You may wonder what exactly has been going on and the short answer is ALOT!
- We moved from 5 member care advisors to 3 and the number of members I care for increased significantly. For several months it was rather overwhelming to come up to speed on new members and some ongoing challenging situations.
- As that began to slow down and I felt things were settling my team underwent yet another change with the retirement of one more of our member care advisors. This didn't so much add to my work, rather it added to the unsettledness of that time.
- We also added four new members to our team over the span of about 1 year: one who thankfully helps with much of the administrative work, one who works with our HR system as well as insurance program, one who focuses on risk and safety management, and one member care advisor.
- Additionally in the Spring and Autumn of 2019 I spent time in Calgary, Thailand, North Carolina, the UK, and Calgary again.
- Calgary was for team meetings both times. My entire team is spread across Canada plus one many time zones away so meeting in person is very important for us.
- Thailand was to provide member care to our former colleagues who had gone through some very trying times in our old country.
- North Carolina was to evaluate a risk and security training program that our members would go through before moving overseas.
- England was to attend a gathering of HR staff from across SIL and other Wycliffe organizations.
- As all the travel finished, plus the recovery and catch up, we began to hear of something called Covid 19. From March 2020 and for the next few months it was yet again very busy as I worked with members to decide what they should do...stay where they are, wait and see what happens, or return to Canada as soon as possible. In the early days information was changing rapidly, countries were making sudden decisions to close airports or borders, and flights were canceled last minute or the prices were exorbitant. At times I would anticipate a member flying home only to have the flight canceled last minute or changed...or a member with no flight home available and then suddenly have 24 hours to purchase tickets, pack, and often find a way to a different city to even get on the flight.
- Like many of you here in Canada Covid 19 means juggling work and kids at home. All day. All the time.
- The summer was a welcome reprieve and the first time it felt like there was space and time to breathe. And so now I have felt collected enough to sit down and write a letter to you to catch you up.
In the midst of all of this my regular work in member care has continued. The pandemic has changed the way many people work around the world. For me, though much of what I do is already online, face to meetings have been placed on hold since March. These are the highlight of my work for me, spending time with people, listening to their stories, providing a safe place to talk about the good times as well as the difficult ones. As you walked with us through our return to Canada you know it is not always an easy time. Providing care over zoom, or google hangouts has certainly stretched how I work.
All meetings are now online, everything from debriefing to team meetings. Zoom fatigue is a real thing. Below is a picture of the member care team (includes member care advisors, overseas insurance administrator, data administrator, and travel and risk management). This meeting happens across 5 time zones and starts at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 8am the next day for my various teammates!
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But we continue to do what we do so that Wycliffe Canada can continue to play its part in bringing God's word to those who don't have it. Thank you for your ongoing financial and prayer support. I am thankful for the way you have cared for me, and my family, since we started with Wycliffe almost 20 years ago.
