Glocal Series: U-N-I-T-Y Is Social Work the Queen of the Domains?
In our last blog, Sath defined what TLC’s domain engagement strategy is and in our successive blogs we’re going to highlight specific domains. We are blessed to be in the Holy Land with a few leaders of another church, The Perfecting Church, from just outside of Philadelphia. They’ve been engaging through domains here and building relationships for the last six years. Last year, they began training social workers on topics that were specifically requested. And they soon discovered that the social work domain was the gateway to being involved in many other domains.
Regal Reception
Social workers deal with very tough issues and the training for this trip was centred around trauma. But before the training began, the first thing we noticed were the smiles of the women who came to the session. You could tell they were genuinely excited to see the members of The Perfecting Church again and one of the ladies said she had been looking forward to this day for the past few weeks! It was beautiful to see how the church has poured into these women, built lasting friendships, and ultimately brought glory to the Father by doing so. This is the power of a heart of compassion for others that is often displayed through those in the social work domain.
Regal Responsibility
As the women welcomed and embraced us, it was empowering to hear their unique stories. It was also eye-opening to hear what they face as they work with the elderly, women, and young children. One woman was a teacher who works with 3-5 year olds. Many of them do not talk, so she diagnoses the reason based on possible trauma and other circumstances and then formulates a plan on how to develop their speaking skills (Emerson & Reagan never stop talking, so this is tough to imagine!). We also had the privilege to be among children at a local orphanage. While the circumstances for why the kids and babies are there are heart-breaking, it was uplifting to see them being loved on by the workers just as Jesus loves his children. What a tremendous responsibility those who operate in the social work domain have! If this is you, God has placed children, families, men, women, old, and young in your path to be His hand of creation, encouragement, compassion, and empowerment in others.
Regal Results
Domain engagement is about using your vocation, gifts, passions, and skills. Glocal domain engagement is about using these things locally and globally. In our time, one necessarily flows into the other. There are tremendous opportunities for developing, supporting, training, and engaging alongside social workers as they exercise dominion throughout various domains. We truly saw what it means to care for widows and orphans and while there may be many opportunities here, our prayer is that we would be spurred on to love them not only in the Holy Land, but also in Toronto.
By Missy Seaman