The psychology faculty at Asbury University asked me to meet with them about developing a course on missionary member care, a course that could serve as an “anchor” course for a member care emphasis in the psychology major. At the end of the meeting I noted that, as far as I knew, no text book was available for such a course, but that I would like to write one.
The cover of Office 2007 for Dummies notes that the book is also “A Reference for the Rest of Us!” Likewise, this book has two purposes. First, it is primarily a text for an introductory course in missionary member care, but it is not only a college text. It is written at a level and in a style that should be easy reading for anyone who is interested in member care, such as missionaries interested in moving into a position in member care, mental health professionals, physicians, pastors, and anyone else who is considering becoming involved in member care.
This book is an E-book and most of the information about missionary member care has been written during the last quarter of a century, so much of that information is available online. Therefore, links are included whenever possible to elaborate on the information presented here. The reader can either just read the simplified material in this book or click on a link to the source of the material and read it in the original.
There is no need to read the chapters in this book in the order they appear. The chapters do not build on each other, but each one stands alone, such as the FAQ’s on a website. The chapter titles are the major questions I have received from people asking about serving in member care.
Years ago when I entered psychology, journal articles ended with a section titled “Summary.” Back then I found it helpful to read the summary first to see if the article contained information I wanted to learn. Later the Publication Manual moved the “summary” to the beginning of each article and called it the “abstract.” With this change I could read the article in the order presented rather than peeking at the end.
Each chapter in this book begins with a short summary or abstract of what is in the article so that readers can quickly determine whether or not the chapter is one they want to read in more detail. I am calling this first section “Short & Simple Summary.” Read this summary to find out if you want to read the chapter in detail. If you are not interested in more information, that is fine. If you want more information, you will find it in the chapter, and you can click on links in the chapter to find even more information on the Internet. Then each chapter ends with an invitation to email me suggestions to improve the chapter. Just click on my email address and send me a note.
I owe much to people who read the manuscript. John Powell, Paul Nessleroade, Art Nonneman, and Yvonne Moulton all made comments on the manuscript. I considered all of the suggestions each person made and followed most of them. Of course, I did not make all the changes they suggested, so I take full responsibility for any errors in the book.
Blessings on you as you read.