Care Connexion

Friday, May 5, 2023 9:00 AM - Saturday, May 6, 2023 4:30 PM (PDT)

Description

Training to help those responsible for the care of missionaries on and off the field. If you're a missions pastor, a counselor or coach, a missions educator, a missionary care provider, a missionary supporter, a friend or family member... maybe you are the missionary yourself... this conference is for you.

This year's theme is:

Preparing and Caring for Beautiful Feet
* Learning together how to care for today’s Global Workers on their journey.

Join us with Keynote Speaker Connie Befus, Ph.D. - Member Care and Psychological Consultant.

Connie Befus is a psychologist with 35 years of experience in providing for the mental and spiritual health needs of international cross-cultural workers. She grew up in Africa, the daughter of career international workers and served with her husband in Latin America for 17 years. She has also worked in private practice, as a psychological consultant for six sending organizations, and as Director of Member Care for sending organizations for 17 years. She has two adult Third Culture Kids. Her doctoral research explored effective helps for people in the midst of cross cultural adjustment. She is the author of Sojourner’s Workbook: A Guide to Thriving Cross-Culturally.

You can also join us for a Pre-Conference event with Lauren Wells:

Standards for Missionary Family Care: Cultivating Healthy Families Abroad A family's health on the field impacts their longevity and effectiveness in ministry, as well as their nuclear family dynamics. From our (TCK Training) research in 2021, we see how interconnected the health of the parents is to the health of the children. It is for this reason we promote a flow of care that addresses both parents and children for holistic family health. Prioritizing family care invaluably impacts both ministry initiatives and lifelong thriving for missionary kids.

During this pre-conference intensive, we'll look at each flow of care stage (pre-departure training, on-field care, debriefing, home assignment planning, etc) and how to administer excellent care for both the parents and the children. We'll consider how we can incorporate effective care into our practices, policies, and procedures, so that the family unit as a whole can be healthy in both their ministry and home-life abroad.