Before the Breaking Point

There is a question we have learned to ask Global Leaders that has very little to do with their ministry:

“How are you doing—really?”

Not, How is church planting going?

Not, How many people are you discipling?

Not, How is the new ministry initiative going?

Just:

How are you?

It is a remarkably simple question. But for someone who spends his or her life caring for others, it can be surprisingly difficult to answer.

At ZEELO, we serve men and women carrying the Gospel into some of the world's most challenging places. Many live and minister among people with little or no meaningful access to the Gospel. They cross cultures, learn languages, raise families far from home, navigate security concerns, experience loss, lead teams, disciple believers, plant churches, and carry responsibilities most of us will never see.

And because they are strong, capable, committed people, it can be easy to assume they are doing fine.

Until they aren't.

We Don't Want to Wait for Something to Break

Yes, crisis care will always be part of ZEELO. But there is so much more to do before a crisis.

When a Global Leader encounters trauma, marriage difficulty, overwhelming stress, team conflict, exhaustion, or another significant crisis, we want to be there. Exceptional care means entering difficult places with people rather than watching from a distance.

But we are increasingly convinced that some of our most important work happens long before the breaking point.

Sometimes care looks remarkably ordinary.

It is a scheduled Zoom conversation from thousands of miles away.

It is noticing that someone who normally sounds hopeful suddenly sounds tired.

It is asking about a marriage before there is a marriage crisis.

It is giving a missionary permission to acknowledge that something has been hard.

It is helping a couple recognize the accumulated losses of living cross-culturally.

It is providing a safe place to say things they may not be comfortable saying to supporters, teammates, organizational leaders, or even family members.

It is giving a missionary family returning to the United States a home, a vehicle, groceries, and enough margin to exhale.

It is a day of intentional debriefing after years of experiences that have never really been processed.

None of those things may appear dramatic.

That's precisely the point…

Exceptional Care Shouldn't Begin With an Emergency

Think about how differently we approach other important things in life.

We change the oil before the engine fails.

We inspect a roof before water is pouring through the ceiling.

We go to the dentist before we lose a tooth.

We service an airplane long before something stops working at 35,000 feet.

Why would we approach the spiritual health of those carrying the Gospel differently?

Global Leaders are not machines, of course. They are people—husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They have physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual limits just like the rest of us.

Calling does not eliminate those limits.

Faithfulness does not eliminate them.

Spiritual maturity does not eliminate them.

And neither does a fruitful ministry.

In fact, sometimes fruitfulness can hide what is happening beneath the surface.

A ministry can be growing while a marriage is struggling.

A church can be planted while a missionary is becoming exhausted.

People can be coming to Christ while the person sharing Christ is quietly becoming depleted.

That is why ZEELO believes excpetional care should be intentional, relational, confidential, and ongoing.

Creating Margin to Pay Attention

One of the great enemies of health in ministry is simply the pace.

There is always another need.

Another conversation.

Another village.

Another sermon.

Another crisis.

Another trip to... somewhere in the world.

Another person who needs help.

Global Leaders become remarkably good at continuing to move forward.

What they don't always have is space to stop and consider what all that movement is doing inside them.

That's one reason intentional debriefing and soul care have become such important parts of ZEELO's ministry.

We create space for Global Leaders to tell their stories—not simply report their ministry results.

We talk about victories, but also disappointments.

We remember what God has done.

We identify losses that may have gone unnamed.

We talk about stress and resilience.

We pay attention to spiritual health.

We ask about marriage and family.

And sometimes we simply sit quietly and listen.

There is something powerful about giving a person who is constantly pouring out permission to receive.

Care That Multiplies

We are also learning that preventative care cannot depend solely upon ZEELO personally caring for one Global Leader at a time.

God is opening doors for us to come alongside African-led mission organizations that are sending hundreds—and in some cases thousands—of indigenous missionaries into difficult and unreached places.

These organizations know their people, cultures, and ministry environments far better than we ever could.

What some lack are structured, contextualized systems for caring for the missionaries they send.

So ZEELO is helping leaders think intentionally about questions such as:

Who is regularly checking on the missionary?

What happens when a marriage begins struggling?

How are missionaries debriefed after difficult assignments?

Who recognizes the warning signs of exhaustion or trauma?

Where can missionaries speak honestly and confidentially?

How do we care for the caregiver?

Helping an organization answer those questions may prevent problems we will never know occurred.

And we are perfectly comfortable with that.

Success in missionary care isn't measured by how many crises we respond to.

Sometimes success is the crisis that never happened.

Fruitful and Fulfilled for a Lifetime

Our vision at ZEELO has never been simply to help Global Leaders remain on the field longer.

Longevity by itself isn't enough.

We want those we serve to be healthy, fruitful, and fulfilled for a lifetime of ministry.

We want marriages to remain strong.

We want children to experience healthy families.

We want Global Leaders to maintain vibrant relationships with Christ.

We want leaders to recognize their limits without feeling guilty about having them.

We want them to know there are trusted people in their lives who care more about who they are than what they accomplish.

And when difficult seasons inevitably come, we want those relationships to already exist.

That is preventative care.

That is crisis care.

That is exceptional care.

To those who pray for ZEELO and financially invest in this ministry, you make both possible.

Your generosity helps us respond when a Global Leader is hurting. But it also allows us to make the phone call, provide the retreat, open the home, conduct the debrief, strengthen the marriage, equip the sending organization, and build the relationship before there is ever an emergency.

Thank you for helping us care well for those carrying the Gospel to the Unreached.

Sometimes the most significant crisis intervention is the care that came early enough that a crisis never happened.