that we have healthy people going to the field and on the field. Healthy in spiritual, physical, and emotional ways.” Care is a coordinated effort for mission workers and their children during internship, in their countries of service and while on home assignment, by relating directly with Pre-field ministries, HART and Pastoral Care. Please pray for ministry staff who are in the different phases of this ministry cycle.

Pre-field

Once a new mission/couple/family has passed through the application and interview process, they are accepted into OC as appointees. Pray for them as they spend about 12-18 months raising financial and prayer support to meet 100% of their support budget.

  • Pray for the mission appointees who are attending CORE training this summer in Colorado Springs, that they will learn keys things about themselves to be prepared spiritually and emotionally, before joining their teams in the field in the coming months.
  • Pray for the children who also attend CORE training with their families, that they will learn special lessons from their teachers, mostly former mission worker kids (MKs) themselves.

HART (Helping Achieve Relevant Transitions)

OC is committed to training mission workers for the transitions they will face in leaving their home countries, learning new languages and flourishing new locations.

  • Pray for those who have newly arrived on the field as they build relationships with people on their teams and begin intense enculturation to learn to live in new cultures…shopping, schooling, traveling, cooking, etc.
  • Pray that they will all have perseverance in language learning and that they will make good ministry connections.

Pastoral Care

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Ralph Anderson, and his wife Joyce, serve as mission pastor. Their role focuses on the spiritual, emotional and relational health of individuals, families and teams within OC.

  • Pray for them as they serve as mentors during the CORE and PEP training programs.
  • Pray for them as they periodically visit each OC ministry field.

PEP (Personal Enrichment Program)

This 10-day program is required at the end of the each ministry term (about every 3-4 years) to help facilitate spiritual, emotional and physical healing, restoration and growth.

  • Pray for those individuals and families attending PEP this summer as they spend some time with a mentor couple in a small group talking about experiences that they had in their last term…the highs and lows.
  • Pray that they are refreshed and ready to return to their ministry. Pray for MKs who are moving on to university.

You can also view this video interview with Deänne Boesel:

 

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