Over 200 people gathered in Cervia, on the Adriatic coast of Italy. What a rich community full of people with amazing stories and experiences…
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A true story of how local resources, nationals, etc., can all play a significant role in providing member care.
How do I summarise EMCC 2024?
Amy Galloway serves with SentWell team in southern Spain as a coach and trainer on the topics of transitions, women in leadership, and vocation. She is deeply passionate about helping people discover what they’ve been put here on earth to do, how that evolves over the course of their lifetime, and why the cultivation of the inner world is so deeply connected to the power of their outward life and ministry. Amy writes a blog on transitions for people in full-time ministry (www.beautifulupheaval.com) and is finishing a book on resilience in motherhood. She lives in Spain where she raised three daughters with her husband of 34 years, Alex.
Dr. Alex Galloway is a Clinical Psychologist providing training and counseling to cross-cultural workers in high risk areas. He serves with SentWell.org, a multidisciplinary team of therapists, spiritual directors, coaches and pastors living in community in Southern Spain to serve workers in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Alex has specialized interest in trauma, sexuality, and the holistic care of God’s people. He enjoys encouraging, equipping, and empowering those who minister on the “front lines.” He is married to Amy and has three grown daughters.
Francesco is a counselor and board member of the ACC (Association of Christian Counselors). He served for more than 10 years as the vice president of Joni and Friends Italia (disabilities) and was a co-founder of Project Archippo (seminars for training Christians). He has been collaborating for more than 20 years with the Evangelici.net portal and leads a small church in the province of Parma, Italy. After 30 years of experience in the world of business communication he now works full time as the international mission director of Adventive Cross Cultural Initiatives (Canada/USA). He is passionate about church unity, evangelism, and teaches on the growth and spiritual healing of believers. He is married with two children grown.
Anna grew up as a farm girl in the Midwest and felt called to work overseas as a young teen. By her mid-twenties, she was in full-time work leading teenagers all over the world. In 1996, she began a long-distance courtship with Neal across three continents, and after marrying in 1999, they began raising their family in Afghanistan in 2000. For the past fifteen years, she and her husband have served with Barnabas International in pastoral care and as risk specialists, focusing on those serving in the most dangerous places of the world. When they can, they enjoy spending time with six young adults – their three adult children and their wonderful spouses.
Anna shares God’s Word interwoven with personal experiences from living and working for a decade in war-torn Afghanistan and from almost thirty years of global ministry experiences traveling in almost seventy countries. She writes with realism and depth from her own trials of facing overwhelming obstacles with faith and joy while also living in extremist environments for almost two decades while raising three young children.
She is the author of Facing Danger: A Guide Through Risk (2nd Ed, WCP 2024), Facing Fear: The Journey to Mature Courage in Risk and Persecution (2023), and presently writing Facing Persecution: The Ethics and Spirituality of Loving Your Enemies. She contributed to the 2-day Risk Assessment and Management (RAM) Training that Neal wrote based on Facing Danger, which they have facilitated globally and has been translated into multiple languages.
Anna holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership (Bethel University), and a Doctor of Religious Studies (Trinity Theological Seminary). She writes at https://theologyofrisk.com/ and @theology.of.risk.
Neal is a lifelong student, practitioner, and trainer in shepherd leadership and life development. He has worked with numerous field leaders across multiple sectors in the for-profit, non-profit, para-church, and educational worlds. CRU, Mission Aviation Fellowship, United States Armed Forces, YWAM, Network of International Christian Schools, SIL, IMB, WEC, Frontiers, International Assistance Mission, Avant, and Reach Global are just a few of the more than 70 organizations he has served. Neal studied at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.
He has over 15 years of experience serving in the Persian and Turkic regions of the world as a humanitarian aid worker and team leader. In 2010, he and his wife, Anna, joined Barnabas International, and they founded RETHRIVAL. Since then, he has devoted his life to training, equipping, and mentoring leaders working inside the challenging region of Central Asia. He wrote a two-day Risk Assessment and Management (RAM) Training based on Anna’s book, Facing Danger. This training is having a significant impact on the resiliency of missionaries around the world.
His mission is to train and inspire leaders to shepherd teams that produce a great impact. As a communicator and mentor, Neal has presented at conferences and events in Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. Among the wide variety of topics he addresses are shepherd leadership, leader development, developing interpersonal skills, leadership in high-risk environments, and critical incident debriefing. His audiences enjoy his honesty, authenticity, and sense of humor. His messages hit the head and the heart with practical steps that move the listener forward.
Rob has worked in leadership and organisational development in both employed and consulting roles in public, private and third sector, as well as a diverse range of faith organisations. He has served as a missionary in Nepal, Principal of Redcliffe College, Commissioner for the World Council of Churches and on the Global Leadership Council of the WEA Mission Commission.
Rob’s current role at the time of writing is the Lead for the Bishop’s Leadership Development programme, Church of England. He is also Associate Professor of Christian Leadership, University of Birmingham, teaching on the MPA in Faith Leadership with the Edward Cadbury Centre; and is a Visiting Fellow, Bristol Business School. Rob has undertaken undergraduate and postgraduate studies in theology and missiology, and he holds a PhD in Leadership. He was lead editor of ‘Worth Keeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention’ 2005. (Pasadena: William Carey).
Rob is also an Anglican priest and an experienced educator, academic, consultant, and leader of diverse teams. He is passionate about equipping leaders to live in the realities of the present, lead in the spaces of not-knowing, and to do so with conviction, and tentative certainty. He has advised, taught and consulted on leadership, staff care and wellbeing issues around the world.
He is happiest on a cycle ride or experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen (ask him about his recipe app!). He enjoys trying new food with friends from other cultures. And he is attempting to train Louie, a working cocker spaniel rescued at 4 years old.
He is married to Simone and is father of 3 adult TCK. He is passionate about strengthening, resourcing and empowering cross-cultural Workers and their families through debriefing, critical incident debriefing and brief counselling. Restoring a sense of peace (shalom and wholeness) in their lives when that peace has been disturbed or shattered is at the core his ministry. He is also active in membercare training and consultancy.
Scott Shaum‘s deep joy is living life with his wife, Beth, their three sons and wives, and three grandchildren. That and really good food shared amongst a bevy of friends; or in solitude with a stack of books. As Associate Director of Barnabas International (20 years) and an ordained pastor, the Father’s goodness in his life is reflected as a pastoral, companioning presence with other shepherd-leaders scattered globally and locally. A scary-tough decade resulted in authoring The Uninvited Companion: God’s Shaping Us in His Love Through Life’s Adversities. He has contributed to Trauma and Resilience (ed. Schaefer and Schaefer) and Tender Care (Barnabas Books). You can find his latest rambles at tendingscatteredwool.com.
Gary W. left the US in 1983, following a call from the Lord to serve overseas, and served as a tentmaker in France until 1988 and then in Switzerland where he lives now. As a professional, he worked full-time as a research chemist and in later years as an IT specialist. In terms of ministry, he has served mostly in pastoral settings with services of teaching, preaching, counseling, and inner healing. Since taking an early retirement in 2013, he has done short-term ministry trips in eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. He joined OM in 2017 and has been doing pastoral care for workers in Asia through short visits and online. Gary is married to Beverly and they have five adult children.
Cathy Thompson is a missionary kid with degrees in Physical Education, Anthropology, and Cross-Cultural Leadership. She has further studies in Ministry Leadership Development, Member Care, Conflict Management, Counseling, Child Safety and Forensic Investigation. Since 1992, Cathy has served with Pioneers as Team Leader in Hungary and since April 2009 as Area Leader for East Central Europe. Cathy also serves as Pioneers’ Child Safety Officer for Europe, as a member of several working groups on training and leadership development, and on the executive team of Shoulder to Shoulder. She is committed to seeing teams work well as they incorporate singles, couples and families into multicultural teams.
Charley Warner has been involved in member care in Eurasia since 1992. He and his wife, Cheryl, serve with Barnabas International and live in Irpin, Ukraine. Charley is also a board member of Member Care Europe.
Suzy Grumelot has served with World Team in urban church planting in France for the past 35 years. In 2012, with French partners, an historic new church was birthed in central Paris. In addition to discipling women and overseeing Bible studies, Suzy is involved with training, networking, prayer, and mentoring of new believers and church planters. She serves on the executive team of Shoulder to Shoulder and is the co-author of Sacred Siblings: Valuing One Another for the Great Commission.
Amrei Wehmeyer has been working with DMG interpersonal and TEAM in Portugal since 1991. She is currently leading the Member Care Center ReCanto da Fonte in Lourinhã on the Silver Coast of Portugal. Amrei also serves on the board of Member Care Europe.
Barry Danylak is an international speaker, author, and pastor-theologian with expertise on topics related to singleness, marriage, sexuality, and family in the biblical and modern world. Barry serves as Executive Director of SEE Global, a ministry based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that equips church leaders around the world. He is ordained and has served as a pastor for over 10 years with the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada. Barry holds a PhD in New Testament with the Divinity Faculty of the University of Cambridge and is author of Redeeming Singleness: How the Storyline of Scripture Affirms the Single Life, Singleness in God’s Redemptive Story, and a forthcoming book, Paul and Secular Singleness in 1 Corinthians 7, scheduled for release by Cambridge University Press in 2024.
Maria Techow is a Clinical Psychologist in Denmark with a heart for mission. In her working life she is the head of department for Psychiatry & Existence, and Competence Unit for Expats at Center for Family Development. She has been working with mission organizations for more than 13 years, screening candidates for the mission field, offering crisis counselling and online therapy and helping families in their re-entry process, among other initiatives leading TCK groups for years. She is the co-author of the book: GO! My personal guide and diary before, during and after moving abroad, an interactive book for TCKs. The book is a a starting point for conversations between children and their parents, for children’s groups, in schools and across cultures and border. She is the mother of four, a writer and a speaker in various Christian settings. Maria is also a board member of Member Care Europe.
Evi Rodemann lives in Hamburg, Germany and works as a theologian and event manager. She engages in the international work of the Lausanne Movement and the Mission Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance as well as being the CEO of her own organisation LeadNow. Her focus is the younger leaders generation. She has a Master in European Mission and Intercultural Christianity and currently works on her PhD researching event impact. www.evirodemann.com, www.leadnow.center
Rafael Năstase is a missionary who served with his wife Alice, seven years in Republic of Moldova, being involved with Operation Mobilisation (OM) in church planting, discipleship and mobilizing churches for missions. Returning in his home country, Romania, he stepped in the leadership position from 2007-2019 as National Director of OM. Now he coordinates the church relation department of OM in Romania and is the national member care facilitator. Rafael has a BA in Philosophy and Journalism and got a master in Theology at Baptist faculty. Being born in a Romani (Gypsy) family he is passionate working towards getting his doctorate in ecclesiology and ethnography at the University of Bucharest, researching on the role of the church in transforming Roma communities. Rafael also serves on the board of Member Care Europe.
Sonja Pichler is a happy single, born originally in Germany and has been living in Switzerland since 2010. During her time in Switzerland, she finished her studies as a counsellor; currently she is responsible for Member Care in OM Switzerland. In the international setting of OM she is involved in the Face2Face courses, both German and English. For the AEM in Switzerland she ministers in the annual debriefing week for intercultural workers. Sonja also works for a local church and as a licensed counsellor, both part time. Her professional qualifications are Psycho-Social Counsellor, Trauma focused counselling, Supervision (in process). She simply loves to see people thrive in who they are and who they are becoming. Her recreational oasis she finds in reading, walking and journaling (Bullet point and Bible Art). Creativity is one of her big resources.
Mihai Lundell has helped to form national member care networks in countries like Romania and Italy. He served for over 20 years as a missionary and country director for the mission One Challenge in Romania before he and his wife Tammy accepted a new challenge in Genova, Italy caring for and coming alongside local pastors and Christian leaders. As a member of the European Member Care Board, Mihai works to build Member Care awareness and networks in eastern and central European countries that are just beginning to understand the need for MC. He is passionate about building bridges between new and old generations and making sure the voices of Eastern Europe are heard and respected. He is a former investigative journalist for WCCO television in Minneapolis with a doctorate in missions from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN and a masters in child psychology, trauma and developmental disorders from the University of Minnesota. Currently he collaborates with the Gaslini Institute in Genoa Italy in child trauma counseling and serves as an advisor for the Association of Christian Counselors in Italy.
Sarah has a background in Human Resources, initially in the National Health Service in the UK. After training at Redcliffe College with her husband, her member care and cross-cultural mission experience began with a mission agency in Nepal. On returning to the UK, she took time out to be a stay at home mum while their two boys were young. She joined European Christian Mission Britain 16 years ago as the HR and Member Care Manager. She does HR for the British Mobilisation Team, interviews applicants for the field, helps to prepare new candidates, and provides member care for ECMB members (alongside field member care). She also provides mentoring with ECMB’s FruitFULL programme.
Sarah led and taught on the MA in Member Care at Redcliffe College, and then the MA in Staff Care and Wellbeing at All Nations Christian College for several years, where she remains a visiting lecturer. She is a board member of Member Care Europe and on the editorial team for Member Care Journal (see https://globalmembercare.com/journal/ ).
Sarah was also an editor of ‘Worth Keeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention’ 2005. (Pasadena: William Carey).
Last but by no means least, Sarah is married to Rob and has two sons, the eldest of whom has now graduated and the youngest is in his third year of university. She sings in her local choral society, attempts to run regularly (but slowly) and loves to cross-stitch whilst watching golf on the TV!
Jonathan Ward is involved in the Federation of Francophone Evangelical Missions and its member care network (www.resam.fr), and he serves at a retreat centre in France dedicated to caring for pastors and cross-cultural workers (www.pierresvivantes.org). He and his wife Rachel were raised on the mission fields of France and Angola respectively. They have three adult children. Jonathan also serves on the board of Member Care Europe.
