EMQ » October–December 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 4
Edited by Jonathan Bonk, J. Nelson Jennings, Jinbong Kim, and Jae Hoon Lee
Global Mission Leadership Forum
William Carey Publishing, 2019
325 pages
USD $19.99
Reviewed by Nathaniel (Than) Veltman who currently serves as Mission Scholar in theology and community development with United World Mission’s Theological Education Initiative at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The issue of mental health is a serious global issue and missionaries are not immune. Indeed, the demands of missionary service may even amplify some of the challenges of mental health. These various challenges are the focus of this book. Rooted in a June 2019 conference of the same title hosted by the Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum, the book discusses issues ranging from despair, disillusionment, and anger to neurodevelopmental disorders in children, marital conflict, sexual addiction, and trauma. Attention is also given to member care issues relating to cross-cultural emotional stress and retirement. All of this is bookended by biblical studies of mental health.
Central to this book is the concern that “missionaries need to be valued as people, not tools.… the measure of success needs to be drawing near to God, not how much fruit one bears” (45) and that “missionaries are not end products” (55). Each chapter, which includes a response to the main discussion, presents case studies and analysis of specific areas of concern for mental health and discusses potential tools for both the missionary and member care teams. For example, in discussing trauma, one author weaves together real-life experiences with stories of trauma in the Bible, such as those of Abraham and Esther, and offers concrete suggestions for member care (158–166). The result is a wealth of wisdom and possible ways to respond to and care for missionaries in their journey through trauma into a deeper relationship with God.
Written by both Koreans and westerners, the book focuses primarily on Korean missionaries and agencies with a recognition that mental health extends beyond Korea. Of particular value for the larger mission and missionary-sending enterprise is the insightful framework for cultural reflection and analysis. The cultural dynamics of the missionaries’ own culture, such as guilt vs. shame and time vs. event orientation for example, can result in varying mental health challenges that require careful examination to address them adequately (78). In this sense, knowing the missionary’s own culture is just as important as understanding the host culture.
By generating and stimulating conversation around mental health issues among missionaries using real stories, this book achieves its goal of drawing attention to the humanity of missionaries and their need for greater member care and support. Some broader engagement with mental health research, particularly with disabilities studies and the conversation between medical and social models of mental health, would add additional nuance in identifying the influence of social groups such as supporters and sending churches on the mental health of missionaries. Nonetheless, the various topics discussed within this book are perceptive and timely. The holistic approach to mental health highlighted throughout will prove useful for both missionaries and mission-sending agencies. Church mission pastors and leaders will also find practical insights and tools for supporting missionaries before, during, and after their time of service.
For Further Reading
Baker, Dwight P., ed. The Missionary Family: Witness, Concerns, Care. Evangelical Missiological Society Series, No. 22. William Carey Library, 2014.
Byun, Eddie. Praying for Your Missionary: How Prayers from Home Can Reach the Nations. Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2018.
EMQ, Volume 56, Issue 4. Copyright © 2020 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
