What do we do when we reach the end of our grit? The Resilient Global Worker Study listened to the experience and wisdom of nearly 900 cross-cultural ministers of the Gospel. What they shared transformed our understanding of how to persevere with joy. GOOD NEWS: Missional Resilience can flourish when our grit runs out. Subscribe and join us on this lifelong pilgrimage.
[May 5th] I'd love to include your voice + get your help with this...
Hi Reader,
I've joined the team at Valeo as the Research Institute Director (which may or may not be news to you). I'm honored to be apart of a team of clinicians providing clinical and psychiatry care through secure telehealth to global workers in Christ (serving minors, adults, and couples).
- Valeo means worthy, well, and effective.
- That's our heart: for global workers in Christ to be aware of their worthiness, growing in well-being in every area of life, and becoming effective ministers of the Gospel for the glory of God.
- Last year we served 638 clients in 96 countries from 161 organizations.
Valeo's mission is to serve those sent to minister cross-culturally by providing preventative and restorative care to strengthen their well-being in life and ministry.
- My focus as the Research Institute Director is stewarding the preventative care part of our mission.
- My strategy is to equip those in caring roles with solution focused research, training, and support.
- You might think of this as member care for member care.
I need your help Reader
- The first task is to listen to what's working, what's missing the mark, and where are we headed.
- Then we'll pull together a research agenda and resources that will
- help those caring for global workers in Christ do so with greater clarity, compassion, and competence.
Just over 100 people have share their perspective in our short needs assessment.
To best represent our diverse and global community, we're hoping to hear from 500 people by May 5th, 2023. Will you add your voice today?
| Complete 2023 Needs Assessment |
Then, would you pray for the success of this venture according to God's perfect will and forward this email to 2-3 colleagues who's voice we need to hear. (If one of those colleagues was of a different nationality than yourself that would really help).
How we got here - Glory to God for all things!
When I launched the Resilient Global Worker Study in 2017 my dream was that 100 global workers in Christ would complete the survey, I'd interview 10 of them, write a lovely article, and move on with my life.
But I made a critical mistake that shattered my dreams... In the follow-up email thanking participants, I asked them to take a moment and pray for this project. They did and I learned not to ask the saints to pray expecting nothing to happen:
- 892 participants generating ~96,000 cells of quantitative data in the survey; then
- 245 participants poured out their hearts in the written interview generating ~650 pages of qualitative data.
Behind all that data are peoples stories of encountering the love of God; seeking to obey Jesus Christ as Lord and follow wherever he leads; empowered by community and the Holy Spirit. With a mean length of service of 15 years, they had hard won lessons to share about the reality of our life in Christ. The essence of their collective wisdom, boiled down to this:
We must receive Jesus' resilience to join his mission in the world. This happens as we turn toward God, others, and ourselves for loving support.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, than missional resilience isn't about our grit but Jesus' grace which perfectly fills the cracks in us with priceless gold:
I've been blessed to share this in a lot of contexts in the years that have followed. At conferences and counseling sessions, at webinars and retreats; the message of missional resilience resonates deeply with people because it is about the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Last month, Dr. Kriss Whiteman, sucessfully defended her dissertation earning her PhD from Asbury Theological Seminary on this data set. More from her to come in due season... For today, Glory to God who lovingly shatters our dreams!
With Expectant Hope,
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🎁 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) |
Will you join the 100+ people who already shared their perspective in our short needs assessment today?
| Complete 2023 Needs Assessment |
To best represent our diverse and global community, we're hoping to hear from 500 people by May 5th, 2023.
- would you pray for the success of this venture according to God's perfect will; and
- forward this email to 2-3 colleagues who's voice we need to hear.
- If one of those colleagues was of a different nationality than yourself that would really help)
Geoff Whiteman
What do we do when we reach the end of our grit? The Resilient Global Worker Study listened to the experience and wisdom of nearly 900 cross-cultural ministers of the Gospel. What they shared transformed our understanding of how to persevere with joy. GOOD NEWS: Missional Resilience can flourish when our grit runs out. Subscribe and join us on this lifelong pilgrimage.