Book Review: Trauma and Coping Mechanisms among Assemblies of God World Missionaries: Toward a Biblical Theory of Well-Being by Valerie A. Rance

Abstract

Trauma and Coping Mechanisms among Assemblies of God World Missionaries: Toward a Biblical Theory of Well-Being by Valerie A. Rance is a 2021 monograph in the Evangelical Missiological Society series. Rance herself is an Assemblies of God missionary with a background in psychology. She lived for 20 years in El Salvador, part of that during the civil war. Thus, it is the author’s long-term missionary experience and proximity to traumatic events that informs her research questions. The monograph’s purpose is to explore a basis for missionary well-being by evaluating the relationship between traumatic experiences and subsequent coping mechanisms, in comparison with Biblical characters who also experienced trauma. The author’s first two chapters establish definitions, goals, and limitations before introducing an extensive secondary literature review which includes exploring perspectives of trauma, coping mechanisms, resilience, pain, and suffering. Her third chapter moves into an analysis of 23 Biblical characters, assessing the various traumas they encountered as well as their coping mechanisms in order to propose a Biblical theology of well-being. Chapter four introduces her methodology which is qualitative and quantitative research. The primary research encompassed 254 surveys completed by Assemblies of God missionaries from seven regions which included questions of trauma, PTSD symptomology, and coping mechanisms. Her final chapter draws these two strands together and proposes a Biblical theology of well-being that could be applicable to missionaries. One of the strengths of the book is the subject of inquiry itself— the focus on missionaries and their trauma. This is an area that is in need of significant primary research, considering, as the author notes, the high attrition rate among missionaries. Further, another strength is the extensiveness of the questionnaires, the meticulous statistical calculation of the results, and the number of participants; although the author cites the number as a weakness (254 out of 1907), it is still a significant number by which to assess her questions. One of the study’s primary contributions is the exploration of the extensiveness of various traumas missionaries experience. This is important quantitative and qualitative data which could be incorporated into missionary training and also provides a good basis for further research into missionary trauma. The author points to the correlation between higher PTSD symptomology and negative religious coping as an important insight gained from the study, and indeed, this correlation has been documented in other studies. More uniquely, however, is the fact that there was no significant correlation found between variant levels of PTSD and coping skills such as being adventurous, social support, resilience, sense of calling, or positive religious coping. This finding disproved her initial hypothesis and warrants further research, given missionary attrition and the fact that other studies have linked the use of coping mechanisms to greater resilience. Book Review