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Global Integration Updates
Common Ground for the Common Good
Be the people we need--Build the world we need
Special News--June 2020
Managing Stress and COVID-Distress
Faith-Inclusive Resources
Better Together (music video)
"And love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart..."
Jack Johnson, 18 April 2020, One World--Together at Home
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"Psychological distress in populations is widespread. Many people are distressed due to the immediate health impacts of the virus and the consequences of physical isolation. Many are afraid of infection, dying, and losing family members. Individuals have been physically distanced from loved ones and peers. Millions of people are facing economic turmoil having lost or being at risk of losing their income and livelihoods. Frequent misinformation and rumours about the virus and deep uncertainty about the future are common sources of distress. A long-term upsurge in the number and severity of mental health problems is likely." Policy Brief: COVID-19 on the Need for Action on Mental Health (UN, May 2020, p. 2)
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In this Update we share more resources in the world community's battle to confront the corona virus. Specifically we focus primarily on some examples of faith-inclusive resources (faith-based and faith-sensitive) to support people whose spiritual and religious worldviews-practices help them cultivate strengths, purpose, virtues, values, and a core sense of identity.
Many of the resources deal with managing the causes and consequences of stress: COVID-Distress. Examples include anxiety, trauma, depression, confinement, loneliness, loss, grief, relationship strains, coping for children, work insecurities, spiritual struggles, uncertainty/concerns about what may "really" be going on, etc. And of course they also deal with faith practices such as prayer for the world and prayer to God, certain forms of meditation and mindfulness, devotional readings and reflections, religious traditions and rituals, etc.
We also want to emphasize that for hundreds of millions of people, the issue is not only 'faith-inclusive resources during COVID-19,' as important as they can be...but frankly ongoing survival with or without COVID-19. That is, managing daily life in settings inundated with multi-dimensional poverty, protracted violence, human rights violations, and gross inequalities. Our many overlapping, major crises continue unabated even as COVID-19 takes center stage in our world.
We begin the Update with a short article with psychological perspectives and research, Faith in A Time of Crisis and finish with a new article that we jointly authored, Engaging in Humanity Care: Stress, Trauma, and Humanitarian Work). We think you will find many of the resources below to be helpful for your life and for your work.
 
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MCAresources@gmail.com
Featured Resoources
Managing Stress and COVID-Distress
Faith-Inclusive Resources
Image source: United Nations Christian Association, Geneva
"Deeply concerned by the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the negative impacts on physical and mental health and social well-being, the negative impacts on economy and society and the consequent exacerbation of inequalities within and between countries….[The WHO World Health Assembly] calls for, in the spirit of unity and solidarity, intensification of cooperation and collaboration at all levels to contain, control and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic..." World Health Organization, Resolution on the COVID-19 Response (May 2020, paragraphs PP 1 and OP1)
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Resources
COVID-Distress Continuum
Monitoring distress--individual through international levels.
How is it going?
<----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
1. minimal 5. moderate 10. major
inconvenienced/annoyed overwhelmed/devastated
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Anxious Times. Corinne Gnepf, Olive Tree, Turkey (May 2020). “Undoubtedly, these recent months have not gone by without leaving marks on you. It is likely that at one point or another you have felt anxious, distressed, upset or depressed because of how Covid-19 has impacted you. Many more people around the world have experienced a heightened level of anxiety as lives, jobs, family routines, livelihoods, and relationships have been impacted or threatened. Forced isolation, social distancing, the worries about loved ones, missing out on milestone events such as weddings, graduations, anniversaries, and other special events takes a toll. Being stuck in a tight space with people who you love but can seriously get on your nerves, or with people who are unsafe to be around can be highly stressful. Being faced with too many deaths and the risk of working in the health care system is traumatic. All of these and many more can cause severe distress. Many people have gotten infected, struggled for every breath, fought back to live. All of these scenarios are difficult, period.”
Faith and COVID-19 Response. Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities. “COVID-19 is a global crisis that needs all communities across the world, together with governments, UN entities, and broad civil society organizations, to join forces in keeping people safe and well. As an international learning exchange, the JLI aims to facilitate evidence building and creation to support faith and COVID-19 response. We will update this page with JLI collaborations and partner initiatives (as possible).” Note: There are many faith-based organizations listed with resources relevant for the pandemic. One example is the global initiative on Faith and Positive Change in Children (UNICEF, JLI, Religions for Peace).
Spiritual First Aid: A Step-by-Step Disaster Spiritual and Emotional Care Manual (COVID-19 Edition). Humanitarian and Disaster Institute, Wheaton College USA (2020, also in Spanish). This manual is a “disaster spiritual and emotional care intervention… using both biblical wisdom and evidence-informed psychological insights….[It provides] a step-by-step approach to learning and providing spiritual and emotional care for others…remotely and while staying at home.” It is oriented for those with a Christian worldview.”
A Self-Care Guide for Change-Makers and Peacebuilders during Covid-19. Annalisa Jackson and Nicholas Sherwood. Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University USA (2020). This three page summary briefly describes 21 ways to take care of ourselves and our households (see image above). “It is important each of us take care of ourselves, paying attention to the needs of our own bodies, our minds, and our spirits. We should recognize the new reality we face can contribute to increased feelings of sadness, anger, discouragement, or being overwhelmed. A key component to taking care of ourselves during this time is identifying the things we can control rather than focusing on the things we cannot control. While it is critical to physically isolate as much as possible during this pandemic, finding strategies to maintain our health and our connections with others will significantly impact our well-being.”
Doing What Matters in Times of Stress: An Illustrated Guide. World Health Organization (April 2020). “[This] is a stress management guide for coping with adversity. The guide aims to equip people with practical skills to help cope with stress. A few minutes each day are enough to practice the self-help techniques. The guide can be used alone or with the accompanying audio exercises. Informed by evidence and extensive field testing, the guide is for anyone who experiences stress, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.” Note: Broadly speaking, the "values" emphasis/section in this guide could also be used to identify and integrate one's spiritual and religious values into coping. More COVID-19 resources for information and support here from WHO.
Recovery and Wellness—COVID-19: Operating Considerations for US-based International NGOs (May 2020), developed in collaboration with many INGOs. “The events of the past several months have presented a wide range of challenges to the International NGO (INGO) community as COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world. The operational realities of COVID-19 are causing organizations to create and adapt processes and procedures, reassess organizational customs and norms and establish new ways of working. Organizations are dedicating significant energy to projecting forward and making operational changes to uphold their duty of care and provide staff with a work environment that considers this new reality. Recognizing this effort, the INGO community came together to produce Recovery & Wellness, COVID-19 which convenes subject matter experts and practitioners from the fields of Human Resources, Insurances and Benefits, Staff Wellbeing, Security and Risk Management and Non-profit Law and Compliance. Each module seeks to provide guidance, suggestions for internal communications and an action list organized by Highly Recommended, Recommended and Beneficial actions. These are general recommendations which may not apply uniformly to all organizations and were specifically designed for small to mid-sized organizations.”
Note: This operational guide does not include spiritual, religious, or faith issues. Nonetheless like other "secular" materials (secular is Latin for "the times" and hence without reference to "the transcendent"), the information is helpful but colleagues will have to add their own spiritual and religious perspectives and resources to it (for example, in the section on staff wellbeing). See also the KonTerra Group’s COVID-19: Resources for Organizations and Employees.
Working Well? Aid Worker Wellbeing and How to Improve It. Melissa Pitotti and Mary Ann Clements, Core Humanitarian Standard Alliance. “This report provides numerous examples of efforts underway to support aid worker well-being and considers recent signs of political will to do more. However, it concludes: the issue requires a “home” that weaves together consideration of mental health, people management, organisational culture (including issues of diversity and equity), as well as care and compassion; it needs sustained resourcing to connect and support people working in these areas; it warrants uninterrupted attention from leadership, and also from boards, managers and individuals; and it requires different ways of working that better aligns with our stated humanitarian values. To get there, we need to connect what is already happening and build momentum across the sector towards these issues being discussed more widely and acted on by organisations. We want to develop an inclusive process designed to shift the way aid organisations prioritise staff well-being…” See also these two items: COVID-19 and the Core Humanitarian Standard and Cultivating Caring and Compassionate Aid Organizations.
Engaging in Humanity Care: Stress, Trauma, and Humanitarian Work. Kelly O’Donnell, Heidi Pidcoke, Michèle Lewis O’Donnell. Christian Psychology Around the World--Special Focus: Coping with Stress in Theory and Practice (Issue 14, May 2020, pp. 153-167). “In this article we focus on the wellbeing and effectiveness (WE) of staff in the humanitarian sector. More specifically, in Part One we highlight stress and trauma for humanitarian workers and in Part Two we share perspectives and resources to support humanitarian workers. We draw from our work as Christians in mental health and member care and in the context of our broad, multi-sectoral involvements for “engaging in "humanity care.” Keep in mind the personal and organizational benefits when everyone involved in the humanitarian sector stay resilient and healthy. This includes administrators, managers, leaders, volunteers, international and local/national staff, family members, teams, organizations, and the helpers themselves.”
What a Wonderful World (music video)
“ I see skies of blue and clouds of white;
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”
Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes
18 April 2020, One World--Together at Home
Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a non-profit, Christian organization working internationally from Geneva and the USA. MCA's involvement in Global Integration focuses on the wellbeing and effectiveness of personnel and their organizations in the mission, humanitarian, and development sectors as well as global mental health, all with a view towards supporting sustainable development for all people and the planet. Our services include consultation, training, research, developing resources, and publications.
Global Integration (GI) is a framework for actively and responsibly engaging in our world--locally to globally. It emphasizes connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing and the issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity, commitments, and core values (e.g., ethical, humanitarian, human rights, faith-based). GI encourages a variety of people to be at the “global tables” and in the "global trenches"--and everything in-between--in order to help research, shape, and monitor agendas, policies, and action for all people and the planet. It intentionally links building the world we need with being the people we need.
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Global Integration Issues
Special News and Updates
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