Season 4 Episode 5: Addictions with Verne Salter

Brandi and James welcome Verne Salter to discuss addiction and its impact on cross-cultural workers. One of the bigger factors is that whatever is dealt with in our home context gets intensified when moving cross-culturally. This also may be complicated by the loss of healthy anchors. The result is issues that might only be minor or are well handled in the home context but can be systemically problematic cross-culturally.

Get in touch with Verne https://www.smithandsalter.com/about or check out MTI at https://www.mti.org

Vern Salter – MA, LPCC

Vern has spent over 25 years as a vocational christian worker, both stateside and overseas.

Having received help and care in times of crises, he values the “below the waterline” work of counseling, as well as the “at the waterline” work of adopting soul care practices, relational reconciliation, and healthy rhythms in life.

With an MA in Clinical Counseling from Colorado Christian University, Vern blends professional and soul care in his perspective on providing care.

Trained in EMDR, Gottman Marriage Therapy, and Soul Care, he brings a broad scope to member care work.

He is married to Janell, and they have 3 adult children. Living in Colorado Springs, CO, they marvel at the beauty of God’s creation around them daily.

Season 4 Episode 4: Missional Resilience with Goeff Whiteman; Listening to Member Care.

Brandi and James welcome back Geoff Whiteman, ThM, LMFT, to discuss missional resilience and what he has learned from his most recent study listening to member care professionals. You can learn more and get in touch with Geoff at www.resilientglobalworker.org

“At the end of our grit, missional resilience really flourishes, and we come to the end of ourselves. It’s as if then our hands are open to receive Jesus’ resilience” -Geoff

We made preventing attrition the goal for member care, which misses the mark. Preventable attrition isn’t a way to ‘score a point’ but to ‘lose a point’, then suddenly the field of play is very small and possessive. It becomes a game we cannot win but can only lose. Attrition is the wrong measurement of success and failure, especially for staff care. Taking an internal responsibility for something outside of one’s control results in wounding or pain over which we do not have responsibility. For example, someone we care for leaves. This is a form of moral injury, and that pain is really painful for staff care providers.

Flourishing is a better benchmark for measuring the success of staff care. Navigating the liminal spaces of flourishing and challenge is a far better goal and direction for staff care providers.