Missionary Care...
Because we don't
separate the Great
Commission from the
Great Commandment;
Having completed a career in teaching at Asbury College, Dr. Ron Koteskey is a Member Care Consultant for GO InterNational. Through GO, Ron and his wife, Bonnie, offer on-field help to independent missionaries, to missionaries whose agencies have no one designated for missionary care, and to missionaries who would prefer talking with someone outside their agencies.
As part of this ministry they have developed a series of brochures and seventeen e-books: four on re-entry, including Missionary Member Care - An Introduction, another titled What Missionaries Ought to Know (freshly revised and combining the series of brochures of the same name), several on TCKs, one on adolescence, one on marriage issues, one on singles issues, two on bribery, and another on Psychology for Missionaries. Recently, an e-book titled Memories and Musings on Missionary Member Care was added. Follow this link for more information on the e-books.
Brochures
Written for missionaries, these brochures contain practical information about various topics related to missions and mental health. They are written in a short, simple, question-answer format and are available on this web site in pdf format so that they may be distributed to others via email.
They are free and may be freely shared.
Several new brochures were recently added on "What Missionaries Ought to Know About:
- "Taboo" Topics
- Narcissism
- Being Unwelcome "Guests"
- Home Ministry
- Whistleblowing
- Memory
- Same Sex Marriage
- Pornography
Explore our brochure series:
E-Books
Seventeen e-books are available for download here, or for reading online. These books are also free and may be freely shared.
There are e-book copies of the entire "What Missionaries Ought to Know" series (updated August 2017 and now has 74 chapters), the Reentry book, Coming Home, Understanding Adolescence, and Third Culture Kids and Adolescence: Cultural Creations.
Recent e-books:
- Memories and Musings About Missionary Member Care
- Missionary Member Care - An Introduction
- Missionary Transitions
- Missionaries and Bribes
- Bribery and the Bible
- Psychology for Missionaries
- Raising Resilient MKs
- Missionary Marriage Issues
- Missionary Singles Issues
- Effective Kingdom Service in Hostile Places New!
Re-Entry
When returning to their passport country, many missionaries have difficulty reentering the culture in which they grew up. They may find it difficult to close the chapter on their time in the host culture and begin the new chapter in their “home” culture.
As a result of their experience in facilitating more than thirty reentry retreats, Ron and Bonnie have prepared a guide which can be effectively used in a group / retreat setting, or by individuals.
Third Culture Kids
Ron developed his thoughts relating to TCKs (Third Culture Kids) in his e-book titled: Third Culture Kids and Adolescence: Cultural Creations
See also the e-book for children 6-12 years old reentering their passport culture as well as the book for their parents.
Missionary Marriage Issues
Cross-cultural life and ministry puts unique stresses on marriage and missionaries are not immune.
Here is a special series of brochures on this important topic. Some of the brochures are:
- Digital Distractions
- I'm Just a Trailing Spouse
- You Spent the Money on WHAT?!
- Marriage or Ministry?
- FUNdraising Isn't Fun!
Missionary Singles Issues
In this series, Ron explores some of the unique issues that face single missionaries.
Some of the topics include:
- Celibacy & Chastity
- Housing
- Matchmakers
- Loneliness
- Masturbation
- Sexual Fantasy
- The Ticking Clock
- Safety and Security
- Finding Community
What People Want to Know…
Are you interested in what people want to know about missionary care? In what questions they are asking? In what topics they click on most?
You can view a database which contains a summary of books and brochures viewed or downloaded since 2003. It also contains detailed monthly and yearly data about activity related to all the books and brochures on the website so you can see how their “wants” changed over time.
Follow this link to see the spreadsheet about activity on this website.