Britney Davis
Narrative Summary Draft
Hobbs
Women in Religion
There was no other woman in my mind to possibly interview but Shannon Buckner, missionary
to Europe, for this assignment. She visited my home church’s children’s program when I was a small
child, possibly pushing 6 years old at the time. She spoke of her journey to Cambodia to tell people the
Good News, but something struck me then that still inspires me to this day-she was going alone. Nobody
would be there to hold her hand or assure her everything would work for the best. She left for
Cambodia all alone at approximately the age I am now. Mid-twenties and in a foreign country totally
alone.
I met Shannon for the first time since I was a child in her one person hotel room in downtown
Branson, luckily snagging her for a short time she was in the country for an Assemblies of God mission’s
conference. We comfortably sat in the room as she made me feel like an old friend she couldn’t wait to
catch up with.
Surprisingly, she told me of her childhood religious background. At the time of her birth, her
parents were not yet attending church. Her father was a declared Baptist and she described her mother
as “Pentecostal holiness.” From the age of four on, every time the doors of the church were open, she
was there. It wasn’t until her teen years that she became truly plugged in, yet still lived what she called
“two lives.” She believed there was a God, but went through a time in those teenage years of “living
however she wanted to” by getting into a life of drugs and alcohol and running as far and as fast as she
could away from the call to ministry. Yet, God always seemed to snag her back.
She recalled the time she was listening to a missionary speak at her college at the age of
nineteen, She felt the tug on her spirit to go into the mission field. Her first reaction? “Me? God, no.”
She laughed as she told me she had asked God to please change His mind. But, thanks to the couple who
pastured her youth group, Randy and Caroline Dorsey, the couple she attributed much of her spiritual
inspiration to, she was mentored and guided to fulfill her ultimate calling to become a missionary.
She served as a youth pastor at Trinity Chapel, located in Clarksville, Arkansas straight out of
Bible college (Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri) from 1991-1992, before beginning her trek
to the mission field.
Her first place of calling was to Cambodia, a country located in the southern portion of the
Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practiced by
approximately 95 percent of the population. Shannon stayed in Cambodia from 1992-1995, three years
filled with joy, purpose and sometimes chaos. In 1997, a coup occurred in Cambodia. Shannon described
this time of a “coup” in Cambodia as a time she saw God’s hand of protection over her and a time she
never felt fear, but peace, a peace only God could give her and to the people she watched over in
Cambodia. Weeks passed, weeks filled with sounds of trucks and gunfire and the growing fear of the
Cambodian people. All Cambodian missionaries were pulled out, all but four. Shannon was one of the
four missionaries to stay behind to comfort the Cambodian people.
After the coup settled and all was quiet, Shannon felt God releasing her from Cambodia. It was a
sad goodbye, but she felt at peace as she left obediently once again to wherever God would have her.
Soon, God called her to Europe. Shannon cracked a smile and laughed as she told me how much she
didn’t want to go there. The funny thing? She’s been a missionary to Europe ever since.
Shannon has not only been exposed to many countries, but their culture as well. From temples
to shrines, she has seen women treated in every extreme. Respected by fellow male pastors (often more
than their own wives) verbally harassed by Egyptian men and even experiencing men getting up and
leaving her presence during a teaching session, Shannon has seen each end of the female leadership
spectrum. Revered in one country as a great pastor to sitting behind a curtain in a mosque the next,
Shannon has lived a life of extremes and one of interest. No matter how she was or has been treated as
a woman, she sat and spoke with nothing but grace, explaining to me that she doesn’t feel that she has
to try to be a man, to act like one or fight for anything; she just has to be obedient. That and that alone
is her responsibility.
Before covering what part in missions Shannon now plays, we went into depth a little about
Shannon’s personal life and how going into the mission’s field might have affected settling down and
having a family. I was interested to know her feelings about marriage and children, two things expected
of women at the age that she instead packed her bags and left the country. Shannon went on to say that
she’s not opposed to marriage and will embrace that when and if it comes, but her main concern is
being obedient to God, letting the rest worry about itself. Shannon explained she had dated before, but
the relationship couldn’t work due to the fact that he didn’t believe in women pastors or missionaries.
We both got a good laugh out of that one. Shannon was so relaxed and unconcerned with the one thing
so many women focus on all of their lives. This is probably my favorite thing about her. She’s a people
person and loves being around friends, but she doesn’t need anyone or anything but her faith.
Shannon now mentors young missionaries in both their mental and spiritual health-something
often neglected. She gets into their world and draws them close to her heart to ensure they approach
the mission field ready not just mentally or physically-but emotionally and spiritually (aka mentor care).
Shannon oversees this missionary training for all new Europe missionaries. She resources missionary life
for training of career missionaries and short-term workers. Before meeting me in Branson, she was in
London for a bit of time. Shannon is always travelling, but her home, which is also my own, will always,
be her home.
What did I learn from Shannon? So much. But most of all, I learned what a woman of complete
grace, love and obedience truly looks like. Not only does Shannon desire to invest in those around the
world, but she has the same desire to do so with everyone she meets. As we concluded the formal
interview, Shannon asked me to coffee and we chatted about life and Jesus. I was able to hear her
incredible life journey and then this amazing woman wanted to hear mine. I left Shannon Buckner not
just knowing the countries she’s visited or the people she’s seen, but I left her with a hope in my own
faith that I had somehow lost along the way.