Mirjam Scarborough

Called to Mission Mirjam Scarborough

Paperback. 192 pages Crown Quarto format. According to the meta-study ReMap, between 1992 and 1994 one missionary in twenty prematurely left mission service each year. This implies the loss of half of all mission­aries every thirteen years. With this in mind, it is widely thought that a clear sense of call serves to prevent such drop­out. This detailed and compassionate study of Mennonite women missionaries in Central Africa finds this to be true-in the short term. But in the long term, the sense of call itself tends to turn on the call-resulting in burnout and dropout. Through exten­sive field work, the author charts the course of mis­sionaries who re­mod­eled the call-turning its burden into blessing. This is embedded in a careful theo­lo­gi­cal analysis, drawing on a wide sweep of Mennonite thought and praxis.