The Holmes-Rahe Scale is one way health professionals measure stress in people’s lives. The basic idea is that a certain number of life events can build up the level of our stress until it gets dangerous. In the original study, they found that if you reached a level of 200 on the scale in a year, the cumulative stress would have consequences for some time to come.

In 1999, Drs Lois and Larry Dodds (of Heartstream Resources) were studying the levels of stress on the mission field, using a modified version of the Holmes-Rahe Scale. They wanted to find out what the typical missionary went through.

The news wasn’t good. The typical missionary had not just peaking levels above 300, they had sustained levels over 300 year after year. The Dodds found that the average missionary’s stress levels for the first year are typically around 800-900, and the sustained stress levels of a cross cultural worker stays around 600.

When stress levels reach above a 200, doctors will advise patients to make life changes– drink a glass of wine, exercise, sleep more, that kind of thing. The goal is to keep stress levels below 200, since anything over that can result in some incredibly negative effects, especially over the long term.

So here is what we are doing:
-Exercising daily.
-Having daily family devotions.
-Maintaining healthy diets.
-Trying to be strategic with our ministry.
-And building margin into our schedules.

And here is what we need you to do:
-Pray for us.
-Encourage us.
-Read our stuff (newsletters, blogs).
-And send more people here to help.

In the final analysis, following God’s call to Guatemala is worth the stress. We believe that being a part of God’s work here is more important than our personal comfort.

It sure is, however, good to know that we have a team of people who love us and pray for us often.

-Todd and Maureen

This post is taken directly from our March/April Newsletter. For more CLICK HERE!