The Red Sea Counselling and Member Care Centre Limited exists to support Christian cross-cultural workers, past and present, to lead resilient lives, and to carry out their spiritual calling with great joy and fruitfulness. The Red Sea Counselling and Member Care Centre Limited is a new initiative which aims to support Christian cross-cultural workers who work and live in the Asia Pacific region. It will provide all forms of debriefing, pastoral care, training and professional counselling services for individuals and families who serve across all mission agencies and denominations in this region. These counselling and member care services will be key to reducing attrition and ameliorating harm in Christian cross-cultural workers so that they can thrive in their ministry roles. This service is also offered to past Christian cross culture workers, who have returned home, but may still carry loss and pain or have unresolved issues from their time of service. In 2009, SIL International Counselling and Personnel spent 3 years discussing various options for providing a sustainable counselling presence in the South Pacific. After an extensive feasibility study, it was determined that a counselling centre in Cairns was the best, if not only solution. Cairns was chosen as the location for The Red Sea because it has an international airport, established mission accommodation at Tree Tops Lodge (co-owned by Wycliffe Australia and Mission Aviation Fellowship), and is a relatively short distance to travel for cross-cultural workers in Papua New Guinea, Northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. It is modelled on other similar member care centres such as The Well and Cornerstone Counselling in Thailand, Tumaini Counselling Centre in Africa, and The Olive Tree Counselling in Turkey. Progress to date
• May 2020, Wycliffe Australia members Mark and Lorene van Rossen were assigned by SIL Pacific Area to set up The Red Sea Counselling and Member Care Centre with co-founder Dr Roger van der Veen.
• November 2020, the Board was established
• July 21 2021 (backdated), The Red Sea became a registered business (limited by guarantee), a recognised charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and has Designated Gift Recipient (DGR) status through the Australian Tax Office
• October 2022, we are planning to commence operations, and have started actively recruiting workers and looking for suitable office space.
