World-Class Care for Those Who Reach the World

Consider this metaphor. You place a bowling ball on a mattress and leave it there for an hour. When you return and remove the bowling ball, the mattress might retain the indentation for a short time, but then it will regain its shape as if the ball was never there. But now imagine that you place the bowling ball on the mattress and leave it there for a year. When you remove the ball now, the impact of that weight over an extended period of time makes it unlikely that the mattress can ever fully recover to its original state. 

For global workers (missionaries) living on the mission field, the spiritual, emotional, and physical toll of their work can become like that bowling ball – pressing down with an unrelenting weight. Over time, that weight can leave them wounded if there isn’t a way to ease the burden. Holistic care that includes addressing the medical as well as emotional, spiritual, and relational needs of frontline works lies at the heart of an up-and-coming new ministry within TEAM. 

A Call to Support and Encourage 

Jeff, a TEAM worker and family practice physician, knows this pressure all too well. Jeff, his wife Grace, and their family served in the Indo-Malay region of the south Pacific for seven years, joining a multicultural team focused on using medicine as a platform to reach unreached communities and people groups.  

Jeff recalls how the Lord began to open his eyes to the need to support and minister to frontline workers. “When we arrived in [Indo-Malay], we were really excited to be able to bring the Gospel to unreached peoples,” Jeff says. “That was the whole reason that we were there.” However, Jeff and Grace soon realized that there were many amazing local believers that were already doing just that. Believers were (and are) leaving their own communities and villages to go into other communities, among different unreached people groups, to build relationships and share the Gospel. “And so, our hearts became convinced that we needed to find ways to support and encourage these groups.”  

Stress Upon Stress 

Jeff goes on to explain that the work of indigenous frontline workers in Indo-Malay is often marked by “stress upon stress.” Jeff continues: “There’s cultural stress – learning a new language, a new culture. There is relational stress from being far away from those who love and care for you, which is exacerbated in communal cultures. There are physical stresses, oftentimes working in areas with very limited resources. And then there is just the reality of spiritual warfare, which on the frontline of mission, of course it makes sense that Satan would come at them with everything he’s got to try to disrupt that.” 

Jeff goes on to say that these stresses frequently result in relational conflict in families and marriages as well as in physical health challenges. The more Jeff and Grace saw these needs that are so common among frontline workers, the more they felt called to a new type of ministry. “Our focus started to shift from primarily being that frontline worker,” says Jeff. “Now my biggest heart is to care holistically for the frontline workers: mind, body, and soul.” 

A Network for Holistic Care 

With this seed planted in Jeff and Grace’s hearts, God began to open doors to expand the impact of holistic care for workers. “The Lord has been doing a really new and exciting thing,” Jeff shares. He and some of his colleagues have begun developing a network of professional providers to help meet the complex needs of workers who can then in turn be more effective in bringing the Gospel to unreached people. 

“The idea is connecting a professional to use their skills in service towards the Great Commission,” Jeff explains. “And we do that through a telecare platform online. We connect the need of a worker with care that can be provided by many different doctors, care providers, and counselors.” As of this writing, this new ministry, the Member Care Collaborative Network (MCCN) has expanded to over 70 providers serving more than 700 global workers in 16 different missions organizations in the Indo-Malay region. 

A Model for Ministry 

As the Member Care Collaborative Network grows and refines its processes, it becomes a model for holistic care in other areas of the world as well. “We’re excited to make this a care model that can be duplicated and spread all around the globe,” Jeff says. Many nations throughout the global South are new to sending workers to serve cross-culturally, and these workers experience similar struggles and challenges to those seen by Jeff and Grace in Indo-Malay. “We want to bring this type of care, where we’re mobilizing the whole Church to care for workers with their unique skills throughout the whole world.” 

Technology is making this dream possible. “As the world becomes a smaller place through digital communication, it’s an exciting opportunity for the Church to dive into relationship with workers because that relationship oftentimes is the fuel for them to keep going when it gets difficult,” Jeff says. To that end, Jeff and his team are currently seeking IT professionals to help them develop an app that can aid connection between workers and providers.  

Jeff’s vision is to not just provide an “adequate solution” to the needs of frontline workers, but “world class care” for those who are reaching the world. 

A Commandment for All 

Jeff, Grace, and their colleagues are thankful for the ways that the Lord is providing for MCCN and the workers it serves, but the demands are great, and more help is needed. Jeff offers a beautiful exhortation to the body of Christ. “You’re a part of the solution God has. The Great Commission wasn’t just given to these select few who go abroad. That was a commandment for all. Caring for and investing in our workers is one of the greatest ways we can utilize the gifts God has given us.”