Soul Health for Leaders in Anxious Times by Christian Alliance for Orphans

SOUL HEALTH FOR LEADERS IN ANXIOUS TIMES

Thought Leadership from Collaborate 1

Collaborate A FORUM FOR GLOBAL LEADERS

CAFO Collaborate workshops initiate conversations about effective care for orphans and vulnerable children within developing local church and NGO networks around the world. These workshops generate ideas to: • creatively share information • involve more churches and individuals, • equip local churches for more effective care of vulnerable

NOURISHING THE SOUL HEALTH OF CHAMPIONS. In a March 2021 Virtual Collaborate DISCUSS session, over 50 global leaders from 30 nations brainstormed about strategies for nourishing the soul health of champions in their networks. This publication is the summary of those discussions.

RHYTHMS FOR NOURISHING SOUL HEALTH 2020 certainly brought its share of anxiety, but the Bible reminds us time and time again that anxiety has always been with us. Humans in every era have grappled deeply with this issue. Anxiety isn’t inherent to the situation we are facing, it is in our hearts. Worry comes from a broken world and a dry soul. If our souls are well watered in Him we can face trials in relative calm.

THE DRY SOUL And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Mark 5:25-34 (NIV) We learn in the story of the bleeding woman that in true ministry, power flows outward from us into others. When we are ministering in a true and earnest sense, life, health, and strength is pouring out of us and into others. If a pitcher of water keeps pouring out it will eventually run dry. The same is true for our souls. God intends for us to pour out, but if nothing is pouring into us we will run dry. Take heart! Our Good Father has provided for this. He has ordained in scripture special ways of pouring into us through rhythms of receiving.

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RHYHMS OF RECEIVING The heartbeat, breath, day/night, sleep, and seasons are all life-giving rhythms from God. Rhythms of receiving refer to an act of grace. Rhythms of receiving embed into our lives regular habits of receiving what God desires to pour into us to water our soul.

Daily Rhythms - Spending time each day in the presence of our Heavenly Father Beginning each day with Christ to set the tone for our entire day!

Weekly Rhythm - Sabbath God has given us Sabbath as a day to rest and play and worship. It is a gift!

Yearly Rhythm - Festivals God gave the Jews yearly festivals to be together to worship the Lord, to spend time with those they loved, and to enjoy time away from work. Although ours may look different than traditional Jewish festivals, take time each year to spend time away from work with those you love.

COLLABORATE OUTCOMES Global leaders were divided by world region for the purpose of this discussion. Given the unique nature of each world region and the feedback from regions varied. Each group was tasked with identifying ways to nourish the soul health of champions in their geographical region.

REGIONAL STRATEGIES Asia 1. Optimize time alone with the Lord every day in both the morning and evening. Memorize and recite favorite verses which strengthen your soul for daily living (ps 42:11). Receive the life and power of Jesus and refill your soul. 2. Observe family prayer during a convenient time (morning, evening, at the dining table, etc.). 3. Spend time as a family to reflect on what went well, what went wrong, and what could have been better about the day. This will also enable the family to celebrate together and have short accounts on a daily and weekly basis. 4. Facilitate mentoring programs for Leaders. Leaders need mentors to pour into their lives. 5. Facilitate support groups and retreats. Offer support groups that will be focused on specific areas that an individual needs: Father/Son retreats, marriage enrichment, ministry sabbaticals, etc.

Europe, Middle East, and North America 1. Get Creative! Creative expression can ease anxiety. 2. Carve out training time with staff to talk and process how teams can find rest and better receive the gift of Sabbath. 3. Help champions find rhythm by hosting a family festival, even in a virtual format. 4. Schedule intentional moments for rest and grant one another permission to receive Sabbath. 5. Model keeping healthy boundaries.

Latin America 1. Help champions to develop rhythms, routines to rest, and to be disciplined enough to have rest routines. 2. Be aware of the people around us and how work is distributed. Through this, we may help carry one another’s burdens. 3. Make sure our champions have someone to talk to. Champions need a safe place to be able to talk, to be emotionally accountable, and to trust someone who can understand them culturally. 4. Set apart a monthly day to pray (nothing else), to be able to pause and reconnect with Christ. 5. Teach champions to set limits, boundaries, and develop discipline to prevent burnout.

Eastern & Southern Africa 1. Spend time with God in worship, prayer, solitude, etc. 2. Encourage movement through sports and retreat. Ideas include hiking, golf, walking, swimming, etc. 3. Encourage staff and volunteers to take days off. 4. Spend time each day off social media. 5. Carve out time each week to spend enjoying time relaxing with family.

MORE REGIONAL STRATEGIES >>

Western and Central Africa 1. Delegate responsibilities and put trust in other champions. 2. Create awareness on the benefits of God’s gift of rest among champions. 3. Lead by example. Take periodic rest days off and pray constantly for champions to be less anxious. 4. Encourage periodic medical assessment of champions. 5. Encourage weekend corporate and individual retreats for champions to rest and find fulfillment in God.

RESOURCES

God’s Rhythms for Calm Hearts in Anxious Times We’ve come to see how powerful a soul care retreat can be for a ministry team. God’s Rhythms for Calm Hearts in Anxious Times is CAFO’s gift to help your teams experience their own staff soul care retreats. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS

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