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checkups to gauge growth or implement chan- resistance from men and other women on the
ges. Further studies can help determine the cli- field, differing expectations, and role ambiguity.
nical utility of this tool. These factors can reduce the amount of positive
recognition received. Mission agencies should
Implications for Member Care create an “ethos” whereby women’s choices in
Age and Sex Considerations in Member Care the roles they have on the mission field are re-
Age. cognized and honored (Crawford & DeVries,
Given that age was a significant factor in the 2005). This idea is consistent with Hall and
perception of stress, member care initiatives Duvall’s (2003) findings that women with the
focused on better preparing the younger wor- freedom to choose their own role in missionary
kers for the realities of cross-cultural service work had a greater sense of well-being. There-
may be warranted. With increasing volatility fore, member care initiatives could ensure roles
worldwide, younger workers will be exposed are clearly defined, match the spiritual gifting of
to more traumatic stressors while serving over- the missionary, and are recognized.
seas (Bagley, 2003). Younger workers are more
vulnerable to permanent negative change due Limitations and Recommendations for Futu-
to traumatic stress (Irvine et al., 2006). Mem- re Research
ber care workers are reporting that the newer A large percentage of respondents (93%) repor-
generation of missionary candidates (Donovan ted their ethnicity as white, non- Hispanic, and
& Myors, 1997) are coming to the field more eighty-two percent were sent out from the Uni-
“bruised” with unresolved family of origin is- ted States of America, so surveys with a more
sues (Schubert, 1992). This can lead to emoti- diverse population and with a population sent
on regulation problems, which can be a deter- out by other countries are necessary. Another
mining factor in overall success in missionary limitation is that 70% of the respondents were
service (Cousineau, Hall, Rosik, & Hall, 2010). female and another 70% married. Self-reports,
Younger generation missionaries may not have the most commonly used measures, have inher-
honed the necessary emotional regulation skills ent limitations (Kazdin, 2003; Mallinckrodt &
to mitigate fluctuating stress reactions. There- Wei, 2005). However, the inclusion of a social
fore, member care should focus more on this desirability scale was helpful to establish the re-
area. Coping practices that include relaxation sults were not significantly influenced by social
practices (see Befus, 2018), Scripture -based desirability bias.
meditation techniques (Garzon, 2005), Chri- Overall, large gaps exist in the research on mis-
stian Mindfulness Techniques (Ford & Garzon, sionary populations (Hawley, 2004; Keckler et
2017; Garzon & Ford, 2016), and other emoti- al., 2008; Kim, 2009; Navara & James, 2002,
on regulation interventions (see Kring & Sloan, 2005; O’Donnell, 1995). Current trends for mis-
2010) may be beneficial. sion work are for shorter terms (Tennett, 2003)
Sex. and younger workers (Donovan & Myors,1997).
Given the observed sex differences in the ex- A large percentage of females are in the mission
perience of stress on the mission field, mem- work force, so targeted attention should be gi-
ber care should continue to address the specific ven to the younger missionaries and women in
needs of female missionaries. Member care may future studies.
provide additional resources for women on re- The CHOPS Stress Inventory is one of the first
lationships and specifically for coping with the tools to provide a quantitative scale with stres-
realities of missionary life. In addition, mem- sors specific to cross-cultural workers and has a
ber care services would benefit to recognize the total of 17 items. It demonstrated good prelimi-
overall lack of recognition for women on the nary psychometric qualities so further psycho-
mission field (Bowers, 1984, 1985; Crawford & metric evaluations should be done. These could
DeVries, 2005). This may add to their stress. For solidify the measure as a key resource for future
example, Crawford and DeVries (2005) obser- research and missionary stress assessment in
ve that women face difficulties in child rearing, member care.

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