I lived on the mission field in Uganda for five years before I truly understood the importance of caring for my emotional and physical health as a missionary. Of course, I was prioritizing my spiritual health, but sadly, neglecting the body, mind, and spirit connection. The emotional health of missionaries is often ignored for the sake of the mission which can lead to missionary depression.
In many ways, I think I held the erroneous belief that the erosion of my emotional and physical health was just the price I had to pay to be a good missionary. I thought martyrdom was the cost of my mission’s job. And I know many other missionaries who feel this way, that burnout is simply part of living overseas. Sadly, many missionaries burnout out or experience abuse in missions because their missions sending organizations do not provide adequate missionary care. One-third of all missionaries will leave the field in their first decade for preventable reasons and 87% are diagnosed with depression.
I would come home from another long, stressful day in the slums, or taking a sick baby to the hospital, my adrenaline spiked, and would collapse in a heap. Too exhausted to make dinner, I’d order a pizza or eat another plate of beans and rice, ignoring my body’s need for healthy nutrition and protein. And forget salads, there was no spinach in the markets.
My heart heavy, I would pour out all the suffering of the women and children I served at the feet of Jesus in my prayer room, a pile of tissues surrounding me on the tear-stained cement floor. So many needs, and I couldn’t meet them all—the responsibility and overwhelm of the ministry laid heavy on my shoulders. I was experiencing both compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and the cumulative grief of many painful experiences that occurred as a solo missionary.
Looking back, I wish I could cradle that young girl in my arms and tell her she is doing a good job, that she’s doing the best she can with the resources she has, she hasn’t become a failed missionary. It would be several years after illnesses, adrenal fatigue, and burnout knocked the wind out of me when I was forced to take care of my body and soul in order to survive. But all I could feel then was that I was a failure. The reality is that if we take care of our bodies and our hearts, then they will take care of us.
It was after I started meeting with a life coach, that I began learning that taking care of myself wasn’t selfish, it was in fact the bravest thing I could do. In caring for me, I was able to become my best self, and not place the burden of my broken body onto others, like my husband or family. Over the years, as I’ve pursued my holistic healing, I’ve learned many resources and tools to live a thriving life and it is my greatest hope that in sharing my journey, others may be healed.
Theology of Missionary Care
But first, we must have a theology of why missionary care is important. God created us, body, mind, soul, and spirit and he created triggers and warning signs in our body and nervous system to indicate when we needed to stop and heal our emotional trauma and pay attention to our physical symptoms. All our emotions and triggers are information. Even Paul, the apostle needed member care to complete his mission. Barnabas came to him to provide care and it so encouraged his heart he wrote: “I have had great joy and encouragement because of your love, for the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.” (Philemon 1:7)
For example, anger is a trigger or symptom that a personal boundary has been violated, or a boundary needs to be put in place. High cortisol in our saliva is another indication that our stress hormone is elevated and we need to reduce our stress or risk dangerous long-term consequences. God did not intend for us to walk around broken, or trying to be perfect, He made us for abundance, for life, for healing.
When we ignore the warning signs our body and emotions are giving to us, we’re ignoring God’s original design for our system to thrive. The longer we ignore the symptoms, the more they persist until our body does the only thing it can do: it stops working for us. In my life, this was demonstrated through my development of an auto-immune condition that I still live with, even though I’ve done a lot of work and practices to heal myself.
I want this to be as practical as possible for you so I’m going to go through the litany of ways I implemented self-care in order to heal my body and soul.
Physical Health
- Detoxify: Living overseas we are exposed to so many health dangers including mold, parasites, worms, and tropical illnesses. Before we can be physically healthy as missionaries we need to go through a detoxification process. You can do a toxins test here and while expensive is worth it or you can see a tropical disease specialist or de-parasite yourself. I also use oxiclean to remove mold from my clothes, and run an air purifier.
- Nutrition: Food was designed to fuel our bodies for optimal health. So even on the mission field I planted a garden with things like spinach, peppers, and vegetables, and increased the fruit intake in my diet. I added in a greens supplement for antioxidant support. I also quit gluten and sugar because of my intolerance and reduced my carb intake. Thankfully, Uganda did have some large avocados for me to include. And I even lost the extra pounds I’d put on in ministry as a result. Missionary Care packages can greatly assist those on the field who need vital health support and encouragement.
- Supplements: I started taking supplements to heal my adrenal fatigue. I take things like: Adrenal support, mineral drops, electrolytes for hydration (essential in Africa) Probiotics to heal my gut health which controls our immune system, B6 & B12, NAC, Vitamin D, DHEA, Fish oil, Collagen, Cortisol Calm, Magnesium & Melatonin (at night) and took medicine for my thyroid, for anxiety and sleep support, and Metformin for high blood sugar (a bi-product of high cortisol) I am also on supplements for menopause (you can email me about that as I’ll do a separate post for that)
- Morning Rituals: Our bodies were made to follow routines that indicate when it’s time to wake up (and start producing cortisol) and when it’s time to go to sleep (and reduce cortisol.) In the morning I have several supportive practices: I wake early (before my son) and go outside to ground myself in the sunshine. The benefits of this are many but the main one is that it puts your body on the right path to have energy for the day and to produce melatonin for sleep at night. Grounding is simply standing barefoot on the earth and allowing the magnetic energy to infuse your body and reduce inflammation. I also pray, meditate, and offer gratitude to God for the gift in my life followed by lemon water, tea, and breakfast. I switched from coffee to tea for my adrenals and to stevia.
- Evening Rituals: When I want to start winding down, I retreat to the sanctuary of my bedroom, I do a detox bath, wear my blue-light glasses for screens, use my neck massager, journal, write down what I’m thankful for that day or read a book, use lavender essential oils or light a soy candle, wash my face with natural products, and take my night supplements. I also do castor oil packs to help my liver detox from chemicals and reduce inflammation. I also drink Holy Basil tea to support a healthy de-stress process.
- Exercise: Even if you feel you don’t have time for exercise, a simple 30-minute walk a day can boost your mood, reduce cortisol, and prepare you for a good night’s sleep. You can even listen to a sermon, worship music, or podcast while you do this. Other exercises, I enjoy are biking, CrossFit, weight lifting, and running and the benefits I’ve seen in reducing my stress and anxiety have been incomparable.
Emotional Health
- Therapy and/or Coaching: I cannot stress enough the vital need for counseling missionaries and coaching them to heal and prevent burnout and recover from both childhood and missions trauma. I’ve done both and still do, and have healed so much of the trauma I’ve gone through on the field and learned tools for self-love and care. There are many resources for this on my missionary care resources page. I also provide some limited coaching for missionary clients.
- Healing the nervous system: Our Vagal nerve controls our nervous system and there are many practical ways to move our bodies from the red zone of fight/flight, into the green zone–peace/calm. Deep breathing or 4-square breath is helpful, as well as applying ice to your forehead or tapping gently on your chest to activate your parasympathetic response. Also repeating helpful mantras over yourself like “I am a good mother.” “I am doing the best I can” We can also put our nervous system into a state of calm through laughter by watching a funny show like The Office, or making jokes with your marriage partner.
- Journaling/Self-help Books: I find journaling to be a very therapeutic practice that allows me to explore any negative or limiting beliefs and allow God to speak truth to those areas of pain/wounding, and also for gratitude journaling. I’ve also found these self-help books like Soul of the Helper to be very informative.
- Friendships: Being a missionary in a foreign country can be an isolating experience, especially as a solo or single missionary. I know I felt that way. Re-entry can be its own disorienting pain to endure, but I’ve found that healthy friendships with other women and believers can be a salve to a broken spirit. Making time to connect with friends, to laugh, be silly, and have deep, authentic, and vulnerable conversations has been such a balm to my weary soul. I highly recommend sending a WhatsApp, or text message to a friend when you’re in need of support and making time for getaways with friends where you can dive deeper. This is especially true for mom friends.
- Boundaries: Within the spiritual and aid world, boundaries can seem like unwelcome guests, but the truth is healthy boundaries allow us the space to care for ourselves and others well. An example of a healthy boundary might be: I’m not going to answer work emails after 5PM or I’m not going to allow my quiet time alone to be interrupted, or I’m going to limit my contact with a toxic person who drains me or makes me feel bad about myself. Boundaries have been crucial in my recovery process.
Spiritual Health
- Spending Time in Intimacy with Jesus: I find that many missionaries do not neglect their faith, and yet sometimes finding that time to have daily infilling from God can be challenging. In different seasons (especially motherhood) this practice can take on different shapes sometimes it’s a breathed prayer over dishes and laundry of “help,” and sometimes it’s an hour quiet time meditating or reading Scripture or soaking in worship music. Whatever form it takes, it’s vital to remain connected to the Vine from whom flows your strength, peace, and joy to become a resilient missionary.
Putting it all together
We are a whole person and we need to prioritize emotional, physical, and spiritual health equally in order to fulfill our purpose in a way where we are thriving. I hope these tools have been helpful to you as you design your own self-care methods. I know this is an exhaustive list so don’t feel overwhelmed if you can’t implement all these at one time, just take it one day at a time and begin with the highest priority for you and gradually add in other practices. If you need more assistance I have a very popular eBook “A Self-Care Plan for Global Workers” which has been downloaded over 7,000 times and is an invaluable resource as you look for ways to care for yourself on and off the mission field and develop your own self-care plan.
I pray you find these resources helpful and feel free to reach out to me via email at saritahartz@gmail.com or IG or Facebook DM’s if you have questions or need support in your journey. You can also check out my Amazon Storefront for all my fave self-care products in your wellness journey.
Be well, my loves.
