Guidelines for a Short-Term Member Care Consultation

Follow this link for more general information about consultations with the Koteskeys

New Hope International Ministries

1.  The invitation must come from the on-field group with whom the consultant will work.  The initial inquiry may come from the home office or field director, but the invitation must come from the people actually involved.  Also all people involved must agree to the visit—both husband and wife if it is a marital problem, both missionary and field director if it is a relationship problem, etc.  Usually telephone conversations and e-mail correspondence will be carried out regularly in the weeks before the visit.

2.  Administrators in the home office and on the field must approve the visit and cooperate.  The consultant needs to know about the background of the mission and how it operates, and to know about any tension producing factors on the field, such as the political situation, financial condition, recent traumas, and church problems.  Also since some problems are caused by the system itself, the mission must agree to consider making changes in policy or personnel within the mission itself.

3.  All matters related to finances must be clarified in advance. There will never be a charge for the consultation itself, but expenses may be shared.  The usual arrangement will be for the group receiving the consultation to pay for all expenses (transportation, food, shelter) while on the field.  The cost of round-trip airfare to the field may be shared by New Hope International Ministries and the mission.

4.  Mission administrators, missionaries, and the consultant must be in regular communication about what each expects.    Although things may be changed, all must state in advance what they want and what they intend to give.  This relates to logistics, length of consultation (ordinarily no more than a few weeks), and the kinds of problems that will be dealt with on the field (nothing so serious as to require hospitalization or long-term treatment).

5.  Mission administrators, missionaries, and the consultant must clarify the way follow-up will take place.  This may be consist of correspondence, telephone conversations, e-mail, small groups on the field, counselors within the mission, etc.

6.  Confidentiality and its limitations must be clarified in advance.  Ordinarily  anything shared with the consultant would be held in confidence, with the exception of the following:  (a) reports of abuse, (b) intention to harm self or others, c) court order to reveal something, and (d) intention to sabotage the mission organization.

7.  The Koteskey’s are not licensed as psychologists or counselors.  Although Dr. Koteskey has had extensive training in psychology and counseling and has taught psychology in Christian colleges for more than thirty years, he is not a licensed psychologist.  The Koteskey’s are knowledgeable friends of missions who would like to offer a sympathetic ear and counsel whenever and wherever possible, but they are doing this as laypersons, and not as professionals.                                                          

Revised 12/97