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As a sending or supporting church, you care about the well-being of the workers you’ve sent overseas.
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January 2021
Hi Friend,

You care about the well-being of the workers you’ve sent overseas. You want to do all you can to help them thrive.

In the last issue of CCN, I shared an overview of a tool
developed by a Crossworld team. Its purpose is to help global workers like those from your church take regular stock of their health in five areas. In this article, find specifics to help your people grow in each area.

I’m here to help you think through ways to employ this tool with your workers. Call or email me and let’s talk.


In Christ,

John Spadafora
Director of Church Connections
816.479.7385 | crossworld.org/churches

 
5DThrive: Part 2
by Virgil T., a Crossworld worker

Wondering what you can do to help advance the Great Commission? Invest in helping your people live a more vibrant discipleship by allocating proper time and attention to thriving in Jesus.

The last article focused on awareness of our health in the five dimensions (5D) of our souls: spiritual, physical, cognitive, emotional, and relational. But awareness alone isn’t enough. We also have to plan to thrive.

Here are the questions our team asks in order to build a solid 5DThrive Plan.

 
Spiritual: Withdraw, Gather, Obey
  • Withdraw | How do you connect deeply with Jesus, alone? What practices are most helpful to you in the season you’re in?
  • Gather | How has Jesus invited you pursue Him with others?
  • Obey | What practices do you use to obey Jesus and to reflect on how He meets you in that obedience?
 
Physical: Eat, Move, Recover
  • Eat | What are your intentional choices about food relative to your health right now?
  • Move | What is your movement practice (lifting weights, walking, playing tennis, etc.)?
  • Recover | How do you ensure you get enough rest and sleep? Do you need any other modalities to recover, like massage or physical therapy?
 
Cognitive: Learn, Focus, Play
  • Learn | How are you learning new things, both inside and outside your area of work or expertise?
  • Focus | How do you protect and improve the quality of your thinking, not just what you think about? How do you keep the internal noise down and your thinking clear?
  • Play | What hobbies or fun activities allow you to sometimes take yourself less seriously?
 
Emotional: Notice, Interview, Manage
  • Notice | How do you regularly check in with what you are feeling — noticing and naming the emotions without judgement or excuse?
  • Interview | Your emotions tell the truth about how you are experiencing life. How do you interview (not interrogate) your emotions to see what your heart, or God’s, might be telling you?
  • Manage | While emotions must be noticed and welcomed, they should not be uncritically obeyed or always expressed. How do you turn your emotions down when they’re flooding you, or magnify them when they’re dull?
 
Relational: Discern, Invest, Grow
  • Discern | How do you discern which relationships to build right now and which to leave alone for a while?
  • Invest | What is your plan to invest in the relationships that are most important to you?
  • Grow | What is your plan to grow your capacity to relate well (language/cultural intelligence, conflict resolution, leadership skills, etc.)?
This may seem like a lot to track. With five dimensions and three facets to each, it could become a recipe for another to-do list. The good news is that some practices do more than one job.

For me, a weekly Sabbath, monthly spiritual direction, daily prayers with my household, and frequent hikes in the woods comprise a solid half of my thrive plan. These practices each touch more than one dimension of my soul, typically with powerful results.

It can take time for a healthy habit to bear fruit, but the return on investment is often deeper joy, greater resilience, a longer obedience, and a more vibrant witness in a world looking for wise ways to live.

Virgil served with Crossworld in West Asia for eight years and since 2017 has led a team of workers in high-stress areas. His member care resources and training are helping Crossworld workers thrive on the ground and continue their high-impact ministries.
Icons by ProSymbols, Vladimir Belochkin, dDara, Llisole, and Sewon Park from the Noun Project.
 
 
Upcoming Events
  • BAM Global Congress |  April 28-30
    This event is rescheduled from 2020 and moved online for greater global access.
 
 
Let’s partner together, and fulfill the Great Commission.
Whether you’re sending your first cross-cultural workers or you’ve been doing that for years, we can help. Empower the people in your church to find and thrive in their role in God’s mission.
 

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