The global context is changing. Many countries are now being called high-security alert nations. At any given time, several countries are involved in ethnic wars, on the brink of a coup d’état, or in a turmoil of one kind or another. Inevitably, when populations are at war, people risk being suddenly displaced through political evacuations.
Working in these kinds of settings are people associated with non-governmental organizations, relief and development agencies, and missionary organizations. The uncomfortable fact is that they will most likely experience personal trauma during their time overseas. For those bringing the good news of Jesus Christ, the troubled settings in which they minister are the new frontier for the Gospel. Nations in crisis need a message of hope now more than ever.
Recently, a project1 was conducted to discover factors contributing to the resiliency and retention of international workers (IWs) who have gone through traumatic events in their missionary career in Africa and yet continue to serve there. In this case study, some key factors were identified and analyzed which seem to contribute to resiliency in Western missionaries in Africa. These factors were also emphasized in the Best Practices of their mission agencies.
Factors that Contributed to Missionary Retention Despite Trauma
In the project, international workers who had experienced various types of trauma were interviewed. These IWs had been able to continue in their missionary calling after their particular trauma. Two questions were considered:
- What pre-trauma factors contribute to the retention of these workers?
- What post-trauma factors contribute to the retention of these workers?
IWs brought four factors into their trauma event: a strong personal call to be where they were, a preparedness from birth, words from God, and sturdy relationships.
Four factors that emerged after the trauma were: experiencing the keeper side of God, hearing authoritative leadership voices, quickly finding new ministry foci, and benefiting from functional networks.
Three unexpected results from the trauma event were a less encumbered way of living, embracing sudden transitions as doors to new ministries, and a reshaped life for future ministry.
Seven Things Mission Agencies Can Do for Their Missionaries
Further research suggested several things that mission leaders can do to enhance resiliency and longevity in IWs who have gone through traumatic events. In the study, thirty workers who did not quit despite having experienced traumas―such as political evacuations, rape, car-jackings, armed home invasions and robberies―were asked about factors contributing to their resiliency and longevity on the frontlines.
Here are seven things the mission agencies did that their international workers found helpful:
1. Created Networks of Relationships
The good relationships that resilient IWs enjoyed with other IWs were most often cited as a retention factor. Their missionary-sending agencies had ensured that missionaries worked on teams and provided training and coaching to nurture good team relationships. This Best Practice earned “post-trauma pay-off” when fellow team members helped provide a “soft landing” for each other.
Another useful network that agencies had established was the regional network. This was used when workers evacuated to surrounding countries to find temporary shelter and safety. Agencies that plan regional gatherings will inadvertently develop and expand a wider network of relationships for their international workers. This more extensive network will sometimes pay dividends in missionary resiliency later.
2. Acknowledged the Trauma
If the mission leadership does not acknowledge in some way the trauma that a worker has endured, then an “elephant” enters the room. The trauma suffered by a worker can have an enormous personal effect. Yet, the description of this same event might make a relatively minimal emotional impact on mission leadership as the e-mail describing the trauma is quickly scanned. Therefore, the onus is on the leader to acknowledge the event and to actively find out how the worker is coping after a trauma.
After a very traumatic event, one IW family was back in their homeland for a short time. They spoke in glowing terms of their mission leader and his wife, who came to visit them. “It was more than an e-mail message. He came with his wife.” That action spoke volumes, and they felt that the pain they had endured had been validated by the visit of a key leader. This contrasted with another family who did not hear anything from their leadership after a very tense, traumatic robbery. “It was as if they (leaders) didn’t care.” The family felt very much on their own, and they felt hurt by the lack of leadership response.
3. Stayed in the Region
Mission teams with evacuation protocols that include a first level of evacuation to another country in the region (as opposed to a direct return to the homeland) seem to fare better after a traumatic event. According to the project data, what gives the evacuee the most benefits in survival and resiliency is the loving support of existing relationships.
Personal relationships are often stronger on the field than in the homeland. The level of empathy on the field is frequently greater because it is easier to find people who have gone through similar traumas.
4. Spoke Words of Wisdom in Love
At crucial junctures in an IW’s life, the carefully chosen words of a leader are most welcome. One worker had faithfully ministered for twenty years in a particular country. Following an evacuation, however, she received an invitation to join a ministry team in another country. Despite that attractive opportunity, she felt committed to her original task. When her mission leader visited her, he said, “You have permission to leave. I think you should accept that invitation from another country.” Only then was the IW’s burden lifted, and she could change assignments without feeling guilty about abandoning her post and the project.
It is evident from the project data that IWs are firmly committed. They are not easily dislodged. In fact, these international workers will often regard leaving or moving as a failure or betrayal of a heavenly mandate. What can override this false notion is a well-spoken timely word by a mission leader who has earned an adequate trust level. A leader like this has clearly listened and understood the situation and therefore can, as it were, speak for God.
5. Developed a Theology of Risk and Suffering
According to the results of ReMAP II2, mission agencies with high resiliency practice good screening procedures of mission candidates. One component of good screening should be the requirement that candidates develop their own position on risk and suffering.
In the past, agencies would require candidates to prepare a doctrinal statement, but this document did not usually include a position on suffering. Now, as more and more candidates are placed in high-security alert nations, it can be safely assumed that they will inevitably face trauma. They will be robbed, get sick, and be traumatized. Hence, candidates should be required to consider these risks and develop their own theology of suffering.
Developing a theology of risk and suffering before going overseas will put suffering into its proper context and thus foster resiliency in IWs. This is crucial for those growing up with a Western cultural view of suffering that says something is wrong if we suffer, so we should avoid suffering at all costs. For example, a young mother came to the field with a typical Western cultural view of suffering. She thought that God would protect her family if she did the right things, and they would not suffer.
Seventy-four percent of those interviewed mentioned that they had advanced in developing a biblical view of suffering. One quoted John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.” Another remembered that Jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and so we should expect to suffer as we walk in His footsteps.
One mission leader believes that when agencies target groups of unreached people, they should expect to suffer. Consequently, they need to be better prepared by putting on the appropriate armour and building a sufficient prayer base.
6. Fostered a Sense of Duty
One surprising discovery in the study was to note how many international workers referred to their farm upbringing where they learned values such as hard work, finishing a task, duty, perseverance and sticking with the project. A Vietnam veteran had also learned these core values. He brought into his missionary career the notion that one stayed at his post until the orders were changed. Quite a few workers who had suffered trauma shared this sense of determination not to run away when trouble came. They were more determined to survive the trauma, push on, and get the task done. Mission executives need to consider how to identify and nurture a sense of duty in their mission candidates.
7. Affirmed the Call
Sending agencies must continue to grapple with how the concept of “the call” is expressed today. For example, do missionary candidates apply out of a desire to do something good in the world? Or because of a set of felt needs? Or from a sense of injustice? If so, how do those sentiments translate or morph into a firm conviction that holds strong during troubles and trials? How is that call developed? Where do new recruits have an opportunity to develop their sense of call?
Maybe the deeper question is how God speaks and calls people today to follow Him in mission work. Whatever the language or semantics used, sending agencies who assign people to high-security alert nations must feel satisfied and confident through the screening process that new recruits are called to serve in such places. Ensuring a firm call at the beginning and testing that call in ministry will definitely contribute to resiliency after trauma.
This is an excerpt from the book, On Mission Volume 4. Download your free copy today.
- Ronald Brown, 2005. Self-identified retention factors by Western missionaries in Africa who have experienced traumatic events. DMin project. Trinity International University.