Building Bridges: Collaborative Approaches to Missionary Thriving through the Shared Foundations Initiative
The focus of today's discussion centers on the Shared Foundations Initiative, an endeavor aimed at enhancing the well-being and effectiveness of missionaries. I have the privilege of conversing with Vern and Kimberly, who are instrumental in this movement, which seeks to cultivate a framework for collaboration among caregivers within the missions community. We explore the Thrive Outcomes Project, a vital component of this initiative, which aspires to establish measurable outcomes for missionary care and development, ultimately guiding individuals toward thriving in their respective environments. The importance of shared foundations is underscored, as it enables various organizations to align their efforts and work cohesively towards a common goal. As we delve into this enlightening conversation, we invite our listeners to engage with the initiative by contributing their insights and experiences, thereby enriching the collective knowledge and fostering a supportive community for all involved in cross-cultural work.
Takeaways:
- The Clarity Podcast episode discusses the Shared Foundations initiative aimed at enhancing the well-being of missionaries.
- Vern and Kimberly emphasize the importance of collaboration in providing holistic care for cross-cultural workers.
- The Thrive Outcomes Project seeks to identify key outcomes that facilitate thriving in the missionary context.
- Listeners are encouraged to contribute their experiences to help shape the conversation around missionary care initiatives.
- The podcast highlights the need for a shift from siloed practices to integrated approaches in member care.
- The call for participation in the Thrive Outcomes Project aims to gather at least 300 insights from the community.
Transcript
Hey there and welcome back to the Clarity Podcast.
Speaker A:This podcast is all about providing clarity insight encouragement for life and mission.
Speaker A:And my name is Aaron Santemayr and I get to be your host.
Speaker A:Today we have the phenomenal opportunity to have with us on the podcast two individuals.
Speaker A:We have Vern and Kimberly.
Speaker A:We sit down and get to learn about Shared Foundations, the Shared Foundations initiative, and then we're going to look at Thrive Outcomes and the Thrive Outcomes Project.
Speaker A:These were people that I just got to meet in Orlando, had a kindred spirit with right off the bat, people that want to see missionaries thrive and to be healthy.
Speaker A:They spend a lot of their life work focusing on that.
Speaker A:They've done some intentional strategic engagement on gathering responses so that we can learn.
Speaker A:And the idea of let's do this together.
Speaker A:I referenced in the podcast this idea as I come into the Director of Member Care job that doing best practice.
Speaker A:But what does that look like?
Speaker A:What does that look like across organizations?
Speaker A:How can we do that better?
Speaker A:And that's what Kimberly and Vern, or Vern and Kimberly, that's what they're trying to lead and move forward.
Speaker A:And so I thought it would be a great opportunity to have them on the podcast, hear about what they're doing, and then also to give you listeners an opportunity to submit a Thrive outcome.
Speaker A:And so I will have that link for that in the show notes.
Speaker A:And they're trying to reach a goal.
Speaker A:They really do want to hear from people, specifically those, not just specifically those who served in overseas missions and to hear from them, learn from them so that they can move this forward.
Speaker A:And the idea is that we would have shared foundations that we can move forward, exciting days ahead, appreciate them and all the work they put into this.
Speaker A:And so I hope you as a listener will take some time to fill out that Thrive outcome and so that will help them meet their goal of having 300 respondents in the coming days.
Speaker A:Do want to ask you to continue to subscribe to the podcast.
Speaker A:I know the podcasts I subscribe to, those are the ones I listen to.
Speaker A:They show up on my feed on Monday or Tuesday morning and I'm set for the week.
Speaker A:And thank you for all that you've been listening in.
Speaker A:We're well over 330 episodes now and thank you for listening in.
Speaker A:Thank you for being a support of the podcast.
Speaker A:It's been a fun journey and looking forward to the days ahead.
Speaker A:Well, there's no time better than now to get started, so here we go.
Speaker A:Greetings and welcome back to the Clarity Podcast.
Speaker A:Excited to have Two new friends of the podcast with us today, people I got to meet in Orlando and excited about the days ahead for the work they're doing and the work they're pioneering.
Speaker A:Vern and Kim, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker B:Hey, Aaron, thanks for having us.
Speaker A:So if any, the people are listening in, if they didn't get the opportunity to be with you in Orlando at Mission Nexus and they haven't heard the opportunity to hear about Share Foundations, would you share a little bit about yourself today?
Speaker A:And then I got a list of questions I'm going to start peppering you with.
Speaker A:But let's hear a little bit about yourselves before we jump into those questions.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:I'm Kimberly Drage.
Speaker C:I serve with Novo.
Speaker C:I'm on the field in Scotland, and I'm also a part of MTI's new research branch called the Dawn Powell Institute.
Speaker C:So I help lead that and that's actually part of how we get to the Shared Foundations initiative, which we'll dig into in a minute.
Speaker C:I'm also the mother of two wonderful young women who are about to be launched into the world.
Speaker C:I've got a 17 year old and a 14 year old and a wonderful husband who helps me and we help each other lead this crew.
Speaker C:In fact, we're on a great adventure of becoming a string quartet right now.
Speaker C:And none of us plays the strings prior to about a month ago.
Speaker C:So that's a little bit about me.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:Vern.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So first and foremost, I'm a fan of Kimberly's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Many years in ministry with the Navigators, and I'm now the director of CARE at Mission Training International in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Speaker B:And my passion is collaborations of caregivers.
Speaker B:This is what I want to see is healthy, holistic missionary care.
Speaker B:So everything I'm doing is in that space.
Speaker B:And so beyond being the director of care at mti, I also have a little consulting firm and do some counseling as a clinical counselor, which I really enjoy.
Speaker B:Most important is my beautiful wife and my three children and my granddaughter, who I get away without mentioning.
Speaker B:And Little Micaiah is 20 months old and the joy of my life.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anything else?
Speaker A:Good deal.
Speaker A:All right, so I'm excited about our conversation today.
Speaker A:Our mutual friend, Nathan lagrange, he invited me to come.
Speaker A:I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but he said, hey, you got to meet these wonderful people.
Speaker A:Vernon and I connected before the, actually before the meeting, he said and invited me to be there.
Speaker A:And I was excited, I really was, just because of your desire to collaborate.
Speaker A:And man, I'm big on collaboration.
Speaker A:Collaboration is an exciting thing.
Speaker A:So can you share about shared foundations, the shared foundations initiative and the reason it's a paradigm shift and how we're doing care?
Speaker B:Well, I'll do the obvious stuff and let Kimberly put in the finesse details.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, you know, I think for too long, member care people Care for Global Workers has been operating with really no foundations among the community.
Speaker B:So we have some excellent practitioners in the western world.
Speaker B:But, you know, whether they're in organizations that are funding or they're in separate care element organizations, they largely operate in silos.
Speaker B:And so they're not connected with one another.
Speaker B:Insignificant.
Speaker B:We do have some conferences, but those don't seem to be effective in pulling us out of those silos.
Speaker B:And so more than five years ago, I began to notice voices that were calling for collaboration and a perspective shift towards, you know, towards thriving as a whole for cross cultural workers, which is a little different lens to look through rather than a traditional care lens and opens things up to care and development being one shared space.
Speaker B:And so some of those voices had done research around flourishing and thriving and they were attempting to inform the community through that network of conferences and training.
Speaker B:But yeah, we found this model to be inadequate.
Speaker B:So the shift in general is like away from a services oriented shift towards an outcomes shift, and away from just clinical to something that's more developmental, aspirational, focused on the needs of the individual worker.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't know, Kimberly, what am I saying that's not adequate?
Speaker C:Oh, everything you're saying is great.
Speaker C:I think I would just add maybe some illustration or my own personal bits to it.
Speaker C:So I think maybe I'll follow on with this idea of paradigm shift.
Speaker C:I mean, for a long time, actually, I'd say for the history of member care, there has been talk of how do we do this holistically.
Speaker C:But the implementation of something holistic has been difficult.
Speaker C:Difficult.
Speaker C:And I think in part that's because it requires collaboration, it requires an internal coordination.
Speaker C:You know, if you're doing something events and clinical based in the care and development part of your organization, that can be siloed.
Speaker C:But if you're doing something that's really integrated into the daily lives of people, you've got to be working together within your organizational spaces.
Speaker C:And you know, I know there's a lot of missionaries who are listening to this podcast.
Speaker C:You're the number one person who's got to be on board and be coordinating with the community of support around you.
Speaker C:So I Think it's just a different task than putting up some posters around that say we're about thriving.
Speaker C:You know, you've got to actually create a different paradigm for how we see care, how we carry out care, how we walk out development.
Speaker C:And I think a great illustration is actually houseplants.
Speaker C:I mentioned this.
Speaker C:Aaron's heard this already because I talked.
Speaker C:Talked about it in Florida, but I'm new to houseplants, very proud.
Speaker C:I think I'm at 18 months, something like that, owner of 12 beautiful houseplants.
Speaker C:But I have learned that, you know, I can't send them away for a once a month or a once a year event and expect that they're going to be thriving.
Speaker C:You know, the kinds of care that they need are small, they're iterative, they're integrated into every day.
Speaker C:And I think much is the same for people.
Speaker C:So if you're looking at that kind of activity, you know, it quickly moves out of this solely professional space or a solely clinical space.
Speaker C:So that's what I'd add to this paradigm shift piece.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:The other thing that I would add is just thinking about why Shared Foundations Initiative.
Speaker C:And Aaron has heard this story also, but it comes out of my own personal work as part of a leader of a small missions organization.
Speaker C:And, you know, we're based in the uk and part of our vision has been to equip people in situ and their local communities to go and share the gospel.
Speaker C:But then we also send people overseas.
Speaker C:And there came this point where we were getting ready to launch some people overseas.
Speaker C:And one of our board members was really convinced that the kind of training our people who were in their own communities going to the UK that they needed was probably about the same as the kind of training that people would need if they went overseas.
Speaker C:Now I immediately, you know, I'm thinking, no, that can't.
Speaker C:You know, that is not true.
Speaker C:There's a lot of learning and wisdom that that's not the best way to go.
Speaker C:But I also suddenly realized that I had nowhere to point this leader to, to have a meaningful conversation.
Speaker C:You know, I could.
Speaker C:I could say, well, actually, you know, my friend Vern thinks something different, or here's a great book on this, or here's a study.
Speaker C:And what I really was wishing for is, could there be a website?
Speaker C:Could there be, and some kind of institutional voice that represented this wisdom that I can point him to, just so we could even start the conversation, because I realized very quickly that it would sort of be my opinion in the space and it would be hard to maybe get traction in that conversation.
Speaker C:So thinking about, well, how, how do we create that?
Speaker C:How do we create the shared foundations?
Speaker C:The shared language and aims is the way we're talking about it for care and development so that we can have more effective collaboration internally in our organizations, but also externally with others.
Speaker C:We can be on the same page much more quickly.
Speaker A:Yeah, excellent, Excellent.
Speaker A:And I think that's.
Speaker A:I'm super excited.
Speaker A:Obviously, I just stepped into the new role for, well, my new role for me.
Speaker A:And as you look around, I come from a medical profession profession where there are shared foundations, there are things in place, as you said, there's things you can refer to.
Speaker A:And I found myself saying best practice.
Speaker A:Best practice.
Speaker A:And my wife asked me, she said, best practice.
Speaker A:Who, like that's best practice you think is best practice, but what are you basing your best practice on?
Speaker A:I said, well, I think it's my experience.
Speaker A:And so honestly, it's been.
Speaker A:She's been a driver for me to really begin to dig.
Speaker A:Like, if you're going to use the word best practice or shared foundations, you need to actually have something to base that off of.
Speaker A:Not just because Erin Sandemier thinks it's best practice.
Speaker A:So she's excited about this and me likewise.
Speaker A:So the Thrive Outcomes project has several outcomes.
Speaker A:Can you describe some of those outcomes and the reasons these are vital for care?
Speaker B:Well, let me answer a little bit of why they're vital for care.
Speaker B:And then Kimberly, as you can tell, is really great with all the details.
Speaker B:So, you know, when you've got two organizations, two leaders looking at each other and saying, what do we need for thriving?
Speaker B:They may not agree with one another.
Speaker B:And you know, because they're talking in terms of we do this activity and you do this activity, we have this kind of counseling available, we outsource this kind of counseling, we do development this way, you know, and that's all great and wonderful, but then what I end up with is what I can be effective in doing and not what we can be effective in doing.
Speaker B:But what if we started with, what if shared foundations was.
Speaker B:Let's start with the end in mind?
Speaker B:The end in mind is a thriving cross cultural worker.
Speaker B:So of these shared foundations of this umbrella that we're talking about, what if we all agreed this is what we have in mind?
Speaker B:And so I think you're gonna have a hard time finding a sending agency or a sending church that thinks that a thriving cross cultural worker is not the end goal.
Speaker B:You know, it's like, hey, we've invested all this time and energy into this person.
Speaker B:And we want them to go overseas and give their life for Christ, but we really don't care if they're healthy or not.
Speaker B:I don't really hear that voice very often.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so this idea that if we start with the end in mind, then we have a better chance of figuring out what our shared foundations need to be.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, so we, you know, as Kimberly shares some more details about these actual outcomes, this is really where we had to start.
Speaker B:What are the common stones that we're going to lay in this foundation of shared foundations?
Speaker A:It's a good word.
Speaker C:Well, and I would just jump in, Fern, to follow on with what I'm hearing you say, and you can correct me if I'm getting this wrong, but a real value of ours is that outcomes piece and starting there.
Speaker C:And because that gives so much flexibility and freedom to decide how do we get there.
Speaker C:And one of the things that is fascinating to me about the world of missions is that we're so good at contextualizing and we know how important that is, but we can sometimes lose sight of that when we're applying it for ourselves within our own organizations.
Speaker C:So I think there's been a real conviction from the beginning of the Thrive Outcomes Project to say we're going to speak to outcomes, but we're going to really be careful that we're avoiding talking about how do you get there?
Speaker C:Because we know that's something that needs to be crafted in collaboration in contextually relevant ways.
Speaker C:And again, that starts with the very people who are receiving this care and development, or who I would say are the leaders of their own care and development.
Speaker C:They need to be very active in setting out on this journey of thriving.
Speaker C:So I will say too, we've talked about two things that are distinct.
Speaker C:One is the Shared Foundations Initiative and creating these shared foundations, and then the Thrive Outcomes Project.
Speaker C:So just to give a little sentence to clarify, the Thrive Outcomes Project is the first project of the Shared Foundations Initiative.
Speaker C:And our hope and dream is that we'll be the first among many.
Speaker C:And so, but as Vern said, we feel like it's a great place to start.
Speaker C:And the response that we received in Florida is resonating with that sense.
Speaker C:So I will, before jumping into what the outcomes are, I do want to say a little bit about our process.
Speaker C:And it goes back to your comment on best practices and where does this come from?
Speaker C:And, you know, we realized there was there is some research out there.
Speaker C:You know, there's not loads of research.
Speaker C:We don't have everything, research.
Speaker C:But we, we just, like you were saying, you know, according to who, you know, we want this evidence base behind what we're doing, particularly when we're saying, you know, what are we doing in this space to do this?
Speaker C:Well, to support people to thrive.
Speaker C:And so we wanted to do two things.
Speaker C:We wanted to invite the community to share their wisdom.
Speaker C:We know it's out there.
Speaker C:And again, it might not all be academic research, but Erin Santemyer's experience is valid and valuable.
Speaker C:And we know in the Great Commission community there's a lot of valuable experience around what helps people thrive.
Speaker C:So we wanted to be able to draw on that.
Speaker C:But we also wanted it to be backed up that there would be evidence.
Speaker C:This isn't just Kimberly's opinion or Verne's opinion.
Speaker C:We wanted to be able to set up a platform for collaboration, if you will, to bring together this thoughtfulness around what helps people thrive on the mission field.
Speaker C:And so the outcomes that we're sharing with you today are not things that Vern or myself have come up with.
Speaker C:We actually have seen ourselves and the team.
Speaker C:I need to give a shout out to our John Powell Institute or JPI team.
Speaker C:They've really done the heavy lifting.
Speaker C:And everyone who submitted their great ideas on what helps missionaries to thrive, all of those ideas have been read through, they've been sorted, they've been carefully engaged in order to come up with what we have now.
Speaker C:And I will then put a little side note in.
Speaker C:What we have now is going to shift.
Speaker C:I don't think it'll make seismic shifts, but we only have 63 contributions to this project.
Speaker C:And for whatever reason, 300 is sort of a goal that I have in my heart and head.
Speaker C:And, you know, at some point it will slow down how it gets adjusted.
Speaker C:But this is a community collaborative project, so there's a dynamic piece to it.
Speaker C:So we've, what we've done is we've invited people to contribute these ideas and the JPI team has helped to synthesize them and distill them into these very, what would I say, rich statements on what it takes to thrive as a cross cultural worker.
Speaker C:And so I'll just share the 10 main headings that have come out from this to give you an idea.
Speaker C:So a thriving cross cultural worker.
Speaker C:And again, this is very general, but they have an aligned ministry role.
Speaker C:They have a sense of calling, meaning and purpose.
Speaker C:They have a sense of organizational support.
Speaker C:They have conflict competence.
Speaker C:They are involved in integrating into their host culture.
Speaker C:And this one in particular I love because what came out through the project is this is not just a cerebral activity.
Speaker C:Like I often.
Speaker C:I've been on the field for almost 20 years and there's been this real encouragement to learn the language, to learn the culture.
Speaker C:But what.
Speaker C:And that certainly came out, but the part that came out in this project is also learn to love this culture.
Speaker C:Do things that give you a heart attachment in the culture.
Speaker C:Just a beautiful nuance.
Speaker C:Another example of what has come up so far.
Speaker C:A thriving cross cultural worker has connected relationship.
Speaker C:They are experiencing ongoing intimacy with God.
Speaker C:They have a learning posture.
Speaker C:I've touched on this before.
Speaker C:One of the things that came out is there's a personal commitment to thriving.
Speaker C:There's a buy in and responsibility personally to be kind of the front rotor and the leader to say I want to thrive while I'm on the field and then finally experiences and nurtures rhythms of rest in their life.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So, so as you looked over those and you know, went through the research, one statement, then I'll get back to that question.
Speaker A:So, you know, I, I worked, I did, I did some doctoral work and I came from the research there and any resource that was like less than more than three years of old really lost its weight.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So then I worked on another degree and I did a project on attrition and retention and define anything in like the last three years.
Speaker A:Like it would have been a very short paper.
Speaker A:So you know, I was drawing from research from like the 90s.
Speaker A:And you know, I'm, I'm not against the 90s, but that's like a long time ago.
Speaker A:You know, I mean when it comes to the research space.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so I went from one part of academia that said anything that's three years or older you basically it doesn't have much value.
Speaker A:And then I got into the missionary space and it's like, well, you got like 40 years.
Speaker A:Anything in the last 40 years?
Speaker A:Well, there's been a lot that's changed in the last 40 years, but a lot of our research is still at least.
Speaker A:Anyway, at least what I found was old, older and rich, but just older.
Speaker A:So as you've walked through this and you've gathered through the data, which I'm super excited, I love being data informed and I think this helps us move in that direction.
Speaker A:Of those, the thing, the 10 that you listed, were there any things that maybe you were surprised by or things that maybe resonated with you more than others or.
Speaker A:Yeah, this.
Speaker A:Thoughts on those 10.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, I think that.
Speaker B:So one of the cool things about this is each of us individually in our space is doing care and development with an org, you know, with a group, whatever.
Speaker B:And we're thinking.
Speaker B:I think I'm identifying good principles of thriving.
Speaker B:I think that what I'm applying is having an effect.
Speaker B:But the moment that I began to look at what we were bringing together, I realized I am not alone.
Speaker B:This is what the community is experiencing as a thriving cross cultural worker.
Speaker B:So I'm actually in a community that just because I was siloed, I wasn't really aware of.
Speaker B:And that's really the beauty of this.
Speaker B:I don't think that Kimberly and I are looking for one of these days something's going to pop up that's just going to be unique.
Speaker B:It's going to be the silver bullet of member care.
Speaker B:You know, it's not, you know, I don't think that's really what's going to happen.
Speaker B:I think we're going to find is that a larger and larger group of us hold a key set of tenants in care and development overall.
Speaker B:So I think the beauty of what did come up in this project is you'll see the co mingling of care and development in a holistic pattern across the work.
Speaker B:And that's actually really, really significant because anytime that our siloed efforts in development and care eat just one slice of the pizza pie and we say, okay, that's the whole pie, we're in trouble.
Speaker B:Which we all tend to do.
Speaker B:As a clinical provider, I want to be like, well, let's do clinical care.
Speaker B:Let's do good, excellent clinical care.
Speaker B:As a pastoral caregiver, you're like, well, if we really do the spiritual care well, we can ignore the clinical care and we'll be fine.
Speaker B:But that's not what Shared Foundations is finding.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's not what Thrive Outcomes project is finding, is that there is a very God engineered integration between care and development.
Speaker B:And that really excites me.
Speaker A:Yeah, good word, good word.
Speaker A:Kimberly, any other thoughts?
Speaker C:Yeah, actually it's interesting even just thinking about what you brought up about research.
Speaker C:And I do think I really believe God is at work in this project.
Speaker C:But I feel like I found another little miracle just as you were talking.
Speaker C:And that's this very piece that you were talking about how research works in missions.
Speaker C:We are a unique people group with unique confines around what we're doing.
Speaker C:I actually did a management degree at St. Andrews and I ended up being with a bunch of social scientists that were just so fascinated.
Speaker C:They were like, tell us all about this missions context.
Speaker C:It is so unique.
Speaker C:And it is.
Speaker C:And so we need that unique research to inform what we're doing.
Speaker C:We understand intuitively that some of what's out there just doesn't apply.
Speaker C:I've told our JPI research team that we could have created the most elegant, academically beautiful study to help answer this question.
Speaker C:And I've.
Speaker C:I've likened that to creating this gourmet feast and setting like got a French chef and we made this big glorious meal, but we didn't.
Speaker C:Instead, we're holding a potluck.
Speaker C:We are asking people to bring their best ideas to the table.
Speaker C:But what that means, Erin, is that every idea that comes in is dated for this year and that person's experience.
Speaker C:So they're drawing on the research that's from, you know, way back, but it's connected to their experience in the present or they wouldn't be giving it to the community now.
Speaker C:And so it's almost that this potluck methodology is helping us find what we know is out there in a different way.
Speaker C:And what we found and what we hoped when we asked for these submissions is that someone's experience.
Speaker C:And maybe I'll just give a little shout out for how we've thought about evidence.
Speaker C:Knowing just the very dilemma that you were talking about, Erin, we couldn't say this has to just be academic research to support your idea.
Speaker C:We said this can be academic, so, you know, traditional what we're used to for research, it could be wisdom based and that could be from the Bible, or it can also be from the wisdom that's been shared in care and development throughout the years.
Speaker C:We can be drawing on what's there already or from your experience.
Speaker C:And we didn't know what was going to come in, but we were hopeful that if someone just had experience, that someone else would have some academic research that would back that up and that there would be this way of reinforcing what has come in beautifully.
Speaker C:We've seen that happen.
Speaker C:We've seen this resonance between what has come in, even though it's not traditional research and it's not meant for an academic audience, it's meant for a practitioner audience.
Speaker C:But even I just celebrate that this way of gathering things means that even though it's not published this year, that idea, that seed of what is important for thriving is inspired.
Speaker C:A current inspiration.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, love it, Fern.
Speaker B:I just say this is so what a schoolhouse does.
Speaker B:A schoolhouse gathers current reality and looks for the clearly supported, held by different people, pieces of that.
Speaker B:And so for some of these folks, their wisdom Voice that Kimberly is pointing out, this is our experience just found its home.
Speaker B:Here's the larger home.
Speaker B:Because this person provided the evidence for what your wisdom demonstrated.
Speaker B:And again, that schoolhouse mindset, that practitioner mindset, is.
Speaker B:Is what we have buried deep.
Speaker B:And it's exciting.
Speaker A:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:A few quick thoughts.
Speaker A:One is, it resonated with me when you shared the 10 things you shared.
Speaker A:I thought, wow, I'm not the only one.
Speaker A:And so I think sometimes as global workers, we go out with this idea, hey, rough and tough and this and that.
Speaker A:And then you think, well, hey, I would never want to admit that I need connection or I need these areas, but I think what you're taking, you're taking some of the.
Speaker A:And I don't.
Speaker A:I mean this in a positive way.
Speaker A:Taking this mystique off and allows people to know what they want, to be healthy.
Speaker A:These are some things they can do.
Speaker A:And they're not the only ones that need to focus on these things.
Speaker A:It's a.
Speaker A:It's a group.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This is common amongst us.
Speaker A:And I think that took the mystique off that, at least for me, I'm like, each of those resonated with me.
Speaker A:And I'm like, yes, that makes sense.
Speaker A:You know, we served 20, 24, 23.
Speaker A:24 years.
Speaker A:23 years.
Speaker A:And I thought, man, it makes a ton of sense.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I wish that, you know.
Speaker A:You know, you can't go back and change, but you wish.
Speaker A:If I would have known that 23 years ago, I probably could have.
Speaker A:You know, I would have probably reached out for care, would have been more intentional about training.
Speaker A:There were things that I could have been focused on that I was just fumbling through it and through God's grace and kind family and great friends and great colleagues, you know, you make it through.
Speaker A:But to have this, to focus would have been.
Speaker A:Would have been.
Speaker A:Would have been super valuable.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I think the other thing, Kimberly, as you shared, I think it's caring just to ask people to.
Speaker A:To share their wisdom and experience.
Speaker A:So I think that the project.
Speaker A:That this is an act of care in itself to say, we want to hear your wisdom, we want to hear your story, we want to hear your insight.
Speaker A:And I think it's modeling that caring, not just to say you have to have academic research on it.
Speaker A:I think it is.
Speaker A:I would call it qualitative research because you're hearing people's stories, and I think you're listening, and I think that adds value.
Speaker A:And for sure, there's wisdom and insight from those participating.
Speaker A:So Jump, Go ahead.
Speaker A:Anything else, Nick?
Speaker A:I'm jumping.
Speaker B:What you just pointed out that removing of mystique and that Kimberly's really describing all of our friends are being discipled every day in some perspective on care.
Speaker B:Well, being flourishing and thriving.
Speaker B:But it's coming from a secular perspective or a my industry perspective.
Speaker B:And so I completely agree with both of you that the outcome of this is removing that as the primary way we see this and saying, no, there's a different way to see this that is suited to our context, our community and our friends.
Speaker B:And again, that is just beautiful.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker A:So guiding principles in this project, were there some guiding principles that you were that are help navigate it?
Speaker C:Well, I'd say we've touched on a few of them already.
Speaker C:One, I mean this started with a heart for collaboration.
Speaker C:How do we bring voices from the missions community together to speak on this in a meaningful, manageable way?
Speaker C:So that was one of them.
Speaker C:Another would be how do we make this a balance of power so that there's no voice that's having more say in this.
Speaker C:And we've really, really done that, at least at this point.
Speaker C:Through the submission process, everyone is welcome to submit their ideas.
Speaker C:If anybody comes along and says, oh hey, actually I think this should be different, we say that is fabulous, please submit.
Speaker C:And that that is true for the JPI team, that is true for the most most famous researcher that comes across our paths.
Speaker C:I mean everyone has the same access to editing what's out there.
Speaker C:And that is a very much an important principle that's been guiding us.
Speaker C:I think another one is, and I think this is particularly interesting for missionaries, we made the way that it was worded consistent.
Speaker C:So if you get into the weeds of this document, we've just given these sort of overarching themes, but there are sentences that all start with a thriving cross cultural worker and then it's followed by something that is observable at the individual level.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker C:So that was, you know what that does is it almost immediately turns the list into a personal check in for an individual.
Speaker C:I think for an organizational person, it also kind of, it leans toward action and implementation.
Speaker C:Like how would we support this?
Speaker C:That has been a guiding principle as well.
Speaker C:To keep this, like Verne was mentioning earlier, to keep the main thing, the main thing, because it can be so easy in care and development, because it hasn't been developed at this broader level for people who are working in this space to think, oh, in order to do this, I have such a tiny staff or I have such a huge staff we must be doing it.
Speaker C:But having a huge staff doesn't mean that you're actually helping people thrive.
Speaker C:Having a tiny staff doesn't mean that you're not helping people thrive.
Speaker C:So really keeping the focus on the end goal that we're all looking for, which is how do we help people do well on the field?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Any thoughts, Vern?
Speaker B:No, Kimberly just said it.
Speaker B:Well, honestly, good, good deal.
Speaker A:I think the other value I see in this is it said that we learn more from observation, demonstration, em and affirmation than we do from information.
Speaker A:And so I think what you're in this project, you're, you're, you're giving observation, demonstration, emulation and affirmation.
Speaker A:That's to me what's rising to the top.
Speaker A:It's not just, this is just not information.
Speaker A:And you know, I think is a cross cultural worker, missionary.
Speaker A:For me, I got a lot of information, but what I really needed was the four things I really needed.
Speaker A:The observations, demonstration, you know, emulation and affirmation.
Speaker A:That's what that, that's how I learned.
Speaker A:And I think that's the beauty of what you're doing because it's giving us something to be able to emulate.
Speaker A:And that's the end goal, right.
Speaker A:Is focused on the realities of that.
Speaker A:So in any type of journey that you've been on like this, I would imagine you've run into some barriers.
Speaker A:Is there any barriers that you've run into and would you be willing to share some of those and maybe people listening in might be able to help?
Speaker A:That's what I've learned.
Speaker A:When we share our challenges, sometimes there's people that are listening in that say, hey, I can help out.
Speaker A:And that is so any barriers that you guys have run into?
Speaker B:Yeah, I would say that, you know, a project like this requires some momentum to succeed and that momentum is in the face of current reality.
Speaker B:So for our friends who are out there slaving away doing care and development in organizations, you know, we have shown up and said, hey, we hear you saying there's a paradigm shift going on.
Speaker B:And we're saying if we're going to go in that direction, you may need to let go of some things that you hold dear and embrace some things that will allow you to be in community with one another.
Speaker B:And so that responsibility is Kimberly and my responsibility, we have to generate that, hey, the value to you of being involved in this commonly held space, in this shared foundation space is great.
Speaker B:It is really significant.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, we're in that space right now.
Speaker B:I would Call it a speed bump more than a barrier, but it just takes time to develop that momentum and communicate the value of the Shared Foundations Initiative to our friends so that they can say, okay, I will invest time in it.
Speaker B:So communicating things like this is going to add depth and clarity to what your member care and your development is accomplishing.
Speaker B:It's going to strengthen your position when you talk to organizational leadership on what needs to be happening in care and development.
Speaker B:So just generating that sense of this is what the value in particular can be to you to join the Shared Foundations Initiative.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Kimberly, any other thoughts?
Speaker C:Yeah, two come up.
Speaker C:The first is one of our hardest conversations.
Speaker C:Getting ready to launch all of this was whether or not to make it applicable across all cultures.
Speaker C:And we made an early decision that was difficult to say.
Speaker C:We're going to stick to Western based cultures.
Speaker C:That's who we are.
Speaker C:That's where we are.
Speaker C:That's who we serve primarily at this point.
Speaker C:And I'm speaking about Vern and I, particularly in an MTI context.
Speaker B:Context.
Speaker C:And I think it was a good decision.
Speaker C:It's hard because I know there is a need to understand thriving in many cultural contexts right now, especially as organizations grow more into involving local people and their staff and what does it look like to care and develop them.
Speaker C:But I'm hopeful that starting this conversation where we have will inspire that conversation wherever it needs to happen.
Speaker C:And our clarity on being Western focused in this initial phase will actually open up a real and more relevant conversation for other cultural contexts.
Speaker C:So that would be one barrier that we faced along the way.
Speaker B:And I think even what you're saying, Kimberly, is that the way we're doing this is scalable for other cultures.
Speaker B:So again, having a practitioner model means that this can be a force multiplier, not just for the Western world, but for other cultures.
Speaker B:It can significantly increase the impact of our efforts together in care and development by amplifying that impact.
Speaker B:And so I think it's scalable for the Global south as a model.
Speaker C:But I think that will be a journey that another group of leaders needs to take.
Speaker C:And I think that's so appropriate and wonderful.
Speaker C:I'm really glad for the wisdom that came into our space.
Speaker C:Thank you, Vern.
Speaker C:That said, let's, let's not bite off more than is ours and let's really respect cultural difference and allow this process to happen as it needs to.
Speaker C:So, so I would say that the second one, and I do hope your listeners can help us with this, is this project goes nowhere unless people participate.
Speaker C:And so In a way, we've made ourselves vulnerable to the reality that if people don't contribute or don't submit, we have what we have.
Speaker C:You know, we are stewards of the submissions that have come in, and we're very grateful for what has come in.
Speaker C:But again, we have 63 submissions, and I don't know why 300 has stuck in my head, but I would really love to have 300, which can sometimes seem like not enough and can sometimes seem like an enormous number of submissions to come in.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I'm going to ask you quick questions on that.
Speaker A:So who can submit?
Speaker A:And we're going to put the link.
Speaker A:So I'll do the how.
Speaker A:We'll have the how in the.
Speaker A:In the.
Speaker A:In the show notes.
Speaker A:And there might be other ways you want to point people to.
Speaker A:To submit, who can submit, how can they submit, what are they submitting?
Speaker A:How long is it going to take them to do it?
Speaker A:And when are you trying to get these.
Speaker A:When you know there'll be.
Speaker A:I don't know how long for.
Speaker A:Hopefully not for eternity.
Speaker A:People listen to this podcast, but there might be somebody listening to this in five years, and they think, is it too late?
Speaker A:So you do have a goal of 300.
Speaker A:You know, when would you like to see those 300?
Speaker A:And it might be today, but I don't know if it's gonna happen today.
Speaker A:But when would you like to see those 300 in buy so that it kind of gives the answers for people listening?
Speaker A:Well, this is a great audience.
Speaker A:This is a focused audience.
Speaker A:I believe they'll.
Speaker A:They'll want to share their.
Speaker A:Their insights.
Speaker A:But could you answer kind of the who, what, when, where, why, and how?
Speaker B:Well, I think it's important to say that as a dynamic kind of a project, it's accessible now to people, and it will be accessible in the future.
Speaker B:So continuing on is important.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:This is a dynamic process, which means that it's valuable to look at what we have now, and it will continue to be valuable as more submissions happen as we go down the line.
Speaker B:And so I'm not sure there's a magic date.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:To when we need 300.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But there will be a subjective ending when we feel like we've gotten the dominant voice.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Through submissions and.
Speaker A:Yeah, good deal.
Speaker A:Other things.
Speaker A:Who, What.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Kimberly, will you share those parts?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So who is anyone who has experience in missions?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:You know, I don't.
Speaker C:Again, we are a unique community, and we want to be.
Speaker C:This project is for our community.
Speaker C:So if you aren't involved in missions, if you haven't lived overseas, please don't submit.
Speaker C:This is not the space for you.
Speaker C:If you have, you know, if you're a mom who is homeschooling, if you're a dad who is struggling with language learning, if you're, whoever you are, if you're a single person who is, is working through issues of isolation, if you, anybody, anybody who's part of the Great Commission community is welcome.
Speaker C:If you have this experience, if you have experience walking alongside people, if you have experience being in these situations, what has helped you thrive?
Speaker C:What has helped you be well while you were on the field?
Speaker C:What have you seen as you've walked with, you know, 20, 30, 40 different couples or families or people?
Speaker C:What has helped them thrive?
Speaker C:You are welcome to submit your ideas now.
Speaker C:Again, these are not just opinions, so you'll want some evidence to back that up.
Speaker C:You will want evidence that either comes from your experience.
Speaker C:And we ask everybody to have three pieces of evidence, and it could be any combination of these.
Speaker C:So it could be your experience, it could be a study you've read, it could be something that you've read in member care circles, it could be some research that your team did.
Speaker C:And so it doesn't have to be very fancy or formal.
Speaker C:If you feel intimidated by me even mentioning the word evidence, please do not exclude yourself from submitting your good idea, because this is a collaboration and what we're finding on the back end when the JPI team processes is there's likely somebody who's had a similar idea and they're going to be able to support what you've submitted.
Speaker C:If you're really stuck, please reach out to Aaron and he'll get you in touch with us, because we have people who actually would love to just walk with you and talk with you, help you process us and be able to submit.
Speaker C:We'd much rather have your idea than for you to think, oh, man, I've got this idea, but I have no idea how I'm going to back this up.
Speaker C:So it's a very generous invitation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I will say, as far as deadline, so the JPI team is on a cyclical calendar of actually processing what comes in.
Speaker C: ,: Speaker C:So if, but if you are listening to this five years down the road, I'm actually hopeful that we would still be taking submissions just on a rolling basis, and they'll be coming in, you know, on a sort of drip feed.
Speaker C:But for now, until we get to that point that Vern was talking about we're gonna hopefully have these sort of sprints where we're asking people please submit.
Speaker C:And that sets our JPI team up to be able to go through and synthesize what's coming.
Speaker A:Yeah, good stuff, good stuff.
Speaker A:Well, I'm going to ask you one last question and then I might actually, you know, in the past I've had the guest pray, but actually I might pray for you all because you're the ones that have doing this and leading this.
Speaker A:That will be a shift that I'm thinking 330 some odd episodes I've ever prayed for the people I've had on the podcast.
Speaker A:But anyway, if you'd be open to that, I'd like to pray for you too.
Speaker A:In this, in this podcast.
Speaker B:You're aware that we need it.
Speaker A:No, that's not it.
Speaker A:It's just I'm encouraged by it.
Speaker A:Is there a question you think, wow, Aaron, if you were a good podcast host, you would have asked this question and I didn't ask or anything.
Speaker A:Kind of your.
Speaker A:Anything else you would like to share before.
Speaker A:Before I pray?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think I just want to share that.
Speaker B:I think, you know, in five years, my hope is that we will see kind of a, under Kimberly's leadership in particular, a established self governing community with a wide variety of organizations in care and development, shepherding this movement going forward.
Speaker B:And so we're committed at mti, specifically mti, jpi, to catalyze this project.
Speaker B:And we've done that heavily this year and you know, others are joining us and are going to determine how do we care about this forward.
Speaker B:But I would love for this to be a movement and that we would have a wide variety of people involved in kind of governing and shepherding and leading that movement in appropriate ways.
Speaker B:And yeah, so that would be my hope and dream.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker A:Kimberly.
Speaker C:I think the thing that comes up for me is again, this is all about seeing people thrive and the exciting moments.
Speaker C:For me, it is exciting to feel this project gaining momentum.
Speaker C:The exciting part is what comes next, what that means for global workers on the field, that they can have a new vision for what it means to care for themselves.
Speaker C:That people in your kind of role, Erin, have a new clarity around.
Speaker C:Here's what I'm trying to do, here's what I want to facilitate and just what that means for people on the field.
Speaker C:And that really excites me and it excites me that more and more people are catching that vision and coming together because that's what makes this particular idea go forward in a way that really honors and blesses those who have given their lives to serve our Lord.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Well, let's pray.
Speaker A:Heavenly Father, I thank you for who you are.
Speaker A:I thank you that you're a God that gives grace and mercy in our lives.
Speaker A:I thank you.
Speaker A:They're one that gives creativity.
Speaker A:You give us strength.
Speaker A:Father, I thank you for Kimberly and Vern.
Speaker A:I thank you for their desire to see this project move forward.
Speaker A:Father, the Shared foundation initiative, Father, that you've placed us in their heart, their mind.
Speaker A:I pray for them you will continue to give them strength.
Speaker A:Father, I pray that you continue to give them courage, Father, as they seek wisdom from you.
Speaker A:Father, we know you're the God that gives wisdom.
Speaker A:So as they make decisions, they've made decisions up to this point.
Speaker A:They'll have more decisions to make in the coming days.
Speaker A:Father, I pray that you just give them wisdom, Father, then I pray that you give them a deep sense of courage, Father, as they hear your wisdom, to be able to walk in courage, knowing God.
Speaker A:This is what you've asked them to do.
Speaker A:This is the direction you would like to see the project go.
Speaker A:And shared initiatives, shared foundation initiatives, the way you would want it to go, Father, you give them great courage.
Speaker A:And Father, I pray as they've given their.
Speaker A:Their.
Speaker A:Their natural talents, they've given their acquired abilities, things they've learned and gathered and their spiritual giftings.
Speaker A:Father, we're seeing evidence today of their spiritual giftings to lead something like this.
Speaker A:This is God, something you've.
Speaker A:You've prepared them for.
Speaker A:Father, I pray they'll trust you with the outcomes.
Speaker A:Ultimately, God, you control outcomes.
Speaker A:And, Father, you've.
Speaker A:They've submitted their.
Speaker A:They've.
Speaker A:This, this.
Speaker A:This plan, this project to you.
Speaker A:And so, Father, I pray that you bless them.
Speaker A:Father, I pray that you put a hedge of protection around them.
Speaker A:We know that we have an enemy that comes to kill, steal and destroy, and they're trying to move forward.
Speaker A:A project that would see missionaries thrive and be healthy.
Speaker A:We know the enemy will not like that.
Speaker A:And so, Father, I pray a hedge of protection around them.
Speaker A:I pray that you, God, will give them deep rest, sleep, new creative ideas and the strength to carry it out.
Speaker A:And we pray it all in the name of Jesus, Jesus, the strong son of God.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker B:Thank you, Aaron.
Speaker C:Thank you, Aaron.
