Seeking Personal Stories of Extended Suffering of Pentecostals

Seeking Personal Stories of Extended Suffering of Pentecostals:

I am seeking to interview those within the Assemblies of God of the United States who have experienced suffering in which God did not intervene as expected. For example, maybe this suffering involved multiple factors, such as unemployment, physical issues, emotional struggles, marital difficulties, financial stress, etc., that occurred over a concentrated time span. Perhaps it is the result of an ongoing illness and/or permanent injury or the result of the death of a loved one. If this describes someone you know, or maybe yourself, that person may qualify to participate in a research project being conducted by a minister of the Assemblies of God who is a PhD candidate at a seminary. The stories obtained for this project will be used to help improve congregational care for Pentecostals. Potential participants may send an email to sufferingresearch@gmail.com by July 23.

Pentecostal Theology [06/25/2015 4:22 PM]
WOW! The is quite a limited scope given suffering among non-western non-AG is probably experienced on a much larger scale. What are the grounds for the limits of your research? Also is there a certain period (like the 80s or the Great Depression) or generation the research must cover?

Pam Walter Engelbert [06/25/2015 5:14 PM]
Thanks for the questions! Yes, this is limited because it is qualitative research for my dissertation, which means limited availability of time and monies.This also means that participants will be few in number. I recognize that I am missing a wealth of stories and experiences by staying within the United States and the AG, but by maintaining these parameters for this project, I am better able to keep within the time constraints. While I have interests beyond these parameters, I chose to remain within classical pentecostalism as this is part of my own experience. I will need to wait for another project(s) to broaden the parameters of the research (post PhD). To answer your other question, at this time, I prefer personal experiences that have occurred within the last ten-fifteen years.

Pentecostal Theology [06/25/2015 5:16 PM]
This groups deals predominantly with theology but you may get some willing to share as the topic is quote interesting. Theology of suffering from an western Pentecostal perspective may be needed. If the response is not sufficient some practical groups of pastors and even chaplains may be able to offer more relative testimonies. God speed!