CRM Empowering Leaders

It happens too often: after years of acculturating and building relationships, a strategic missionary leader suddenly leaves. The reasons vary: burnout, loss of vision, conflict with co-workers, moral failure. Research indicates that each year, five percent of all long-term missionaries return home prematurely, and 70 percent of this attrition is avoidable. Not only can this unnecessary attrition devastate the departing missionary and his or her family, but it can be especially hurtful to the national church and its leaders.

In 2007, a team of four veteran missionaries was formed to start a year-long peer learning community for 25 to 30 missionary and NGO leaders in Cambodia. Our goal was to adapt CRM’s leadership development and spiritual formation principles to address the specific needs of cross-cultural ministry leaders, to reduce unnecessary attrition among key missionary leaders, and to provide a system of leadership development they could adapt and reproduce within their own organizations and national churches.

Ministry

Now in its fifth year, the Cross-Cultural Leader Networks in Cambodia have trained 118 key leaders from 55 different missionary organizations hailing from 20 sending nations. Most of these strategic leaders are still on the field and multiplying CRM’s leadership development and spiritual formation principles to their own staff and national workers throughout Southeast Asia. From 2012 onward to CCLN networks in Cambodia will be self-sustaining. In 2009 our team also began a CCLN network in Japan with 21 organizational leaders. Also, in 2012 another new network will begin in a large closed country in Asia.

Our goal is to run two yearlong networks simultaneously in two different countries. Another goal is, within three to four years, to train enough leaders to allow CCLNs to become self-sustaining in each nation. Our ultimate goal is to cut unnecessary attrition among strategic cross-cultural ministry leaders so that they and their families can thrive long term on the field. In turn, these leaders who have invested so much to acculturate and gain the trust of national leaders can remain long-term and make a significant impact for the Kingdom and God’s church in that nation.

Key distinctions of the CCLN process include:

• the integration of leadership development and spiritual formation
• learning through on-going relational networks and coaching that encourage lifelong learning, accountability and personal integrity - a process not a program
• a intentional lifelong developmental framework to give leaders tools to facilitate their own on-going growth and develop and that of those in their organizations and national churches
• enabling leaders to see how God has worked in their lives and uniquely shaped them and to be able to clearly articulate their vision and values for life and ministry
• reproducibility - giving leaders tools for developing others in their mission organizations and national churches

Use the links to the right to learn more about Cross Cultural Leaders Networks and various opportunities for getting involved.

Stories from Cross-Cultural Leaders Network

Responding to the Japan Tsunami

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