Member Care

Mission's Edge Roundtable May 2022 Session:

We all know that taking care of our missionaries is important. Join us for a conversation about one way of looking at how to approach member care, "Oikos Care." Dr. Mary Ho, Dr. Pam Arlund, and Peggy Spiers coined this term in their article, "Oikos Care: Caring for Our Missionaries by Caring Through Our Missionaries," which was published in Missio Nexus' quarterly magazine, EMQ in April 2022.

Featuring:

Peggy Spiers serves on the Global Support Team for All Nations International. After spending a lifetime serving young hearts in the classroom, Peggy transitioned to actively mobilizing, sending, and supporting missionaries from the local church. From her years of spending time with missionaries around the world, Peggy has had a front-row seat to the unique successes and strains missionary families face on the field. From these observations she helped develop Sender's U, a training to equip churches and individuals in practical ways to send and care for their missionaries. Additionally, she has been trained in and helped lead debriefings for missionary families on furlough, in transition, or returning from the field.

Dr. Ravi David serves as an adjunct professor in seminaries in India, Nepal, New Zealand, and Latin America, teaching Pastoral Theology, Counseling, Spiritual Formation, and the integration of psychology and theology. Ravi is also a trained Spiritual Director and Chaplain, and has been trained in Debriefing and Trauma healing. He has served on several national and international member care networks. Ravi has an MTh in Pastoral Care and Counseling and a PhD in Practical Theology from Auckland University (New Zealand). He is married and has four children and three grandchildren.

Christine Paterson has much experience in the field, growing up in Central Africa as a missionary kid and then serving with her husband in China. She has served in campus ministry, literature and radio work, placing of professionals across China, humanitarian projects in minority areas, and latterly in cross-cultural training. Christine has a degree in linguistics and a diploma in theology and is now training as an intercultural coach. Her passion is to see those who serve in other cultures thrive and be resilient for the long haul. She is married and has five daughters and eight grandchildren.