Coping Strategies among Bereaved African Missionaries in Karen, Langata Sub-County, Kenya

Grief is a universal human experience that frequently presents emotional, social, and spiritual challenges. African missionaries serving away from home frequently encounter this challenge when they lose loved ones due to canonical and congregational rules, geographical distance, financial limitations, and limited participation in communal bereavement rituals. Despite these unique challenges, limited empirical attention has been given to the strategies used by African missionaries to cope with grief while in mission. The objective of the study examined coping strategies employed by African missionaries in Karen, Langata Sub-County, Kenya. The study adopted a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. A sample of 301 African Catholic missionaries was selected from a target population of 1,102 missionaries using multistage stratified sampling with simple random selection for the quantitative strand and purposive sampling for qualitative interviews. A total of 276 completed questionnaires were analyzed alongside 16 in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential procedures in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 29), while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings from both results were integrated during interpretation. The findings demonstrated that spirituality and psychosocial support constituted the principal coping resources among bereaved missionaries. Most participants reported relying on prayer, celebration of the Holy Mass, spiritual direction, meditation, and trust in God to cope with grief. Community living, emotional support from fellow missionaries, acceptance of loss, years in the ministry, and meaning-making also emerged as significant psychosocial coping mechanisms. Qualitative findings further revealed that faith, shared community life, and continued engagement in missionary ministry enhanced resilience despite disrupted participation in culturally significant mourning practices. In conclusion, spiritual and psychosocial support remain central to grief adaptation among African missionaries. Integrating culturally responsive grief counselling with existing pastoral and spiritual support structures may strengthen psychological well-being and improve bereavement care within missionary communities.