by Andrea Sears
For too long, people care and development (member care) for cross-cultural workers has been operating with no shared guidelines to shape our field. But now, the Shared Foundations Initiative at MTI (Mission Training International) aims to gather the voices and wisdom of the Great Commission community to work together toward thriving for cross-cultural workers. We are currently accepting submissions for the Thrive Outcomes Project, and you are invited to participate!
[For more information on the Shared Foundations Initiative, scroll to the bottom of the article below the author bio.]
This project seeks to answer the question: What does it take for a cross-cultural worker to thrive? As cross-cultural workers yourselves, you know what helps you thrive and what hinders your thriving. We want to include your voices in this important research.
We believe the Thrive Outcomes Project has the potential to:
- add depth and clarity to what member care is and does,
- strengthen organizational conversations,
- help practitioners access quality thinking on how to support cross-cultural workers well, and
- lay strong foundations for collaboration.
We cannot build this project alone. Would you consider contributing your voice and insights for the strengthening of cross-cultural workers? This is an evolving research endeavor, and we have published preliminary results from initial submissions, which you can check out here.
See what ideas are still missing or need to be strengthened, and submit your ideas here. We’re looking not only for your personal experience, but also for evidence from books, blogs, podcasts, or published academic research (when available) to support your ideas. This helps us to ensure that the results are strong, evidence-based, and credible, which will increase their utility to organizational leadership and care teams.
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Andrea Sears and her husband, Seth, spent thirteen years in Costa Rica, working in the largest immigrant squatter settlement in Central America, and founded the community development ministry giveDIGNITY. She now runs the ministry from the U.S. and recently accepted a faculty position at John Brown University, teaching Intercultural Studies, Humanitarian & Disaster Relief, and Bible courses. She previously oversaw a missionary attrition study, which was summarized in a series here at A Life Overseas.
Additional information about the Shared Foundations Initiative:
The Shared Foundations Initiative (SFI) exists to strengthen the health, resilience, and long-term thriving of cross-cultural workers from Global North cultures by cultivating shared language, fostering alignment, and hosting thoughtful, collaborative conversations related to cross-cultural worker care and development.
Rather than prescribing uniform practices, we seek to offer ideas and examples of practices that could be done, to help organizations and individuals translate shared values into a lived reality within their specific contexts (denomination, organizational culture, organizational size, cultural context, etc).
Our vision is a Great Commission community in which quality care & development for those sent is consistently understood and practiced, contributing to the faithful witness of God’s love both to those sent and to those they are serving.
SFI’s vision is shaped by the following guiding commitments:
- Unity without Uniformity
We affirm shared values and principles while honoring the diversity of organizational models, theological traditions, cultures, and contexts. - Field-Informed Wisdom
Guidance emerges from the lived experience, research, and discernment of practitioners and organizations actively engaged in cross-cultural worker care. - Non-Prescriptive Influence
The initiative does not set standards, accredit programs, or enforce compliance. Its influence is catalytic, invitational, and relational. - Holistic Understanding of Thriving
Cross-cultural worker health includes spiritual, emotional, relational, physical, vocational, and communal dimensions across the life cycle of service. - Learning as a Shared Stewardship
Knowledge is held as a commons to be cultivated, shared, and responsibly stewarded for the good of the whole field.
The cornerstone of our approach is applied research into what factors are helping cross-cultural workers to thrive. This research is conducted by researchers and practitioners that have come together to form the John Powell Institute (JPI) at MTI.
