What Missionaries Ought to know… does not mean that the author sat down and decided what missionaries ought to know, but that missionaries themselves asked about these topics. During my 35 years of college teaching I learned that if one person asks a question, others probably want to know the same thing—and if two people ask, it was certainly a topic that others need to know about. These are things missionaries need to know because several missionaries have asked about each of them at one time or another.
Since EMQ is so widely read by missionaries, I emulated the EMQ style when writing the chapters. They are short; each one can be read in a few minutes. In fact, each chapter can be printed on two sides of a sheet of paper from a legal pad. They are written in non-technical language, meant to be an “easy read.” They present basic facts simply and include practical applications to missionary life and work. In a January 2001 EMQ article titled “Virtual Missionary Care,” Scott Moreau and Mike O’Rear said that the chapters “deal with practical mental health topics….providing practical advice without charge to the missions public” (p. 83).
Much of my professional life has been devoted to the integration of psychology and Christianity as reflected in the titles of my two more “academic” books, Psychology from a Christian Perspective and General Psychology for Christian Counselors. Although this book is not highly documented with numerous Scripture references, I have tried to present the best current knowledge in mental health within an evangelical Christian perspective. From time to time I have cited specific passages of Scripture to support particular points.
As often as possible I have illustrated concepts by using cross-cultural examples from the Bible. Joseph was a great example of forgiveness, and Daniel had an excellent set of priorities. I have used examples of missionaries in the Bible, ranging from Jonah’s problem with anger to Paul’s wonderful examples of transitions such as reentry. Early missionaries sometimes handled conflict marvelously, such as Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15 when settling an important theological issue. Then the same two individuals turned around (in the same chapter) and parted company, arguing about who was going to accompany them on their second term of missionary service.
The book is meant to be a handbook with short chapters on particular topics of interest. The chapters are not intended as in-depth treatments of the topics but as brief overviews with practical suggestions as well. The book is not written with a unified theme gradually developed from chapter to chapter. Each chapter stands alone. However, the chapters do fall into several categories, so they are grouped into six parts, each part consisting of chapters on related topics.
So if you are interested in a particular topic, just go immediately to that chapter and read about it. You do not need to read the first 20 chapters to understand the material in chapter 21. I trust that this material will be helpful. If you do not find a chapter on a topic you are interested in, I invite you to email me suggesting that topic. If several do, I will write a chapter on it.