Intentional Investment in the Whole Person

If all this is so, the wise organization will be every bit as thoughtful and intentional about nurturing the health of those within the organization as it is about its external mission. The latter, we trust, will flow from the former.

This commitment should be written down for all to see and follow. Just as good organizations create a strategic plan for their external mission, we can create a strategic plan for this internal priority.

CAFO’s “Strategic Plan for Thriving Souls” maps out the key plans and practices we intend to prioritize to live out this commitment together. To be a member of the CAFO team is to lead and serve in ways consistent with the commitments in this plan. We do this first with and for one another. Then, each in our own sphere of focus, we seek to care for and build up the “champions” we serve – from those serving in member nonprofits…to church ministry leaders…to foster and adoptive parents.

Critically, this vision is not limited to tending just one facet of a human being, whether spiritual, intellectual or otherwise. Rather, it is about seeking to enable the whole person to thrive.

When we use the term “soul,” we refer to the totality of a human being as God designed us: emotions, intellect, body, and spirit, as well as our relational connectedness to others. The soul, when healthy, integrates all that we are7 .

This view of the soul rejects the “dualism” that presents spirit and body as disconnected. It also spurns the gnostic view that immaterial things are higher and better than the material.8 Rather, we believe Scripture’s clear affirmation that all that God made was “very good.”9 He crafted each part of us to operate as an integrated whole. God also intends that we, as whole beings, live in vital relationships with other whole beings, just as the Trinity itself.

All aspects of a whole person – emotion, intellect, body, spirit and relationships – are intertwined and mutually-dependent. These parts constantly interact and impact all the others in ways that modern science is only beginning to grasp.10 When one part of us withers, all parts suffer. When one is refreshed or strengthened, all grow in vigor. Full health requires well-being in each of these five facets of our whole person.

With this holistic vision before us, we commit ourselves to the following plan:

7 One hears this sense of the word “soul” in the distress call, SOS. Those on a sinking ship who send an SOS pray for rescue not of just their spirits, but of all that they are: Save Our Souls. 8 This view of the body, evident throughout the Old Testament, is unequivocally affirmed by the incarnation: God became flesh. Significantly, even after his resurrection, Jesus could be seen, heard and touched, broke bread and ate fish. 9 Genesis 1:31 10 An immense volume of research in recent decades reveals more and more ways in which the seemingly separate aspects of a human being intertwine and profoundly impact one another. Consider, for instance, recent research indicating that the experience of social isolation and loneliness increases inflammation in our physical bodies. Or how a person’s sense of emotional/psychological well-being carries dramatic impact on the strength of their immune system. Or how the very physical experience of holding a warm cup of coffee can cause us to feel emotionally warmer toward the person we are with. Or how positive emotional states – including the laughter of watching a silly video of penguins – makes one more intellectually sharp. Or how even small amounts of physical exercise decrease anxiety and depression, and increase feelings of emotional well-being. Or how the regular use of words like “joyful,” “glad” and “jolly” highly correlates with both emotional and physical health. Or how emotional stress impacts the physical health of our digestive tract, and vice versa. Or how feeling down emotionally affects our physical vision and the way we see certain colors. Or how simply seeing the color red (a physical experience) measurably decreases performance on an IQ test (our intellectual functioning). Or how eating fruits and vegetables boosts emotional health. Or how feeling burnout at work doubled the chances a person would develop COVID and tripled the chances that its symptoms would be severe if they did. Or how nodding one’s head affects our sense of intellectual confidence in judgements we’ve made. We could go on and on.