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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,

As a sending or supporting church, you care about the well-being of the workers you’ve sent overseas. They’ll only be as effective as they are healthy, and because living cross-culturally is stressful, it takes great diligence to stay healthy.

I’d like to share with you a tool developed by a Crossworld team. I pray it will be of benefit to you as you care for those sent locally or globally from your church.

In Christ,

John Spadafora
Director of Church Connections
816.479.7385 | crossworld.org/churches
 
5DThrive: Part 1
by Virgil T., a Crossworld worker

One of the best contributions we can make to the Great Commission is increasing the vibrancy of God’s people. Life was challenging and chaotic before COVID-19. The pandemic has wrought havoc, even attrition.

My team’s experience in difficult environments led us to create a community approach to self-care called 5DThrive. An organism thrives as it metabolizes its environment — nutrients and stressors — into growth. 5DThrive cultivates Christian antifragility in five dimensions: spiritual, physical, cognitive, emotional and relational. We must both be aware of and invest in each dimension to thrive.

Let’s practice it together.
Take a moment to draw this simple grid. Each dimension line is broken into Sick, Well, and Fit.

You’ll notice that the lines from Sick to Fit slope up from left to right, because there’s no standing still. Without investment on the uphill climb, entropy assures things slide downhill.
The line between Well and Sick is impairment. When a particular dimension prevents you from doing your work or being happy, you’re impaired and have crossed into the Sick state. Examples:
  • Spiritual: habitual sin or apathy toward God
  • Cognitive: intrusive thoughts or the inability to concentrate
  • Emotional: numbness, flooding of emotions (not to be confused with a healthy presence of negative emotions), or frequent anger or anxiety
  • Relational: feeling under-supported or unable to invest in people

The line between Well and Fit is pull. A dimension is fit when it pulls other dimensions up with it, or when it catalyzes thrive in other people. For example, the consolation of increased spiritual vitality in the midst of a loss might raise your emotional wellness. Your faithfulness in diet and exercise might inspire another to take a walk and watch what they eat.
Draw a small circle on each continuum representing where you feel are today in each dimensions.

Now the most important part. Look back over the last month and gauge which direction you’re moving. Your dimensions aren’t static points but vectors with direction and momentum. Draw an arrow over each circle representing your movement this month.
Congratulations, you’ve just done your first 5DVector Check! From this simple exercise, what do you notice about your soul today? Where might you need attention?

If you were on my team, I’d now ask you these questions:
1.    After noticing your soul, what would you like to discuss?
2.    Where do you see Jesus active in the parts of your soul this month?
3.    What part of your soul most needs to be restored by God today?
4.    How can I help you?

The purpose of this assessment is to increase holistic self-awareness. Besides that, it also creates a shared vocabulary and invitation to discussion, and it provides early warning on downward trends long before they become catastrophic. You can clearly see where you (or the person you’re walking through this assessment with) needs help the most.

In the next article we’ll consider how we help people plan to thrive in 5D. ●
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.
 
 
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Let’s partner together, and fulfill the Great Commission.
Whether you’re sending your first cross-cultural workers or you’ve been doing this for years, we can help. Empower the people in your church to find their role in God’s mission.
Talk to John Spadafora
 
 
 
 
 

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