LONG-TERM WORKERS

Living and working cross-culturally is a privilege that carries a significant responsibility to understand the language, culture, customs, religious experience and worldview of a host culture.  We have included resources here to inspire and encourage you toward excellence in selecting, training, sending and caring for those you send. May God's Kingdom come and His will be done in each life and in every place we serve.

 

Long-Term Cross-Cultural Worker (LTCCW) Check List

Committing to live in a different culture can seem a daunting challenge. There is so much to consider. What do I offer? How should my church help support the work? How do I afford to build a new life overseas, much less pay off the one I’m leaving behind? This checklist is a companion to the above-referenced article on selection.

Selection: Determining Long-Term Cross-Cultural Involvement 

For any cross-cultural work to be successful, a firm foundation of trust must be in place between those who go and the sending structure. This article by Jerry Reddix will help you think through and plan for a successful partnership.

  • A Biblical Model of Reflecting on a Call, Tad Blackburn, Marriage and Family Pastor at Rockville Centre Vineyard Church provides a scriptural model for discerning a call to missional work. He gives practical advice about personal reflection and the benefits of workig with a mentor.   

Sending: Preparing the Framework and Safety Nets
Great!  You’ve selected a person or family to become your very own Long-Term Cross-Cultural Worker (LTCCW).  Don’t stop with simply giving your LTCCW money and sending her on her way. Proper preparation prevents problems that would otherwise impede the project.  When the sending structure is involved in helping with these details, your church and your LTCCW will experience the blessing of a properly functioning missional body.


Caring: Providing Meaningful Support for Your LTCCW
Ongoing care need not be difficult.  In fact, it’s easy to overlook.  Churches can be so busy with what is in front of them that ongoing support gets set aside.  You may think that your LTCCW seems to be doing fine, but how much better could he be if he had more attention from you!  What you put into it will be what you get out of it.

  • Caring for Those You Send. Pastor Randy Sutter of the Cottonwood Vineyard says that you do't have to be a large church to effectively send and care for Long-Term Cross-Cultural Workers. His practical advice and encouragement provide tools you can begin using today.

Sample International Service Agreement
Created by the Vineyard of Columbus, this document is used for outlining commitments between the church and the LTCCWs sent out. You may also click here for a fill-in-the-blank template. 

Cross-Cultural Legal Resources
Visit this section of our website to review a number of legal resources that may prove helpful to you as you encounter various challenges in your cross-cultural mission activities.

The Vineyard Mobile Care Team (MCT) Primary responsibility to care for overseas workers rests with the sending church or partnership. The Mobile Care Team (MCT) has limited availability to assist in training and responding to certain spiritual, relational or ministry related concerns. Visit this area to meet the team and learn how to utilize their expertise.

Additional Resources

 

Vineyard Training Opportunities for Cross-Cultural Workers

  • Webinars and Interactive web based training topics offered frequently throughout the year. See the Events Calendar on this site for more details.
  • Internships: www.eachofus.org Training and internships abroad
  • Vineyard Leadership Institute: Acts and Missions will be offered fall of 2009 www.vli.org.

Training Opportunities

  • The Mission Exchange www.efma.gospelcom.net
    • The best of trainers from 100 mission organizations. The webinars are excellent.
  • Mission Training International www.mti.org
    • SPLICE (Preparation for entering a new culture)
    • PILAT (Program in Language Acquisition Techniques)
    • DAR (Debriefing and Renewal)
    • Children’s Intercultural Programs
    • Conferences & Workshops
      • Mental Health and Missions (Workshops for mental health professionals working with LTCCWs)
      • CODAR (learn to debrief your workers)
    • Headington Institute www.headington-institute.org
      • Excellent online material to prepare and care for workers doing R&D.
    • Perspectives on the World Christian Movement www.perspectives.org
      • A 15 week course on the history and current status of Christianity around the world. Excellent foundation to all missional work.

Caring for your Long-Term Cross-Cultural Workers

  • Barnabas International www.barnabas.org > events
    • PTM Conference (Workshops on caring for LTCCWSs)
    • MK Reentry (retreats for children of LTCCWs who have finished high school and are returning to North America)
  • Headington Institute www.headington-institute.org
    • Excellent online material to prepare and care for workers doing R&D.
  • Missionary Care: Resources for Missions and Mental Health www.membercare.com Look at the “data base” link which has an extensive list of articles and resources.
  • Global Member Care Resources www.membercare.org See the section on world wide Member Care providers and resources under the “Organizations > Organization List” section.
  • Counseling Care for LTCCWs
    • Africa
      • Tumaini Counselling Centre (Nairobi, Kenya)  www.tumainicounseling.net Counseling, psychiatric, and pastoral care services for LTCCWs
      • Mobile Member Care Team (West Africa)www.mmct.org Counseling and training for crisis and trauma issues
    • South Asia
    • North America
    • Europe

Other Resources

  • The Safe Travel Institute is an educational institution dedicated to researching and disseminating Best Practices in the area of Safe Travel. The Safe Travel Institute is led by former executives from the US Government (Department of Defense, FBI and the US Intelligence Community) with over 200 years of experience in the fields of Safe Travel, Risk Management and Crisis Support.
  • Travel Health America www.travelhealthamerica.com. An excellent source of travel medicine information. This is an exceptional source of information as well as screen for your personal travel risk factors.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its biennial guide on travel health. Generally known as “The Yellow Book” because of its cover, the latest edition of “Health Information for International Travel” can be read online at: www.cdc.gov/travel.
  • A Whole New World (Interview) - Missions veteran Don McGregor shares how good cross-cultural training can revolutionize your missions experience.
Please come back and visit this website often as we update and add more resources. Our goal in presenting this material is to assist you as you think through questions that you must answer for yourself, in relationship with your church and partnership. If the path you take in preparation and fulfillment of your calling is grounded in God’s call and you are purposeful in addressing the many issues in cross-cultural life and ministry your chance of success increases significantly.
 
The material in this section is presented for your consideration. We invite your suggestions and comments. To comment, recommend material or ask a question, e-mail: jerry.reddix@vineyardmissions.org.