What does it take to reach the finish line—to fulfill your calling with joy? Track with me for a minute here. We can learn something from marathon runners about going the distance while serving cross-culturally.

"Why don't you slow down and take a breather?" Susan asked as Dave walked in the door, his sweat-soaked shirt sticking to his body.

"I can't really afford to sit down right now.” As Dave shut the door behind him, the hot desert air seemed to recede as the atmosphere of the house returned to a comfortable temperature. “I just came from Abdullah's house to help patch his roof and now I have to prepare for the men's Bible study tonight and finish my sermon for tomorrow.”

Grieving a loss can be an overwhelming process.  When people talk about grief they often use the term in reference to losing a person, but in actuality grief can occur anytime a change occurs.  We can grieve the temporary loss of friendships or changes in a friendship when a friend gets married, the loss of a place after moving, the loss of familiarity, or the loss of a loved one.  Grief is an emotional process most people can relate to because grief is something we all experience at one time or another. In spite of how common the grieving process is, many are not familiar with certain “side effects” that can occur when we are in the middle of grieving a loss.

The first two articles in this series have focused on recognizing and treating burnout, but what if you are not burned out and just want to take healthy steps to prevent reaching a state of burnout?  Here are a few ideas on how to start consciously making choices that will help prevent burnout in the long run. 

If you read and resonated with the description of burnout in part one of our series on burnout, you may be asking yourself, “What should I do if I’m already burned out?”  As mentioned previously, burnout symptoms can be very similar to the symptoms of depression - meaning ‘doing’ anything can be an uphill battle.  So what can you do (or not do) to start on the path towards becoming balanced instead of burned out?

What Causes Burnout?  For those under the continual stress of living in a new location, adjusting to a new job, and juggling their own and other people's expectations - burnout is a real and looming risk.  With all the new stressors to adjust to, prioritizing or even determining what your new self-care system needs to look like can be extremely difficult.  So, what is “burnout” and how can we catch signs of burnout early?

Technology has allowed us to be able to connect and communicate with more people, yet loneliness continues to be an issue for many people.  There are many theories out there as to why this continues to be such a prevalent issue. Still, this article will focus more on a few small changes we can make toward connecting on a deeper level in order to help combat those times we begin to feel lonely.

“Most people don’t sign up to be overwhelmed,” said Erik, Valeo’s Clinical Director, in a conversation I had with him, but many people accidentally set themselves up to become overwhelmed by saying ‘yes’ to tasks that they should say ‘no’ to. So, how can we determine which tasks we should say ‘no’ to? How can we determine what to place on our “Not To Do” list?

When we're doing well right before everything falls apart or when our stress level reaches the ceiling - those are the times it can be difficult to continue to trust in our Father's goodness and perfect plan.  In a conversation with Lisa, a friend of Valeo and a long-time global worker, she shared a few words of wisdom, from her own experience, on how to cling to our faith in the middle of tough times when we may feel like letting go.

We were privileged to sit and chat with Lisa, a friend of Valeo.  Lisa and her husband, Scott, served as global workers for over twenty years. As we talked, the topic arose of how global workers can show care for one another. Lisa shared a few ideas from her years of experience ministering to her co-workers on the field.

Think back to how you first met and became friends with the person that is now your best friend. Can you remember? Sometimes growing a friendship or a community of friends can happen effortlessly, but when we move to a new location, we may find ourselves at a loss when trying to form those same deep connections.  Here are a few ideas Becky (Valeo’s Spiritual Director) gave when asked how to go about building a community after moving to a new place.

When preparing to live in a new location, it can be tough to determine how to create a foundation for emotional and spiritual health while living overseas.  Here are ideas to help set that healthy foundation in order to thrive while serving.

Valeo’s former Spiritual Director, Becky, suggests ways to make space for our spiritual life and why this is important in our daily life. Becky stated that sometimes we “can get so busy with the doing that we neglect the being.” This is where creating Spiritual space can be vital to our spiritual well-being. While these steps are not exhaustive, Becky gave a few starting points to begin creating spiritual space:

When we’re serving, it can be easy to spread ourselves thin trying to do all that needs to be done.  These tips can help you refocus and keep stress at a manageable level. 

The holiday season can be a tough time to be away from family.  Here are tips to help anyone spending the holidays away from family thrive during the season.