An Overview of MMCT
Mobile Member Care Team (MMCT) is a cooperative, inter-agency service that provides training, consultation, counseling, referral and direct crisis response for missionaries. The first team, of what is hoped to eventually be several teams across the world, is located in Ghana and serves West Africa. A second team started in East Africa in 2010 and is based in Nairobi.
The Need: Traumatic events such as evacuation, civil war, kidnapping, carjacking, armed robbery, rape, theft, assault, burnout and severe illness are increasingly common experiences for cross-cultural workers in West Africa. Crises such as these, in addition to the ongoing stresses of everyday life and the challenges of working on multi-cultural teams, contribute to attrition and discouragement among God’s workers. There are approximately 10,000 cross-cultural workers in the 14 countries from Senegal to Nigeria (about half of these would be Africans serving cross-culturally with agencies which are in the beginning stages of developing member care services).
Workers in other regions of the world also experience crises, but some areas have different concerns such as chronic stress from living “under cover”, isolation, spiritual oppression, etc. Mobile Member Care Teams in those areas would need to adapt the MMCT services to those situations.
Vision: MMCT exists to strengthen cross-cultural workers for healthy, loving service in the midst of challenge, change and crisis with the following objectives in mind: equipping, preserving and restoring personnel. We envision multiple regional teams around the world providing these services for members of any organization in cross-cultural ministry.
Brief History: An MMCT Global Advisory Board, established in 1998, launched MMCT-West Africa in May 2000. This team was located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from that time until December 2002, when the civil war caused them to relocate. They are now centrally located in Accra, Ghana. The Global Advisory Board passed its vision for MMCT International on to an International Governing Board, which it formed, in 2006. The IGB is now overseeing the process of developing teams in regions of the world. The West Africa team is contributing to this process by consulting with and offering workshop slots and possible internships to interested key players from other parts of the world.
Overview of Services:
Building Member Care Competencies: MMCT provides training through a number of workshops designed to help workers prepare for and meet the challenges they face. These workshops are held throughout West and East Africa and serve many different agencies with the added benefit of increasing cooperation and sharing of resources among agencies and their workers.
Developing Community Relationships: MMCT teams provide ongoing coaching and mentoring to trained peer responders, member care providers, and member care facilitators throughout their service areas. This is done through emails, Skype calls, visits, interagency partnerships, and training events.
Enhancing Resilience and Health: The MMCT staff also responds directly to crisis situations by providing early intervention, consultation to peer responders and agency leaders, assessments, short-term counseling and referrals. Psychological assessments are also done at the request of individuals or administrators.
Personnel: The West and East Africa teams are multidisciplinary with trainers, pastoral caregivers, counselors, and administrators. In addition, there are several associate staff members who help out on a short-term basis with workshops or crisis response.
The International Governing Board of the Mobile Member Care Team holds the vision for, and oversees the International Coordinator’s efforts towards, development of new MMCT teams in other parts of the world. They meet in Europe once a year for several days of review and strategic planning and hold virtual meetings periodically as well.