Sickness And Health

About twenty years ago, I led a team of six missionaries to the central Pacific. Five of these missionaries, as a result of the expedition, needed a doctor -- but I did not. This was striking. I put it down to my exposure to Pacific illnesses as a boy -- my parents were missionaries there. Now let us generalise. I have thought (I do not have any evidence for it) that ministers, in general, are sick less often than their flock -- however, they do suffer stress-related collapse. Should this be true, could it be due to their increased exposure to microbes? I am reading a book which contains hundreds of articles on recent scientific developments. A few of these discuss the discovery that exposure to microbes (typically) improves health. One of these articles suggests that exposure to microbes through churchgoers improves health. OBSERVATION: There is a saying in Africa -- my mother-in-law quotes it: "If you are scared of a sickness, you will catch it."