WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

152 WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE PREVENTION
OF STRESS
INTRODUCTION
The previous chapters dealt mainly with the symptoms of stress and fatigue,
as well as various defence mechanisms used by those who experience stress.
When stress is prolonged, the outcome can be extremely serious. Illnesses may
continue until the real sources of stress are known and dealt with. Stress-related
illnesses are difficult to heal even with continuous medical care and treatment.
Prevention is better than cure. All cross-cultural workers need to take
preventive steps. The proposals in this chapter deal with building physical
resources, learning to know ourselves and our personalities, and handling
emotions and attitudes. It also deals with self-esteem factors, building healthy
interpersonal relationships and drawing from our spiritual resources. Pastoral
care is also essential for cross-cultural workers.
BUILDING PHYSICAL RESOURCES
Stress prevention begins with taking care of our bodies and building our
physical resources. This may sound like commonsense, but many Christian
workers do not watch their diet, neglect taking regular exercise, and do not
take adequate rest breaks.
1 Diet
Balanced and nutritious meals are especially important in stressful crosscultural
situations. Wise dietary patterns can increase our ability to handle stress.
A good diet includes plenty of fresh green vegetables and fruit, dairy
products, whole grains, lean fish and poultry. Because the body uses more
protein during stress, eating meat, eggs or dairy products can supply what is
needed. In certain parts of Asia, soya bean or “dhal” (legumes) with our rice
provides the protein needed. A missionary friend, realising that the normal
diet of the people was not adequate for him, would supplement his local diet
with milk and with yoghurt made locally.