Missionaries Mental Health and Accountability

<p>Culture shock. Marital strife. Depression. Addictions. Disillusionment. Organization and team tensions. Family trauma. Medical issues. This is not what you signed up for when you pursued missions.</p><p>Field workers cross linguistic cultural and ministry boundaries but they still experience the same mental health challenges as everyone else—and often more. When the missionary unit includes a spouse and children the complexities multiply as each person undergoes stressors. Needing psychological or psychiatric help too often leads to burnout or worse. It’s time to let go of the stigma and embrace mental health.</p><p><em>Missionaries Mental Health and Accountability </em>opens with stories of scriptural saints who also struggled and still made profound impacts for the kingdom. Then global contributors—comprised of an equal balance of Korean and Western writers—reach into the complexity of missionary mental health with the added component of accountability in church and agency support systems. Specifically four important areas of missionary mental health are considered: 1) disillusion discouragement and depression; 2) relational dynamics and tensions; 3) contributing factors in missionary psychological duress; and 4) resources and organizational structures that address missionary mental health. Every chapter demonstrates courage personal conviction and judicious honesty.</p><p>Significant insights provided through case studies surveys and personal reflections will offer action steps for increasing mental health awareness and developing mental health best practices for individuals and teams. Written for field workers and those who support them <em>Missionaries Mental Health and Accountability </em>is a critical resource in member care.</p>