One of the losses associated with living cross-culturally for the sake of the gospel is access to quality Christian counseling or pastoral care resources. By definition missionaries serve where the church is least established. If the church is still emerging in your cultural context, then it only makes sense that the Christian counseling and pastoral care resources available to you will also be fewer in number (accessibility) and less developed (quality).
One of the benefits of the internet is that it allows access to a wealth of information and resources. Below we want to provide a list of quality Christian counseling and pastoral care resources that you can access for personal care and ministry development while serving overseas.
Broad-Based Counseling Resources
bradhambrick.com – My site provides a topical index with free written, audio, and video resources on a broad array of counseling subjects. The goal of my site is to provide clinically-informed resources from a biblical counseling perspective.
ccef.org – CCEF has long held the mission to “Restore Christ to Counseling and Counseling to the Church.” Their site provides free written, audio, and video resources from their large counseling staff.
biblicalcounselingcoalition.org – The BCC is megaphone for leading contributors to the biblical counseling movement. Their site provides daily devotional blogs on a wide variety of counseling-related subjects. You will find links to many other helpful site from the contributors who write for this site.
headhearthand.org – David Murray writes at HHH and addresses a large number of Christian Counseling and pastoral care topics. David does a great job of regularly linking to useful resources from others across the world wide web.
Specialized Counseling Resources
rw360.org – Ken Sande is the leading developer of RW360 a resource designed to help individuals and team grows in relational wisdom. With team conflict being the number one reason missionaries give for coming home early, this site is an excellent source of guidance on how to build and protect team unity.
globaltraumarecovery.org – Diane Langeberg (dianelangberg.com) does excellent work on the subject of trauma. If you’re serving in a context where the general population is facing social atrocities or natural disasters, or the church is facing persecution, growing in your understanding of the effects of trauma would serve you and those you serve well.
church4everychild.org – If you are serving overseas and have a child with special needs, then the resources developed by Dr. Stephen Grcevich will be an immense aid.
divorcecare.org – In many contexts becoming a Christian costs new believers their families. Regardless, divorce is increasingly relevant and a pastoral care concern that pastors must help their congregants process. Church Initiative has developed an excellent resource for this in DivorceCare.
smartstepfamilies.com – With divorce often comes blended families (which can also emerge from adoption, being widowed, or having children before marriage). Ron Deal is the leading contributor to this site and brings years of experience from working with hundreds of blended families. This site can serve you well as you help blended families navigate some of their unique challenges.
benjaminmast.com – Many who serve overseas are in the season of life when their parents may begin to experience Alzheimer’s or various forms of dementia. Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Mast does a great job of bringing both clinical and theological perspective to bear on how to love well through this most difficult form of suffering.
amysimpson.com – Amy Simpson brings a strong passion to see the church minister well to individuals and their families who struggle with mental illness. Her own family experience sparked this passion, but she has studied well and thought deeply about how the church can minister effectively.
togetherforadoption.org – If you have adopted a child or are in a context where caring for orphans by facilitating adoption is part of your mission, then T4A is organization that provides resources and networking opportunities you will want to be familiar with.
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