Our Team
Cristy Mock
Counsellor and Social Worker
B.A. Counselling, Grad Dip of Counselling and Integrated Psychotherapy, Master of Social Work
Professional registration with ACA and AASW
Meet Cristy
Cristy and her husband, Steven, have lived in Cairns for nearly 20 years after moving from the USA to minister in a local church. They have three teenage children who are all too quickly reaching the stage of flying the nest. She loves coffee dates with her hubby, the blues and greens of the ocean, and playing piano for church worship. She is quite sure that peanut butter and chocolate are truly a match made in heaven.
Cristy’s Counselling Approach
Cristy trusted Christ at a young age and surrendered to missions as a teenager. Her counselling approach combines deep theological understanding with clinically informed practices. She delights in helping Christians grow towards ever greater Christlikeness. Through her own life hardships and cross-cultural experience, she has become ever convinced of God’s providential goodness in her life, and desires for others to realise that same reality amid their own suffering and struggles.
Mark van Rossen
CEO and Member Carer
Meet Mark
Mark has served in national and international management and leadership roles for the past 35 years, working and volunteering with various Australian not-for-profit and Christian mission agencies, and has been a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia since 2003. Over many years serving in Papua New Guinea, Mark witnessed the critical need for specialised mental health care for cross-cultural workers. Over the past few years, Mark as been the driving force behind establishing The Red Sea.
Married in 1987, Mark and Lorene have two grown children, and two grandchildren.
Mark’s Care
Mark is trained in a broad range of member care disciplines, including Mediation, Critical Incident Debriefing, Mental Health First Aid, and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. He is passionate about directly supporting mission workers, and further building a community of support around them. Mark’s warmth and empathy create the crucial conditions of care: a safe space for reflection and recuperation.
Lorene van Rossen
Office Manager and Member Carer
Meet Lorene
Lorene has been a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia since 2003, always working in a close partnership with her husband Mark. For almost 20 years they have jointly filled roles in Papua New Guinea; as Lae Regional Centre Managers, Directors for Regional Centres, Port Moresby Regional Centre Managers and Staff Care Managers. Lorene has also served in Australia as a Member Care Coordinator and State Representative. Lorene has seen, first hand, the need for specialised care services for those serving in cross-cultural ministry in this region.
She has a passion to see missionaries cared for, loves being a wife, mother and grandmother, enjoys drawing and painting, and looks forward to virtual playdates with her grand-children.
Lorene’s Care
As a vital part of the founding team of The Red Sea, Lorene contributes in many ways; through office management, finance and partnership development, and last but not least as a Member Carer. Her member care training includes Mediation, Debriefing, Mental Health First Aid, and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. She is also a CerneySmith Assessment coach. Lorene takes a non-directive approach that opens space for members to lay down their burdens in gentle hands.
Grant & Sharon Dixon
Member Carers
Meet Grant and Sharon
Grant and Sharon have served with MAF for over 40 years. Grant spent the first 17 years of his MAF career in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as an aircraft engineer. They were then assigned to the heavy maintenance base in Ballarat, where Grant was responsible for Engineering Quality Assurance for the Asia Pacific region. Both were then in rinvolved in recruitment roles. Grant (now officially retired) works part-time as an engineer at the MAF hangar at Mareeba.
From 2013 to 2019, Sharon and Grant connected with MAF staff in the PNG, Timor-Leste and Arnhem Land programs through a pastoral care program. The now bring their understanding, experience, member care skills to the Red Sea – and we are so grateful to have them.
They have one son, Alastair, who resides in Ballarat. Their two beautiful granddaughters ensure they make regular trips south.