2020 Workshops

PTM Workshops

Workshop Tracks
This year we have arranged our workshops into five different tracks. Tracks are groups of workshops that deal with one common theme or approach to member care. Each track consists of four workshops which complement each other and offer attendees a chance to dig deeply into the track’s main focus. In order to get the most out of the workshops, we encourage you to follow one track throughout the conference.
Please Note: Because we are offering a wider selection this year, each workshop will be presented just one time.

Click here for Speaker Bios

Member Care Essentials Track

If you are looking to learn about and strengthen your core foundations and competencies in Member Care, this track offers some great resources for you. We will begin with an overview of the stages of a missionary’s service, then look at ways to address the common challenges of transition, relationships, and conflict.

How to Care as Needs Change • 1:30 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Dr. Roni Pruitt
This workshop will explore how to care for the cross-cultural worker as their needs change over the span of a career in missions. The care essentials of workers change based on their career stage calling for the care provider to transition to relevant focal points. Care needs will be mapped in this workshop for an effective journey into mission care.

Helping Us and Others through Life’s Transitions! • 3:45 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Kevin Rowe
This workshop will be very interactive so come prepared to move around and ready to engage with others. We will be sharing stories with one another to help us see transitions in different ways and how we can come alongside and engage those in our flocks needing help moving through changes in life situations. We will learn together from our own experiences while participating in group discussions. Kathy and Kevin will facilitate this time together. If you are hoping for a lecture to gain more information on transitions, this is not the workshop for you. But come to have some fun and be surprised at what you will learn as God shows up to speak to us all.

Calling the Best Out in One Another…(Interpersonal Skills) • 1:30 Thursday, October 8—presented by Paul Niager
When we think of ‘Interpersonal Skills’ on the mission field it is easy to think in terms of “do these things” and you’ll have integrated community. Perhaps we need to think more in terms of creating a different paradigm where we focus less on “skills” and more on relationality itself. When we ponder the Trinity and their ‘interpersonal skills’ we’ll certainly discover the INCREDIBLE value Jesus puts on highlighting the Father and the Father highlighting the Son....and on it goes. What does that mean for us as membercare people who come alongside global workers who can tend to live in a fish bowl as a missions community. Oh, to be able to put one another on display as fellow Christ Followers...where we feel set up to succeed, and in a similar fashion set others up to succeed in their Call as well. But how do we “rest” in who we are in Christ, and as we do how will that impact us as we deal with everyday tensions of living in community? Join us as we seek to flesh out what it means to give from an overflow of what Christ has put of Himself in us, and intentionally ponder how to draw one another toward Him in ways that are unique to who we are in the Body.

Conflict: Friend or Foe? • 3:45 Thursday, October 8—presented by Paul Niager
Join us as we dialogue and engage in ways that invite us more toward stimulating community where “Christ in us meets Christ in the person we are interacting with.” C. S. Lewis said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” If we capture the essence of these types of truths, deeper within our own souls, perhaps we will then engage with one another to the delight of the Father and the joy for ourselves…. We truly will be iron that sharpens iron, conflict will be less terrifying and seen more as a window of the Father engaging us with Him in what could be transformative when we process “doing community” with other fallen but redeemed people just like ourselves.

Church-Based Care Track

The Great Commission is a task so daring that every tool and weapon in our arsenals needs to be armed and ready. The church, agency, specialist and missionary each make their unique contributions, and the church’s unique role is vital. Journey along this track to further equip and sharpen your church with meaningful practices and resources to raise up, send out and uphold your global workers.

Holding the Rope of Three Strands: Part 1 (1:30 Wednesday, October 7) and Part 2 (3:45 Wednesday, October 7)—presented by David and Lorene Wilson
“Integration” is a popular buzzword today in both the business world and within the local church. Leaders are focused on integrating essential elements that were once previously siloed (another buzzword) so that the whole organization can economize its work and maintain a common focus. In the past, we have seen the wonderfully integrated Great Commission of our Lord, tragically segregated into many parts…all with the best of intentions. In an effort to “specialize” we have church planting organizations, missionary care organizations, relief and development organizations, mobilization specialists, Christian educaltion specialists, and even specialists who specialize in helping each of these specialities discover how God has made them special.

As William Carey set out for India, he famously told his friend Andrew Fuller “I will go down, if you will hold the rope.” Thus reviving the Antioch model in Acts chapter 13 where those who are sent out as Great Commission ambassadors need to have a well established system of support back home. And the stronger the system, the better the support; just as the writer of Ecclesiastes states, “A rope of three strands is not quickly broken.”

For this workshop, we will highlight the three strands of our Great Commission rope: The Church, the Agency, and the Missionary. While there are many other strands for this rope (seminaries, training centers, care providers, business as mission, etc.), we will focus on being proactive and intentional in the development of an integrated model for the effective sending, sustaining, and receiving of Great Commission workers.

Fruitful partnerships do not just happen without careful planning. Each partner (strand in the rope) needs to know the part they play, and they need to know and appreciate the role the others play as well. We will seek to clarify the roles of churches, agencies, and workers, as well as navigate the complexities of overlap, with a focus on maintaining the priority of our Great Commission.

Church Leadership and Member Care • 1:30 Thursday, October 8—presented by Brian Gibson
Why engage in "church-based care,” and what does that mean from a local church perspective? How do we facilitate church leaders to a place of recognizing the need for this? Who are the people to champion care for your global workers? These are some of the questions we want to wrestle with, and though there is no one easy answer, there are clear ways forward. As we learn from one another, my hope is that you walk away encouraged and empowered to rally the church to send and sustain your workers. Whether made up of 50, 500, or 5000 people, your church has a significant role to play.

Church-Based Member Care Forum • 3:45 Thursday, October 8
Join our Church-Based Care presentation team for a facilitated time of Q & A and opportunities to exchange ideas with other member care practitioners from local churches.

Family in Missions Track

God continues to call families and singles to share the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. As member care providers it is essential that we consider the needs of parents, children and singles in our member care models. A better understanding of the dynamics of families and singles can only help our global mission objectives. The Families in Missions track will address vital topics that impact the growing diversity in missionary families around the globe.

Is it Really All About My Mother? How Family of Origin Impacts Life in Ministry • 1:30 Wednesday, October 7
—presented by Steve Maybee
So much time, attention and effort can be spent on preparing people to go to the field: Bible school, seminary, cross-cultural training, language learning, and the list goes on. Yet so many of the challenges that people face, when you really get to the heart of it, stem from how we view ourselves and that view tends to have a lot to do with the families in which we were raised.

In this session we will examine some of the dynamics of our own families-of-origin and how that influences our view of the world and our relationships with others. Then we'll explore together how those types of dynamics can influence the ability to thrive on the mission field.

Twenty-first Century TCKs • 3:45 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Donna Messenger
Most of this fall's freshman college students were born after 9/11. How is this generation of TCKs different from MKs before them? How is 21st Century culture different from the one in which we were raised? What do today's MKs want you to know about them? We will look briefly at the TCK profile, talk about how MKs fit into that definition, and discuss ways to encourage and come alongside today's TCKs and their parents.

Single vs. Married? • 1:30 Thursday, October 8—presented by Donna Messenger
We often think through the needs for missionary couples and families, and occasionally we'll consider the needs of singles, but how often do we look at the dynamics and singles and married couples working together? What do we need to know about each other to create a healthy working relationship? In this session, we'll look at both singles and married couples to see how we can seek to understand each other and create effective working teams. We'll look at a few case studies to help us think through how God intends for us all to work together.

Shepherding Parents of Prodigals • 3:45 Thursday, October 8—presented by Perry Bradford
As Christian parents...it is our overwhelming desire to raise emotionally and spiritually healthy adult children. We may have differing parenting styles and may ourselves have various levels of spiritual maturity...but the bottom line is that we want our children to walk closely with the Lord into their adult lives, seeking to pass on biblical values to their children. Who tends to those parents whose children have wandered away from the Lord? What does it look like to shepherd parents through the pain of seeing their children walk apart from God? During this workshop we will consider ways to encourage one another as we explore how to shepherd the heart of “parents of prodigals”.

Coaching/Spiritual Direction Track

In this track, we will survey the biblical foundations of and skills related to two similar, yet distinct, helping modalities. We’ll consider the application of these tools in caring for the soul of another through the exploration of life-story and calling; seeking to understand how God uses personal experience to develop mature persons; and how we can help others to set goals and establish sustainable practices to live according to God’s design.

Caring for Workers through Coaching • 1:30 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Jon Taylor
In this workshop, we will introduce foundational coaching skills and how they can be used to care for missions workers. We'll cover how people grow through coaching, the basic coaching skills of active listening and asking good questions, and helping others as they work towards a goal. These principles will help you care for workers in a growth-focused relationship.

The Calling Journey • 3:45 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Jon Taylor
Ever wish you had a guidebook to explain what your life story means? The Calling Journey is just such a map. The timeline of your life explains the universal stages and transitions you'll go through on the road to fulfilling your calling. It reveals exactly how God leverages everything you experience in life—from your greatest success to your lowest valleys—to make you into the person you were born to be.

The Heart of Spiritual Direction • 1:30 Thursday, October 8—presented by Steve Wise
In this workshop, we will develop a biblical definition of spiritual direction, as well as compare it to other helping modalities such as counseling, mentoring, and coaching.

Serving Others through Spiritual Direction • 3:45 Thursday, October 8—presented by Steve Wise
We will consider various biblical, historical models of offering spiritual direction, along with an opportunity to explore the application of Spiritual Direction in Member Care, by way of a panel discussion featuring trained Spiritual Directors who use this skill as they care for the souls of global workers.

The Flock in Focus Track

The call to missions has been answered by a beautifully diverse selection of people, all with unique needs and perspectives. Workshops in this track focus in on a few of the distinct groups under our care—millennials and women—and also highlight approaches to member care that emphasize mercy and foster resilience. Beyond the basics, this track offers a slightly more in-depth exploration of the flock and specific approaches to shepherding.

Shepherding Millennials • 1:30 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Perry Bradford
The Millennial generation (born 1982—2002) is a passionate people group. All generations face various challenges, struggles and dangers. This young generation is the future of the global missions movement. It is crucial that mission organizations and churches work together with the millennial generation. During this workshop we will explore ways in which organizations, churches and member care providers can embrace the strengths of this generation while at the same time shepherd their heart and soul.

Caring from Mercy, So That… • 3:45 Wednesday, October 7—presented by Darwin Anderson
We care for missionaries so that they persevere to take the Gospel further. We follow a mercy line in our missionary care because of God's mercy in our own lives. It is His model that haunts us and corrects us and encourages us forward in this care work. We care for their wounds and brokenness from our own, straight across. We know some of the opposition they face and give grace from that understanding. We have freely received so we freely give. We perservere with them from maintaining our own shock at being called children of the Most High God. We advocate for them, we love their kids, we work hard to earn their trust, we try not to flinch when they gnaw on us, and we model a life of sacrifice to encourage them to continue on.

Enlarging the Threshold: Fostering Resilience in Global Workers • 1:30 Thursday, October 8—presented by Silas West
There used to be a window in what is now my home office. It was small and oddly shaped allowing very little light to enter. When I was renovating the room to turn it into an office, I took out the window and replaced it with a sliding glass door. By enlarging my threshold, I now have a full view of my backyard and enjoy lots of natural light. Our global workers often go to the field with narrow thresholds—limited tolerance for pain, suffering, loss, tragedy etc. A large part of fostering and shepherding resiliency is to help our workers develop flexible thresholds. Resisting the process of stretching in the face of each new crisis or loss only leads to cracks and, eventually, broken windows. In this session we will explore three key factors that promote flexibility and foster the development of resiliency: 1) One’s respons to loss and grief, 2) One’s willingness to press into discomfort vs. avoidance, and 3) One’s degree of self-awareness.

Women and the Cost of Serving • 3:45 Thursday, October 8—presented by Renee Aupperlee and Sandi Bradford
Around 75% of global workers on the field are women. The unique challenges they face and the cost of their choice to serve cross-culturally can not be addressed in the same way as their male counterpart. In this workshop we will identify these challenges and discuss the best way to ensure this army of women continues to thrive on the front lines of expanding the kingdom. If you are a woman serving cross culturally, a team mate who desires to better support women on your team, or a member care worker who shoulders the burdens of the women you care for, this is for you.