Hi Reader,

It brings me great joy to share the next resource in the MissioNexus Improve Series: Essentials for People Care and Development. A collection of best practices, research, reflections, and strategies.​

This book is discounted to $9.16 USD (normally $24.95) for the first few days of the launch.

Would you buy a copy today, read it, and leave an honest review on Amazon?

• Help us get 100 reviews in the next month.
• With your help, we'll reach the point where Amazon begins recommending this resource to those who would be interested in it.
• This is key to getting it into the hands of those who will benefit from it.

Yes! I can order the book today!

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About the Book...

Practical insights and activities to help your organization build a thriving culture.

"Finding, sending, and caring for missionaries has grown increasingly complex for mission leaders and staff. The mission world is more multicultural and global crises seem to be more frequent. And we can no longer make the same assumptions about shared values which can open the door for legal difficulties. We all want to see ministry staff thriving and serving the kingdom to their full potential, but how can we support that? In this book, you will be able to dig deeper into these fundamental issues and more.

Member care workers collaborated with us to bring practical insights that will help you and your agencies. No matter where you fit on the spectrum of care – a concerned pastor, missionary colleague, or ministry leader all the way to a professional services provider – this book and its contents will help you implement improvements in caring for ministry staff." (from the back cover)

About the Contributors

The contributors to this volume bring a wealth of experience and fresh insights to our discipline and the great commission community.

• They weave together new research, theological reflections, strategic frameworks, and practical tools.
• They explore the many dimensions of people care (see the chapter "Personal and Spiritual Problems Can Cause Legal Ones" by Theresa Sidebotham or the chapter on hospitality by Celeste Allen, "The Place of Welcome").
• Many presented workshops at the MissioNexus Mission Leader Conferences People Care and Development Track in 2022 or 2023.

Table of Content

Foreword by Laura Mae ("Larrie") Gardner and Brent Lindquist

Preface by Heather Pubols and Geoff Whiteman

1. The Stories We Tell and Why They Matter By Kimberly Drage and Tim J. Davy
2. A Treasured History: Stories of Resilience By Kristina Whiteman
3. Top Ten Reasons For Missionary Attrition By Andrea Sears
4. Trauma Informed Staff Care By James Covey
5. The Place of Welcome By Celeste Allen
6. Caring in the Way of Christ By Vernon Salter
7. Into the Fullness: Women in Mission Raised, Restored, Released By Michele Okimura
8. The Family Readiness Discussion By Faith De La Cour
9. Managing Missionary Coflict Constructively By David R. Dunaetz
10. Supervisory Relationships and Well-Being By Kimberly Drage and Hyon Kim
11. Personal and Spiritual Problems Can Cause Legal Ones By Theresa Sidebotham
12. Reframing Sabbatical Posture in the Post-Pandemic Landscape By Jeff and Sara Simons
13. Reframing Sabbatical Posture: Embodied and Developmental By Sara and Jeff Simons
14. The Heart of Member Care By Geoff Whiteman

You can read the first chapter of the book at: https://missionexus.org/essentials-for-people-care-and-development/​

This book is ideal for...

As you can see, this resource was created by and for our community. Each contributor includes additional resources and questions for reflection and discussion making this book an ideal resource for:

• seasoned member care professionals looking for a desktop resource to turn to again and again.
• those exploring a vocational calling into member care and wondering if there is space for them.
• professors looking for up to date resources to add to their syllabus.
• sending church and organizational care teams/departments wanting a digestible resource to structure their rhythm of professional development around.

Yes! I want this book.

On a Personal Note...

It was 7 years ago today (on my 38th birthday) that I launched the Resilient Global Worker Study. There is a gift of completion in seeing a beautiful summary of a PhD dissertation written out of that data by my wife in this volume. A year ago I joined the team to launch the Valeo Research Institute. My dream for this endeavor has been to help bring the academy out of the ivory tower and into the market place. I hoped one-day/someday we'd see practical resources like this volume.

I was speaking about this with Heather Pubols a year ago at MissioNexus. She was like "yeah we can do that!" and with her confidence we set out on this journey. Over the year contributors worked hard to meet deadlines and submit chapters. Heather and Kurtis Amundson turned that manuscript into this beautiful book.

Through my chapter I took the opportunity to share the one thing I would share if it was the last thing I got to contribute to our disciple - my conviction that, as member care professionals, our invitation is to co-labor with Jesus Christ as his beloved for the sake of his beloved. This means that through our vocation, regardless of our modality, member care professionals are invited to become men and women of prayer and of peace. This is what I mean by the "heart of member care" I pray those who are ready to receive this invitation will find this resource - I know I needed to hear it again when I wrote it this summer in the midst of a crescendo of liminality. Glory to God for All Things!

In addition to buying the book, We'd be grateful if...

you'd take a moment to pray for this resource and the fruit it will bring for God's Kingdom in due season. If you can forward this email to someone you know who would be interested in this resource that would be great too.

With Expectant Hope,

​ 🔗Geoff Whiteman, ThM, LMFT​ ​🎁 access my promised resources. 💌 Read and share my latest updates. 🤝 How can I help you or your community?​ ​ “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (excerpt from Ephesians 3:14-21)

Yes! I'm getting this book.

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