The
Updated June 2011
A
Missions
Toolkit
For Local Churches
A missions manual
for independent Baptist Churches
serious about global outreach
By
Dr. Bill Smallman
and others at
Baptist Mid-Missions
Cleveland, Ohio
Baptist Mid-Media
2012
A Missions Toolkit for Churches
By William H. Smallman (and others of Baptist Mid-Missions)
© Baptist Mid-Missions 2012
All Bible quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible, in the public domain, unless clearly allusions to the content of the text.
Some of these materials have previously been published by Baptist Mid-Missions in its Candidate Seminar Manuals and other publications, used by permission with appropriate modifications.
A Missions Toolkit for Churches is a work in progress, intended for eventual publication by Baptist Mid-Missions. This working draft is presented as classnotes in a formative stage of the editorial processing of the book. Any use or citation of the work should recognize this as a pre-publication edition which may later appear with modifications under a different title.
All rights are reserved to the owner of this work,
Baptist Mid-Missions,
Box 308011
Cleveland, Ohio 44130-8011
Table of Contents
For
A Missions Toolkit
for Churches
Chapter Page
1. The Church: Foundation of World Missions 1
2. Why Have Mission Agencies? 16
3. Missions Policy for a Baptist Church 33
4. Promoting & Praying for Missions within the Church 45
5. Developing New Missionaries in the Church 60
6. Short Term Missions 81
7. Missionary Conferences: Planning and Execution 99
8. The Missionary Career in Seven Crises 114
9. What Missionaries Do 132
10. Women in Missionary Ministry 142
11. Deputation: Getting to the Field 156
12. Financing the Missionary Venture 174
13. Furlough: Active Ministry away from the Front Lines 187
14. MKs: A Treasured Resource 202
15. Bible Translation: Passing on the Word 213
16. Compassion Ministries 230
17. Partnerships in Missions 248
BIBLIOGRAPHY 265
INDEX 268
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
FOREWORD
Missions is serious business. The Lord of the Harvest has raised up churches around the world that seek to perpetuate the ministry of the gospel by multiplying churches that will multiply themselves. Churches have struggled to fulfill their mandate by all legitimate means at their disposal, and have combined efforts by establishing mission agencies for the specialized work at hand. This does not undermine the involvement or authority of the local church. The mission agencies facilitate the engagement of pastors and church members in the partnership of Great Commission efforts.
Let’s define the focal points of this particular book,
• We look at missions from the vantage point of the local church, whether a sending or supporting church. What can its members do to enhance the quality of their global missionary involvement?
• We look at missions for independent Baptist churches in traditional fundamentalist orbit. In today’s journalistic jargon the word “fundamentalist” suggests fanaticism and exclusivism, while we continue to use the honorable term in its original (1920) sense of defining and defending the fundamentals of traditional orthodox Christianity in a socio-religious environment which has turned hostile toward such a stand.
• We look for practical solutions to the “how?” questions, more than to theoretical bases for the “why?” questions. Both are valid approaches, but this work is designed more as a how-to manual for church missions committees than as a theological tome for the missiologists who already have libraries of worthy (and unworthy) works to chew on.
Keep in mind the purpose for the missionary program at your church: to reproduce the biblical convictions of this church around the world with appropriate cultural variety. Missions is the DNA of the church as it reproduces its essential features by various means. So the very selection of what missionaries to support involves a decision as to just who and what you are as a church, since your missionaries represent the convictions that you want to perpetuate around the world.
This book emerges from years of ministry in churches, dealing with issues that arise in the real world of missions in and from the church. It also comes from the seminary classroom for the training of pastors seeking strong missions programs, rather than training the missionaries themselves. The primary author has been a church planting pastor, field missionary doing church planting and seminary training, a mission administrator, and adjunct instructor in Missiology. The many others consulted for enriching chapters in their areas of expertise have mostly also been field missionaries, several with pastoral experience in the States as well as overseas. Thanks go to Glenn Kerr of Bibles International, Steve Fulks in Enlistment and Church Relations, and Larry Beckman of the Baptist World Relief program for their significant contributions to the chapters on their ministry areas within Baptist Mid-Missions. Many others have reviewed and clarified chapters in their realms of responsibility, so this is truly a shared effort as the mission offers this resource to pastors and missions committees in churches we serve.
This is a great adventure. Our primary objective is to expand the territory where Jesus Christ is exalted as LORD and Savior. That begins at home by deepening the quality of Christian character and witness among church members, increases through the support of missionaries, and reaches its highest realization as God calls members of your church to serve at the uttermost parts of the earth.
So this simple Toolbox is offered to facilitate that process: Glorify Christ as churches multiply themselves around the world. Let us know how we can improve the Toolbox for you in future editions. Write to us at LIFT@ with your input, critiques, suggestions, and case studies.
Rev. Bill Smallman, D.Miss., 1st V.P. (Ret.), Baptist Mid-Missions
Chapter 1
THE CHURCH: FOUNDATION
OF WORLD MISSIONS
THE CHURCH AS THE SENDING AGENCY
When Jesus stated, “I will build my church” He set the pace for focus, fervor, and future of the coming age, the age of the church. This was His declaration of the First World War which continues to this day. During this present time, between the time of the Law and of the Kingdom, God’s instrument on this earth is his church. The church is both the sending agency and the outcome of successful missionary work for yet another generation. The church is the locus of God’s main activities, the agency of his coming Kingdom even as He reigns today. As someone observed, “the mission of the church is missions; the mission of missions is the church.”
The missionary enterprise is based on sending churches, so we turn our attention to the model sending church in Acts chapter 13. Today’s churches need the same outreach mentality and mindset that drove that church to multiply itself, even at the cost of sending out its own pastor to do again what he had done so well with them.
THE SENDING CHURCH
Acts 13:1-5 & 14:26-28
These key passages provide a model for all churches in the sending out of their members as missionaries. Antioch, not Jerusalem, was the key hub of missionary activity in Acts. The churches founded by such missionaries have always had biblical power to set up their own missionary program, building on what the founding missionaries began for them. What Antioch initiated was never in rebellion from the Jerusalem church, but was the fulfillment of their purpose for sending organizational help to the Antioch church. Still, there were tensions over the readiness of the Antioch group to bring in changes, changes, changes - from new cultures encountering Christ and worshiping Him in their own ways, different from the Jerusalem tradition. Since Antioch was on the frontier of the predominantly gentile world those believers already had the advantage of being more culturally adaptable than the traditional Jewish Messianic believers.
Note what this key passage identifies as primary roles of the church, their missionaries, and the Holy Spirit, as they work together in great commission synergy.
THE ROLES OF THE CHURCH
1. Inventory its human resources, v. Acts 13:1, 5. The quick introduction to the leadership of the church demonstrates that they were well enough developed as a church that the surrender of two key leaders to missions would not cripple the church. It could continue its present ministry while reaching out to reproduce itself elsewhere. People are always the primary resource in missions.
2. Worship with fasting, v. 1, 3. The church with its eyes and heart on God is in condition to sense His heartbeat for the lost. Missionary strategy must begin and end with worship and service for the glory of God.
3. Separate the called workers, v. 2. Those whom God has earmarked for worldwide ministry are somehow set apart within the congregation for the onus and honor of being their ambassadors. They will never again be the same.
4. Release called workers to go, v. 3. The verb in the original underlying “sent them away” is “release” or “set loose.” The implication is that Barnabas and Saul were eager to go out and do elsewhere what they had accomplished well at home. They were not shoved out the door, reluctant to face the challenge, but were like stallions champing at the bit, seeking liberty to charge onward. The church is not to restrain and frustrate those who are eager and prepared to go, but is to set them free for ministry and bear their costs.
THE ROLES OF THE MISSIONARIES
1. Work faithfully for Christ, v. 1. Those whom the church may send out are the ones with proven ability to produce fruit for Christ. Here was no “zeal without knowledge,” but productive proven experience.
2. Listen to the Spirit, v. 2. Missionaries are to be sensitive to the voice of God the Spirit within them, able to discern the difference between receiving enlightenment from God and just being struck by a good idea.
3. Obey the church leaders, v. 3. God’s method is the church, so the leaders of the church become His mouthpiece in giving direction to the new missionary movement.
4. Preach the Word, v. 5. Essential ministry activity on the mission field is the same as at home, even as local tactics may vary. They will evangelize, develop disciples, and establish churches which will perpetuate that process. They are to reproduce their sending church in a culturally-appropriate form.
5. Give account of their service, 14:27. The missionaries are accountable to their sending church, so they return to report on their ministry struggles, successes, and failures. During their extended leave at home they participate in the ministries of the church.
THE ROLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. Communicate the will of God, v. 2. The Messenger of the Trinity is the agent of revelation, whether inspiring writers of Scripture or directing the personal ambassadors of the church. God is eager to make His will known to his servants.
2. Call the missionaries, v. 2. The summons to serve in the great commission can only come from God. People are to offer themselves to the Lord of the Harvest, but the call to serve is God’s prerogative alone. Not all who are willing are called. The local church plays a vital role in discerning the reality of a call from God (or from the called one).
3. Send out the missionaries, v. 4. The Spirit is the ultimate Sender, now through the agency of the local church.
4. Empower missionaries for their work, v. 5. The power of the Spirit, seen in the signs and wonders which were then still legitimate, vindicated the preaching of the Word. The completion of the New Testament rendered such displays of power unnecessary, but the power to penetrate the unregenerate heart is still exercised by the Spirit through the Word in the mouths of godly witnesses.
Antioch serves as a model for what has come to be called in some circles “a missional church.” This is a local church which sees itself as God’s witness in the world, and will do all that is needed to make the gospel clear to the surrounding community. This Antiochian prototype demonstrates the underlying authority of the church in the entire missionary enterprise. Still, the specifics of field planning and tactical approaches were left largely to the initiative of the body of missionaries as they went out and served in accountability to their sending church.
THE AUTHORITY QUESTION
One of the hotly debated issues in missions today is “who controls the missionaries?” No one seems to state the question quite so blatantly, but churches want to know where the real decision-making power lies. There are a few sub-issues that are foundational here:
1. Has the mission agency usurped the authority of the local church over its missionaries?
2. Can the pastor direct the ministries of his missionaries on the field?
3. Are mission boards biblical, and necessary? (See Chapter 2 for this question.)
Let's set up a continuum, stretched from extreme to extreme, and figure out what ought to lie between the extremes.
| | | |
|Pastor – | |Mission – |
|directed | |directed |
Pastor - Directed. Let's face it; there ARE pastors who want to directly supervise the ministries of their missionaries on the field. Missionaries are looked upon as members of his church staff who just happen to be at a greater distance than the other associate pastors in the church. Such pastors resent the intervention of the mission agency between the church and its missionaries, whether in the person of an administrator or embodied in a field council of missionaries who govern themselves. While there is talk of the authority of the local church it is often the pastor who speaks for the church without further consultation. Does this work?
CASE: Three missionary families are working together on one project: say, starting a large church with varied ministries, or teaching together in a seminary, or running a radio station. A strategic decision is needed as to whether to do Plan X or Plan Y next month. Missionary A's pastor wants him to opt for Plan X, but Missionary B and C's pastors want them to opt for Plan Y.
There are some questions which underlie the situation. Whose pastor rules there? Where did those pastors get their information for the decision but from their own missionaries, each with their own prejudices and preferences? Is there a Plan Z which is really better? What is the forum for negotiation of strategy? Should the pastors all go to the field to see the reality of the situation firsthand before rendering a decision? Are the pastors at home communicating with each other to offer an informed consensus on the issue? Should the sending churches not entrust such decisions to their missionaries to resolve together as the called and involved group?
Mission - Directed. Let's face it, there ARE mission agencies that seek to supervise directly the ministries of their missionaries with no thought given to the authority of their sending churches over them. They think of themselves as autonomous ministries independent of any church authority or pastoral guidance, and think of the missionaries as THEIR missionaries.
Another set of questions comes into play.
• Aren't those missionaries really under the authority of their sending churches?
• Isn't the pastor the responsible leader of the local church?
• Do missions hide information from pastors to keep them from "meddling"?
There are cases where the church hands its missionaries over to a mission board, and essentially relinquishes its meaningful relationship with them. In cases of denominational missions where this is the more common pattern, the board has denominational support and direction, so the mission does not need to worry much about the churches. The board provides all the services instead of the church, and the church carries little sense of responsibility for the missionaries. They now belong to the mission.
Church authority through the mission. Let's look at a more balanced view of the exercise of authority.
| | | |
|Pastor - |Church authority directed |Mission - directed |
|directed |through the Mission | |
Churches have founded missions like Baptist Mid-Missions to enable them to focus the load on specialists among them who do that work more efficiently. We who are mission administrators do not see ourselves as functioning apart from the will and vision of the churches which called this organization into existence back in 1920 as the world’s first independent Baptist mission agency. Such agencies are a healthy function of the church, an arm of the churches. The mission is not some independent organization that can act apart from the authority of the sending and supporting churches. So the church exercises its authority by commissioning their missionaries to work under the guidance of the mission agency. The mission is an agency selected by the church to represent them in missionary functions.
Rather than using “parachurch” to describe missions working “beside” the church, one has coined the term “metachurch,” as an organization working “in the midst” of the church. We seek a middle ground that can describe the mission agency as an organization “through which” the church exercises its sending authority.
Keep in mind that virtually all who are mission administrators with a focus on field ministry are former pastors. We bring a seasoned pastoral mentality to the administration of the mission, both in our respect for the authority of the local church and for the desire to provide supportive care for members of the flock out there in the wild places. Most are also former field missionaries, and know what it is like to be out there on the front porch of hell. The missionaries involved in church planting works are pastors themselves. So when we insist that missions operations be run by pastors, remember that they ARE run by pastors. Once men are called from the pastorate into full-time missionary ministry and to mission administration they are out of the pastorate as an office, but never out of the pastoral ways of thinking. So, missions ARE run by pastors, or former pastors. Further, the majority of the men sitting on the General Councils are pastors, and all of them are appointed by their local churches to serve on the governing board of the mission. Even where the major policy decisions are being made, they are made by churchmen, not by rebels who set out on an anti-church course.
Should the missionary write home for pastoral help on every tactical decision for the work on the field? We do not see the original mission party doing that, though communication was much less practical back then. Now that we have e-mail and telephone, must the missionary ask the pastor’s guidance for every decision about the work? Is the missionary an assistant to the pastor in the church’s off-site ministry center? Does the pastor oversee every detail of the works of his youth pastor or other assistants?
When the missionary faces a tough tactical decision, does he phone the Field Administrator in the mission office, or his own pastor in the sending church?
• Who is better informed of the realities of the situation on the field?
• What is the meaning of “commissioning” by the church to the mission? The church has requested that the mission oversee the ministry and finances of their missionaries on behalf of the church.
• How many other missionaries are involved in decisions on a team ministry, and are their pastors trying to guide the process from their points of view as well? Do the pastors have access to each other to make a fully informed decision on the ministries of one another’s missionaries?
• How well can people who are remote from the field give advice on specific tactical matters? What advice do pastors get for their own tactical decision making?
• Would any pastor have on his church staff an associate pastor who was really guided by the pastor of another church far away? That is what he imposes on the field ministries when he expects his missionary to act independently of the other missionaries on the team.
So the balanced position seems to be that local churches commission their missionaries into the care and guidance of the mission agencies they select, and that the agencies always respect the underlying authority of the sending churches as they administer the finances and ministries of the missionaries on behalf of the churches. Within the mission structures, most tactical decisions are made by the team of those directly involved.
There is no biblical necessity for mission agencies. (We avoid the term "board" since it implies a measure of independence that none of us intends to have.) Any local church is free to send out its own missionaries using no other agency but itself. BUT it then incurs all of the responsibilities related to the care as well as the direction of their missionaries. This is manageable on one field, but few churches are sending properly cared-for missionaries out to several countries. Some are doing it, but they inevitably add staff to the church to care for the missionaries, travel to those fields for supervision, spend more money per missionary than do the mission agencies. A large full-service agency like Baptist Mid-Missions costs only about $2800 per missionary per year for its total overhead and administrative costs.
THE IDEAL SENDING CHURCH
What kinds of churches consistently send out a significant number of their own members as missionaries? It would be useful to identify, and even quantify, some of the key attributes that equip a church to send out people. We expand this in Chapter 5.
Pastors must think in terms of building a church that produces missionaries rather than waiting to see who will just come forward during their dynamic preaching. It will not happen by accident. The church is a nursery to nurture growing disciples and a school for future ministers of the gospel. When all growing church members get basic training for ministry, some of them will end up being called to ‘The Ministry.’ Pastors cannot call their members into the ministry, but can set up opportunities for the Lord of the Harvest to do His calling as He wills.
The churches that consistently produce new ministers, including missionaries, have some notable characteristics, though this is not based on research but observation.
The pastor loves the ministry!
If the pastor does not have a high regard for the ministry, nor encourage people to yield themselves to God for whatever He wants, there will be few who will prepare for the ministry. When the pastor disparages the ministry, the youth respond by entering secular fields, and by avoiding Christian colleges. The challenge for high spiritual standards, for deep development of life in Christ, the surrender to the will of God, must thunder from the pulpit and be seen with joy at the top levels of church leadership. The Pastor preaches strongly on evangelism and surrender for ministry, and enjoys high credibility because of his own love for the ministry.
Missionaries are a familiar sight in the pulpit and the church.
Children and teens need heroes, and there are plenty out there: men and women of God on the front lines of battle around the world. The church needs to get familiar with missionaries who are doing the job of evangelism, overcoming cultural barriers, establishing churches, helping people grow into productive Christians. The youth need such models before them as an objective for their own development.
The church members develop “worldawareness.”
We Americans are insulated by two oceans and by distant borders from populations who are different from ourselves. There is a whole world out there of peoples who are radically different, people who don’t even speak English. We need to have a globe in the home. Those who just have a stamp collection learn about other countries by looking through little windows at their maps, heroes, flags, languages, and major events. Parents can favorably mention missionary service or employment overseas so their children have some leanings that way. Encourage friendships with international students and invite them home. This helps to develop comfort with international thinking. The church wants to produce “world Christians” who view the earth through God’s eyes.
Youth are given opportunities to minister.
Young people can be taken on visitation, taken to the city mission to give testimonies and sing and even preach. They can testify at the county jail. They can organize their own youth programs, and even often preach to one another. They can be taught to gather kids and tell Bible stories using teaching pictures or PowerPoint® stories. Youth can distribute tracts on street corners. During the vacation periods, students home from Bible college should be asked to preach in the services of the church. They should lead singing in the youth meetings and occasionally in the church services. Involvement of youth and laypersons in public services can be a normal part of the life of the church.
Missionaries are supported eagerly.
Churches that readily support missionaries will quickly generate new missionaries from within. If churches could somehow provide full support for missionaries, they would soon find themselves with their own members lining up to be sent out.
One plan is the Missionary Church Consortium. Several churches contract together that if a member of any one of them goes to the mission field, all of them together will provide the support. One consortium of 5 churches in Detroit quickly found that they were saturated with requests because the pro-missions atmosphere opened the ears of people to hear the call of God. Another consortium of 8 churches aims for 12 partner churches, with an agreement to provide 40% of the support for missionaries from any one of the churches. That is a great jump start for prefield ministry or deputation.
The church maintains a realistic awareness of mission work.
We are flooded with information. The church can keep mission magazines and brochures available. Prayer letters of supported missionaries can be kept on file in the church library or office for easy reference by all interested parties. The church library needs a list of the catalogs of Christian colleges which it recommends so its youth are immediately aware of study opportunities, along with its growing collection of books on missions. At least half of the church members can accurately describe the missionary programs of the church, and the overall strategy of the church in its outreach ministries around the world and locally.
The church gives about a quarter of its income to missions.
There are sensible limits as to how much a church can give to ministries outside its own work. A new church plant should have missionary interests from the start but should limit that to 5% of its income until it can get into its own first building with a properly supported pastor. A growing new church should never give less than 10% of its general budget to missions. An established church should not be contributing less than 20% of its income to the spread of the gospel around the world, and consider such giving as a normal part of their church life. Once a church is into its growth building, or permanent building, it can seriously increase its giving to world missions toward 30% or more.
The church members see themselves as Great Commission activists.
The people, who ARE the church, understand that the church is a venue for missionary activity, whether they are sent or senders. They are worldaware, sensitive to what God is doing in the world, relating events to global outreach, open to variations of culture and experience, active on their own local mission field, open to going out for a short term or a lifetime, raising their children to serve the Lord of the Harvest.
How can a church measure its own readiness to be sending out its own members as missionaries? See “The Well-Equipped Sending Church” by Dr. Gerald K. Webber in Missions in a New Millennium, edited by Glenny and Smallman.
CHURCH MISSIONS COMMITTEE
The Missionary Committee needs to be defined in the Constitution of the church as to its purpose and makeup. Normally at least one deacon will be on every working committee as liaison with the Fellowship of Deacons, and the pastor is on all committees. It is good for the pastor to be able to participate in the meetings of the Missions Committee so that they will not take initiatives which are not in keeping with his leadership, but they ought to be able to meet without him when he is not able to meet with them.
The fact that missions leadership in the church must come from the pastor does not mean that he must do all of the work, nor be in on every meeting of every committee. But the Missions Committee and other such organizations will be sensitive about reflecting the pastor’s vision for missions through that church, even as they implement it. The pastor is always in charge of the pulpit, though the missions committee may recommend to him certain missionaries who are available for such ministry. The pastor may opt to have a missionary speaker
• once a quarter, or
• once every two months, or
• when there is a fifth Sunday in a month, or
• once a month,
• ten ( or other number ) times per year, plus the missionary conference.
The Missions Committee will cooperate with the logistics for such contacts.
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
One good plan is that the Missions Committee is defined in the Constitution as consisting of several active members, appointed by the Fellowship of Deacons
• 2 deacons as designated by the Fellowship of Deacons
• 1 representative of the Ladies’ Missionary Fellowship
• 1 Missions Treasurer (elected by the congregation)
• 1 Assistant Missions Treasurer (elected by the congregation)
• 2 other members-at-large, generally one involved with the youth ministries
• the Pastor, member ex-officio of all committees
COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES
The FUNCTIONS of the Missionary Committee generally include…
• general oversight of the missionary interests (apart from pulpit ministry)
• recommendations for support of missionaries
• encouragement of specific missions groups in the church
• managing the missionary budget, if different from the General Fund, sending monthly offerings to the missions involved
• publicizing the missionary ministries of the church
• organizing an annual missionary conference in cooperation with the pastor’s office.
CHURCH MISSIONS FOCUS
A church needs to have a defined purpose statement for its missionary interests. This is best framed in the Missions Policy of the church and then enacted through the several missions focus groups within the church. Why do we give as we do? Why do we select the missionaries we do? What do we expect to accomplish over the next decade?
BALANCED GLOBAL OUTREACH
Most churches seek to balance their missionary interests by blanketing the globe: Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America with foreign and home missionaries. They gladly display a map with their worldwide efforts through their missionaries.
We can also make a helpful distinction other than ‘home’ and ‘foreign’ missions that reflects the cultural distance rather than geographical distance between us.
Homoethnic Outreach
When we reach out to our own kinds of people, at home or abroad, whoever those out-reachers are, we are involved in same-culture outreach, or homoethnic ministry. There is an American church in São Paulo, Brazil, reaching people in the business community there in English. There is also a Japanese outreach in São Paulo as Japanese missionaries reach Japanese immigrants in Brazil. Both of these are homoethnic since it is E-1 evangelism (people reaching their own kind) while in a mutually foreign environment.
Heteroethnic Outreach
Once we are crossing a cultural or ethnic gap, as in E-2 and E-3 evangelism, we are reaching out to people who are different in ethnicity. These kinds of cross-cultural evangelism are heteroethnic, to people of other culture or ethnicity, whether within or beyond our own borders. When typical white missionaries seek to reach the Navajo Indians there is a cultural gap which is as difficult to span as if working among the Warao in Venezuela. Someone has suggested that we bring in Koreans to minister to Tribal Americans since there is closer ethnic affinity, no history of broken promises, and they are proven effective cross-cultural evangelists.
FOCUS ON CLOSED NATIONS
There are a few churches which now will ONLY support missionary ministries in nations that are closed to the gospel. They train their own people and support those from other churches who are going to the closed fields.
FOCUS ON SELECTED REGIONS
We know one church that now puts its entire missionary effort within the 10/40 window, and nothing else. Let other churches contribute to conventional missions while they invest in the areas of greatest need.
Some churches “own” a given mission field with a strong emphasis there, even while supporting some missionaries who go elsewhere. They have repeatedly sent construction and ministry teams to one city, allowing them to develop a solid working relationship with pastors and church members there.
We are aware of one denominational church which gives 60% of its missionary budget to its own denominational missionaries, and then freely decides where else to give the rest. So they honor the missionaries they fully agree with and also have some freedom to support other ministries.
COMMUNICATING WITH MISSIONARIES
Communication is a two-way street. The word itself is based on the concept of “commonness.” Churches quickly define their expectations of missionaries to communicate about their work, so it is proper for them also to define how they expect to communicate regularly with their missionaries.
Missionary support is a partnership agreement. The very notion of “deputation” is that the churches “deputize” those missionaries to join their global posse and represent them on that mission field. So, if the missionaries are deputy ministers working for the church in a distant location it stands to reason that both sides of the agreement will eagerly share their vision and burdens with one another.
Missionaries on their fields pray regularly for their supporters. This is a faith operation, and there is mutual dependence on the Lord to faithfully provide for both the senders and the sent ones. Regular communication in both directions feeds that sense of mutuality and involvement. One missionary family overseas had 32 supporting churches, only two of which regularly sent communication from the church, and one other had a member that kept up active personal correspondence. That meager 10% is not biblical tithing!
GOALS OF COMMUNICATION
WHY keep in touch? Let’s note a few objectives.
• Project a sense of participation in the life of the church. The missionaries are not mere budget items but are real people who are remembered within the congregation as a part of the whole, however remote. The missionaries want to remember people there as well.
• Encourage active prayer participation as missionaries pray for their churches.
• Maintain lines of fellowship and mutual encouragement.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
Let’s just list a series of ways that churches can communicate with their missionaries. As easy as this is in our days to keep in touch, the main obstacle is disinterest not difficulty. Someone from each supporting church should correspond with each supported missionary at least once a quarter, and with their own church members at least once a month.
• Write regularly. One church member selected a missionary family she knew, so she saved a church bulletin each week, scribbled notes from the pastor’s messages, noted special prayer requests, and mailed them once a month. This kept the missionaries in touch with changes in the church, key events, ministry needs, and other news.
• Provide addressed envelopes. Some churches maintain a selection of pre-addressed air letters or envelopes for all of their missionaries. People are encouraged to select one a month and write to them from the church.
• Keep missionaries on the church mailing list. If the church puts out a newsletter it can well go to the missionaries. This will call for some special handling and a bit of airmail expense, but it can be done by volunteers or church office personnel. Add missionaries to the church’s email newsletter list.
• Send preaching. Some churches mail out a CD of a message from the pastor once a month to their missionaries. The pastor can write a monthly pastoral letter to accompany the CD and express his solidarity with them on the field. If there is a text version of each sermon, email that to your missionaries.
• Use the website. More and more churches have websites, so the missionaries with Internet access can immediately see what the church is doing in its major activities. If the website posts the pastor’s messages as MP3 or other audio files, an occasional reminder can send the missionaries to the website to download what they find helpful.
• Appoint an email contact person. Since most missionaries now have email, the church can find one person to volunteer to keep in touch with each missionary they support. This can include news, prayer requests, special outreach efforts, and other matters as well as questions about the missionary’s efforts in ministry. Don’t ask questions which are already answered in the missionary’s regular emails, but some interaction lets them know that people do read their mail.
• Use Instant Messaging. Modern technology permits short informal conversations through the computers. Instant messaging and social networking programs like Facebook allow casual interaction and give a sense of nearness. This can now also include audio and even video contacts if both ends have broadband connections for good speed and quality.
• Talk with missionaries during services. The pastor could set up appointments for telephone conversations with missionaries once a month or so to allow a 5-minute verbal hug from the church. Offset time zones are taken into account in making such contact. Skype and other audio/video technology allows visual conversations in real time.
• Send the pastor and his wife to visit the missionaries. The church can include in its missionary budget the funding to get those on the pastoral staff out to the fields where they work through their missionaries every two years. Such visits would be planned for maximum value, whether direct ministry involvement or encouragement for the missionaries.
• Help in projects. Contact with the missionaries should include inquiries into special projects where they need help. If there are people in the church who are able to help in specific areas, the church might help send them out.
• Inquire about furlough needs. The sending church has the particular responsibility of caring for their missionaries during furlough. They can inquire into housing needs, inform of schooling options, find a car or van, and embrace them as family as they adjust back into normal Stateside life.
And the list goes on…
THE LOCAL CHURCH IN MISSIONS
Missions begins and ends with the local church. The mission of the church is missions, and the mission of missions is the church. When Jesus said “I will build my church” He stated the promise and prophecy and procedure that is still the measure of our success in following Him. Jesus invested His mission from God in a dozen men who would go plant churches and raise up other church planters as their ongoing mission. So we confidently keep the church at the center of God’s plan for ministry in the world.
When God invaded the human race, He came incarnated in a human body. Once Jesus left the surface of the earth, God returned in the person of the Holy Spirit so that Jesus is now incarnated in His Body, the Church, visible as local churches. The individual Christian is God’s temple, the place where people come in contact with God. The collectivity of such temples forms the local church, still the key meeting place between God and men. We are not working at doing “kingdom work” today, and we are not about “building the kingdom.” Biblically, we are the instruments of Jesus Christ who promised, “I will build my church!”
The link between the church, the missionary, and the mission agency is commissioning, discussed in Chapter 2.
Chapter 2
WHY HAVE MISSION BOARDS?
Do we really NEED mission boards? Can’t the churches just send their own missionaries and cut out the middle man and all that expense? Let’s think about it.
BIBLICAL PATTERNS
Let's derive some principles from those first missionaries who were sent out as seen in Acts chapters 13 to 16. Several people were sent out from First Baptist Church of Antioch. We look upon them as "the mission team." They are not a body which is independent of that sending church, but the distant expression of what the church IS in the world. They are a part of the church rather than apart from the church. They serve under the authority of the sending church, but are entrusted with a lot of freedom to make the on-site decisions that facilitate what the church sent them to do. The team of missionaries was a specialized group out of the church, distinct from the church, for the church, under the church, and freed by the church.
That mission team is analogous to a mission agency today as the body of personnel dedicated to the missionary interests of the churches. On a smaller scale it is analogous to a field council or ministry team in which the missionaries who work together negotiate their own plans for local ministry. The sending church does not expect to rule the churches formed by their missionaries, since those will be led by missionaries until they are organized and independent. There is an important distinction, then, between the sending church and the mission team it sends out for church planting. The pastoral function was kept distinct from the evangelizing-prophetic function for enlarging Christian territory.
What did that model mission team do?
They were sent out by the Spirit from that church with a commission: reproduce the convictions of this church elsewhere in the known world (13:2). Once they were into that foundational strategic trajectory they acted independently. (Look up the noted verses.)
• They organized their own team structure, and re-organized it as was practical for them in new circumstances. 13:13, 16:3
• They had a designated leader, Barnabas, who even after setting Paul as spokesman for the mission was recognized by others as the administrator. Acts 14:12
• They determined their own tactical approaches for ministry. 13:14
• They recruited new missionaries by their own high standards. Acts 16:15
• They provided apprenticeship orientation and training as a mission organization. 16:1-5
• One mission group rejected a missionary candidate put forth by his church, as inappropriate for the intended mission. He went with a different mission group with their blessing. Acts 15:38.
• They blended the efforts of missionaries sent out by different churches under their own shared planning for the Lord’s guidance of the team. Acts 16:1-5
• They determined the Lord's guidance for the locations of their ministries. Acts 16:9
• They provided for their own medical care, even recruiting a doctor, Acts 16:10 (where Dr. Luke first writes “we” in Acts as a direct participant).
• They received financial help from God's people. (Phil 4:18)
• They accepted the delegated authority of God and the church to serve as their representatives. (1Thess 2:4)
• They were accountable to their sending church for reporting back on fruit and needs Acts 14:26-28
These are many of the things which mission agencies do today. That mission group from the sending church serves as a model for the specialized body of missions activists sent out by churches today, organized by the churches as mission agencies. They do not act independent of the will of the churches, but act freely on behalf of the churches.
We can distinguish between strategy and tactics.
The sending church defines the essential strategy: go start other churches that believe as this one does, allowing for cultural variation. That is the overall trajectory which shapes all of the activities of the mission team. The church governs this issue by the selection of the mission agency they use in view of its doctrine and strategy.
Once the missionaries are on the ground, as a mission team from several sending churches, they will face specific tactical decisions which they can make in order to fulfill the strategy determined by the church. These are the levels of decision making observed in the biblical mission teams in Acts. That mission team consists of the missionary personnel and their supervisory personnel – the mission agency knitting them together. It has freedom to determine its specific local methodologies and applications within the framework created by the sending churches.
Dr. Kevin Bauder notes,
Paul’s team was a band of Christian individuals who organized to plant local churches. Yet their organization was not itself a church. To repeat: Paul’s company of church planters was an organization, but it was not a church. It existed to perform a function that belonged to the local church, and yet it performed this function without the immediate direction of any local church.
While its members were ultimately accountable to their churches, they were immediately accountable to the organization itself.
The organization of Paul and his companions was virtually indistinguishable from the modern missionary field council. That being the case, arguing that field councils (or, by extension, mission agencies) are anti-Scriptural makes no sense at all. In fact, exactly the reverse appears to be true. Paul’s field council is really the only organized effort to plant churches that is depicted in the New Testament. Never does the New Testament anywhere present the picture of a solitary missionary who answers only to his commissioning church.
The burden of proof, therefore, is not upon mission agencies that operate field councils. On the contrary, those who reject the pattern of Paul and his companions have the duty to explain why their methods should be accepted as more biblical or useful than the one that is actually displayed in the New Testament. Until that argument is made convincingly, Christians have every reason to think that missionaries on the field ought to be organized together and immediately accountable to one another, even though each missionary remains accountable to his sending church.” (Bauder, 2007)
PRAGMATIC RATIONALE: Just what does a mission agency DO?
The churches have created mission agencies to do specialized functions that are really their responsibility to their missionaries. Any church that opts to send out its own missionaries directly is accepting responsibility for the work which a mission agency would normally do on their behalf. These lists note some of the benefits of a mission agency to the missionaries as the chosen agent of their sending church.
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
• Well-established structure for international work
• Clearly defined convictions and policies, giving identity to the missionary
• Close ties with sending and supporting churches
• Family spirit and supportive fellowship
• Core values shared by all and communicated to churches
• Excellent group health and hospitalization insurance
• Retirement investment program and optional retirement center
• Orientation seminar for new missionaries
FIELD ADMINISTRATION
• Member care of missionaries
• On-field orientation for new missionaries, culture and language
• Shared strategic planning on the field
• Fellowship with like-minded missionaries
• Supportive fellowship for new churches on the field
• Support network for MK's
• Ongoing training and counseling programs
• Consultation with experts on international banking, shipping, building, health, counseling issues, crisis management, and other similar areas of expertise
• Effective handling of evacuation for health or political crises
COMMUNICATIONS
• Publicizing of mission positions and ministries
• Publicizing of specific missionary projects and ministries
• Professional quality printing, audio-visuals, films, videos
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
• Responsible handling of support funds
• Reliable transmission of funds to any overseas location
• Monthly statements of all financial movement and accounts
• Income tax services
• Corporate accounting with outside audit for strong credibility
• Careful determination of support level, and breakdown of details
• Correspondence with supporters, quick and accurate receipts
• Fully legal financial services, up to date with changing laws
CHURCH RELATIONS ADMINISTRATION
• Orientation and counsel in deputation
• Contacts with thousands of churches
• Help from area representatives
• Reporting in Deputation Bulletin emails
• Follow-up of meetings in churches
All of these services are done on behalf of the sending churches by a full-service mission. All of these things ought to be done by those churches that send out their own missionaries apart from an agency.
CASE in point. The week of April 15, 2002, a missionary faced a sudden medical emergency in a remote area of Africa. The moment the emergency condition was known, it triggered an evacuation process that was well established. In the mission office, administrators were quickly in contact with diagnostic medical personnel, with an organization that specializes in medevac cases, and with the financial channels to make the needed cash guarantees up front. The pastor of the missionary’s home church was soon contacted, and his immediate response was, “We are SO glad you are there. We wouldn’t have known what to do.” Several travel options were worked out, including the charter Learjet ambulance flight from the African capital city to a hospital in Paris. Needed care was on its way within minutes of the emergency and the missionary’s life was spared for future ministry. The mission agency enjoys an economy of scale which allows it to have experts in fields which the sending church normally does not have on hand.
MODELS FOR CHURCH - MISSION RELATIONS
We will not pretend that there is one, and only one, way for a church and mission to work together.
CHURCH SENDING DIRECTLY
We have stated that it is scripturally possible for a church to send out its own missionaries. In this case, the church IS its own mission agency. By so doing, it also accepts full responsibility for all that the sending church ought to be doing for those missionaries. The logistics of mission oversight are normally handled by a committee or the pastoral staff rather than convening the congregation for planning. So the church in effect starts a new mission agency as it becomes a mission agency.
A while back a pastor and his missionary came to our offices. They were quite firm that they did not believe that mission agencies were biblical. They did ask, however,
• that we allow this missionary to enter the target country under our quota of visas
• that he be received for fellowship among our missionaries
• that he be a part of our Field Council there, to vote on the work of all of them
• that we receive, receipt, and disburse his finances for him, and
• that we provide workers to fill in at his church when he returns on furlough.
So the church wanted the mission to act as their mission agency, though they don’t believe in mission agencies!! Needless to say, it didn’t fly.
DENOMINATIONAL MISSIONS
The denominational structure provides a mission agency designated for that church, as the preferred, or only, channel for the funds and personnel being sent out. The local church has little, if any, say in placement, nurture, funding, strategy. The board does all that for them.
We knew a missionary candidate in grad school who had joined his denominational mission. When asked what field they would serve on he responded that the board had not yet told them where they would be assigned. Another missionary with that same denomination was extending his furlough just a couple of months to complete a master’s degree in a ministry field directly related to his work on the mission field. The board dropped his support after 12 months of furlough, leaving him to find a job to support his family for those few months, and then they were reinstated to active service to return to the field. Policy is policy. The mission board of the denomination could override the expressed wishes of the sending church.
FUNDING CLEARINGHOUSE
The opposite extreme is the kind of mission agency which only handles funds and gets them to the missionaries on the field, but exercises no supervision of the missionaries. They are directed by their pastors from home, or by a Field Director on the field. The “hands off” posture of the mission office leaves the missionary plenty of latitude for strategic decisions regarding the work.
There are questions as to the legality of a clearinghouse. The IRS law specifies that tax-deductible gifts be given to a properly established non-profit (religious or other) corporation which owns and controls the funds for its stated purposes. If the missionary on the field is fully in control of his support funds, the IRS wonders who is in control there, and may step in to shut down the operation. Actually, the mission could function so, but not as a proper tax-deductible organization. So when a mission like BMM receives $100 for the ministry of the Smiths, it has the full right to redirect that gift to whatever other use it may wish to make of it. That would be foolish, of course, since the donor would not give again. But that legal right of control by the mission is something we have to demonstrate to our outside auditors every year.
We no longer use the term “designated” for missionary giving. We express something like “preferred” or “suggested” or “donor advised” to identify the ministry intended by the donor, and will, of course, continue to honor the intentions of the donors. Otherwise the whole relationship of trust breaks down.
CHURCH COMMISSIONING THROUGH AN AGENCY
THE MISSION AGENCY SERVING THE CHURCH
Our favored pattern is that the mission agency is just that: an agency that acts on behalf of the churches, and at their request, and under their authority. The mission agency provides services for and with and to the churches as they send and support their missionaries. The mission agency only exists because the churches called them into existence, and only serves as long as the churches authorize it to so do. The mission is never independent of the churches, but is their service agency in matters germane to the missionary process. The mission agency does not take people from the churches; it provides services for the churches as they send out their missionaries.
Dr. Dave Doran writes cogently, “No person, except the Lord Himself, or organization outside of the local church can dictate the actions or direct the affairs of the local assembly. Therefore, we should see mission boards as implementing agencies, not sending agencies. Mission boards exist to serve the local church, not vice versa. Mission boards cannot replace the work of the local church in the task of appointing and sending missionaries.” (Doran 2002, 164-65) We heartily agree.
The kind of implicit contract between the sending churches and their mission agency needs to be made more explicit.
THE SENDING CHURCH AGREES TO...
• raise up spiritually well-trained and maturing prospective missionaries
• provide significant leadership experience within the church, and encourage any formal training appropriate to future ministry (Bible college, seminary, etc.)
• participate in evaluation of candidates
• provide financial support for the family
• pray for the missionaries, communicate with them,
• visit and help them, participate in ministry projects
• offer counsel and comfort when needed
• shelter and use them during furloughs, welcoming them as the home church, and church home.
THE MISSION AGENCY AGREES TO
call in the pastor (and church, at the pastor’s discretion) for active participation in…
• the evaluation of the missionary candidate from their church
• the commissioning of their missionary (family) to be sent out through the mission
• any unscheduled trips home from the field apart from emergencies
• any major changes in the missionary’s career trajectory:
• a change of field
• a major change of ministry focus or type
• major changes in financial circumstances
• any disciplinary measures considered, or major relationship problems
• discussion of retirement circumstances
THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS
A local church commissions its missionaries to serve on a stated field through a stated agency. Commissioning is the contemporary linkage between the sending church, the missionary and the mission agency. If the field or agency is changed, renewed commissioning is called for, presuming that the sending church is privy and party to such a significant decision. All such major changes are to be discussed with the pastor so he is part of the decision-making process, not the last to hear of change.
The only church which has authority over a missionary is the one where he or she is a member. Other churches give support and counsel, but only the church of membership has any power over them other than the threat of discontinuing support. The final authority over the missionary is that of the church, not that of the mission agency.
Where does the mission agency get its authority? The sending church requests through the COMMISSIONING process that the mission administer details of the money and ministries of their missionaries. This is a derived authority, a delegated authority. The pastor is still their pastor, involved in their spiritual health and development.
This COMMISSIONING process presumes good will and communication between the church and the mission, in both directions. This is a compact more than a contract, but involves mutual trust. As its agency, the mission acts for the church. The actual act of commissioning is when the church in session votes to commission their missionaries through a stated mission agency, whether or not there is a public celebratory service.
A typical commissioning service enables the church to celebrate its participation in the Great Commission through its own members being sent out for ministry elsewhere. They will retain membership in the sending church but be active in other churches where they serve. Pastors can write to Baptist Mid-Missions, Church Relations Department, for specific suggestions for a commissioning service and the forms to register properly their actions.
The order of service will be set by the pastor as it is planned, often with special music at appropriate places, but often looks like this:
• Song service and opening prayer
• Introduction of the purpose, and the missionary candidates
• Testimonies of candidates’ call to missionary ministry
• Charge to the missionaries, with Scripture
• Charge to the church, with Scripture
• Reading and presentation of the Commissioning Certificates
• Prayer of dedication, perhaps in a circle around the missionaries
Note the wording on the Commissioning Certificate of Baptist Mid-Missions. This is the action taken by the sending church to formally request that the mission act on their behalf. This document gives the mission legal right to act on behalf of the church’s missionaries.
This is to certify that (name) is a member of this congregation in good and regular standing and is hereby commissioned as a minister to conduct missionary work under Baptist Mid-Missions. By so doing, we designate and set apart our brother [or sister] to minister in this capacity in full accordance with the faith, tenets and practices of this church.
We hereby request that Baptist Mid-Missions provide the day-to-day administration of the ministry, finances, and nurture of our missionary.
Done by order of the church (date) (signatures of pastor and church clerk).
Churches might consider composing a missionary vow that voices each missionary’s full dedication of himself or herself to a lifetime of Great Commission service, described in appropriate terms. If such a vow is taken, it could be included in the commissioning service as the expression of unconditional surrender to the will of God.
SERVING THE CHURCHES
Baptist Mid-Missions exists to serve sending churches, so the range of services available depends on the relationship between the mission agency and the church. The working relationships are probably best described as a set of concentric circles.
At the heart of it all, in the inner circle, is the driving purpose of the mission. In this case, Baptist Mid-Missions was designed by and for fundamentalist, independent Baptist churches, and was the first such mission in history. This is our identity as we articulate the specific type of churches we serve as they reproduce their biblical convictions around the world by sending their members out as missionaries. Under the mandate of a General Council made up entirely of men from fundamental Baptist churches, our objective is to evangelize and establish other such churches. To such sending churches, the fullest range of services of the mission is available. It is vital to the consistency and continuity of such ministries that all of the missionaries share the same basic biblical convictions and the “Baptist” name historically associated with them. Certainly the substance of convictions is more important than their label, but the Baptist name must also be a matter of importance, not indifference.
A wider circle of churches involves a relationship of affinity and closeness, but with some dissonance of convictions or objectives. These include churches which are fully baptistic in convictions, but they do not want the “Baptist” label, and still wish to support Baptist missionary ministry. This circle also includes Baptist churches which are evangelical rather than fundamentalist in their denominational connections, but wish to support independent Baptist missionary ministry. We are privileged to serve such churches in the handling of their Great Commission finances for members of churches other than their own. One fine Bible church objected, “You will take our money but not our men.” We responded that we are not taking anything from them, but are serving them in the specific ways that our major agreements and minor differences allow.
In these two concentric circles alone there are currently over 6000 churches which regularly support missionaries through Baptist Mid-Missions.
A third circle of service involves those churches that send occasional gifts for missionaries or projects in which they have a special interest. Such churches may not agree with all the doctrines and principles of the mission, but contribute with good will on their own initiative. Some non-Baptist churches help with offerings for missionaries who grew up in their churches and then became Baptists, but there is a lingering sense of loyalty and interest to their own people. This involves another 2000 to 3000 churches giving irregularly. In all cases, the relationship is that of a service agency selected by the local church for specific help in the outreach of the church.
MAKEUP OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL
The real question of control resides with the control of the mission agency which serves the sending churches. Most such organizations have a self-perpetuating board, where missions-minded pastors and laymen are invited onto the board to make the major decisions for the organization and the fields. Nominations arise from within the board and the administration rather than from some outside body, seeking members with the same convictions and with the balance of areas of skills and insights that benefit the mission needs.
Any alternative to the internal selection process of a self-perpetuating board calls for the denominational approach where a specific body of churches has voting rights over its own mission board. A set body of churches in a convention would be able to elect from its own number certain individuals to be named to a board within the organization, but only in such a circumstance. A group independent local churches has no grounds for electing representatives to an organization which is not a part of itself. Imagine the process of the mission inviting 8000 churches who otherwise don’t know (or trust) each other to nominate 40 people to represent their missionary interests! Chaos results.
The General Council functions somewhat on the analogy of the Antioch church in relation to the missionaries at the organizational level. The main areas of responsibility of the governing board on behalf of thousands of supporting churches and hundreds of sending churches are
• to define and maintain the vision and mission of the organization
• to establish policy which governs the operation of the mission
• to make major strategic and financial decisions on behalf of mission personnel
• to appraise and approve missionary and administrative personnel.
The majority of board members in most mission agencies, at least in independent Baptist circles, are pastors, as we have seen. The others are laymen from such churches, each approved by his church to function on the governing board of the mission on behalf of that church. Thus the boards represent the churches, though not in the sense of taking a straw poll among the churches before voting on issues. Only persons of character and conviction with concern for missions are selected and approved for such positions. They are the voice of the churches, though with “narrow bandspread.”
Can women serve on the governing board of a mission agency? Yes, of course. The mission agency is not a church and board members are not pastoring or functioning as deacons. Baptist Mid-Missions has enjoyed such participation in past years and does in the present. Somewhat over half of the missionaries are women, so the governing body of the mission ought adequately to represent the unique point of view of its women. Women are often a majority in their field councils with voice and vote, and this has not caused problems. In reality, when missionary representatives sit in on General Council sessions with voice and vote, there already is female representation to the Council, and has been for many years. But the presence of women who are full members of the Council does highlight the importance given to the women of the mission. Though a tad unusual in independent Baptist circles, this is important.
FINDING THE IDEAL MISSION AGENCY
Let’s face it; there is no ideal mission agency for all candidates because all candidates are not equal. They have differing needs, convictions, objectives, skills, and interests.
The Missions Policy of the church will include some criteria for the selection of mission agencies by its members. While that decision is finally up to the missionary candidates, they will want to see themselves as servants of the sending church and seek the church’s direction in such an important decision. So while our discussion focuses on the candidates’ decision making process, their conversations with the pastor are humming in the background as you grapple with specific criteria. There is always the possibility that the church itself will want to send out missionaries and care for them itself. This creates many disadvantages for one’s work on the field, working alone, but is an option for the church which is willing to pay the price of effort, particularly when members go to several culturally diverse fields.
As the candidates look for the “right” mission agency for them and their church, they are to identify those issues that are crucial to them in that decision. Most issues are matters of curiosity, while a few demand a good fit. Complete this sentence: “I could never serve with a mission which A or B or C,” or “I could only serve with a mission which X and Y and Z.” They are to ask THOSE crucial questions BEFORE signing on the dotted line, not after. The rest can wait for Candidate Seminar.
The “right” mission agency should have …
THE SAME CONVICTIONS
There are ample opportunities for conflict with colleagues on the field, so we begin with the certainty that missionaries will not be scrapping over important doctrines. All will lay the same foundation for new churches and their members. Those convictions will be the same as those of their sending churches, since they send out their members to reproduce the biblical convictions of the sending church. This key criterion demands that candidates define their own convictions on what it would take to work smoothly and consistently with others. Sample areas include…
• Baptist convictions (Independent? GARB? BBF? Anyolkind?) Baptist churches should not feel intimidated about insisting on Baptist missions for its people. We reproduce who we are, and as soon as we say, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what people call themselves” we sow the seeds of our own suicide. If it doesn’t matter, why have our forebears died for their faith? Do we have convictions, or just a label?
• Fundamentalist, separatist ministry (or generic evangelical?) The definition of our philosophy of ministry will include our determination to work with those with whom we can be equally yoked, or to work with just anybody.
• Non-Charismatic practice and convictions. Our convictions will distance us from some fine fellow believers, but we’ll learn to distinguish between fellowship and cooperation in the work of our churches, and avoid confusion.
• Pre-Millennial, Pre-Tribulational Eschatology. Our Eschatology is not just a minor matter like the color of the icing. It is the basis for mixing the batter for the cake. The pre-mil, pre-trib position we hold is the expression of a system of Hermeneutics, not just of some detached position on the timing of the Rapture.
• Other stands important to the sending church. Candidates should KNOW their church; BE their church, in a distant place.
THE SAME CHURCHES
Affiliation, or affinity. What missions does the sending church recommend? If that church is a fundamental Baptist church, they will want their members to serve in a mission agency with the same convictions. Some church missions policies specify that they will only support missionaries with compatible agencies, even if it means that some of their own members serve elsewhere and disqualify themselves from support.
Starting compatible churches. Does the mission reproduce what the sending church stands for? If it matters at home, it matters in BongoBongo. We’ve heard that we should not export American divisions in the church, but frankly they are mostly already there, ahead of us. The younger churches have to come to terms with what 2000 years of Church History hands them. They will create some new history, and new controversies, of their own as their history unfolds. That next generation is the church of the future, but it is the result of the church of the present which perpetuates a sacred doctrinal trust.
THE SAME LOCAL CHURCH ORIENTATION
The sending church is active in candidate selection and approval. The selected mission agency welcomes and seeks such participation, and does not feel like the pastor is meddling in their business. The candidates should welcome church interest.
Mission objectives: Is the mission starting Baptist local churches, and their institutions? Remember that the objective is to reproduce the sending church, with appropriate cultural variety in different settings. We are not the only ones out there serving the Lord, but if we don’t perpetuate our convictions, no one else will.
QUALITY CARE FOR MISSIONARIES
• Candidate orientation. Is there a seminar to adequately explain the operations of the mission? Are the myriad details presented in writing? Some small missions use a generic candidate seminar and then add their own details, while larger missions have their own seminars.
• Deputation preparation. Are candidates given training for deputation ministry? A-V, literature, contacts, identity, promotion, excellence. These years can be a blessing or a frustration depending on preparation.
• Mission services: Health support, group insurance, help with taxes, counseling, guidance. The current term is “member care, “ including resources for counseling, education, on-field training, conflict resolution, financial planning, etc.
• Field orientation: Who will help find housing? Provide language and culture training? Accompany new missionaries through the hazards of culture shock? Help build bridges to friendships and fruitful ministry in their host country?
• A close working relationship with sending churches for distant missionaries?
• Attention to family life? care of MKs, time for home life, preparation for retirement
FIELD ADMINISTRATION: Options for decision making …
Administrators in a mission home office make decisions from afar. Some missionaries have to refer all questions back to the mission office for resolutions of questions.
• Home churches make most decisions from afar. Some pastors expect to make most of the decisions for their missionaries as if they were church staff at a greater distance. Much of such guidance comes from the pastor alone, without consulting the church or deacons, much less the other missionaries’ churches.
• Field Director on site makes most decisions. Many missions have a Field Director who supervises the work of the missionaries and has executive authority, not merely advisory access, over them and their ministries.
• Field Council makes most decisions as a team with mutual accountability. In a field council, all of the missionaries have voice and vote in matters that pertain to all of them collectively. A field council president is primus inter pares (or ‘first among equals’) as the moderator, but is not the supervisor. They discuss and decide what is best done from a vantage close to the work. Our field councils are now called “Ministry Teams.”
FINANCIAL ISSUES
We will later examine financial options in more detail, but for now will simply be aware that decisions about the selection of a mission agency may concern several areas in the “never ABC” or “only XYZ” lists we mentioned.
• “Faith Mission?” personal support, or denominational salary? What about…
• Fiscal responsibility. Do they have…
o outside audits
o clear reporting
o legal receipts
o blameless reputation
• Financial support options: which?
o Pool all support funds, distribute by formula
o Receive funds as designated, distribute by need
o Receive and disburse all funds only as intended by donors.
• General Fund financing, home office
o Set amount or percentage charged to missionaries
o Voluntary designation only
o Full reporting of all overhead expenses: Limit to 10%? 12%? 15%?
• Support level determination
o Custom calculated or standard salary schedule
o Fixed or flexible
o Obeying all applicable laws for non-profit corporations
o Line-item breakdown indicating personal support and ministry support
VISION
Does the target agency have a vision for the real future? Or is it perpetuating ideals of a bygone era with an orientation toward the past? Missions must define what issues are non-negotiable and unchangeable, and which are subject to change with the flow of time, to minister to the real, contemporary world in which they function.
PERSONAL FACTORS in selecting a mission agency
• Home church’s choice. Some churches just focus on one or two boards, so members will go with those or change churches. This is a real issue when the church decides to run its own mission agency.
• Ministry or field of one’s calling. Some boards do not work on some fields due to limitations of scope, while others specialize in one continent or type of people or type of ministry.
• Family heritage for MKs. The natural first choice for MKs is the mission of their parents, the mission family they grew up with, but that is not an absolute matter and candidates cross over regularly. The new generation has less “brand loyalty” than ever before. God is free to lead people to other missions.
• Personal preference, “fit” subjective factors. There may be a vague, “I don’t know why, but I just prefer that board.” Fine. Go for it, as supported by other factors. There can be a quiet sense of “This is where God wants me” with no other visible confirmation, but that peace with God can be the ‘referee’ blowing His whistle, per Colossians 3:15.
Chapter 3
MISSIONS POLICY
for a BAPTIST CHURCH
Since any local church is a body of people, it needs order. People in churches have a frightening diversity of approaches to problem solving and to expressing their opinions about such. One good solution to the problem of problems is to resolve them in a generic sense before they arise in a specific sense. That is what policy is all about.
The very nature of policy is decision making on principle before specific problems arise, particularly when complicated by personal factors. There is one question like “will a Baptist church support non-Baptist missionaries?” to be handled objectively BEFORE a deacon’s cousin comes along in that circumstance and there is special pleading. Policy is a generic solution to a recurring problem. When a church has a clear Missions Policy in place, the guidelines for specific decisions are already made and can be consistently applied.
Why have a Missions Policy? The larger question is, “why have a missions program in the church?” If that is worthwhile, it is worthwhile to define its purposes and principles. The church has a missions program to reproduce the biblical convictions of the church around the world with appropriate cultural diversity. This key focal point of the reproduction of the church is exactly where the church defines what its key convictions are – by supporting those missionaries who share those convictions.
Who writes the Missions Policy? It may be drafted by an interested person at the request of the pastor, and then reviewed and edited by the pastor. The Missions Committee can then review, discuss, and tweak the policy together with the pastor. The Fellowship of Deacons then reviews and modifies the policy. It is presented to the congregation with the recommendation of the Missions Committee and Fellowship of Deacons for adaptation and/or adoption as church policy by the authority of the congregation, given time for review. This is not at the level of the constitution as a defining document, but is an important working document for the church and should be established with the highest level possible of participation and authorization. The Missions Policy expresses in full what the Constitution calls for in brief. If it is foisted on the church by the pastor or Missions Committee, the church members may well feel that something is being done TO them rather than FOR them, and resist allowing the Missions Policy to guide their activities.
Here is a generic sample of a missions policy for an independent Baptist church as a model. Churches can write their own, often reducing the policy to half this size.
MISSIONARY POLICY for
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH of Anywhere
1. MISSION AND SCOPE OF THE MISSIONARY PROGRAM
The First Baptist Church has a missionary program to facilitate our corporate obedience to the Great Commission under the headship of Christ, the leadership of our pastor, and the authority of this congregation as expressed in the Constitution of the Church.
The MISSION of our church missions program is to reproduce the biblical convictions of our church among all nations, with appropriate cultural variation.
2. THE MISSIONARY COMMITTEE
The Constitution establishes a standing Missionary Committee. This Missions Committee shall meet monthly, or as conditions indicate the need for more or fewer sessions.
A. MEMBERS
The Missionary Committee of eight members shall be appointed annually by the Fellowship of Deacons, the month following annual church elections, and is to include at least two deacons and the Missionary Treasurer, with the remaining members selected to represent various interest groups within the church. In addition, the Pastor and the Assistant Missionary Treasurer shall also be ex officio members. The Team shall select its own chairperson annually.
B. DUTIES
1. The Missions Committee shall review the activities of the various missionary-focus organizations within the church, and serve as a forum for the presentation and discussion of their interests before the Fellowship of Deacons.
2. The Missions Committee shall review and recommend to the Fellowship of Deacons possible changes in the missionary budget: addition, increase, decrease or discontinuance of support. Such recommendations may be made at any meeting, keeping in view the availability of funds within the budget or seeking additional funding.
3. The Missions Committee shall annually submit to the Fellowship of Deacons a proposed comprehensive Missionary Budget of expenditures and anticipated income for the coming year. This is due at least one month before formulation of the church budget.
4. The Missions Committee shall work with the Pastor on all phases of the annual missionary conference.
5. The Missions Committee shall do all possible to encourage missionary vision and activity through the various ministry organizations of the church by the recommendation of missionary speakers, distribution and display and storage of mission literature and prayer letters, and the procurement and display of missions books in the church library.
1 3. MISSIONARY ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE CHURCH
A. LADIES MISSIONARY GROUP
The ladies of this church are encouraged to gather for prayer, study of the Word and work of God, communication with missionaries, and special projects on behalf of missionaries. These workers shall be organized in a manner that will facilitate their fellowship and functions for missions, with any project funds moving through the appropriate accounts of the church.
B. MEN FOR MISSIONS FUNCTIONS
The Missions Committee encourages any men's ministry organizations to seek the following:
• Integration of a vision for church outreach ministries with home and foreign missions beyond this church,
• Intensive prayer for specific missionary needs and ministries,
• Occasional special projects for missionaries such as gifts for specific needs, construction teams, visitation teams, etc. Project funds shall be channeled through the appropriate accounts of the church,
• An inventory of skilled persons who are available for occasional missions trips to help with construction, professional, and other technical projects.
C. YOUTH FOR MISSIONS ACTIVITIES
The Missions Committee encourages the integration of teaching and training for and about missionary service in all of the training ministries of the church. The Great Commandment (Matt. 22:34-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) motivate all of our youth to seek God's will about full-time missionary service, and this church will do all possible to facilitate that quest.
Our youth are encouraged to participate in missionary activities and agencies in harmony with the missionary objectives of this church, including missionary trips. Young people who expect to be sent out for missionary service shall be those who have previously demonstrated appropriate interest and activity in such ministries within this church. They shall demonstrate a love for God and an active desire to lead others to faith in Christ before being considered for prayer and financial support elsewhere.
1 1. Application Procedure
Young persons desiring to go on mission trips shall submit their application papers to the Missions Committee before sending them in to the mission agency. The missions committee will normally want a brief interview with the applicant.
In the case of a team from First Baptist Church itself, the youth team members and their adult leaders shall submit application to the Missions Committee. Favorable applicants will be interviewed by members of the Missions Committee or by deacons. If openings are limited, preference is given to members of the church. Approved applicants are recommended to the Fellowship of Deacons for review and to the congregation to secure the full blessing and approval of the church.
2 2. Appeals For Support
Youth who are headed for short-term missionary service shall appeal for prayer and financial support from members of the church, or the church itself, or other churches, only after full approval of their applications.
D. MISSIONARY TREASURER and ASSISTANT TREASURER
The Constitution calls for the election at the annual business meeting of a Missionary Treasurer and Assistant Missionary Treasurer. Their duties are carefully defined in the Constitution. All missionary giving of the church shall be integrated with the General Fund, rather than having several different missionary budgets among the classes and organizations of the church. Special gifts for missionaries from classes shall be directed through the normal financial channels of the church.
E. MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE
The Missions Committee shall coordinate the sharing and filing of missionary prayer letters received in the church office. This shall be done in cooperation with the Church Secretary. A file shall be maintained for each missionary or agency of interest to the church where letters may be kept for history after they are posted. For missionaries we support, all prayer letters and correspondence shall be permanently filed. For other missionaries, and for agencies, only one year of mailings shall be kept on file.
4. ANNUAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE
A. PLANNING
The Missions Committee shall be responsible to work with the pastor in all phases of conference planning. A CHECKLIST appended to this Policy [in Chapter 7 in this book] seeks to cover all of the myriad details in reasonable timing and order. There shall be a balance of Bible teaching and field presentations to motivate our people toward fuller participation in the Great Commission both in and beyond this church.
B. EXECUTION
The varied responsibilities for the conference shall be delegated to many members of the church in the planning process. Each shall be accountable to committee chairpersons and to the Missions Committee for the successful completion of his or her part.
C. EVALUATION
Following the missionary conference, the Missions Committee shall evaluate all aspects of the conference, with input from the congregation and conference workers, with a view to improving the next annual conference.
5. APPROVED MISSION AGENCIES AND MISSIONARIES
It is normal that missionaries to be supported shall be associated with an independent Baptist mission agency compatible with the convictions of this church. It shall be the policy of this Church to support only missionaries and agencies whose doctrine and practice is essentially in agreement with its own. It is not necessarily the policy of this Church to support all its members who may engage in missionary work outside our convictions.
"Mission agencies," for the purposes of this policy statement include missionary agencies in home and foreign service, educational agencies (colleges and seminaries), compassion ministries, and service agencies for churches.
A. MISSIONARIES ADDED TO BUDGET
Missionaries seeking consideration for financial support shall meet all of the following qualifying standards:
1. Holding to doctrine and practice in harmony with those of this church,
2. Active in evangelism, with priority given to involvement in church planting,
3. Actively seeking personal spiritual maturity, godliness, and fruitfulness,
4. Members of an independent Baptist church compatible with our own,
5. Associated with a Baptist mission agency exhibiting:
• ministerial integrity with a focus on evangelism and discipling,
• administrative integrity under the control of an independent council rather than one family,
• fiscal integrity demonstrated by available financial reports and an outside audit, and
• pastoral integrity as they provide adequate concern and guidance for missionaries on behalf of the sending and supporting churches.
6. Not affiliated with the World Council of Churches, the Baptist World Alliance, or the World Evangelical Alliance or any of their national affiliates.
B. MISSIONARIES ALREADY ON BUDGET
Missionaries and agencies already on the missionary budget of this church, and not conforming to all of the standards for approved agencies shall be reviewed for continuation. It is presumed that those will be retained which have a personal history with this church and/or provide ministry and services not available through approved agencies.
C. RETIRED AND/OR DISABLED MISSIONARIES
3 1. Retired Missionaries
When missionaries formally retire from active service, the Missions Committee shall obtain information and recommendations from their mission agency as to the need for continuing support. As a rule, the church will continue to support retired missionaries on the basis of need and of available funds. We encourage active missionaries to set aside reasonable funds in a secure retirement investment program.
4 2. Disabled Or Inactive Missionaries
When missionaries must temporarily leave their field of service for compelling reasons related to health, family, emotional trauma, field conditions or other problems, their support shall be continued for one year and then reviewed with them and their mission agency. Support may be continued at the same or a different level subject to annual review. It is expected that they shall continue active in some missionary ministry as their health and circumstances permit. Missionaries who return from a normal four-year term shall be supported through the normal furlough year.
D. MISSIONARIES WHO CHANGE FIELDS, AGENCIES OR MINISTRIES
When missionaries on the budget undergo major changes of field, agency or ministry, the Missions Committee shall review that new ministry in the light of the total balanced mission program of the Church and the qualifying provisions of this Policy. There is no guarantee of continuing support. The Missions Committee shall invite the missionary to meet with them at the earliest mutual convenience and may consult with appropriate mission administrators.
6. MISSIONARY FINANCIAL POLICIES
A. SUPPORT PHILOSOPHY
We support the philosophy ...
• of providing more significant support for smaller numbers of missionaries, and
• of favoring support for missionaries based within a day's drive of our church, especially in our own state, and
• of providing higher support levels to qualified missionaries who are members of this church than of other churches.
B. SUPPORT LEVEL
5 1. Members of First Baptist Church
Active missionaries commissioned by First Baptist Church shall be given at least twenty-five percent (25%) of their current support needs, as funds are available. This shall have first priority in the proportioning of funds in the missionary budget.
6 2. Members of Other Baptist Churches
Active missionaries shall be supported for no less than $100 per month. It is our goal to increase support up to ten percent (10%) of the current support needs of our missionaries sent by other churches. This shall be enacted only as funds are available.
This church feels that it is appropriate to support only independent Baptist missionaries and agencies which reproduce the convictions of this church. Many others are doing good work, but if we do not support our own missionaries first, no one else will.
C. OFFERING PROCESSES
7 1. Budgeted Giving
The church may elect to give a total amount of its annual budget, normally about 20% of its general revenues, to designated missionary and benevolence causes, as defined in the annual missionary budget. This is subject to revision through normal process at any time of the year.
8 2. Faith Promise Offerings
The church may elect to use a faith promise approach to missionary giving in which the church will give 10% of its general fund revenues to the annual missionary budget, to be supplemented by designated gifts from members as they feel led that the Lord will provide for them above their normal tithe to the General Fund of the church.
D. DESIGNATED OFFERINGS
This church gives to outside ministries in ways delineated by the missionary budget. Designated offerings given for ministries on the church budget will be incorporated into the budget in that category, not given in addition to budgeted giving. The exception will be special project offerings, or special personal offerings for birthdays or Christmas (which are not tax-deductible gifts). Designated offerings given for ministries other than those on the budget will be returned to the donors for direct giving as they wish.
7. SERVICES PROVIDED TO SUPPORTED MISSIONARIES
A. FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Financial support for missionaries is defined in Section 6, Financial Policies.
B. PRAYER SUPPORT
The church shall consider its obligation to pray for missionaries as a high order of contribution to such ministry. Prayer needs will be communicated to the church with dispatch and priority, and various groups will be encouraged to pray as well-informed participants, as will families and individuals.
C. OUTFIT AND PASSAGE FUNDS, OFFERINGS
For members of this church, we shall actively seek special offerings and projects for specific needs that are known. When any missionary ministers in one of the services of the church, a love offering shall be received for him/her, and sent promptly in its entirety to the mission agency in his/her name. An offering of at least $100 shall be assured, completed as necessary from the missionary budget.
D. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CHURCH
Someone in this church should communicate with each of our supported missionaries at least once a quarter, and our own member missionaries every month. This might be Women’s Missionary Ministry or the Men for Missions Ministry or the pastor, but the Missions Committee is responsible to see that the missionaries hear from the church regularly. It is good to mail bulletins and a personal note which responds to their prayer letters.
E. PASTORAL VISITS ON THE FIELD
The Missions Committee encourages the pastor to visit the missionaries we support, on their fields, regularly. It is good for the church that the pastor visit a mission field about every two years, seeking to minister to and with our missionaries. We encourage his wife to accompany him when possible. There shall be funds set aside for such travel as a part of the missions budget.
F. CONTACT WITH THE MISSION ADMINISTRATORS
Responsible mission agencies have administrators who welcome inquiries about the needs and productivity of the missionaries we support. The Missions Committee shall approach such administrators freely when appropriate to facilitate decisions about the support of missionaries.
G. SPECIAL PROJECTS
Special projects and needs of missionaries and mission agencies shall be reviewed by the Missions Committee in the light of available funds. It is recommended that the missions budget include a special contingencies fund for special projects instead of making many special appeals to the congregation.
8. EXPECTATIONS OF SUPPORTED WORKERS
Missionaries whom we support shall demonstrate the following standards.
A. DEFINITION OF MINISTRY OBJECTIVES
The missionary shall have a clear definition of his/her intended ministry activities and objectives. We shall maintain a preference for church planting ministry, but do recognize the need for other support ministries as well.
B. AFFILIATION WITH APPROVED MISSION AGENCY
The missionary shall be affiliated with a mission agency approved by this church.
C. SUPPORT LEVEL ITEMIZATION
The missionary shall present a breakdown of his/her total support level with reasonable line items for total support in view of location, travel, family size, ministry needs, home office support, insurance, retirement, and other normal missionary expenses. The mission agency is expected to keep this updated at appropriate intervals, and to communicate reasonable levels of support information to supporting churches.
D. PERSONAL EVANGELISM INVOLVEMENT
No missionary shall be considered for support who has not personally led people to faith in Christ or is not active in his/her witness.
E. REPORTING OF EFFORTS AND NEEDS
The missionary shall respond to an annual questionnaire reporting on his/her objectives and accomplishments in missionary service. Such accountability is intended by the church to be supportive and affirmative, not antagonistic.
F. GENERAL COMMUNICATION WITH THE CHURCH
The missionary shall personally communicate with the church at least once per quarter year. More frequent letters, e-mail, or tapes with slides, or videos are welcome.
G. PERSONAL VISITS TO THE CHURCH
The church looks forward to a visit from the missionary at least once every five years, probably in the normal furlough cycle for foreign missionaries, or occasional visits from home missionaries. We would enjoy participation in our church life and ministries in proportion to the support we provide.
9. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BUDGET COMMITTEE
Numerous items on the "Missionary Budget" are not "missionary" activities but do merit the support of the church. This outline suggests general guidelines for the proportioning of giving to a variety of worthy interests. The “Sample” column shows what typical proportions of monthly support would be available, based on a total of 20% of an annual church budget of $460,000, or about $7,500 per month for outside ministry, rounded off here and there.
MINISTRY SUPPORT
| |Ministry Giving Ratios |% |SAMPLE |
| | | |$7500/mo. |
|A |MISSIONARY MINISTRIES |85% |$6380 |
| 1 | Home missionaries | 30% |1910 |
| 2 | Foreign missionaries | 45% |2870 |
| 3 | Retired & inactive missionaries | 7% |450 |
| 4 | Mission agencies | 10% |635 |
| 5 | Missionary special projects | 4% |255 |
| 6 | Pastoral missionary travel | 2% |130 |
| 7 | Annual missionary conference | 2% |130 |
|B |EDUCATIONAL MINS. |4% |$300 |
| 1 | Christian Colleges | 2% |200 |
| 2 | Seminaries, home and foreign | 2% |100 |
|C |COMPASSION MINISTRIES |5% |$375 |
| 1 | Baptists for Life | |125 |
| 2 | Shepherds Home & School | |125 |
| 3 | Baptist Children's Home | |125 |
|D |SERVICE MINISTRIES |6% |$450 |
| 1 | Indep. Baptist Assoc. office | |200 |
| 2 | State Baptist camps | |150 |
| 3 | Christian radio | |100 |
This sample Missions Policy for a Baptist church can be adopted or adapted according to the connections and convictions of each church. The fact that a church even has a Missions Policy is its “Yes!!” to missions.
In the case of missionary organizations within the churches, the purpose is not to micromanage the various groups but to allow and encourage them. So the programmatic descriptions are quite purposely vague. The Policy simply creates a platform to allow the adult and youth groups to promote and participate in missions as they see best within the larger efforts of the church. Each ministry group writes up its own aims and guidelines.
The proportions in the budget will reflect the interests of the church beyond its own local radius of responsibility. Since many of the support items are not specifically “missionary” in nature, the giving budget might better be titled “Benevolences” or “Ministry Giving” rather than “Missionary Budget.” This legitimizes such worthy giving without stretching the term “missionary” beyond reason. Giving to “missionary” ministries should be those which do not directly benefit the giving church, while some churches tended to fund their bus ministries as “missions” rather than as their own outreach ministries. That gives a false picture of the church’s giving to ministries other than its own. Otherwise they might as well put the pastor’s salary on the missions budget since he is the primary missionary the church supports. Let “missionary” giving be to missions and missionaries to expand the domain of Christ beyond where we are located.
With new interest in the support of national workers, the budget structure could allow for support in that category as well. One dire need overseas is for steady operational support for the Bible colleges that supply the next generation of their pastors and home missionaries. Much of their operational income comes through the American foreign missionaries among them, but when the missionaries move elsewhere, so does that support. Those overseas seminaries need American churches with a vision for what they struggle to accomplish but are hampered by weak financial resources. They are carrying on the work of the missionaries we have sent, and need continued resources.
The Missions Policy of the church is not a prison but a platform. Any policy statement imposes some restrictions by the range of choices it allows, but the overall thrust is to encourage and amplify the efforts of the church to promote and enjoy its missionary nature.
Missions is the heartbeat of the church, and a strong international outreach focus will encourage local outreach for the benefit of the church.
Chapter 4
PROMOTING AND PRAYING FOR
MISSIONS IN THE CHURCH
Missionary activities are promoted on two fronts: before God as Lord of the Harvest, and before the churches which send and underwrite the harvesters that they send out.
PRAYER INFORMATION:
PROMOTING PRAYER FOR MISSIONARIES
What becomes of all those prayer letters and mission letters that snow down upon the church? This is the vital link of communication between the missionary and the church, so the church must somehow make that information available to the people. Here are some methods that different churches use.
• COPY or summarize the letters in a weekly prayer bulletin.
• FILE the letters in a file of each missionary’s ministry history in the church library. This becomes the permanent record of the missionaries’ descriptions of their ministries. More personal correspondence can be kept in a more private location, while this file of prayer letters is open to anyone in the church.
• POST the letters on a bulletin board for interested people to read. This includes the regular e-mail letters sent to the church.
• Feature a missionary of the week or month, highlighting their ministry and needs
Prepare a missionary handbook for the church, with a page for each supported missionary to summarize their ministries, mission agencies, postal and email addresses, ongoing needs, family information, and life circumstances. This should be made available to all members, including new members, and updated annually. The handbook can include the Missions Policy.
SCRIPTURE ON PRAYING FOR MISSIONARIES
The recorded prayers of Paul are models for intercession for others involved in ministry at the local church level. But one key passage serves as a model for how churches are to pray for missionaries. Paul writes to the church(es) of Rome in advance of his first visit there, writing out his missionary purposes in chapter one, and expanding on his missionary philosophy and practice in chapter fifteen, one of the most important missions chapters in all of the Bible.
Paul develops his missionary themes in Romans 15 by first expounding the scriptural basis of his theology of missions (15:8-13). He then thinks through his own personal role in God’s missionary plan (14-22) and models the expression of one’s own personal philosophy of ministry by his personal focus on pioneer outreach ministry (21-22). Paul completes his tour de force on missions with some details on the place of the local church in missions (23-29), in the meanwhile inviting them to participate in his missionary ministry. Note in verse 28 that he will not go to Spain by way of them, but by means of them, as he properly expects them to outfit him for the trip.
Having laid that foundation, Paul pleads with these unknown brothers and sisters to invest time and energy in prayer to undergird this brave mission for Christ. Money is not the issue, but he dares not venture to the edge of the known earth without many who will wrestle with God on his behalf in vital prayer. These missionaries will station themselves on the very front porch of hell seeking to snatch souls from the burning, if only the folks at home will commit themselves to real prayer for them.
Read over this eloquent plea for prayer from a pioneer missionary, in verses 30-33.
30] Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
[31] That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;
[32] That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
[33] Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 15:30-33
His appeal, “I beseech you,” is formalized in the strongest terms of authorization, “for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake.” Their commission is as important as his, facilitated by God the Spirit. The Romans are as free to pray earnestly and fervently with spiritual authority as is the apostle himself. They are to “agonize” or “wrestle” in prayer as they approach this work with all energy and determination to win. The prayer objective, “for me,” embraces the whole team and their church planting, Satan-crushing, soul-saving objectives. Our prayer efforts are no less needed, no less blessed, and no less effective than theirs.
Specific requests are listed. God delights to have us trust Him for very specific matters in which He has a direct interest as His work and workers.
• Deliverance from the effects of the anti-evangelistic religious establishment
• Service acceptable to the saints, doing profitable work, not wasting effort
• Freedom to visit them as a supporting church
• Mutual spiritual refreshment
We can express this homiletically in various ways. Here are a couple of suggestions, while any preacher can use his own imagination (and thesaurus) to enhance the presentation of how to pray for missionaries.
Preaching & preparation (30 “agonize with us”)
Protection & preservation (31 “delivered from faithless men”)
Priorities & productivity (31 “service be acceptable”)
Progress & provision (32 “come to you…refreshed”)
Still another approach is to summarize the various prayer requests for your missionaries under four different headings, Freedom, Fruitfulness, Fellowship, and Freshness. (Preach it, brother, we all need prayer partners!)
PRAYER GROUPS IN THE CHURCH
In several chapters we emphasize that different groups of people in the church exercise their burden for missions in prayer along with appropriate projects.
GREAT COMMISSION GALS
Somehow we associate missions groups with women, probably because there were more stay-at-home moms in past years who had the time for such meetings. Now it is important for such groups to find projects that are needful, not just traditional. Be sure there is a demand for rolled bandages before preparing them! You can come up with your own names for such groups, whether Women and Missions or something more dynamic.
Special Projects
• Sewing projects: quilts, sewing kits, bandages, layettes, curtains for camp, etc.
• Keeping up a missionary supply cupboard (including some men’s things)
• Special field projects including setting up a library for a seminary, sewing curtains for camp buildings, providing home care during recuperation from surgery, making puppets and training those who will work with them.
Prayer Work
Ladies have long had cottage prayer meetings, where missionary speakers would share more personal details of their ministries and struggles, and enjoy seasons of intense prayer. A church may have more than one prayer group depending on the times when ladies are available in the midst of home, church, work, school, and family responsibilities. Some churches have a morning group and an evening group to accommodate busy ladies. People pray outside those set times, of course, but it is important to share such times of work and fellowship together.
MEN FOR MISSIONS
A growing number of churches have a group for men in the church with a specific focus on missions. These may take a number of forms. Men can correspond with missionaries on the field by email for encouragement, getting specific prayer requests, and learning of project needs. The men can receive missionary men home on furlough to gain more specific insight into the realities of life and struggles on the mission fields where they serve. Such missions focus might be combined with Bible studies in a broader men’s ministry, especially in the prayer times that conclude their fellowship times.
Here are a few specific activities which men can undertake for their missionaries, mostly drawn from the Men for Missions literature items of Baptist Mid-Missions
• Locate and purchase specific equipment or maintenance items and ship them properly.
• Some men work in companies that have surplus, used, or slightly damaged products that they would be willing to donate for use outside their sales areas.
• Construction projects call for design work which some men in the church can do, at least in rough draft, for adaptation to the local language and technical norms. There may be special equipment that missionaries need to have designed or adapted. One engineering student designed a pump for missionaries, went to build and install it on the field, and later ended up as a career missionary himself.
• A rancher could designate one “great commission steer” out of the herd and donate its value when its time comes to become steaks and hamburger.
• Men can undertake special projects. Examples include: construction projects, setting up a computer network, arranging an inventory system for pharmacy supplies,
• Employees can check whether their companies provide matching gifts for donations to non-profit organizations. (Note that many such policies now specifically exclude religious organizations, thank you.)
The men of the church can maintain an INVENTORY of the skills they have among themselves, and which are available for occasional or regular use in mission projects. Skill areas include all of the building trades, engineering, accounting, computer setup and maintenance, first aid, teacher training, and the full range of professional engagements of the men in the church. Some may have skills that could well be taught to church members in the churches their missionaries are founding as vocational training so they can get better jobs. That inventory of skills could be shared occasionally with the mission agencies used by the church to seek invitations to projects on mission fields, some of which can be done at home. If the men of the church have no vision for missions, and the involvement that it fosters, the church as a whole will have little global impact.
YOUTH WITH GLOBAL VISION
The young people of the church are the natural level for missionary service to be introduced. These are the people who are facing career decisions, and are to be encouraged to seek the Lord’s calling to the ministry among other options they consider. Any missionaries who come to the church ought to be presented to the youth for interaction.
• Teenagers are increasingly involved in missions teams
• Teens ought to have special prayer times for missionaries along with their many other activities, and to know how significant a contribution this is.
• Teens ought to be reading two books a year about missionaries, available in the church library or in their own homes. They need heroes and heroines as models of sacrificial living for worthwhile causes.
• Teens can accept the challenge of financial projects for missionaries. They have more money than ever before, and not all of it needs to go into video games, CDs, snacks, and the black hole of their gas tanks.
• Teens can correspond with MKs their age, especially when they have met during furloughs or deputation. This networking is valuable for both sides. The social network programs like Facebook really facilitate this interaction.
• The chapter on short term missions includes many project ideas that can be handled by youth.
MISSIONS FOR CHILDREN
It is more difficult to do more than inform and motivate children since there is less they can DO at the program level, and their awareness of geography is just awakening. The increased cultural diversity in our own land, and an improved attitude about such diversity is helpful in lowering the fear of the unfamiliar. The development of missions interest and obedience in children can be enhanced by…
• Stories from mission situations: prayer letters, websites
• Books set in other lands
• Pictures, flags, and other such visual windows
• Videos from missions
• Bible lessons, VBS studies on missions
• Missionary speakers in Sunday school and children’s ministries, including men.
MISSIONS PROMOTION RESOURCES
MISSION AGENCY RESOURCES
Every mission agency has its own list of resources for churches. These are books, videos, flashcards, booklets for men’s and women’s groups, newsletters for youth, placemats, posters, brochures. Ask which materials are free and which are for sale. Some have mini-CDs or DVDs to share for presentations.
INTERNET RESOURCES
The Internet is loaded with missions research organizations with information for churches and for professional missiologists. Check out the Webliography of Missions Info websites at the conclusion of this chapter. Keep in mind how quickly such websites change! The most helpful ones should go in your own favorites list or search engine on your browser for quick reference. Most mission agencies now have their own websites with abundant information on their own ministries. Check out for the Baptist Mid-Missions website. Baptist Mid-Missions also has a Facebook® page for easy interaction with ‘friends.’
LIBRARY RESOURCES
Presuming that the church has a library, let’s expand its missions section. Use what is already in place, and enhance that ministry, rather than creating something new.
1. Books
Every active Christian ought to be reading 2 books per year on missionary topics, not very demanding but very valuable. The church library can budget funds for missions books for all ages, or the missionary budget can include $15 or $25 per month for missions books in the church library. Put up a want list of missions books for which families can sign up, buy the book, read it at home, and then donate it to the library for others to enjoy.
2. Videos and Films
Many missions produce DVDs of high quality about their ministries. These ought to be obtained by the church, shown in services, made available in the library, featured to the youth, used by families with children.
3. Brochures, Pamphlets, Monographs
Mission agencies are EAGER to send their literature to churches for display and distribution. Copies of the brochures should be kept on file in the pamphlet file of the library by mission and by country or ministry type. A few simple sets of files serve very well with simple upkeep to keep their latest literature available for reading. This is not a distribution center but a reference file. Determine WHO maintains the files, and receives the mailed materials: the librarian, or the secretary of the Missions Committee.
• Mission Files: A hanging file can be opened for each mission agency whose missionaries or ministries the church supports, kept in alfa order of the name of the organization. The brochures there should only be their latest ones.
• Country Files: A set of files hold brochures of various mission agencies by country for easy reference. If complex, they could be in alfa order by continents first and then countries, or a simple alfa file of countries. It is helpful to have maps available of countries or continents to facilitate reference. Don’t forget your basic encyclopedia, atlas, or a quick search on the Internet.
• Ministry Files: A set of files can focus on types of ministry: aviation, medicine, church planting, seminaries, Bible translation, etc., in alfa order. There may be papers on other missionary topics to be inserted here: the call, culture shock, MK interests, world religions confronted by your missionaries, etc.
4. Internet Research Facilities
The computer in the church library can become a gold mine of missionary information.
• Email helps to keep in touch with the missionaries. Email addresses can be kept in the address book for easy use.
• Information about nations and tribes can be accessed in websites in the favorites list in the computer. Each major mission agency has a website with information about their fields and principles. Application forms are often found there too.
• Field presentations from missionaries who have passed through the church can be copied into the computer to be viewed by many others.
5. ACMC®: (Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment)
This organization for laymen interested in churches was founded as ACMC: Association of Church Missions Committees, describing their functions as they encouraged churches to be more missionactive. It continues in this line with broader focus and a new name. They offer seminars in regional centers, and have a large notebook crammed with good ideas which every church should have to sort through for ideas useful to them. Not all of their sources are in our camp, but there is a lot of information to be appropriated, and ideas to be adopted or adapted.
The ACMC website is notably under Bookstore-Leadership Tools. Their former big red notebook is now in several sections for increased impact. The numerous resources include missions books and ACMC study materials including:
• Global Access Planning a notebook for group study
• Cultivating a Missions-Active Church a notebook for group study
• How Missions Minded is Your Church? A self-study questionnaire.
CONTACTING MISSIONARIES
Modern communications technologies make it easier than ever before in history for churches to stay in contact with their missionaries. A few are in remote locations, beyond the reach of telephone or Internet, to be sure, but churches can do all possible to convey their sense of participation in what their missionaries are facing in the course of their ministries.
• Correspondence: Some churches offer envelopes or air letters pre-addressed to the missionaries to encourage occasional uplifting notes.
• Birthday cards, especially for the MKs, are an affirmation of interest.
• Email is commonly available both for missionaries’ prayer letters and for ready responses from churchfolk. Some use forms of instant messaging, though that can quickly become very time-consuming.
• Websites and blogs are more popular with missionaries now, including pictures and prayer requests. Visit there and write a note of appreciation and encouragement.
• Telephone conversations in services can be prearranged by normal telephone or by computer-based VOIP audio and video linkages. This brings the voice (or image) right into the church service for live exchanges.
• Video clips and photos can be emailed home for showing in the churches.
There is no reason for churches not to promote the active ministries of their missionaries as a normal part of church life. When the missionaries we contact are in restricted access nations we must be extremely sensitive about not openly talking about their ministry efforts or calling them “missionaries.” Keep it personal, not work-oriented since they often have a passport identity other than “religious worker.” Never post the letters or photos of such personnel on the church website, especially as “our missionaries.”
MISSIONS FROM THE TOP
The ultimate leadership of all ministries in the church is the pastor. Most pastors welcome people who will show interest and take initiative to develop the ministries of the church.
PASTORAL EXPOSITORY MINISTRY
In the normal course of preaching through the books and doctrines of the Bible, every pastor will preach on missions. These may be …
• some sermons focusing on missions as topical study or encountered in book studies
• mentioning missions as a normal option for growing Christians
• illustrating normal preaching points from missionary experience or from national churches’ experience
• thematic preaching in advance of a coming conference
VISITING MISSIONARY SPEAKERS
The pastor governs the pulpit in the church. He will decide how frequently to invite missionary speakers, whether from the fields or from the administrations of missions the church recommends. Here are come recommended sources or timing for missionary preachers or speakers. Some pastors give a missionary 10 minutes to speak and then preach as usual themselves. Video presentations are normally under 12 minutes and can fit into the schedule of the service.
• Some churches have a monthly missionary speaker, (one church alternated all day Sunday in one month with a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday sequence of meetings in the next month, through the year except for July and December.)
• others quarterly,
• the occasional fifth Sundays
• others have no set pattern, but invite missionaries as they are available.
PASTORAL TRIPS TO MISSION FIELDS
No one can promote missions like a pastor with a heart for missions! When pastors go to the fields of ministry of the missionaries the church supports they return with a fire and vision to integrate those ministries into the church and to send others out to join them.
It is healthy for the church to enable their pastor and his wife to visit the church’s missionaries every two years or so. They minister to them, see their work firsthand, and can often participate by preaching for and through them or ministering to the group of missionaries as invited. Pastors often go along on construction or ministry teams as a functioning part of the team. So we recommend that one of the items in the monthly missionary budget be money set aside for such pastoral travel.
THE GREAT COMMISSION FAMILY
The ultimate source of new missionaries is Christian families active in the church. One survey of new candidates entering Baptist Mid-Missions over a spread of about fifteen years looked at how many were raised in Christian homes. This was defined as homes where both dad and mom were active Christians during the formative years. Of our new missionaries over a 15-year sample, only 58% were from Christian homes. That means that all of 42% were themselves first-generation believers.
Just what constitutes a “Great Commission Family?” Let’s look at some biblical examples with important lessons in this area. In Acts 16 we will peek in the windows of three Christian homes and list some essential principles for Great Commission families. The initial elements are simply what comprises a “Christian home,” but it soon develops into specific mission interests and passions. Open your Bible to Acts chapter 16 and follow along.
The devil wants to entangle and destroy the Christian family in order…
• to work havoc in the church, and undermine its ministries, and
• to sap the vigor of the church’s worldwide missionary enterprise.
We have got to defend and promote the integrity, spiritual and social integrity of the Christian family, the basic building block of the church.
In Acts 16 we meet 3 families, moving backwards through the chapter, reading between the lines. First, we find Paul evangelizing the local sheriff and being taken into his home. What IS a Great Commission Family? Here are 8 characteristics. Acts 16:29-34
1. Dad & Mom know the Lord and serve Him
These first two characteristics of a Great Commission Family are really the definition of a Christian home. When Dad and Mom both knew Christ during the vital formative years, the children grow up under the influence of the gospel at home and church.
2. Dad & Mom direct the kids to Christ and service in the local church.
The life of this family is oriented around their local church and its ministries and activities. That does not mean they all spend eight days a week at church, nor that they are not involved in other community organizations and activities. We mean that their church is a primary social group for them, the main focus of their out-of-home activities. They like going to their church.
3. The family prays together for missionaries
The Great Commission family prays together regularly, and prays for missionaries they have come to know and care about together. The children know how concerned their parents are for spiritual needs, and for the needs of lost people around and afar.
4. The family knows their church’s missionaries
• The names of the missionary their church supports
• Their field of service
• Their ministry on the field (church planting, medicine, pastoral training, camp, aviation…)
• Their mission agency
5. The family reads about missions.
Every family member ought to read 2 books per year about missions and missionaries. There are biographies, field histories, how-to books, and missions in the church. We now enjoy an abundance of books on missions, technical and non-technical, related to persons, countries, people groups, and ministries. Check the church library and check them out.
When the children are young, family devotions can include a chapter a day from an appropriate missionary biography a couple of days a week.
Now, back up to Acts 16:13-15 to look at another family, a single-parent family.
6. The family provides hospitality for traveling missionaries.
Here is a businesswoman, very probably a widow, who provides rooms in her spacious home for traveling missionaries. Her home is a place to glorify God, even as a brand new believer. There were few motels, and they were not the best places to stay. This family was honored to provide hospitality for the men of God who brought her life in Christ. Our home need not be large or fancy to accommodate God’s servants.
We remember one old Brazilian national missionary who traveled far and wide speaking of Christ back in the 1970s. He vowed at one point to visit every home in a state in the far north of Brazil to share the gospel. We knew missionaries who traveled that area by jeep and on horseback who said they had never yet been in a home where old Pedro Brito had not already been. So when Pedro came back into the capital city there were a couple of families who had a room in their house where he could just make himself at home. One family, with eight children, just added a room onto their house so Pedro could stay there whenever he wished. (He probably preferred the quieter company of the retired couple which had a room just for him.)
These people did what John described in two of his epistles as inviting a teacher into their home - to live, not just to talk. What is forbidden with false teachers is not to enter your living room to hear the gospel, but to use your house as their base of operations, to use your address as theirs, to use your reputation to gain entrance to your community, or to seek God’s blessing on their false ministries. It is a blessing to host missionaries we love.
The living room is often a more powerful pulpit for missions than the church services. Our conversations about missions may be more stimulating than the sermons at church.
7. The family gives offerings to missionaries.
Any regular contributions to missionaries ought to be after their tithe is given to the local church for its planned programs and ministries. The family may wish to contribute regular support to a missionary family, or may earn and collect funds for special projects related to their family’s needs. World missions is included in the family budget in regular giving or even a faith promise.
Now back up to Acts 16:1-5. Timothy’s mother was willing to release her teenage son to the training and care of Paul and Silas and the missionary band as he began his studies for the ministry.
8. Parents dedicate their children to the Lord of the Harvest.
We cannot call our own children to missions, and we dare not discourage them from hearing the voice of the Lord. It is essential that our children know that if God calls them to missions, or any ministry, that we as parents will be supportive. Don’t push them on, or pull them back, but put them on God’s altar in a way that parents and children both know they all belong to God.
We have met far too many Christian youth in the colleges who want to go to the mission field, but know that their Christian parents would oppose the idea. They have “better” things in mind for their children. What a burden to place on our youth! Those parents will answer to God for that. Now, as counselors, we never feel free to recommend that youth act contrary to their parents’ counsel. We just cannot do that since the parents are appointed by God as the primary counselors for their own children. But parents can be wrong, or be wrongly motivated.
There are many parents who rejoice in their missionary kids, even though they grieve over the distance at which their grandchildren grow up away from them. One mission family models good options. Their son and his family are active in missionary service, taking their three grandchildren far away. But they know that the will of God is what is best. They moan and groan as grandparents, but are delighted that their kids are doing the will of God, and have gotten to visit them on their field.
Their daughter has also offered herself to the Lord for missions, and has gone back to the field for a wonderful experience of short-term service. When she returned, she was sure that the Lord has not called her to missions. The dad responded, “Wonderful; that is God’s leading in your life. Don’t ever feel bad about not going out as a missionary when God wants to use you here at home.” And she serves the Lord faithfully in her work and in a new church plant in music and teaching and counseling. The parents’ greatest joy is that both of their children are doing what they understand to be God’s will for their lives. Their greatest contribution to the lives of their children in different callings is their supportiveness of their obedience to God.
We need to hear men who will live out Joshua’s words, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!” (Joshua 24:15)
Strong Christian families anchored to sound churches are the foundation of the worldwide missionary movement. The most effective promotion of missions is the consistent practice of Great Commission Families in the churches.
A WEBLIOGRAPHY OF MISSIONS INFO
Many of these organizations operate outside our favored circle of churches and missions but they offer helpful information about missions and ministries.
ETHNOLOGUE. ethnologue.html
Catalog of the languages of the world, alternates, and demographic data. Access by: country, language family, language name index
MISSION RESOURCE DIRECTORY. helpintl/mrd.htm
A list of mission resources on the web, a key place for Evangelical missionlinks.
MISSION ADVANCE.
Many resources for equipping local churches for missions mobilization: from Inter-City Baptist Church near Detroit, MI, along with Detroit Baptist Seminary.
BRIGADA. brigada/brigada.htm
“Your gateway to missions networking” with focus on unreached people groups and unreached cities in the 10/40 Window. People Group Consultant: pgc.html
SIM Research Center. other.html/
A list of Protestant agencies listed as Traditional Missions, Relief Missions, Mission Research & Support, or Denominational Missions.
CALEB PROJECT. calebproject/
Research data on unreached people groups, least evangelized cities, and the 10/40 Window. Lots of links to similar sites.
UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP WEBSITES: calebproject/urls.htm
HOTLIST OF MISSIONS-RELATED WEBSITES:
calebproject/urlchr.htm
ONLINE LIBRARIES calebproject/urllib.htm
AD2000 & BEYOND
Info on AD2000 & Beyond, Joshua Project 2000, 10/40 Window, strategic cities.
GLOBAL EVANGELIZATION MOVEMENT. gem
Mission statistics guru David Barrett’s page of statistics, diagrams, futuring, short papers, glossary, and numerous regular features on the futures of missions.
The website of your favorite mission agencies may offer resources and downloads for promotion. Add others you discover to this list for handy reference.
Chapter 5
DEVELOPING NEW MISSIONARIES IN THE CHURCH
Churches do NOT produce new missionaries by accident. The church must take proactive measures to encourage all of its youth to consider missions seriously, among other ministry careers. If the pastor and youth leaders are not pro-missions, the upcoming generation will share that indifference. Some churches are noted for the number of their youth going to Christian colleges and seminaries to enter the ministry, at home and abroad. Other churches never reproduce themselves by contributing more people to the ministry than they need for their own work.
Let’s consider some suggestions for growing our own missionaries.
YOUTH MISSIONS PROGRAMS
COUNSELING FOR MISSIONS: The youth leaders can help the young people be aware that their skills in many areas of service are needed on the mission fields of the world. Not everyone is a preacher. Several major areas of work can lead to missionary service that uses those skills and gifts.
The next page has a list of seven basic skill areas, and we can all find ourselves in at least two of these categories. There are missionary activity areas corresponding to each of these. So the non-preachers have no excuse for not seeking their niche in world missions. You will note plenty of overlap since major ministries call for a combination of skill sets.
Youth counselors can go over a basic list like this with young people who are wondering just where they will contribute in their career work, and whether their areas of interest might be useful in the Lord’s work. We should expect to work in our areas of strength, in keeping with how God has wired us for service. ANYthing we are good at can be developed and given over to God for His glory. Of course, servants of Christ are needed in virtually all areas of legitimate work in the marketplace. There just isn’t a great demand for Christian bartenders or drug pushers, or machine gunners, or such like.
Think through the seven key areas of vocational interests. Most people can quickly eliminate two or three of them as “not me” categories. There are some others which are “maybe” types, and probably two as “that’s me” types of work. ALL are needed in missions, so there are typical missionary activities correlated with each of these. This is not a test, so nobody can flunk it. There are no ‘best’ categories of skills. The Lord of the Harvest can use them all. Enjoy!
|Major Interests & Abilities |Some typical related |
| |missionary ministries |
|Administrative / Managerial |Church Planting Pastor |
| |Radio station manager |
| |Seminary Director |
| |Field Business Manager |
| |Camp Director |
|Artistic / Creative |Publications graphic artist |
| |Teacher of art, graphics, instructional media |
| |Writer, Editor |
| |Musician: composer / arranger |
| |Music group leader |
| |Teacher of instrumental or vocal performance |
| |Choir trainer / director |
| |Broadcast or Video Producer / Director |
|Manual / Technical |Radio / Video / Computer Technician |
| |Construction Supervisor / builder |
| |Maintenance Supervisor |
| |Pilot, aircraft or powerplant mechanic |
| |Hospital Technician |
|Influential / Motivational |Church planting evangelist |
| |Youth worker |
| |Discipler |
| |Camp worker |
| |Campus / Military Evangelist |
| |Preacher / Evangelist |
| |Recruiter for school or mission |
|Instructional / Organizational |Pastor / Teacher |
| |Bible Institute teacher / administrator |
| |Discipler |
| |Child Evangelist |
| |Literacy Specialist |
| |Ministry Project Planner |
|Caregiving / Serving |Church planting pastor |
| |Medical missionary: physician, nurse, dentist, therapist |
| |Houseparent, Guest House Supervisor |
| |Counselor |
| |Discipler |
|Clerical / detailer / mathematical / |Secretary |
|linguistic |Librarian (MK school, Bible Institute) |
| |Bookkeeper (Field council, school, radio station) |
| |Tape Ministry supervisor |
| |Publications editor |
| |Bible Translator, Consultant |
| |Field Historian |
ANNUAL MISSIONS TRIPS
The church ought to sponsor annual, or regular, youth trips for missionary service. See chapter 6 for details of planning. These can take several forms:
• Vacation Bible school in a smaller church
• Witnessing ministry in another church: urban church, tribal setting, etc., as language facility allows
• travel to a foreign field for witness, canvassing, construction, renovation, or other special projects
• local outreach projects, sports evangelism, musical and drama presentations
ONGOING PROGRAMS
POTENTIAL MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP. One church in California had an informal monthly meeting called the Potential Missionary Fellowship, open to all interested people in the church. This program offered specific training about missions in three stages: for those open to missions, those convinced of their call to missions, and those in final stages before leaving for the field. Meetings included time with career missionaries, invited teachers, reading reports, and times of focused prayer. There was no pressure to become missionaries, but an open expectation that God would call certain ones as they were informed, and that all believers have some legitimate participation in the Great Commission. All are sent or senders. It is open to all age groups, not just youth.
STUDY TOPICS. The normal range of Bible study subjects for youth, whether in Sunday school or youth ministries, should include Missions in the normal proportion of its presence in the encyclopedia of Christian truth and ministry.
• Teens should be encouraged to READ at least two missions books per year.
• Missions videos can readily be obtained from mission agencies supported by the church to show in youth meetings every month or two.
• Memory verses on missions are to be included in their lists.
• Study through Acts, looking for missionary principles.
• Topics presented in this book can be studied in turn by groups of teens with additional resources brought in.
PUBLICATIONS
Several missions have free periodicals aimed at youth, like VISION from Baptist Mid-Missions (by email). Each promotes its own programs and convictions but do help to develop character and interest and focus on missions in ways that are interesting to youth.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Projects done for missionaries, design or shop or programming projects at home
• Projects done for missionaries on the field: construction or etc.
• funding projects (look into matching funds from their corporations)
• products and services available from the companies where they work
PRAYER WORK
Prayer groups for missions;
• hearing missionary speakers.
• Prayer breakfast in a home or restaurant to bring a few key friends to meet missionaries, hear their needs, and pray.
MISSIONARY FORMATION FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM
What special attributes do we need to develop in future missionaries for this era of missionary endeavor, unlike as it is to previous eras of missions? We cannot just wish we were back in “the good old days,” whenever those were, whether the Carey days of the 1790’s, or the rapid mission expansion of 1950’s. Part of the problem is that since the world wars the center of gravity of missionary sending has crossed the Atlantic from Britain to the United States. Now that center is shifting southward as the receiving nations send out about as many missionaries as do the churches of North America.
We in monocultural North America are the least qualified for intercultural ministry. But the growing cultural diversity of our own land enriches the churches in their preparation to reach out to people different from themselves. What kinds of people ought our churches to be trying to produce for the next generation of missionaries?
Let’s look at qualifications for missionary service as seen by Paul in Acts 16.
WHAT A MISSION AGENCY LOOKS FOR
IN CANDIDATES
Lessons from Timothy’s candidature, Acts 16:1-5
SPIRITUAL QUALIFICATIONS (“a certain disciple” v. 1)
(ALL of these areas are ultimately spiritual.)
• Active member of an independent fundamental Baptist local church. (Well, OK, we’re reading between the lines a bit, but this is what our mission seeks.)
• Perceived as worthy to send out as their representative
• Has discussed his call and interests with pastor; accountable to home church
• Spiritually maturing, growing, uplifting
• Regular personal (and family) devotions; prayerful; seeking holiness, godliness
• Taking initiative in personal evangelism
• Doctrinal convictions shared: holds to the Articles of Faith without mental reservations
• Aware of spiritual gifts, strengths, weaknesses
• Able to resolve interpersonal conflicts biblically, spiritually
• Called to career ministry, directed to missions
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS (Tim studied the Bible with his mother and grandmother for a specific period of his life 2Tim 3:15, 1:5)
• Bible and ministry training basic for all types of ministry
• Professional training for specific ministry, pastoring, medical, educational, aviation, technical, or other
• Appropriate professional credentials in related fields (medicine, teaching, ESL)
• School loans paid off, or paid down to acceptable limits.
PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS (“well reported of by the brethren” v. 2)
• Sound physical and emotional health
• Realistic about self: strengths and limitations
• Not hostile or servile: confident but humble; modest
• Nor depressed or giddy; balanced, controlled,
• Sense of humor; pleasant, compatible
• Working on problem areas in his or her life
• Recommended by present and former employers
• Takes initiative, starts well, is punctual
• Is competent for the job, finishes well
• Is reliable, honest, communicative
• Reasonably well organized for work; plans ahead
• Appropriate personal appearance and behavior
• Orderly family life, if married; never divorced
• Committed to growth toward personal excellence; reads, analyzes
CROSS-CULTURAL QUALIFICATIONS (willing to adopt full identity as a Jew like his mother)
• Adaptable; ready to learn, experiment, accept a new identity
• “Worldaware,” not naïve about reality and history
• Able to accept friends of other colors and cultures and social stations
• Able to retain own cultural identity without superior airs
• Able to learn from mistakes; try again
• Not baffled by ambiguity, unpredictable situations; able to cope and improvise
• Eager to learn a new language (if needed) and culture and foods and symbol systems
• Able to serve with and under national leaders
• Likes to be with people different from oneself
MINISTRY QUALIFICATIONS (went as a short-term apprentice to Paul and Silas, not starting as a veteran)
• Experienced or interned in proposed ministry; a learner/teacher
• Able to lead, and to follow, and to participate in team ministry; servant leader
• Has led some ministry, that succeeded or failed due to his or her leadership
• Has public communications skills for deputation and ministry: preaching, teaching, graphics media
• Focuses on evangelism and discipleship for strong churches of strong Christians
• Identifies his or her own ministry objectives, and can flex beyond that “job description”
We’d be glad to find this kind of Superman and Wonder Woman, but will negotiate many of the attributes. We must shoot for the ideal, and not just settle for warm bodies with warm hearts. Talk through these attributes with the youth of the church.
We still live with the old notion that, “If you can’t do anything else, you can always be a missionary; they’ll take anybody.” You know that isn’t so, but we couldn’t resist. One would-be missionary sent in his resume detailing his stunning lack of success in a variety of fields. You will recognize this as coming from that ultimate documentary authority, forwarded email.
“MY RESUME: My first job was in an orange juice factory, but I couldn’t concentrate and got canned. Then I worked as a lumberjack, but couldn’t hack it and got the axe. After that I tried to be a tailor but just wasn’t suited for such a so-so job. My work in a muffler factory was too exhausting, so I tried barbering for a while but just couldn’t cut it. My next job was in a shoe factory but, bless my sole, I just didn’t last or fit in. Working as an electrician proved to be interesting, but too shocking for me. Fishing was then the life for me, but I couldn’t live on my net income. I then played at being a musician but was not noteworthy. In the deli next door, any way I sliced it I just couldn’t cut the mustard. So I figured that being a gourmet chef would add spice to my life, but I didn’t have the thyme for the courses. My chronic fatigue syndrome switched on, so I found swimming pool maintenance too draining, and I wasn’t up to feeding the giraffes at the zoo. What can I do; what can I do? My work at the coffee shop was always the same daily grind, so I wrote as an historian until I realized there was no future in it. Since I have learned to live with failure, I guess I can work well as a missionary. Please send your application forms.”
Well, we’re not so sure. Would YOUR church support this would-be missionary? One key question is, “Would your church hire such a person to work on your church staff?” Your collection of missionaries IS your church staff, working elsewhere.
7 BASIC CATEGORIES FOR MISSIONARY FORMATION:
We who are active in missions planning are working at developing a viable definition of a “trained missionary.” In BMM’s Continuing Education resources, called the LIFT Program (indicating Life-long Improvement Field Training) we have identified seven major areas of competency expected of cross-cultural missionaries. This helps us shape the preparation needed for them. These are NOT listed in order of prioritized importance. They are taken as an integrated whole since all of them are vital to success. We foster an attitude of desire for continuous growth in our personal and professional lives. The Apostle Peter wrote as a seasoned veteran missionary still seeking to improve, urging us, “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” How can the local church develop its own people toward missionary service? All of these elements of growth and formation begin in the church.
Spiritual formation, personal and family
There is no point in churches sending out missionaries who are not spiritually secure and growing. This essential competency includes such issues as spiritual growth principles, victorious life, Bible study motivation and methods, knowledge of the Bible book by book, devotional life, personal evangelism, family life, any MK experience, personal social growth, and many related matters.
Leadership development, personal and institutional
Missionaries go to distant places because they have something to offer to other people. So they will always teach, encourage, and bring people along to maturity as they grow themselves. Some of the specific issues in this competency include discipling new believers, counseling in the whole range of attitude and behavior issues, and even personal finance issues as part of the maturity in the Christian life. We also include dimensions related to training in and beyond the local church and all seminary issues, principles and methods of education. The attitude behind mentoring is not superiority but service, of sharing knowledge and experience, and of learning from those we train.
Cultural adaptation, international relations
Missionaries become as fully a part of their new social environment as biblical standards allow, so we encourage such adaptability by learning about understanding folkways, interacting at the worldview level, learning culture and language, and functioning well in customs of the host society. They enjoy the prospect of learning new dimensions.
Communication and Technical Skills
A knowledge in the actual skills related to communicating our message and ministry vision is essential to successful missionary service. So this competency includes deputation to get to the field, including music usage here and on the field. All missionaries are somehow involved in writing, so computer usage is included in this area along with needed technical support for computers and all types of equipment (hospitals, broadcasting, office equipment, etc.). Someone has to keep it all running.
Organizational Management
Working with people to accomplish specific objectives is at the heart of missionary service. So training is needed in related fields of leadership, planning, teamwork, conflict management, school administration, office management, and interpersonal skills. Some of this clearly overlaps with the first competency on spiritual maturity, but here it relates specifically with the administration of people within a ministry structure.
Theology in life and witness
Our knowledge of Scripture is organized into categories of theology, both as familiar to us in our ministry formation and as encountered in the new spiritual environments of missionary service. So we study divisions of Systematic Theology, local theologies, pastorology, church polity issues, separatism, and related issues. Our gospel message is confronting religions and movements that exist on the fields of service, so our knowledge of the theological environment shapes and enriches our biblical responses to our cultural setting. We encourage godly pastors to express their theology in writing for others there.
Missiology: the science of missions
The essential theoretical foundations of our own missionary work call for attention, but at an appropriate level of technical treatment. It is not necessary that every mechanic be a physicist, even while employing principles of Physics. Similarly, most missionaries can successfully operate on biblical principles of Missiology without knowing much of the technical discipline. But our service is enhanced when we profitably explore the thinking of those who have gone before. This brings to our attention the missiological issues of missionary theology, the phases of our growing missionary career, various mission strategies, mission history, church planting principles and practices, contextualization, nationalization, and resources for missions research.
All of this relates to the ongoing development of current missionaries. We cannot afford to stop our learning. As someone said wisely,
“If you think you have finished your training,
you may be trained but you are finished!”
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Every believer has been granted some specific enablement for service by the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion. It is our responsibility to discover our gifts, develop them in training, and use them for the good of others and the glory of God through the church. We do not intend to offer some standardized Spiritual Gifts Inventory here, but to survey the types of gifts presented in the New Testament to encourage each of us to identify the types of ministry where we can expect to excel or to struggle. The part of wisdom is to exercise our primary ministry in the areas of our greatest giftedness. True humility does not allow us to deny our giftedness, but frees us to accept the fact that God really expects is to be productive for Him in some areas of His work. Gifts are not about us, but about the Holy Spirit’s work in us.
DEFINITION
A Spiritual gift is a special enablement in the life of every true believer in Christ, given by the indwelling Holy Spirit, so he or she can function fruitfully and comfortably for the glory of God and the good of the Body of Christ.
Spiritual gifts function on a spiritual level, and are to be distinguished from more broadly human functions such as:
• Responsibilities. These are for ALL Christians, not as special gifts, such as prayer, growth, victory, evangelism.
• Talents. These are natural abilities which many saved and unsaved people have. Playing the piano is a talent, while the spiritual gift of helps or mercy will give the talented Christian a desire to use music for others’ spiritual comfort and enjoyment. There are many skilled teachers who are not believers in Christ, but those with the spiritual gift of teaching will produce spiritual development in others through the use of their gifts for that work.
• Learnable skills. While we are counseled to “seek the best gifts,” they are not merely vocational skills which can be acquired by any person, saved or not. Gifts are not gained by taking a class or seminar. Gifts are bestowed by the Spirit. Spiritual gifts are not age-rated, like “I have the gift of nursery worker.”
• Fruit of the Spirit. All of the elements of the fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are character traits to be found in the life of every believer. These attributes are not spiritual gifts for selected persons who specialize in love or joy or peace. The fruit is evidence of Christ’s life fully available for ALL believers.
Categories of Spiritual Gifts
The several lists of spiritual gifts scattered through the New Testament epistles offer different titles for equivalent functions. They also suggest that the true gifts are probably not limited to those which are mentioned. We note that some of the gifts, the spectacular sign gifts, were legitimate on a temporary basis around the time of Jesus and the apostles. By the time the apostles were off the scene, so was the valid use of those gifts as media of God’s revelation to the church. Through the course of Bible history there have been only three periods of notable miraculous activity, all in times of deep spiritual decline – Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Jesus and the apostles.
Look over the following five lists of spiritual gifts to see where you can expect to function fruitfully and comfortably in ministry for which you are designed by God.
Imagine how missionary efforts would be blessed if every believer discovered and developed his or her spiritual gift(s) for use as God intended! The world could not hold us back. Think of this list as a look in the mirror. Begin by thinking carefully through all of the gifts, crossing out some specific gifts you are sure you do NOT have. Then narrow your study to the application of the gifts you think you might have.
Study how those gifts are used in Scripture and in your own church. Ask God to show you what He expects you to do for Him. Ask your teachers or mentors what they recognize as your areas of giftedness. Review your study with your pastor and seek his advice as to how to apply your gifts in church ministries. Soon you will get the picture of your enablements. Put those gifts to the test in the work of your church. You will shine in some areas, and struggle in others. Good, you are getting the picture. Expect to work primarily in the areas of your strengths, but be ready to tackle any ministry the Lord sends your way.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Five NT passages deal with spiritual gifts with significant parallelism in the nature of such giftedness. We examine those lists and then summarize them in useful categories. These are called pneumatikoi, something like “spiritualities” that we identify as “spiritual gifts.” ALL of us are enabled for some form of service for God.
• Ephesians 4:11 lists: apostle, prophet, evangelizer, pastor-teacher, and then adds functions of serving, speaking, and providing hospitality.
• Romans 12:6-8 lists: prophecy, teaching, service, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy.
• 1Corinthians 12:7-10 lists prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, faith, healing, miracles, discerning spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
• 1Corinthians 12:28 lists: apostles, prophets, teachers, and adds helpfulness, administration, healing, miracles, and tongues.
• 1Peter 4:9-11 lists: speak, minister, hospitality
We can summarize these spiritual gifts in four categories, gathering the similar types of gifts. Some of the gifts are notably obsolete now, that is, given for the early Apostolic Age and then fading from legitimate use.
• Public Leadership. Apostle (obs. except as “missionary”), pastor, administrator
• Public Proclamation. Prophet, evangelizer/missionary, teacher, word of knowledge = counselor
• Private Ministry. Exhortation, faith, giving, discerning spirits, word of wisdom = counselor, serving, showing mercy, hospitality
• Extraordinary Signs (obsolete). Healer, miracles, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues
Praise the Lord for the variety of people found in your church! Virtually all of the gifted people needed for ministry at this stage are already there, IF they will discover and apply their gifts in the ministries of their church.
DECIDING FOR MISSIONS
How does a young (or not-so-young) person decide to go into missionary service? Ultimately this is a question of the will of God for one’s life, and is not something we can just decide on our own. Missions is not a preference, but a calling.
Any person going into missionary service must have a deep-seated conviction that the Lord of the Harvest is calling him or her into a lifetime of such ministry. Regardless of the specific type of service conducted, or the location or people group, the missionary is there because of God’s call and not just because there was a need or opportunity, or even because of the urging of their pastor or a missionary.
We have examined a handful of factors involved in the larger picture of a lifetime of dedicated missionary service, and it all hangs on one question: “Has GOD called you to serve that way?” The factors include…
• Skill sets in varied areas of work, applicable in missions
• Spiritual giftedness for ministry, aware of gifts, developing them
• Training appropriate for missionary service
• A willing sending church
• A conviction of God’s calling in our life, whether a specific experience of a call in a church service, or an inescapable and growing burden for ministry overseas or among people different from yourself.
Let’s think our way through the questions faced by a typical college student who needs to make key decisions related to his or her career direction. This will affect choices of college majors, prospective marriage partners, the attitude of parents, the supportiveness of the home church, and associations with this or that group on campus.
The following diagram summarizes the decisions as a flowchart related to missions.
Surrender. The first questions relate to one’s surrender to the Lordship of Christ for whatever He may want him or her to do with that one lifetime. Whether or not one enters the ministry, there is to be a “yes” response to Christ being in charge of his life.
Call. Some sense a burden for life-long full-time ministry, so the question of a call to the ministry is to be faced honestly. Keep in mind that while the pastor is the “general practitioner” of ministry, this is not the only choice for those who are called. Many types of ministries are needed both here at home and around the world. Even as people respond “yes” to a call to the ministry, they keep their hearts open to ministry wherever God wants to place them on His global chessboard.
Church approval. The first level of interaction when called to the ministry is with the pastor. While it is clearly premature to seek any formal approval from the church, candidates for ministry seek the mentoring of their pastor as to needed continuing preparation and overall direction. They don’t look upon themselves as autonomous candidates for ministry, but as servants of their churches. They begin with responsibilities at home to develop and demonstrate their spiritual gifts and effectiveness. The church’s recognition of God’s call in the life of one of its members is imperative to the success of that candidate’s quest for ministry.
Directed to missions. Missionary service is not a calling, but the direction of God as to where the lifetime of service should be. We are not called to places but to a posture of availability to God for placement.
THREE KEY QUESTIONS.
Once prospective missionaries determine that God is calling them to the ministry and directing them into missions, there are three questions they need to answer. These may be answered by the Lord in any order since all are equally important, but they want God’s answers to all three issues. These are to be discussed with the pastor and other mature counselors in the church. Note these three key questions on the following flowchart.
• TYPE of ministry. What will one do on the mission field? Baptist Mid-Missions offers a list of 20 ministry descriptions which embrace virtually all of the activities of missionaries. Candidates may have already found their vocational “boxes” that describe areas of strength and limitation. They have already pondered spiritual gifts that indicate where to expect to be fruitful and productive in service. Their personal experience in ministries under the guidance of the pastor will be a strong indicator of where they do well and where they will struggle. It is normal and proper to engage in ministries that draw on their strengths rather than demand that they overcome all their weaknesses daily.
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• PLACE of ministry. No one is a “missionary at large” to just go here and there by whim and impulse or opportunity. God will give candidates a personal sense of responsibility for some specific nation, or people group, where they can invest their whole lives, or until the Lord moves them elsewhere. They may have prior exposure and experience with a specific culture or language group that leans toward them for ministry, perhaps after a short term missions trip. MKs frequently return to the countries where they grew up, or to ethnic pockets of those people in other locations, drawing on their natural advantages of affinity and language for bridgebuilding. Some such direction builds on opportunities for occasional service, or just a burden for people you don’t know. God will give them a love for some of those He loves so they can serve Him among them. The Apostle Paul was not called to missions in Acts 16 when he was directed to Europe, since he had already been in the ministry for years. He was called to the ministry at the time of his conversion in Acts 9, and then directed to different places.
• AGENCY of ministry. One’s sending church will have a strong voice in this decision since there are certain mission agencies which best represent the convictions of the church. The selection of a mission agency can relate to prior experience, MKs’ familiar home base, fields of operation, and vision for expansion. They naturally want to reproduce what they stand for as missionaries represent the church as its agents in different locations. The church may wish to send them out directly without a mission agency, accepting responsibility for the activities discussed in Chapter 2, “Why have mission agencies?” It is important to follow the lead of the church in this decision since missionaries expect them to support them financially and in prayer. When prospective missionaries step outside the church’s circle of confidence related to mission agencies, such a move does not foster their freedom to participate in ministry vision they do not share. When students rush into ministries their churches would not have supported, it is a betrayal of the church by the prospective missionary. They should not be surprised if the church chooses not to commission or support them in such work.
TYPES OF MINISTRY.
The main thrust of most fundamental mission agencies is evangelism and church planting. But there are many enabling ministries and support ministries that make church planting possible and practical. In Chapter 9 we explore the many types of missionary ministry. Once people have a grip on their skills and gifts, it is appropriate to pray about what kind of work they will expect to do on the mission field. This is an adventure of discovery in which the Lord of the Harvest is eager to make known His will to willing servants.
In an ideal situation there is full agreement between the prospective missionary, the sending church, and an appropriate mission agency as to theological convictions, ecclesiastical orientation, operating principles, types of ministry, and locations for ministry. These simple guidelines will help churches move toward a well-integrated missions program as they develop their own people for ministry beyond their local radius of responsibility.
TRAINING FOR MISSIONARY SERVICE
What kind of education is needed by a prospective missionary? Two dimensions of such service determine the response.
• Overall preparedness for witnessing and training ministry
• Training for one’s specific type of ministry
General ministry training. There are numerous specific functions carried out by missionaries. Even those who are specialists end up doing a broad spectrum of ministry and service activities just because they are there and care about people’s needs. At the foundation of God’s direction to a mission field is His call to a lifetime of ministry. Whatever specific function one will have as his or her primary ministry, all missionaries are in place as witnesses for Christ in evangelism and in discipling growing believers for service in their churches. This calls for essential training for basic knowledge of the Bible, Christian doctrine, and local church ministries.
This sounds like the equivalent of at least one year of formal Bible college training as essential for all people, though that is minimal. You would not go to a physician with only one year of medical school training. Missionaries are expected to be experts in the Christian life and church ministry, whether or not they serve in a pastoral role. Missionaries also need some cross-cultural training to help with their adaptation to life overseas.
Basic Bible training can be taken as part of a degree program in a Christian college or university as a major or minor. Some who have degrees in secular fields have gone to a seminary or Bible college for a year of concentrated study. Some find local Bible institutes near their homes, or do Internet-based studies or other distance learning. Some essential courses include:
• Bible survey, OT and NT
• Bible doctrine, or Systematic Theology
• Evangelism, Apologetics
• Baptist polity and practices
• Cross-Cultural Communications, Cultural Anthropology
• Christian Education, discipling, local church ministries
Specialized ministry training. Professional activities in missions call for certification and/or the training that allows such credentials: teachers, nurses, physicians, pilots, church planting pastors, etc. It is normal for missionary candidates to have completed at least a Bachelor’s degree in their field of endeavor, most often Bible college. A Missions minor or Intercultural Studies minor allows for the cross-cultural perspective that is exceedingly helpful for those who expect to go into international service. We need to develop an awareness of cultural differences and learn to adapt ourselves to them.
Those who intend to teach in a seminary on the mission field to train national pastors at any academic level ought to have a master’s degree in some ministry-related field. Even if the academic level of those seminaries is very basic, a graduate degree in Bible or Theology or other ministry field gives a broader perspective and deeper awareness of how that discipline is applied in different cultural settings. A deeper knowledge of the Word and work of God should also deepen the student’s passion for ministry, love for God, and love for people in need.
Pastors can help their church members with orientation in training for the ministry. All will be working in churches on the field, so opportunities for service and leadership in the home church provide developmental training that enhances mutual confidence. They can also contact the mission agencies the church recommends to ask about suggested courses of study for various ministries and whatever requirements there are. Any future preacher’s first sermon ought to be heard in his own home church.
It is normal for men to seek ordination, but that is between them and their sending churches.
STEPS INTO MISSIONS
The time comes when a member of the church comes to ask the pastor what steps to take to get to the mission field. Let’s review the basic process that honors the foundational place of the sending church in this dynamic process.
1. Prayerful Discussion of key Issues
This chapter is intended to equip a pastor to counsel church members toward missions. An excellent starting point would be to ask the three big questions and review the resources in this chapter. Again, these issues can be addressed in any order, but all three call for God’s answers for that family or individual.
• What TYPE of ministry? We have reviewed skill areas and spiritual gifts to help potential candidates begin to identify the ministries in which they can expect to be fruitful. This can be coordinated with a review of Chapters 9 and 10 on the range of missionary ministries out there for both men and women.
• What PLACE of ministry? Candidates can review their experience and interests to sense what peoples God has laid on their hearts. The entire global population needs the gospel, but there may be one particular area or people group for which they feel personally responsible before God. Keep in mind that the focus should be on peoples more than mere geography, especially in view of closed doors for “missionaries” in many places. There are Indian people in Guyana, Chinese by the thousands on American campuses, Thais and Hmongs in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Brazilians around Boston, Liberians in New York, Muslims in London or Detroit, Arabs in London, and the list goes on.
• What AGENCY of ministry? The sending church has a strong voice in the selection of a mission agency that is compatible with their convictions. This is the basis of any working partnership. If the church wishes to send out its own missionaries it will review the functions of a mission agency in Chapter 2 and weigh its responsibilities.
2. Review of qualifications for missionary service
Earlier in this chapter we reviewed five areas of qualification. The pastor’s assessment at this juncture is vitally important, especially to check whether candidates have appropriate formal training and experience related to their proposed ministry. They can also negotiate with the Enlistment Administrator of the mission as to what is actually required or recommended. Baptist Mid-Missions offers to pastors the MRI, or Missions Readiness Inventory. This guides the pastor and missions committee through a friendly interview to measure together with prospective candidates their readiness to proceed into application or their need for more training and/or more experience. That decision really should be made by the church, not by the mission agency. Such a review runs the risk of setting the bar so high that nobody but a veteran missionary would ever be allowed to apply. Keep in mind that this is for “entry level” work at the outset of their missionary career. Experience will come with time.
3. Write to the mission agency of choice
It is proper for the candidates themselves to correspond with a mission, though the pastor may write on their behalf to initiate the application process. Once the applications are received and returned, the candidates will work directly with the Enlistment Administrator, and he will also keep in touch with the pastor for his confidential reference and any consultation that is appropriate. The application process normally involves several stages of paperwork followed by an interview by the General Council of the mission, with the pastor’s participation.
• Preliminary application, and references
• Formal Application, and more references
o Health Questionnaire
o Written testimony
o Doctrinal Questionnaire
• Council interview (to be accepted or deferred for more preparation, or declined)
• Candidate Seminar (annually in July)
• Commissioning by the sending church
• Deputation, including regular progress reports to the pastor
• Launch Seminar for final field-related orientation
• Language acquisition training (as needed for their field)
• Off to the field: for language and culture orientation, normally the first year
4. Follow through with the Enlistment Office at the mission.
The pastor of the sending church is the key contact person for the mission for insight into the character of the candidate. This goes well beyond the initial pastoral reference form and includes his presence at the final interview by members of the mission’s General Council. In Chapter 11 we discuss the pastor’s important roles in deputation.
When a church sends one of its own families to the mission field it is the completion of the cycle of church planting. This is an investment of high order, giving up key people to extend the impact of the church for the Lord of the Harvest somewhere in the uttermost parts.
Chapter 6
SHORT TERM MISSIONS
Short term missions has become the major focus of North American churches in recent years. American churches as a whole now spend more money on short term missionaries than on career missionaries. This calls for some careful and prayerful thought and planning so it contributes to careful planting and cultivation of crops more than random scattering of seed. These ventures are some of the most exciting activities of today’s churches, so we want to make the most of them.
JUST WHAT IS ‘SHORT TERM’, ANYWAY?
In this chapter we will take a careful look at priorities, principles, and some procedures related to short term missionary service.
We define “short term” service as any period of missionary service that is not intended to be a life-long commitment to such ministry. Each mission agency has its own varieties of programs to properly accommodate brief and longer periods of short term ministry.
Short term ministry may range from a week or two to a couple of years. Participants may be teenage students, college students, early career people seeking the Lord’s leading, mid-career persons in a parenthesis, or retired people giving some of their remaining strength to Great Commission service. What marks them as “short term missionaries” is that there is an intended conclusion to their time of service, in contrast to career missionaries who intend to remain active for their useful lifetime.
Most of our observations here are for relatively short trips by teams from churches rather than for longer-term individuals or families for one or two years. Those longer-term short term assignments are normally coordinated individually through mission agencies which already have expertise in these areas. It takes time and communication to build the needed mutual trust between missionaries and mission agencies.
1. Priorities: Which do we do?
Our choice vs. their choice?
How do churches identify the projects to be undertaken by short term teams? The question here is one of initiative. Do we impose our ideas on the national churches, or do we await requests from national churches for help in areas of need that they have identified? Those churches know better than we outsiders do what projects are most important for their life and future ministries.
Too often we rush in with our American “fix-it” eagerness and stifle the initiative of national believers to accomplish such projects themselves. Or we may seem to scorn their satisfaction with the current state of their facilities. They may be proud of what they have built or provided, only to find that their foreign friends feel some embarrassment for them and want to improve things to their own satisfaction. We need to learn to listen with sensitivity.
Our good vs. their good?
There is no question that the benefits of short term missions trips go in both directions. The work on the field is enhanced by the team’s efforts, and members of the team return home enriched by experience and vision and joy. Building deep relationships with nationals is far more important than building buildings. But the issue is priority. Are we acting primarily for our own benefit, or primarily for the benefit of those churches overseas that we seek to help? This may color our planning a bit as we consciously work toward what they need, even if it does not satisfy all that we want in the trip. We certainly do not plan to diminish the satisfying sense of accomplishment that short termers derive from their generosity, but that is not what drives this process.
Our missionaries vs. any ol’ missionaries?
The investment of time and energy in short term missions, along with its high financial cost, drive us to consider the long range value of such efforts. It is possible to bounce around to this and then that ministry and dissipate resources in ways that are widespread and shallow. There is an endless variety of missionaries around the world, with endless appeals for help. Whom do we help? Are we narrow-minded when we only help our own kind? Or is this our natural and proper preference as we strengthen the hands of those with whom we agree? If we don’t help our own missionaries, nobody else will. We begin with an obligation to our own church family.
The healthy approach is for churches to follow up on the missionaries in whom they already have a vested interest. The purpose of the missionary program in the church is to reproduce the biblical convictions of the church around the globe with appropriate cultural variety. So the natural starting point for short term efforts is to enhance the work of those career missionaries who already represent us around the world. We want to work within missionary efforts with which we wholeheartedly agree so that we are deepening our involvement in work that will last. We want to express to our missionaries that our interest in them goes beyond the budget.
Compassion vs. evangelism?
In short term missions we quickly face the age-old tension between serving people or doing special projects. The fact is, there is place for both. The missionaries we seek to serve are involved in outreach efforts of direct evangelism, but also give considerable energy to helping people with their compelling physical or social circumstances.
Short term efforts are commonly limited by language barriers. Church teams can help in compassion ministries (such as rebuilding after a storm, providing safe drinking water, or running medical and dental clinics) while national evangelists and the missionaries verbalize the evangelistic message that is on the hearts of the short termers. When the ministry area speaks English, or some on the team speak the local language, short termers can be more directly involved in evangelism or in discipleship training programs.
The apparent dichotomy between evangelism and compassion ministry is only an illusion. They go hand-in-hand as two sides of the same coin. Even those who labor wordlessly in post-disaster cleanup projects are living out their love and respect for the victims of the storms or battles that devastated them. Their compassion shows up in their attitudes in the hard work whether or not they can participate in direct evangelistic outreach. Their very presence testifies to their support of such outreach.
Through your church, or through a mission agency?
Churches tend to act independently of the structures that administer the ministries of their missionaries. The tendency is to communicate directly with missionaries they know and leave the missions out of the loop “so they won’t interfere.” But the churches should remember that they established mission agencies precisely to aid them in situations like this one. The sense of ‘we can handle this one ourselves’ can be very short-sighted and run into snares that the mission agency could well have avoided.
Since the mission agency remains responsible for the larger picture of what is done on the field through the missionaries, those who seek to partner with the missionaries should be a part of the larger partnership that already involves those missionaries. You want to be sure that trip timing, financial arrangements, personal qualifications for team members, and the project itself are compatible with the masterplan of the mission. The sending churches have commissioned their missionaries to work under the direction of the mission agency, so our project plans do best when they dovetail with what the mission envisions and is doing through the missionaries.
Even while working directly with the host missionaries about details, the team planners should be in contact with responsible persons in the mission office about issues that pertain to the mission. For the mission personnel, it is vitally important to know well both the national church folks on the field and the short term ministry teams from churches on this side of the pond.
2. Principles: Why do we do it?
Every believer is to be involved in the Great Commission.
The most formal and detailed expression of the Great Commission came from the lips of our Risen Lord, found in Matthew 28:18-20. That mandate was given to the apostles, but also to the churches they would found after the coming of the Holy Spirit in a few short days. Jesus had already promised and prophesied, “I will build my church,” so this commission gave specific shape to the broader command for service.
Within the churches that would spread around the world, every believer would share in the responsibility for outreach in his or her own radius of responsibility. Every church would have a mandate to send out some of its members as their missionaries. This means that those who are not sent ones are the senders with their integral share of responsibility in the larger mission of the church. Every believer in Christ comes under this yoke of responsibility for evangelizing the world as Jesus works through His living disciples to build His church. We are all sent ones or senders, and there are no other categories. So, we all care about world missions as work that is dear to the heart of our Father. We cannot ignore what is so important to Him. We all gladly ask what is our part in this global effort.
Every church ought to be involved in the Great Commission.
The church is God’s primary instrument in the world today to make His presence know and His plan of salvation available to all. We have seen that a few are sent ones, so the majority are senders. As churches weigh their responsibility before God they have key categories of involvement in missionary service, both for career and short term missionaries.
• Go. It takes people to accomplish the aims of missionary work. Some are called to career ministry for a lifetime, while others who are not called to stay can go for a period of weeks or even years.
• Give. When some are going out for missionary service the senders can focus on their part as funding the effort. Most will do this by giving money to the church for the mission team’s travel and work. Some can provide needed supplies, or design work, or teaching for orientation. Some can sew curtains, or prepare first aid kits, or other provisions needed by the team. Some find that their companies can provide needed equipment or transport or contacts to benefit the work of the team. Some can help with packing up equipment (together with a team member) and with transportation to the airport.
• Pray. Church members are to commit themselves to pray for those who go. The church will pray for the team as a whole. Members should also adopt individual team members as prayer partners and faithfully pray for them every day of the trip, following the calendar of proposed activities and locations.
Missionary service costs sacrifice.
Churches do not undertake missionary service as a matter of convenience. The church and its members will be called on to contribute well beyond their normal giving to the church. This will touch finances, energy, relationships, and spiritual struggles.
People will be displaced and pushed to new limits. Money will go out at a frightening rate and not be enough for all that is found necessary. People will spend time away from family, from work, and from the familiar comforts of home. People will be at risk for new health hazards and work hazards. Team members will come to depend deeply on others whom they did not know well previous to the trip. People might find themselves in places of occult oppression, of unfamiliar foods, of difficult travel, of uncomfortable climate, and of strange customs and language. Nobody said it was easy.
Established churches ought to help younger churches.
We in North America enjoy life in the richest Bible-believing churches in history. Only in our lifetimes has it become common for such churches to have facilities that cost millions of dollars to build and maintain. One American church in an active building campaign felt compelled to give a tithe of their growing but still inadequate building fund. That one gift provided the entire cost of a new church building for a struggling congregation in Romania.
It is right and proper for the ‘haves’ to help provide for the ‘have-nots’ within the global Body of Christ. We share resources with a sense of communion rather than control, of opportunity rather than ownership, and of joy rather than a joy ride.
We seek to help without making people helpless.
The proper exercise of our generosity calls for discernment. We want to give in ways that do not create a spirit of dependency on the part of those who receive our help. If too much is given we can encourage young churches to quit trying to improve since there are plenty of foreign churches eager to help them. We then weaken them when they ought to be accepting their responsibility for their own progress.
It is right and proper to agree with those who receive our help that they will carry a share of the cost and effort in whatever project is in view. We can work side by side in construction, in relief efforts, and in ministry. In the end, we want them to enjoy satisfaction in what has come about by their efforts – with our help, rather than just by the work of foreigners. Projects can be promoted locally as workdays for the church members with the added help of foreign brothers and sisters who join in their efforts. We can find projects that those churches would have undertaken without our help and facilitate them with our resources. When the project is a shared service effort rather than our building effort we can provide members for their outreach teams and work with them, creating openings for their follow up of those who are reached. We can help initiate programs that they can continue, being careful not to construct facilities that local people cannot maintain, or initiate ministries that cannot be continued without a constant infusion of support funds.. We can come into their current programs and work together under their leadership to enhance their work. We never go there presuming that our methods and approaches are better than theirs.
Short term missions efforts are apprenticeships for future career missionary personnel.
The missionaries we observe in the New Testament normally had trainees who accompanied them. Jesus sent out His twelve disciples on a trial mission experience. Barnabas and Saul took along John Mark as an assistant. The trainee messed up, and learned valuable lessons that enhanced his later ministries alongside Barnabas and Peter. Paul took Silvanus under his wing, and they recruited Timothy and Luke to train and participate. Timothy later helped train Erastus in missionary service. These short term missionary experiences are models for us to create opportunities for students and families to try missions on for size and invite God to call them for a lifetime.
As churches organize teams for short term ministry, whether at home or abroad, they invest in the future of their own young people – and not-so-young people – as Great Commission servants. Missionaries who receive short term missionaries to work with them are often training their future colleagues in life-long work.
Churches work most freely through their mission agencies.
Mission agencies were started by churches to help them handle the specialized matters related to international ministry. This is where cooperation shines most brightly and communication among all involved parties is most valuable.
Missionaries work within a larger plan for their ministry team so that all resources are directed toward the same goals. A short term missions team is one of many resources helping one of many team members, so matters go best when plans are integrated. The presence of a church team on the field should not be a surprise to missionaries other than the host family, at least within that mission agency. They certainly should never be a surprise to the administrators of the mission who bear overall responsibility for all that occurs in their ministry circles.
3. Procedures: HOW do we do it?
The initiative for a missions trip may come from the pastor, or the Missions Committee, or a request from one of their supported missionaries. Someone will take responsibility to develop a plan of action that will carry church members to the mission field. Start with the team leaders who will make it all happen. Here are some essential elements of that plan of action.
1. Identify the missionaries or national churches you will help.
You can’t travel to “the mission field.” Airlines don’t sell tickets to there. You go to a specific place at a specific time. Often a missionary supported by the church will write of needed help. Or the Missions Committee can query the mission agencies used by the church to see what projects are truly needed. The starting point is contact with someone on the field with whom to negotiate a visit that will benefit their work.
2. Identify the specific project(s) to be undertaken, and optimum dates of the effort well in advance of the time there.
What kinds of work can be done by a short term team? Here are a few. Tackling a project will depend on having people with the right skills. It is good if the church has an inventory of skills among the church members who might be available for short trips. For busy people with complex schedules the dates really need to be finalized at least six months in advance of the trip. A full year is preferable. What might you do?
• Construction projects for churches, camps, seminaries
• Remodeling or maintenance projects for the same churches and institutions
• Medical clinics in areas under-served by national health services
• Outreach efforts (as language permits) such as visitation, vacation Bible school, youth congresses, puppet programs
• Special programs to attract community folks include sports evangelism programs, English conversation classes, computer instruction clinics.
• Music programs, concerts, in churches and in public venues as well as in churches
• Specific technical tasks like repairs to a broadcast center, setting up a library, inventory system for pharmaceuticals, or final design and site plan of a church building.
• Teaching modular classes at a seminary or university, with friendship evangelism
Whatever the nature of the effort, it is to be defined before appropriate people can be enlisted from the church or from sister churches. One important option is to decide whether this is an appropriate project for a mission team, or if it would better be done by local people hired for the work. One church was approached about sending carpenters to build cabinets for a new church. They prayerfully calculated that their missionaries could hire the work done locally or half the cost. After they sent the funds a national craftsman learned of Christ, so both major objectives were realized at a fraction of the cost of transporting a team of workers overseas.
3. Analyze the specific tasks that will be done to complete the field project.
Someone will act as the project manager, with or without formal training in this field. The main project has specific elements that have to be accomplished in order. It is clearly normal to lay the foundations of a building before painting its walls, though most projects have sub-projects that are a tad more subtle than this.
An advance survey trip by team leaders is hugely important, especially when teenagers will travel without their parents. This allows the team to scope out logistics, housing, team relations with nationals, and hands-on analysis of realities to be faced.
The breakdown of specific tasks (or “task analysis”) can be laid out as a series of boxes in a flowchart, and shuffled around for the most efficient approach to the jobs. Notice which jobs must be completed before others can be started (back to painting walls again) and place them in sensible order. Schedule in some breaks for local travel and ministry, and even times for on-the-job training by the few experts on the team. This makes it much easier to schedule the work and the workers for realistic expectations of what can really be accomplished within the time frame of the trip.
Some specific jobs may be left for the churches or people there to finish off, and this allows them to celebrate the completion of their job recognizing the team’s help. But there should be at least one major project to be completed while the team is there to cement the sense of accomplishment (and be a photo backdrop).
4. List the numbers and skill areas of the people needed to complete the tasks.
Once there are “job boxes” as the specific tasks needed to complete the project, you can figure out how many people with what skills are needed to do it. This will often come out simply as a list of jobs, guided by common sense and the on-site supervisors. Many jobs can be accomplished by people with limited skills as long as a few people among them really know what they are doing and can supervise the workers. Many people will work outside their preferred skill areas while they wait for their specific task to come along. (For example, someone expert in finish carpentry may haul sand or peel potatoes until the day when that finish work begins.) Also, having some team members with unexpected skills may broaden the impact of what the team can accomplish during the visit. Everyone is there to serve, and to serve the Lord, but will expect to serve within the areas of their strengths as fully as is possible.
5. Now enlist people to complement the list of openings on the mission team..
Negotiate the project with the mission agency of the missionaries. Early on in the development of your vision for this missions trip, the leaders need to contact appropriate personnel in the mission agency to negotiate details. The host missionaries will know whom to contact, whether their field administrator or the enlistment office.
6. Seek advice from the mission for the team on key issues for planning:
• Passport and visa information. Get passport applications online or at the Post Office. Each nation has its own visa requirements and forms after you have your passports in hand.
• Health hazards to watch for, inoculations needed or recommended for that area
• Any political tensions arising from internal struggles
• Timing related to field conference activities or major ministry efforts
• Any personal issues that may qualify or disqualify some team members (For example, some missions might only allow active members of the church to participate, or might not allow divorced persons on a team, or might set age limits, or have culturally appropriate dress codes, or might inform that there is no wheelchair access in the location on the field in view.)
• The best ways to channel donations for personal support and project funds
• Health and evacuation insurance coverage
• The most advantageous travel arrangements
In most cases all will harmonize well. Missionaries who work well in teamwork with their field partners will have plans that will be enhanced by the project in view for this church team. It could be that other missionaries have similar projects that might also be worked on during the visit to the field. It might be that these missionaries are trying to do their own thing contrary to the counsel of their colleagues or mission planning. That is rare, but working through the mission can avoid making any bad situation worse.
The mission may be in contact with likeminded churches with people interested in the same kind of projects. This creates at least the possibility of a larger team, or opportunity to locate experts in some specialized tasks.
The mission agency may call for applications to the mission within their various programs, and this may include a nominal fee. This is fine as part of the accountability process and to secure the benefits which the mission agency will provide. Those benefits include the ministry structure within which your missionaries function since they are not alone as autonomous workers.
7. Present the project challenge to the church, or sister churches, to enlist the team.
In the interest of efficiency, it is best to limit the team to the smallest number that can accomplish the project. Keep in mind that the project will need unskilled as well as skilled workers, but everyone who goes will have something specific to contribute to the whole. [If one family wants to take their children along as non-workers anyway, they will fund those tickets themselves and add funding to the meals and lodging fund.] If your church does not have all of the necessary personnel, go to sister churches in the area to appeal for additional workers. Share the load and the joy of service. The logical starting point would be other supporting churches of that missionary. Be sure that the commissioning church is a part of the process of your helping their missionary.
The host missionaries may be able to provide some photos or video footage from which a powerful visual appeal may be pulled together by your media geeks. For some people, this will be their home-based contribution to the larger project even if they cannot go along.
The church body should corporately approve the mission trip so it is clearly a church project and not just the activity of a few members apart from the core values of the church. This helps integrate the trip into the body life of the church as a whole, acting with the blessing and help of the church. This also provides legal identification of this trip as an activity of the church to legitimize tax deductible receipting of donations for the team.
It is good to have the Missions Committee or the deacons interview each person enlisted on the team. Ask why they want to go and what they expect to do. Check on what cultural preparation they are undertaking. Have they been overseas before? What did they learn? Be sure they have proper spiritual objectives and are not just on an adventure. This deepens the integration of the trip with the church and the sense of accountability to the church.
8. Calculate the costs for completion of the project.
Now reality sets in. Just getting there proves to cost about twice what anyone thought. In your calculations be sure to include airfare, trip insurance, meals along the way, meals and lodging on the field (so you won’t be a burden to your hosts), and a contribution to the cost of the project itself. In some such efforts, each team member raises $100 for the project and those funds are sent ahead for purchase of building materials so all will be in readiness for their arrival. Some will have additional personal costs to obtain a passport. Additional personal expenditures for souvenirs are expected, so each needs some pocket cash. Calculate the total cost of the trip and divide by the number of persons going so all face the same obstacles for fund raising. If the church has budgeted funds for such trips, calculate that into the total cost so all benefit equally. Team leaders should have some contingency funds in hand, expecting some unexpected circumstances.
Someone will notice that the team is spending far more on themselves than on the project they go to accomplish. That’s true, and normal. But people will sacrifice to go to the field themselves while they would not be inclined to just send the travel money for the project.
The costs and sacrifices go well beyond mere finances. People will take time off their jobs as vacation time or time without pay. People will reschedule other needed matters to accommodate this missions trip as a joyful parenthesis in their normal lives. They will take time for training sessions and personal reading and research. Team members should also allow for a few days after they return for proper recuperation, especially if they are traveling to the east or west where they cross several time zones.
9. Organize the trip itself.
The best approach is to have one person make airline reservations for the team. This Travel Captain may not be the team leader, but one charged with travel logistics. His or her work is coordinated with the team leaders so all are kept in the loop. If the mission office has an inside track on travel arrangements, work with them, or at least consider their advice on travel agents that specialize in such trips.
Get information about passports, allowing a couple of months for this. Find out well ahead of travel time what kind of visa is needed for your circumstances, as each country has its own laws and requirements. Check on weight limits for baggage, need for inoculations, and any notable travel hazards in that part of the world. Be informed ahead of time to avoid last minute obstacles.
For those who itemize their income tax forms, all expenditures for such work can be deducted as volunteer work for a tax-exempt organization (the mission or your church). Keep receipts for all such expenditures such as meals on the road or purchases of equipment and supplies beyond what the team provides. Your time cannot be charged at some hourly rate since you are a volunteer worker, nor is clothing for the trip deductible since you get further use from it. But expenses related to the trip and project are deductible (visa application fee, tools that will be donated to the project, training costs not provided by the group, literature to be given away, etc., but not personal souvenirs). Your donations to the church for the project will yield church receipts.
10. Raise the needed funds by the deadline dates.
Some families have resources that allow them to travel, while many will need help from others. Any appeal for offerings should be made by the team as a whole to the church as a whole, so church members are not dunned by many letters appealing for financial help for individuals. Each team member will have contacts outside that church among friends and family who might be expected to help. Each will have his or her share to raise, but offerings will go to the church for the team as a whole. In this way, contributions can be made to the church as tax-deductible donations to a church project rather than be personal gifts to an individual.
Airline reservations for a group will call for a deposit by a certain date. This calls for definition of specific names on the passenger list. Some travel agencies may be able to get preferred rates for groups, or get one free seat for every dozen or so paying passengers. Such benefits are still shared by all in the equal division of costs. In the fundraising plan include a non-refundable deposit that covers the cancellation fee of the airline.
The church treasurer or bookkeeper can receive and receipt the support funds, and hold them until needed, keeping track of who has raised how much.
When one family or person is going out for short term missionary service for a year or two, they will need to do deputation just as career missionaries do. Such support would normally be handled by the mission agency through which they serve.
11. Get trip insurance for the group.
Families can check whether their homeowners’ insurance, or employee group health insurance, covers them and their belongings for this kind of travel. For those who do not have such coverage there is an array of mission trip insurance options. Every team member should be obligated to have health insurance coverage to protect the church from liability. The group can also discuss whether to include air evacuation insurance coverage for a little bit more. Nobody plans to experience tragedy while serving the Savior, but such events have occurred.
12. Train the enlisted workers.
The greatest single handicap suffered by short termers is the lack of formal training that career missionaries get. For a brief trip of a week or a month one hardly expects detailed training beyond essential orientation, but even those who go for a year or two may find themselves thrust into their work with dazzling suddenness.
For those who go on a mission team for a week or two some orientation is essential.
• Know of the host mission family: their background, children, and ministry objectives. That family may well have a PowerPoint® used for deputation.
• Understand the project in view and how it fits into the larger picture of ministry there.
• Review the essential history of the host nation. Look it up on and the nations section of for recent updates to library materials.
• If going to a tribal group look for cultural information on or just Google that society and see what comes up for you. Different ones in the group can research and report on elements of the culture: history, language, family structure, social status in the nation, specific customs, etc.
• Check out orientation in cross-cultural customs and greetings from resources on and read books from our Resources section at the end of this chapter.
• Learn some essential phrases in the host language for greetings and expressing thanks. Find out how they are expected to act when meeting someone or departing.
• Find someone who knows that people group and can describe basic behavioral and cultural forms: family, decision making, group vs. individual awareness, hot-climate or cold-climate characteristics. (Be sure to see the little book by Lanier!).
• Don’t worry about messing up; you will. People will know if you really respect and love them and will be very forgiving of clumsy foreigners.
• Be ready to eat whatever food is served, often at great sacrifice to them. Forget the concept, “I don’t like that kind of food” while you are a missionary. Eat with gratefulness. At the same time, watch what water you drink and insist on bottled or boiled water so you don’t spend most of your short time there just suffering the effects of bad water.
• If you are crossing several time zones, be ready for difficulty sleeping at first from being unaccustomed to the new schedule.
When people from different churches participate on a team it is great to bring them together for the training sessions. If this is not practical, they could swap video introductions or have an online video/audio conference church–to-church. They will soon depend on one another, so the sooner they know and rely on one another the better. The team segments begin to pray for one another.
It would be good to do a brief video interview of each team member, recording their aims and expectations. This can be edited into a follow-up video report after the trip. Fun!
13. Enlist prayer partners, and get them engaged in prayer right away.
Most in the church will not be going with the team, but are to be challenged to commit to pray for the team every day while they are underway. They are encouraged to gather for prayer in homes or at the church at times convenient to various ones. Each person on the team should have several people in the church who are committed as prayer partners to pray for him or her every day of the trip. This is a significant way that many can participate, along with their giving. Wrist bands are helpful reminders to pray.
The church office can prepare a prayer reminder sheet with names, photos, and any specializations for the team members. This is a great help in enlisting prayer partners.
Start regular weekly prayer sessions in the weeks before the trip, with daily prayer groups and personal effort while the team is on the field. This is not an effort of a handful of people, but of the entire church united in missionary enterprise.
14. Assemble the materials and equipment. Pack for travel.
Each person will have strict limits on baggage. The travel captain will know the weight and size limits per person and make it clear that airlines have no mercy these days. Some people have to repack at the airport and/or pay for extra weight or volumes.
Most people are on prescription medications these days. Take along enough of the medicine to get beyond the expected return date. Carry the medications in their properly labeled containers, and take the explanatory sheet as evidence of the nature of the medications. Anyone using prescription narcotics may need to obtain special clearance before carrying a supply of their drugs internationally. Or ask your doctor for a non-narcotic substitute for the time of the trip.
New airline regulations demand that lithium batteries (common for cameras now) not be in checked luggage, and be packed with covers over their terminals to keep them from contact with coins and other metal objects.
There may be some supplies or equipment that the team is to take along, perhaps even some special foods. Those things will be obtained and distributed to team members to pack in with their personal baggage, cutting into their weight allowance. The teddy bear stays home. Get over it. Each person must pack his or her own luggage and be able to testify honestly to that fact at the airport check-in. A fun option is to have a packing party at church to spread around the equipment and supplies to be taken along with personal items. Weigh bags for optimum legal weight. Each participant has one personal suitcase packed at home and one team suitcase packed at church. A lot of the clothing taken along can also be given away when that is appropriate.
That extra material and equipment for the project may call for some excess baggage, and that will be part of the total cost of the team trip. The travel captain should be able to calculate that in advance, or presume a certain amount of extra baggage, and include it in the overall budget.
In most international airports it is possible to exchange some dollars for the currency in use on your field. It is helpful to have some pocket change as soon as you arrive. Discuss the exchange rate and rough value of each coin or bill. At the end of the trip excess change can be given to the church or spent at the airport, kept as souvenirs, or traded at the currency exchange once back in the original departure airport.
15. Take the trip, tackle the project, and have a ball.
Are there enough people? (No) Is there enough money? (No) Did you pack all of the needed supplies? (No) Is everybody feeling ready for anything? (No) Is everyone best friends with everyone else on the team? (No) Is it time to go today? (Yes, ready or not!)
Commit all of those loose ends and wispy dreams and butterflies in the stomach to the Lord and get in that airplane. You are on your way! Just serve out of love for the Lord, love for the people that God loves even if we can’t understand them.
When there are more than ten members of the team it is helpful to divide into two (or more) smaller teams with captains. Everyone is in touch with someone else, and the team captains have cell phones. This also helps share the load of logistics along the way.
Have one team member act as a reporter to send daily email reports home to the church. They can forward messages to family members. Give news of accomplishments, special needs, prayer requests, humorous items, and the flow of activities for the day. Attach some photos to give the atmosphere and some detail. Be sure there is at least one good photographer among the group for candid photos or even digital video for the final report. This can save time for others who can spend time at their work instead of taking pictures.
The heart of your effort is the people, not the project. You will build and fix and do whatever the planned effort calls for. But the key contribution is your fellowship, your friendship, the respect you show for people who are often downtrodden and forgotten. You bring a sense of global unity in Christ to people who labor under incredibly difficult circumstances, yet you have noticed them from halfway around the world. You cared enough to come help them, build with them, laugh and cry and pray with them. You have enjoyed their food, been welcomed into their homes, and honored them with your friendship. They will never be the same. Nor will you. You will make friends for life. You will feel rich. You will find it hard(er) to complain about minor inconveniences at home (for a while, anyway). Go to love and enjoy the people. You will find people who are quite different from you but love the same Lord Jesus, and will get a foretaste of Heaven where most of the redeemed will not look like us.
Will everything go just as planned? Never. Some team members will goof off. Some will mess up. Some will say dumb things. Some will make social blunders. Some will get sick. Some will be homesick. And most will do very well. Despite all of your unscheduled mishaps, the undelivered materials, the many unexpected surprises, the uncontrollable weather, the uncooperative friends, the unsanitary water, the many quick trips to the outhouse, and the uncoordinated workloads, the job will get done. You will come to the end of your days there with a deep sense of satisfaction at having contributed something real to your missionaries. It was worth it all! You have ventured out around the world and survived. Go home and enjoy it all!
16. Return home and debrief the group.
There are three major events upon your return.
• Time for rest. Those who have experienced periods of intensive effort with inadequate sleep and strange food will find themselves exhausted when they return home. Don’t try to tough it out, or deny that you are overtired. Get some sleep. You can drink the tap water. If the work site was several time zones to the east or west there will be added effect of jet lag as your body clock gets back in sync with local time. The rule of thumb is that adjustment takes one day for each hour of time zone difference.
• Reverse culture shock. If you have been in a setting of poverty and disease you will look differently on your “normal” American situation at home. You may feel guilty at having so much and doing so well. You will see the wastefulness of American lifestyles and long to send some of that surplus to those who really need it. You will expect everyone to be eager to hear of your experiences and see your pictures, but you’ll find that their interest only lasts a few minutes. You have been enriched by helping in God’s work, and learning phrases in a new language, and seeing exotic places, but no one seems to care much about it. You suddenly feel like a stranger at home. You’ve changed.
• Debriefing. About a week after the team is home they should get together to analyze their experience. Each one will have ideas about what was best, what was worst, what else should have been done to help them, how they might have helped better. They will be encouraged to speak freely and frankly, or even to write down suggestions for improving the experience for the next team. Do they have ways to keep in touch with new friends on the field? What else can they do to help these missionaries? What would they have done differently now that they have been there? This is not a gripe session, but there will be some negative observations about circumstances, the leadership, and the focus of the project. What blessings were realized? What decisions were made? How does this shape your thinking about a missionary career? Make a CD of the collected photos and video clips to give a rich selection to each team member.
17. Report to the church about the trip
Within a month after the team returns it will be possible to select photos and stories to make a formal presentation to the church about the trip. This might be done as a video or PowerPoint® of less than 15 minutes. Sing a song in the language of the field. Individuals can share testimonies of the impact of the trip in their own lives, and highlight special events of spiritual growth, high adventure, great humor, new friends, goofups of the leaders, and whatever else took place within themselves. Share the joy and the pain. Honor the missionaries and the people they love and the God they serve.
Chapter 7
MISSIONARY CONFERENCES
PLANNING AND EXECUTION
1. PURPOSE
Every church ought to have an annual missionary conference as a major high point in its church year. The mission of the church is missions. Our missionary activity and motivation is the expression of who we are as a church and so what we intend to reproduce around the world. The missions program of the church reflects the heart of the church. No church activity should be undertaken simply because of routine: we’ve always considered this an important thing to do, so we continue. Granted, most of our traditional activities do merit such continuity, but we must think through the PURPOSES intended for such activities.
The missionary conference does not escape such scrutiny. Let’s list some worthy objectives for having 3 to 8 days of special meetings on missions: (REMEMBER that in writing objectives we seek ACTIVE verbs, and look more at outcomes than methods. The methods will include preaching, field presentations, displays, conversations in church and in homes, youth meetings, children’s meetings, etc.)
• to sharpen the vision of our churchfolk for reaching a lost world
• to deepen compassion for the lost right around us
• to encourage members to identify and embrace their personal mission field
• to be informed on better methods for being active in missions, of real needs
• to stimulate more sacrificial giving for world missions
• to encourage more members to participate in the missions programs of the church
• to see some of our own members called into lifelong missionary ministry
• to participate more deeply in the cooperative efforts of church and mission agency, seeing how the mission aids and serves the churches
The main instruments brought together to accomplish these objectives are the missionaries themselves. So conference planning will seek to give maximum exposure to the missionaries to present the challenge and opportunities of their fields of service. Unless the conference has a specific field focus, there will normally be a balance of geographical areas, appointees and veterans, and types of ministry on the fields.
The real impact of a missions conference is not generally in the formal preaching, but in the sharing of the realities of life among needs on the fields of the world. Some bring in a revival preacher and just add some missionaries for interest and occasional parts in the services. But the real focus of the conference should be on the missionary work itself and the compulsion that drives it. That will be communicated best through exposure to the real work on the field. Any preaching should complement the missionaries’ field presentations rather than being the main element. Many missionaries can preach well, contrary to rumor. But the fact is that many missionaries are not in situations which call for preaching to large crowds. They are starting new churches, or witnessing in small groups, or developing church leaders – much like what the host church is doing itself. Very few people on the average church staff are accomplished preachers as they carry out the varied ministries of the church. Those who are “missionaries” often carry out the same specialized ministries as staff members at home, but are expected to be preachers because they are missionaries.
Let missionaries talk about people they have won to Christ, and the struggles to establish a church in a hostile culture, and the false faith systems within which they minister. Let them speak of their struggles to maintain spiritual vitality in a corrosive environment, and the problems their youth face, and the forces that conspire against sound Christian family life in their culture. That will resonate well with the hearers, and some may be stirred to join them.
Since this is a missionary conference, give major time to invited missionaries. Having just ten minutes three times during a long conference is unfair to them as they seek to convey the realities and excitement of life on the mission field. You don’t want the missionaries to be just window dressing in your revival meetings, but the heart of the conference. Mix the missionaries into your Sunday school classes, children’s church, youth meetings, mom’s meetings, school chapel, Bible institute classes, and whatever else is going on. Let them know in advance what they will be called upon to do so they can come properly prepared.
The operative term in this chapter is “planning.” When we have a full year to sort out the events and personnel of a conference, there is no excuse for asking missionaries the day before an event to teach a class or take a chapel or otherwise participate in the conference. Some last minute adjustments are inevitable, but the major areas of contribution by missionaries should be planned out weeks in advance. They are quite willing to be worked hard, but want to come prepared. It is little comfort to have class materials or story pictures at home that would have been just right for this last-minute opportunity. The adage, “always be ready to preach, pray, or die,” should never be a mask for the ineptitude of conference leaders in thinking through what will normally be encountered in those days.
Who is responsible for planning? When a project is “everyone’s job” it is really no one’s job. The conference process begins with a clear understanding from the pastor as to who is to plan it. Will the pastor’s staff handle the planning and logistics? Will there be a special conference committee to plan and oversee the conference? Does the Missions Committee agenda include conference planning? Decide up front just who will head up the work of organizing the conference. The pastor is always involved in the major decisions, of course, but need not be the point man to organize all of the committees and keep them on course week by week. The appointed committee will set the dates, decide on a model, identify the personnel, name the committees, enlist the helpers, oversee the progress, enjoy the conference, and evaluate the whole matter.
How is the conference to be financed? A missionary conference is a major financial item for the church to handle. Think of what it will cost: travel for missionaries, meals, honoraria, gift items, decorations, presentation items, extra utilities usage of the church buildings, local travel, musicians brought in, etc. Where do the funds come from?
• The church missions budget should include a line item for half of the expected cost.
• Love offerings are taken up in major services, but should not be a distraction.
• Families or family-owned businesses might sponsor elements of the conference.
2. MODELS FOR MISSIONS CONFERENCES
A. Sunday through Sunday
The week-long conference was common 25 and more years ago when the annual missions conference was the highlight of the year for larger churches. Now it is quite rare. We remember big churches that loved to bring in 20 missionaries for a full week for interaction with the people. The problem was that each got very little pulpit time, especially if a noted preacher was brought in for the main messages. The carnival atmosphere was exciting for the time, but the heavy expense in time and funds did not produce more of the desired results than a sensibly-proportioned conference. Still, this showed that missions was a major factor in the life of the church and provided a time of high challenge. People’s lives are full of demands, and any week-long conference becomes an intrusion on family life and activities. It has to be great to work.
B. Sunday through Wednesday
One solution to the time crunch is the partial week conference, which may be the first half or latter half of a week. Both have pros and cons.
• The ADVANTAGE of Sunday through Tuesday or Wednesday is the big kickoff with the highest attendance when the conference is at its best, especially with a Saturday evening international banquet to get to know the missionaries. This should attract people to attend the entire conference, or make knowledgeable choices about what parts are worth their effort to attend.
• The DISADVANTAGE of this pattern is that after the opening splash the attendance then may fizzle. Many who come for the closing night have missed the heart of the conference’s emphasis. It is a low ending unless there is a big push or special choir program (if you can get the choir to stay after singing). A carry-in supper always facilitates attendance since it cares for the evening meal as a part of the activity.
C. Wednesday through Sunday
This is becoming more common, especially with midweek concentrations of ministry now practiced in churches.
• The ADVANTAGE is facility in combining the missions conference with midweek youth and children’s ministries, and their workers, to get them involved. It is generally easier to get folks out for the beginning than the ending of a conference in midweek. Even if most people cannot attend the meat of the conference, they will attend the conclusion on Sunday.
• The DISADVANTAGE is that it starts out with the lowest attendance, so there is less opportunity to build momentum from excited attendees inviting others. Some will just come as usual on Wednesday and Sunday, skipping the rest.
A variation of this is the FRIDAY through Sunday conference, about the only kind where people actually expect to attend ALL of the meetings, these days. Most families are already over-stressed with activity demands, not all from the church.
D. A month of Sundays
An increasingly popular format is a series of speakers on Sundays, along with special studies in the Sunday school for emphasis. This accommodates the conference to the normal services of the church with no special demands on the people. Thus they come because they are already there. This format dilutes the impact of the speakers by spreading them out, but reinforces the missionary focus due to the repetition of the subject matter. Missionaries enjoy such conferences, but miss the interaction with other missionaries.
A variation of this is giving the occasional fifth Sundays of a month over to missions, but this is just routine missions presentation, not a conference with special sustained emphasis.
E. A No-Missionary Conference
A church can plan a fine conference without bringing in any outside missionaries.
• The pastor’s preaching would focus on mission themes from the Bible and their own missionaries’ experiences from their letters.
• Music on missions by the choir, children, language groups
• Films and videos enrich the emphasis, with a banquet, missions youth rally, and some cultural windows from folks in the church who have traveled or lived overseas.
• Curios, posters, flags, etc., enhance visual impact and spirit.
• TELEPHONE and E-MAIL contact with the church’s own missionaries, or short personal videos from them can bring an immediate sense of presence of those workers in the services.
• Such a conference can also focus on the cultural features of minority populations within reach of the church, to heighten the people’s awareness, sense of responsibility, and welcome of such minorities now better understood. If the church has a missionary family home on furlough, a conference can be built around facets of their ministries.
F. ROUND ROBIN CONFERENCE
Several smaller churches often combine efforts to bring in a number of missionaries equal to the number of churches, and then pass them around for their various services and home group meetings.
The tendency today is to decry the round robin conference as a waste of time, but that may be hasty judgment. We see this as a good solution for small churches. Even in a big church there is a blur of several missionaries easily confused. At least the round robin conference does get several “real live missionaries” into each church, and each has the spotlight while there. The HARDSHIP of the round robin conference is the more complex schedule of travel to meals and services, even presuming that hospitality is maintained in one home for the entire conference. Missionaries have to put up and take down their display each day. Tough. Get over it.
G. MISSIONS YOUTH RALLY
It is good to try to schedule one lively combined meeting for all of the churches in a round robin conference, or fellowshipping churches which ought to be getting together occasionally anyway. A Saturday missions rally together in a large auditorium could solve that if one of the churches is not large enough to host the joint meeting. Salt it with short videos and messages that move along rather than one major preaching event, with culture windows, funny experiences, good stories for the whole family. Gear it to teens, and get them involved in the planning and presentation of the program.
There can also be an all-day Saturday Missions workshop with more serious study sessions, with fun stuff scattered in between the more academic hours. Aim for college students, and get into some Internet resources on missions research data. Such a serious time could also be planned as a spiritual retreat for which students get out of school, as Catholics and Jews can. Or it could be an all-night lock-in on a Friday night (NOT Saturday night, please.)
3. A CONFERENCE PLANNING SCHEDULE
Here is a checklist for planning a church missionary conference, forged in real life in church conference planning. This checklist covers most of the major events of a conference, held in March in this example. Your plan notes the responsible persons, the normal lead time for planning and working on events, and the done date. Feel free to adapt this to your own church conference schedules, format, calendar, and activities.
The timing of this major conference has to be cleared with the full-church calendar. Steer clear of Easter, Thanksgiving-to-Christmas, Mothers’ Day, camp weeks, the pastor’s wedding anniversary, and the Super Bowl. Some activities of church ministries can be integrated with the missions conference for that week. The nearest Christian school which your families use should be consulted about their major events, including sports competitions and school plays. Watch for wedding dates, choir programs, public holidays, key sporting events and major outings to avoid conflicts. Funerals cannot be scheduled in advance. Rural churches often plan around harvest weeks or the opening of hunting seasons. Keep this as a conference for the people with minimal conflict of timing.
| |
|Missionary Conference Planning |
|CONFERENCE |PERSON |DATE |DATE |
|TASK |RESPONSIBLE |DUE |DONE |
|DATES of Conference set for |Pastor & MC |Aug | |
|(next March) | | | |
|SPEAKERS: Select Keynote |Pastor |Aug | |
|Speaker | | | |
| Select Missionaries for |Pastor & MC |Oct | |
|variety, focus | | | |
| Write Invitations, get |Secretary |Oct | |
|Ministry Profiles | | | |
| Assign Personal Duties, |Pastor & MC |Jan | |
|services | | | |
| Send Map and Schedule, |Secretary |Jan | |
|Confirm | | | |
|CONFERENCE THEME |Pastor & MC |Nov | |
|CONFERENCE PROGRAM: Schedule |Conf. Chair |Nov | |
| Design Program | |Nov | |
| Print Program | |Feb | |
|PACKETS PREPARED FOR | |Feb | |
|MISSIONARIES | | | |
| Host information card | |Feb | |
| Info about church | |Feb | |
| Missions Policy & Missions | |Feb | |
|Handbook from church | | | |
| City map marking church, | |Feb | |
|homes | | | |
|ADVERTISING: Bulletin | |Feb | |
|Inserts | | | |
| Newspapers | |Feb, Mar | |
| Area Churches | |Jan | |
| Flyers | |Jan | |
| Radio | |Mar | |
| All info to Christian school for |Secretary |Nov | |
|integration with chapels | | | |
|DECORATIONS/ BULLETIN BOARDS | | | |
| Planning | |Nov | |
| Execution | |Feb, Mar | |
| Removal | |Apr | |
|HOSPITALITY | |Jan | |
| Homes | |Feb | |
| Guest Room ready |Hostess |Mar | |
|MEALS: | | | |
| Carry-Ins at church | |Jan | |
| Planning | |Jan | |
| Cleanup | |Conf. | |
| Invitations to Homes | |Feb | |
| Food for Guest Room | |Conf. | |
|guests | | | |
|Meal Schedules for speakers | |Feb | |
|MISSIONARY CUPBOARD | |Jan | |
|replenished | | | |
|TRANSPORTATION committee ready | |Feb | |
| Pickup on arrival | |Conf. | |
| During conference | |Conf. | |
| Deliver for departure | |Conf. | |
|TRAVEL EXPENSE | |Conf. | |
|REPORTS | | | |
| Honoraria prepared and sent | |Conf | |
|EVALUATION OF |Pastor & MC |April | |
|CONFERENCE | | | |
4. CONFERENCE IDEAS (Thanks, Dr. Bob Bymers, BMM)
A. Conference Formats
• AIRPORT Theme. Each missionary sets up a room in the church with décor from his or her field. They wear national dress, serve some national food, and shows slides or video of the field. The people get “airline tickets” to the various countries and move around in 20-minute intervals to fly to three or four selected countries that evening. This could be done for a single night, or for two or three nights, depending on numbers of people and fields. Be sure that each missionary also gets another opportunity for a more detailed presentation of the field and its needs.
• THEME PARTY. The selected theme could be Christmas, bon voyage, birthday, etc. The church is divided into groups to sponsor each of the missionaries coming to the conference, and they will obtain information from the missionaries on clothing sizes, needs, interests, magazines, etc. Raise funds with offerings and odd jobs to encourage youth to earn and give. Get a list of specific prayer requests for ministry and family. On the special conference party evening, each missionary family goes with their group for a surprise party, opening gifts which have been purchased and wrapped for them. Then get together for refreshments and devotions.
• MISSIONS FAIR. Assign people in the church to the missionaries they support. They will write to them for information, stories, pictures, curios, or whatever will help present their ministries. At the conference, set up a booth for each missionary, including those who cannot come to the conference, with presentations of their work. Maps, photos, PowerPoint®, taped music, and plenty of imagination add up to making this a vital evening. Each booth can have some snack food typical of that part of the world.
• PANORAMA of the PERISHING. Volunteers in the church can identify a country where missionary work is being done, contact missionaries, and collect pictures and information for a two-minute presentation in church. The panorama of nations leads into the presentation of missionaries from there who can then describe ministries and challenges. The finale of the global panorama involves all in costumes, with flags, and challenging population figures and other facts of interest to motivate missionary interest.
• SHARING NEEDS. As the conference begins, each missionary there is asked to share two specific needs they face for finances, equipment, project personnel, or whatever they need. This is presented for prayer with no promise that anyone can help. By the conclusion of the conference see how many of those needs have been met in answer to prayer.
• MISSIONARY RETREAT. The church can invite its missionaries on furlough or deputation to join them in a retreat at the church’s expense. This can be held right at the church and involve churchfolk in preparing meals and some participation. The pastors minister to the missionaries. Experts in the church offer training in needed areas (finance, computers, mechanics, building planning, family skills, counseling, etc., depending on resources and needs). The missionaries will share their presentations with the group, but it is primarily a time for spiritual refreshment, some fun, some shopping with ladies from the church. Do some special things with the children, with and without the parents, such as an amusement park, the zoo, the McDonalds playground, or whatever is nearby.
• TAKING LIGHT INTO DARKNESS. A powerful closing program begins with a large map of the world on the platform. The auditorium is darkened, and a single flashlight torch is carried down the aisle. As it reaches the front, little lights on the map light up to indicate where this church has missionaries. Someone says “We’re taking the light into the darkness!” Another sings “People Need the Lord.” Have all of the workers in the church (deacons, SS teachers, youth workers, AWANA staff) line up in the church center aisle. Pass the torch from the back, up that line of team members, to the pastor by the map onstage as the church shares the task of bearing the light. A variation is to have the choir or group sing “Send the Light” as the missionaries walk out with flashlight torches in hand.
• MISSIONARY ADOPTION. Ask families to adopt a missionary family for the year, one per missionary family. They will pray, write, remember special days, and keep the church informed of their needs. Have new families adopt all of their missionaries each year.
• INTERNATIONAL DINNER. A staple as a kickoff for a missionary conference is a carry-in dinner with international dishes. (Baptist Mid-Missions has a great cookbook available with plenty of menu ideas.) National dress would (generally) be welcomed.
• COTTAGE MISSIONARY CONFERENCE. The evenings of the missions conference can be in people’s homes instead of at the church. Divide into groups and schedule different homes to host the group for conversation with their missionary of the evening, with or after a meal. The morning times are for the missionaries to gather with the pastors for spiritual refreshment.
B. Conference Themes: Verbal and Visual
The theme or motto for the conference can awaken interest and bring coherence to the variety of activities involved in those busy days. Many missions offer conference posters. You can rent flags of nations from party stores. Sometimes travel agencies will lend or give large photo posters (and be sure to post a note to mention such generosity). Embassies of some nations have packets with posters, PowerPoint presentations, CDs of colorful information. Ask.
Here are some suggested themes. Your own artistic imagination can lead to visual presentations of the themes, especially if there is a graphic artist in the church.
• A Mandate to Obey – A God to Glorify
• Watchman, Keep not Silent
• Constrained by Love to Serve
• The Unfinished Task
• God’s Provision for a Worldwide Need – YOU !!
• The Harvest is Great…Lord, Send me!
• Let the Whole World Know
• Untold Millions are Still Untold
• Worldwide Investment – A Heavenly Harvest
• “So Send I You”
• The Harvest is Great – The Laborers are Few
• Missions for the Whole Church
• Partners in the Global Harvest
• The Field is the World
• Missions: The Heartbeat of the Church
• Let the Lord of the Harvest be the Lord of your Heart
• [your ideas go on and on]
The point of a theme is not just to have a clever motto for the wall and the church bulletin, but a logo to stir the heart and inflame the imagination with the prospect of global missions, even close to home.
C. Integrated Conference Theme
Sometimes the theme can become a very active part of the functions of the conference. Here is a good example of that.
Cover the Earth theme
• Missionary conference theme: COVER THE EARTH: OUR HANDS, HIS WORLD.
• Logo: A stylized globe with a large handprint partially covering it. On T-shirts.
• Theme poster: Photo of a globe with children’s hands all over it, overprinted by theme Cover the Earth.
• Auditorium decorations: projections of logo on 2 walls, theme poster, video. In the backdrop: a large world map outlined on black cloth.
The backdrop is unmentioned through the conference, just a background piece, very appropriate. The main message series explores dimensions of the feeding of the 5000 relating to listeners’ needs and challenging them to missions.
On the closing night, everyone is given a rubber glove as they enter, the cheap medical kind. No explanation is given. The final message stresses the disciples distributing the bread received from the Lord as He broke it. The preacher calls for the church pastoral staff to come onto the platform. They put on their gloves and go to the huge map. Each puts his hand in a plate of bright paint held by youth, and then puts a handprint somewhere on the map. (There are trashcans close by for easy disposal of the gooey gloves.) The coverage of the world map is sparse. The paid ministers cannot do the job alone, and they are to equip the rest of you.
The preacher then calls up a selection of other churchfolk: a senior couple, middle aged couple, young couple, single mom, two teens. They put their handprints on the map and all look at how much territory is still untouched. The preacher explains that there is a lot of bread left, and there are a lot of people out there who need it. Each of you go get one person.
Each brings up one person from the crowd. They place their handprints on the map. Still a long way to go. There is lots of bread left and there are many people waiting. All of you go get one person to join you to cover the earth.
Now a large group moves out to recruit new people. In a couple more waves virtually the entire congregation is on the platform (less a few infirm ones who were invited but unable to go). The world comes to be covered with handprints (glowing as the black light highlights the fluorescent paint on the black cloth). People are deeply moved. There is a hush as the impact of the map covered with handprints comes home. The preacher draws the clear lessons and invites those who wish to pray to remain at the altar while others are seated.
[This program evolved during the 3-day conference at First Baptist Church (Medina, Ohio) in March 2006, and was not all planned in advance. The ingredients were all there and it was a glorious ‘happening’ as the Spirit moved in the church. Senior pastor Mark Milioni, Missions pastor Shawn Koonce, visiting preacher Don Rooks of Connecting Point Ministries.]
D. Other Suggestions
The Internet is alive with ideas for presenting the facts and challenges of missions. Search engines have sections of IMAGES with zillions of pictures (normally too small to enlarge much, but a great source for ideas).
• Internet connections (or telephone calls) allow live conversations with the church’s missionaries who cannot come to the conference. Talk with them on location for their fresh insight. Include live video when this is practical through Skype or similar connective software.
• If missionaries have internet access, suggest that they sign up on one of the social networking programs like Facebook so someone in the church can maintain casual contact with them through the year. See if they have a blog or personal website from which pictures and information can be gleaned.
• The traditional missionary cupboard is coming to be replaced with gift certificates at widely available department stores. If the cupboard is to include tools, only get GOOD tools like the men of the church would use on the job. When dime store tools break overseas they are not easily replaced.
• Provide one magazine subscription for each member of the family (and keep renewing it). These need not just be religious magazines, depending on the needs and interests of the missionaries. Present those at the conference, and seek families who will sponsor those subscriptions through gifts to the church.
• Apart from the conference, have each Sunday school department have a missionary of the month to keep children and adults informed. Arrange this through the department superintendents.
• Encourage the youth group(s) to adopt a missionary for each half year. Correspond, pray, help with projects, perhaps even go to the field to help with special needs.
D. CONFERENCE EVALUATION
An essential part of any major effort is the post-event evaluation. After workers are rested, ask them to meet with critiques and suggestions to help the next conference be even better. Do this while memories of the missions conference are still fresh, but not haunting them with demands for energy that is already spent. Look over the planning schedule item by item for things that went well and things that need some changes. Don’t criticize the workers, only the nature of the work, looking to the future. Send an evaluation form to the missionaries who participated since they have a unique viewpoint from their opportunities and broader experience.
The evaluation agenda can include most of the major planning elements.
• How effectively was a vision and burden for missions communicated?
• Did the missions conference fulfill its objectives? (What WERE the objectives?)
• What decisions were made? How many?
• Are we following up with a plan for their development?
• Did each missionary have ample opportunity to present their field with its needs and opportunities?
• Were the youth of the church included in the key services?
• Were people praying for the meetings?
• Was there vital interpersonal contact with missionaries apart from the scheduled services?
• Was housing adequate and convenient?
• Was missionary travel appropriate, and paid for?
• Were meals properly cared for? Were missionaries shared around instead of kept with only a few?
• Was the church able to generously provide for expenses and special offerings?
• Did the church missionary budget contribute at least half of the overall cost of the conference?
• Were appropriate gifts given to all missionary family members?
• Should the church have an ongoing part in the ministries of any of the participating missionaries, or increase current giving?
• Will there be opportunities for short term ministry by our churchfolk with any of those missionaries?
• Which parts of the conference clearly needed improvement? Why? How?
• Which parts of the conference went really well? Why?
• Would you want to do this conference again? What was really good about it? How can it be done even better?
• Was there an atmosphere of glory to God, of challenge to service, of deep introspection about responsibility? Did God’s Spirit move the church people?
• Was the timing right, and the length appropriate? Did preparation for this conference interfere with other scheduled events in the church calendar?
• What can you do better next year?
The missionary conference should be one of the highlights of the church year: Easter, Christmas, and the missions conference. It should be of such impact that all of the people look forward to a time of spiritual challenge and look back on a great time of God’s working in the church. This event could incorporate a large musical or dramatic production if the church is equipped for that. Smaller churches can use videos with great impact.
Chapter 8
THE MISSIONARY CAREER
IN 7 CRISES
What are missionaries really like? How can we see their lifespan at a glimpse and get the big picture of what it is really like to be a missionary? In this chapter we will follow the making of a missionary from beginning to end, from recruitment to retirement, even though some specific segments of that typical lifespan are explored more fully in other of these chapters. Pastors and church members benefit from the perspective of all that their missionaries will face. This is their lifetime at a glance.
Churches normally get to observe missionaries only in short snatches of time. A family shows up for a Sunday, or a weekend, or a week. Once they are being supported there are occasional letters and photos and phone conversations. Churches only get to see their missionaries on display in their ministry settings, including the deputation services. Some of their activities and decisions seem disjointed or detached from our expectations, but they do fit normally into the larger picture of their life-long ministry development. So we will back up and look over the entire “normal” missionary career to help us see how the specific items fit sensibly into the big picture.
One advantage of this big picture for churches is to foster a sense of permanence. Missionaries pass through a number of phases, but their calling to the ministry is a life-long commitment. It is quite clear that it is hard to get into a mission agency like Baptist Mid-Missions because the agency’s intent is that the candidates stay for a lifetime. This is a partnership that calls for serious purpose on the part of both parties, all with the blessing of sending and supporting churches.
The major epochs are described as “crises” because they are crossroads. A “crisis” is not necessarily some traumatic experience. It means a decision point, a juncture in life where major decisions are made about future direction. Sending and supporting churches play a key role in those major decisions, so being well informed about the missionary career is beneficial to all involved in the processes.
The overview we present will summarize the lifespan of a missionary in five major epochs, even though they are quite different in the time for each. The focus is on the transitions and changes while some stages have longer ranges of cycling through similar activities. At first we label them as Formation, Formal Training, Adaptation, Ministry, and Retirement, though in the chapter we will spread these out into seven discrete stages of development.
We will define a model missionary career here as the pattern by which all of the variants may be measured, not as inferior or superior, but as variants, in terms of time structure for now, without any evaluation of effectiveness. That is another study. The typical career model for a church planter is outlined in phases for simplicity’s sake, expecting some overlap among them:
OVERVIEW OF THE “NORMAL” MISSIONARY CAREER
| | | | |
|No. |Phase |Activities |To Age |
|1. |Formation |SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, Conversion, discipling interpersonal skills, | |
| | |definition of vocational aptitude areas, | |
| | |identification of spiritual gifts, | |
| | |local church ministry leadership experience, | |
| | |clarification of a call to ministry | |
| | | |To 20 |
|2. |Formal |SCHOOLING (undergraduate and graduate schooling) and structured learning | |
| |Training |experiences such as church and mission field apprenticeships, | |
| | |FAMILY: marriage, priorities, shared calling to ministry |To25 |
| | | |or 30 |
|3. |Adaptation |Initiating the missionary career | |
| | |Entrance and orientation in a mission, | |
| | |ministry team building through deputation, | |
| | |language and culture training and adaptation on the field, vital bonding to a| |
| | |new host culture | |
| | |first ministry within the host culture, and definition of “fit” for type and |To 30 |
| | |location and colleagues for ministry |or 35 |
|4. |Ministry |The productive years of the missionary career, whether in 4-year terms of | |
| | |service with furloughs or other time patterns, including some changes in | |
| | |locations and style of ministry, over the next 30 years or more. It is not | |
| | |unusual for this to include one major change in venue such as a major change | |
| | |of field or type of ministry. |To 65 or more |
|5. |Retirement |Continuing ministry as energy and assets permit, without the constraint of | |
| | |necessity or scheduling, in declining degree over the next decade or more. | |
This shows an expectation of about 35 to 40 years of active missionary service as a “full career” goal. Such a lifespan was once impossible, and is now normal and common.
Now let’s re-examine these phases as spread out into seven periods of decision making, or crises.
1. The Crisis of COMMISSIONING
Missionary life begins with a series of major decisions. Most career decisions are made before one is 20 years old, part of “the big three” decisions that most shape every person’s life. Those decisions are (in order of importance, but seldom chronological order)
• One’s relationship with God, through Jesus Christ
• One’s life-long spouse, if any
• One’s life’s work, career, profession, trade, or job skill area
We can summarize those key decision areas as naming one’s Lord, lover, and labor.
A. God’s call to the ministry
No one has the freedom to call himself or herself to full-time ministry. That is God’s distinctive privilege. Our responsibility is to offer ourselves to God for such service. The church does its best in promoting missions so the option of hearing God’s call is a welcome prospect rather than some remote option. The call is to a lifetime in the ministry, while more specific direction is to this or that field. The direction may vary, just as pastors move from one church to another, but the call to the ministry is life-long.
In chapter 5 we explore in more depth the specific series of questions that a young person moves through in determining the will of God as being a call to the ministry and direction into missionary service. That call, in turn, leads to the big three questions, taken in any order.
• TYPE of Ministry. This is the definition of WHAT you will do functionally.
• FIELD of Ministry. God gives a sense of personal responsibility for a specific people or place. Missionary candidates declare their field of service after consulting with their pastors and their mission for appointment.
• AGENCY of Ministry. Through whom will you serve? They might be sent out directly by the church, or the church might opt to send them out through a mission agency like Baptist Mid-Missions. Mission agencies are an expedient, a method which churches designed for use as their agents for specific help and services. See Chapter 2 for more.
The real entry into missionary life is commissioning by one’s sending church following acceptance by a mission agency and appointment to a field of service. What do the churches expect before this commissioning can take place?
B. Next Questions
1. Realistic self-appraisal
Who am I, anyway? What has God designed me to do, and NOT to do? The supreme balance point is 1Cor 15:10. Paul is amazed to find himself an apostle, and argues, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”
• When he says “by the grace of God” he is delivered from false pride.
• When he says “I am what I am” he is delivered from false humility, just as false and just as dangerous.
2. Recognition of spiritual gifts, in the church
God has equipped each believer with one or more areas of ability to serve with specific “ease and success” for the benefit of the Body of Christ. When we recognize and admit our areas of strength we can build our ministries around those, rather than frustrate ourselves by expecting to be experts at everything. We explore this area in Chapter 5.
3. Agreement of significant others: spouse, family, church
The counsel of others who are near us is important. Do they encourage and affirm our desire to serve? or are they expressing doubt and reservations? No one can leave a spouse at home to go to the mission field, so the presumption is a shared sense of God’s calling within a family. When a person or family indicates to the church a definite interest in missions, the pastor can lead a process of preparation, beginning with active service within the church, and proceeding to any further formal training that is needed.
C. Appropriate formal training
Missionaries are undertaking about the most difficult task on earth, the cross-cultural spreading of the gospel. Regardless of the specific functions or locations of one’s ministry, the basic position as an active witness across cultural gaps is a constant hurdle. Anyone anticipating missionary service should have basic Bible and ministry training, specific training for the functions they will perform, and cross-cultural sensitizing and training. The church is to encourage those members who are engaged in ministry training, keeping them aware that they as the sending church are praying for them, and perhaps helping to underwrite part of their school bills. It is vitally important that the church make the effort to keep in touch so your members think of themselves as an extension of your church and not free agents. When you are there for them they will be there for you.
The principal three dimensions of formal missions preparation are those detailed in Chapter 5, so review them there.
• Basic Bible and ministry training. Any servant of Christ needs to have a prepared mind as well as a stirred heart.
• Professional training for a useful function. They may primarily serve as church planters or in other specialized areas of ministry, and need to be competent.
• Other functions. Certain specialized ministries call for credentials: School teachers, medical workers, technicians, pilots, media specialists, etc., all have their demands for preparation and possible licensing.
RAN Ministries. When missionaries seek to work in Restricted Access Nations they usually enter with a passport identity other than some form of “religious worker.” This gives legitimate entrée into a country, but also calls for performance of the promised services. These can include teaching English, running an Internet café, teaching in a university, providing medical services, training small business entrepreneurs. Such workers must have training and credentials which enable them to deliver the indicated services of value to the population. In some circumstances a degree from a state university can open doors, where ministry related degrees might not lend the same influence or credibility.
Cross-cultural training. Rather than living as Americans in a foreign setting, we seek to live as much like our national neighbors as is practical, in light of both health and spiritual standards. Courses in Language Acquisition Methodology, Cross-Cultural Communications, and Cultural Anthropology are particularly helpful, along with whatever classes may introduce future foreign workers to the lifeways of their host people: cooking, religions, customs, and current socio-political issues. If such courses are not included in the degree programs, there are excellent special seminars dedicated to missionary training in these specific fields.
D. Appropriate ministry experience
During the course of Bible college and/or seminary training most prospective missionaries get plenty of experience in the outreach and inreach ministries of the local church. This is not by some requirement, but because they are that kind of people, eager to serve.
E. Application to a mission agency
Chapter 5 concluded with details of applying to a mission, including the pastor’s participation in initiatives and references.
F. Convincing presentation of ministry and calling: Deputation
There are 3 hoops all prospective missionaries must ultimately get through:
• Approval by their home church.
• Approval by their mission agency.
• Approval by enough supporting churches to enable their ministry. This third hoop takes the longest, as we link with partners in ministry who will deputize us as their representatives on the mission field and provide the underwriting while we do the overworking.
Churches are more likely to get behind a missionary on deputation when they know that the pastor of the sending church solidly recommends him or her. A letter of affirmation from the pastor can be included in the appointees’ packet of information. The indication of significant support given, or promised, by the sending church is a strong incentive for other churches to participate in that future ministry. The pastor can often help make contacts for meetings, especially for a single lady missionary they are sending out. The sending church is the key.
Appointees normally accept a challenge of “each one reach one” as they pray and work to discover and develop one new missionary to join them on their field (or another) during their deputation ministry.
So the missionary career begins with the stage of receiving and responding favorably to God’s call to the ministry and direction to missionary service. Many of the specific details will be more fully determined farther downstream, once people are on their way. It is not unusual to begin on this complex path with incomplete or inaccurate information, so later information can often correct and fine tune the career path. For example, a college student has a clear sense of burden for translating the Scriptures into a given tribal language, but later finds that the project was completed years ago. Or, people may be unaware that doors are closed for missionaries to enter certain countries without special professional abilities. Or, students may have romantic notions about new angles on ministry that later prove to be totally unrealistic. God will direct all who listen to Him along their winding path.
Let’s summarize the steps taken in this defining phase of preparation.
• Define one’s sense of being called by God to the ministry.
• Accept God’s direction to a foreign field and ministry, to be clarified later on.
• Discuss these and all such key matters with the pastor and missions leaders at church.
• Plunge into local church ministries for experience and evaluation. Find areas of strength and giftedness, and mark areas where success would be a struggle.
• Get appropriate schooling for missionary service, with cross-cultural training.
• Apply to a mission agency approved by the sending church.
• Undertake deputation ministry to secure the needed prayer and financial support. (See our Chapter 11 for more details on this adventure.)
2. The Crisis of CONFORMITY: Language and cultural Training
Your missionaries need to do more than learn to talk the way people talk on their future field of service. They want to become a part of their host society as fully as is possible and practical, including working toward speaking like native users of the language. Some of this can be done in the homeland before going to the field of service, or a culturally similar field, but much of it is part of the first term of missionary service, on site, by cultural immersion. Some missionaries will face the learning of two languages, as is common in Africa. They first learn French in France or Quebec for conversations in businesses and government offices, and then proceed to their field to study the tribal language spoken in the homes of their hosts. Missions-aware churches will have patience to help their missionaries through this important stage of metamorphosis into real missionary form. Let’s face it, they will not be out preaching on street corners in their first week on the field.
1. STAGES of Culture Shock
Like it or not, missionaries go through some trauma in the process of taking on a new cultural identity. They will be culturally reborn within a new environment, and the process is charged with emotionally complex learning experiences and setbacks. The term “culture shock” is quite unfortunate since it suggests that cultural adjustment is an event rather than a process. Your missionaries will pass through stages which can be summarized as…
• Fascination All is new and interesting, exciting, enchanting.
• Hostility All becomes strange and threatening. They are trapped on Mars.
• CRISIS It is time for DECISION about this: Turn back, go native, or fit in.
• Adjustment Adapting to the new setting and identity takes time and effort.
• Acceptance Within months there is a new comfort with familiar surroundings.
Be patient and understanding with your missionaries through this year. Keep in touch. It is probably too early for churchfolk to be dashing over to BongoBongo for a visit, but let your missionaries know of your engagement with them, your ongoing interest, much prayer, and a sense of connectedness with the church.
2. LEARNING the New Culture
• Aptitude. Some people have an innate agility for association and change, while others will struggle against their own rigidity and resistance to change. For some people, learning a language is like climbing a hill; for others it seems like Mount Everest. Low aptitude can be overcome by extra effort.
• Attitude. The underlying attitude of your missionaries is like incarnation: they are the persons in whom Jesus Christ is making His presence felt among new people. So the effort to learn language and culture is one way of expressing Christ’s love for those people. Just as He fit in as a normal (well, sinless) human being in old Judaea, loving within their hostile cultural framework, He will now enable missionaries to lovingly adapt to a cultural setting which is strange to them.
• Adaptitude. More important than aptitude and scientific methodology is a desire to be as much like the host people as possible. Learning language shows deep respect for our hosts. Love builds bridges where mere learning cannot.
You will observe your missionaries through two years of such adaptation. By then they may have actually gotten into ministry activities in that crucial first term. But they are still learning their way around both in the culture and in the structures of their mission team. They will be life-long learners of the language and culture of their host people, just as we continue to learn of our own folkways and improve our use of our language.
3. The Crisis of COOPERATION: The First Term Continues
The big question the awaiting missionaries ask is: “Is this new missionary a team player?” Can they exercise teamthink and work as a part of the joint effort? It is normal for first term missionaries to work under the tutelage of veteran missionaries, participating in a church planting team before launching out to maik there own misteaks.
Can the new missionaries accept a role in the existing program of the Field Council (now called a Ministry Team) even though they did not help design the overall program and may not be comfortable with all of its aspects?
New missionaries are often called upon to fill in for other missionaries headed home for furlough. One of our outstanding missionaries observed, “We spent our first term demonstrating that we were team players, and our own ministry began with our second term.” There in BongoBongo they interact with one another’s ministries far more deeply than neighboring pastors ever do here in the States. The ability to cooperate with sensibility and sensitivity is vitally important in a setting where the workers are together in a pressure cooker, and all have the toughness it takes to work overseas.
4. The Crisis of CONTRIBUTION: The First Term Continues
Having proven their ability to get along well, the next test your missionaries face is “Do you have anything to offer?” They have held back some of their dreams until they’ve earned their wings, and have suspended their vision until they develop the freedom to step out on their own.
But when the time comes, they are to be READY to produce. It is not time to complain of resistance, but to initiate ministry and serve alongside the others. They were called there because they have something to offer. They are beyond the time of “isn’t he a fine boy!” to when he must be a man, stand up, and lead productive ministry as part of the team.
• A church planter will come to have his time to start a new work, now with some insight into the culture and how people respond to biblical ideas and methods. He has new options to consider in how to begin a ministry which can develop into a real church.
• A seminary teacher will come to step into the classroom to give ministry training within the patterns and levels of the seminary that is really there, not the one he idealized while on deputation. He now deals with real students who are less than ideal in a language in which he is less than fluent for ministry which is less than desired by the host nation.
• A Bible translator will begin to exercise the skills learned in school and honed in specialized training, learning the strange sounds, perhaps developing a new alphabet, struggling to express accurately and idiomatically the Word of God in the words of God’s people. A year later they may well have to update their work based on input from national mother-tongue translators, improved language learning and, deepened understanding of their idioms.
• A medical specialist will begin to touch the ailing with compassion and skill, struggling to get clear notions of the pains and problems to arrive at an accurate diagnosis, struggling with inadequate facilities and supplies, wanting to verbalize the message of Christ.
Most missionaries arrive on the field with a clear vision as to all they hope to accomplish. They are natural optimists. But now they have to temper their dreams with the realities of the people and circumstances of their host population. They have to come to grips with their own limitations. Even though they are regarded by their churches as Superman or Wonder Woman, each missionary knows better. In many ways it is not like what they had imagined, and the church may need to encourage them to avoid any sense of failure as they adjust to the actual conditions in which they minister for you. They need to know you as a sending church are not just measuring success in quantity of activities so much as in quality of effort. In some places the fruit ripens very slowly
The advantage of new missionaries is that they bring a freshness and bigness of vision for the possibilities of ministry there. Veterans may have gotten bogged down in the day-to-day struggles for gradual progress, the only kind there is there. So the new folks may have some new ideas worthy of consideration, ways to work around obstacles that the others had not noticed. It may be obvious that some older works that languish may best be abandoned or merged into new church plants with revived energy and optimism.
5. The Crisis of CRITICISM: The First Furlough
By “criticism” we don’t mean complaining about others but doing a careful analysis of our own performance. We return home for furlough and ask ourselves some tough and critical questions. The missionaries have come through the most demanding four years of their lives. What birthday will each celebrate on his or her first furlough?
Furlough is not a vacation. Furlough is active duty away from the front lines. The sending church plays a major role in this time of ministry off the field, including safeguarding the priorities needed so their missionaries can return refreshed rather than exhausted. Sure, the missionaries will often be available to help in the ministries of the home church, but pastors who are aware of the physical and spiritual needs of their missionaries will be wise in what they expect during furlough. This is not a free full-time staff member.
The major components of their furlough are
• Recuperation from the completed term, possibly with health treatment
• Reporting to supporting churches and families, sharing what they have accomplished on behalf of those who underwrite and undergird their presence on the field.
• Rebuilding family life and solidarity after the cross-cultural stresses. This costs quality time together: at home, in church, at play, in school.
• Retraining for the realities of ministry needs on their field. Back to school?
• Revisioning their ministry with realistic plans for the next term
• Raising new support and supporters as needed. (It is always needed.)
• Reprovisioning with supplies, packed up for shipping
• Returning to the field, refreshed, reinvigorated, recharged by their church.
Many missions now have a structured debriefing session as soon as possible after the missionaries return home for furlough. The church can do the same, not in a public service but as the pastor(s) and missions committee meet for a private discussion in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. This is not to be a hammer-on-anvil session. Discuss together things like…
• The general history of the first term, year by year
• The goals of that first term. Which were met, which not, and why. What lessons were learned to help with the next term.
• What needs do you bring home? How can we make your furlough productive? How can we as a church minister to you?
• How is this going for the children? Is their schooling situation adequate?
• How can we encourage your general spiritual development and home life?
• What are general plans for next term? Later on in the year they can all meet again to explore this in more depth after time for reflection, prayer, and appraisal.
Missionaries have also been known to assess their own first term, sort of like this missionary did. We develop this more fully in Chapter 13, Formulating Furlough. The key questions focus evaluation on what they intended to accomplish in their first term, how fully they met those goals, and what prescribed training or experience will help them to meet their goals for the next term.
Plan of Action: 4 years ahead
One missionary family returned to their field with just such a (basic) plan in hand for each of the next 4 years. Was that good? Yes. Did things go just that way? No, within a few weeks the plan was scrapped and revised. It was a good plan, it just wasn’t God’s plan. But having a plan facilitated their shift to a new track according to a new plan. They weren’t ruled by the designed plan but by the Divine Planner. Plans should be written on paper, not in concrete.
6. The Crisis of CONTINUITY: Later Terms of Service
Now they are “veteran missionaries.” Their second, third, and fourth terms are their most productive ones. They are at the height of their powers. They are more at home in their host culture; they are growing in the exercise of their skills and leadership and followship. They still generate some new ideas.
These are the best years of the missionary career because of freedom to really minister while enjoying the waning energy of youth, the insight of maturity, and the vigor that accompanies good health while it remains. The range of age from 30 to 50 years marks the pinnacle of missionary productivity, as in any kind of work. These are mature adults who enjoy the respect of their cultural peers and are making their mark for Christ on their host population. Their growing children demonstrate the outcome of their leadership training, normally with good success.
Changes
It is in this age range that missionaries will change locations. The first term may well indicate that they are better suited for ministries other than what they first targeted. They may initiate new ministry in more remote locations. They will complete ministry in one area and move to another area to do it all again. Some will relocate from the city to a small town, while others will reverse that trend. It is not unusual for missionary families to continue their service closer to schools for missionary children. A few among them will be spotted for leadership within the larger Mission Team, so they add some administrative activities to their duty roster. Every Field Council has officers, normally the best qualified among them, so such leadership work becomes an integral part of the overall duties of your missionaries.
It is at this time, often after a successful second or third term of service, that missionaries are approached for other ministry off their field. Some are invited into the mission administration. Some missionaries are called by their sending church to return to pastor the church. Some are recognized as gifted teachers and are invited onto seminary and college faculties. Pastors tend to feel some frustration at this point that their missionaries are being taken off the field when they are at their best. This is the time to remember that the Lord of the Harvest is in charge of such invitations, and will direct the missionaries to accept or decline them as He impresses them with the timeliness of such opportunities. The call to the ministry is permanent, but God’s guidance to this or that field is subject to His changes, just as pastors who do well in smaller churches get called to larger churches.
It seems that the fields are losing some of their best missionaries. But we remember that it has been observed that this transition is what helped us win World War II in the Asian Theater. The Japanese Air Force kept its best pilots in the air in successful combat missions until they were finally shot down, so their overall strength declined with the passing of time. The US Air Force kept sending its best aces home to train the next generation of pilots, so our combat strength improved over time and assured our air superiority. So the churches that see their missionaries called into positions of leadership should feel complimented for the quality of their personnel, and be supportive of such changes of venue. Some of those missionaries will move into institutional positions that no longer require their support, while others within the missions will still count on church support. Pastors who understand such realities will know to affirm continuing support for their people in leadership.
Busyness
Mature missionaries tend to combine two major responsibilities: church planting + seminary teaching, or MK teaching + church planting team effort, or church planting team + field business manager, or innumerable other combinations. They can get so caught up in their many responsibilities, all of them a joyful experience, that they neglect their inner spiritual life. Pastors can encourage their missionaries to “take time to be holy” and provide some resources for refreshment. Personal letters, recorded messages, scheduled phone calls or Instant Messaging can all provide openings for your pastoral care of your missionaries.
Furlough Patterns
The normal pattern is to continue in these cycles of four years on the field and one year of furlough as long as health and sanity hold up. Churches have noted more variation in the traditional four-plus-one cycle as the missionary enterprise comes of age. Many missionaries do not want to be away from their work for a full year and opt for shorter furloughs after two years on the field. There are pros and cons for both patterns, and field councils have the freedom to decide among themselves how they will coordinate their furloughs. For many people, the travel costs and times are far more affordable, allowing special trips home and more frequent furloughs, as long as the essential standard of 80% of career time active on the field is maintained, apart from emergencies.
Short furloughs mean traveling most of the time to get to many of the supporting churches, so there is less rest and more pressure for efficient planning of scheduling. The children cannot get in a full school year, and often not even a semester, so busy moms end up home schooling, whether or not they normally do that on the field. For those whose fields are farther than 7 or 8 time zones from home, the traditional pattern is more cost effective. Travel to and from Asia is the most expensive, and Africa trips cost the additional bounce through Europe or Britain on the way. Those stops are also a bonus of missionary privilege.
Missionaries are targets for Satan’s darts, whether by direct or indirect attack. Health problems, family issues, theological changes, and even sin issues occasionally intrude on otherwise normal missionary careers. Mission agencies are increasingly engaged in “member care” ministries to help enrich and extend the productive years of the missionaries. These include counseling services, continuing education, visits by administrators and pastors, on-field seminars, and Internet-based resources for those who have access. Our chart of a “normal” missionary career suggests that from age 30 to 65 a missionary may enjoy seven full terms, with many people returning for even more.
Conflicts
Do missionaries ever have problems among themselves? How could such godly people fail to get along smoothly as they work together in the will of God? Welcome to the real world! The kind of people who can make it on the mission field have a level of initiative, vision, drive, and determination that enables them to overcome obstacles that might baffle others. But all of the strong minded workers on a given field do not always share the same vision in all details, so their drive may be going in different directions at times, or they may drive into each other.
There are some collisions that call for special attention.
Normal differences of opinion and personality can be handled by the people among themselves as maturing Christians, following biblical guidelines. The mission has given to all new missionaries some training and required reading in the basics of healthy interpersonal relationships, team interaction, and conflict resolution. The missionaries are members of the same Christian family and mission family, so issues can be resolved.
• Some larger-scale differences may be resolved within the group of missionaries on the field in informal and formal discussions. A lot depends on the nature of conflicts as to whether they are over common strategic issues or strictly personal matters that affect the entire group. Open guided discussion is therapeutic.
• When there are conflicts that call for outside help, the Field Administrator for that field is the primary liaison with the Home Office, and he will normally contact the pastors of the sending churches of involved missionaries to be a part of the ongoing discussions.
• Sometimes the conflict calls for intervention on the field by the Field Administrator and pastors, and may involve a Christian counselor trained in conflict management. Only in rare cases are some missionaries removed from the field after every reasonable attempt is made to effect reconciliation.
Peaks
Overall, this period is the longest of all of the phases in the missionary career, and is the heart of it all. When missionaries pass age 50 they are just reaching their peak of spiritual and intellectual effectiveness, and are recognized within their host cultures as having accomplished much for the good of the people.
And, about this time, health problems begin to arise and physical prowess is in noticeable decline. The 6th and 7th terms are often the most fruitful, and allow senior missionaries the joy of seeing the results of their ministries blossom as the boys they won and trained become the men who are pastoring and leading growing churches. As long as health and vigor persist, the mission field is more “home” than where they grew up. They derive their greatest satisfaction from the success of their successors. It really was worth it all.
A growing number of missionaries find it possible to continue active on the field beyond normal retirement years. Some serve well into their 70s where living circumstances and climatic conditions spare them the withering effects of extremes of temperature and humidity that consume one’s health and energy. Some missionaries have served for 50 and even 55 years of active service, with the record at 60 years.
7. The Crisis of CONCLUSION: Retirement
Missionaries keep at it, cycle after cycle, term after term. They hardly notice how they are slowing down, or are functioning in the ruts of their familiar methods. After a while some new missionaries come to invade “their” field. The young whippersnappers are bringing radical and strange new methodologies that are just “not the way we do it here,” so they must be unbiblical. Oops, we’re into the “hardening of the smarteries” and have become the old fuddy-duddies we upset when we invaded their territory! The veterans can keep on plugging, but cannot be allowed to destroy what they’ve built so well.
When should one’s active missionary career come to a conclusion? Most missions don’t set a compulsory retirement age. When active missionaries with Baptist Mid-Missions reach age 70 they are detached from their field councils and brought under the direct administration of the Field Administrator in the Home Office. He will be far more objective about handling some who are starting to undo all of the good they have done, especially when by then they are the senior missionaries on the field. We summarize good retirement planning in our Chapter 12 on the financial dimensions of missions, and in Chapter 13 as the final furlough.
See the books by Hale, Collins, and Steffan & Douglas in the Bibliography.
Chapter 9
WHAT DO MISSIONARIES DO?
Before we can discuss what missionaries DO, we need to clarify what missionaries ARE. We hear it said, “Every Christian is a missionary,” but we would dispute that. The specific meaning of the word “missionary” is “one who is sent out,” derived from a Latin verb which sounds like that. It is really equivalent to the Greek-based word “apostle,” or “one sent out as an official representative.”
So in this book we reserve the word “missionary” for those who are sent out by the churches to carry out their Great Commission service. We heartily agree that every Christian is a witness, and is a representative of Christ, though only a small percentage are sent out by the church to do its missionary work. Now we will look at the great variety of forms of service that are embraced by the term “missionary work.”
THE PRIMACY OF CHURCH PLANTING
Baptist Mid-Missions is primarily a church planting mission. When we have done our job well there remains in a given area a group of independent Baptist churches which are carrying on the work of evangelizing their people and developing them into strong disciples. These, in turn, are winning new people to the Lord and bringing them into the churches. We seek the birth of national church planting movements which will eventually carry on without us. Such churches are equipped to perpetuate the ministry by operating their own seminaries and sending out church members through their own mission agencies for work within and beyond their own borders, or ethnic boundaries.
There are many good approaches to starting new churches, and no one of them is the most biblical approach to church planting. In Acts 14, Dr. Luke gives us a seven-step strategy for church planting, but does not specify further how it is all implemented.
• “Preached the gospel” 14:21 uses the familiar term “evangelize.” This involves explaining the gospel of Christ with sufficient clarity and persuasiveness that hearers can, and must, make a decision for or against receiving Christ as their savior. Not all who are thus evangelized respond positively.
• “Taught many” 14:21 has the same verb used in Matthew’s statement of the Great Commission, meaning “make disciples.” This is the actual soul winning stage, helping people enter into the school of Jesus as believers and learners. Once they are thus converted, they begin the next steps which we now call discipling, through the ministries of the local church. While baptism is not listed in this key passage, that is the doorway into the church for membership, fellowship, communion, and service.
• “Confirming the souls of the disciples” 14:22 produces sound, deeply rooted Christians who have full assurance of their salvation and are growing in their walk with the Savior by the working of the Spirit through their obedience of the Word of God. At that point the believers only had the Greek Old Testament as their Scriptures, but the New Testament was already being written for them, and for us. These stable Christians will not be blown away by winds of false doctrine since they are rooted firmly in the teachings of the Bible, book by book and doctrine by doctrine.
• “Exhorting them to continue in the faith” 14:22 builds upon their knowledge to keep them motivated in faithfulness. We are not just filling the mind, but fanning the flames with encouragement and motivation for godliness and service. In their case they needed to endure hardness, while we need to endure softness.
• “Ordained elders in every church” 14:23 indicates that local believers from within the churches were trained for church leadership and selected for church offices. There is no intent in Scripture that the founding missionaries perpetually serve as pastors of those congregations. We are the temporary foreign element to help establish indigenous churches which are native to their cultural environment (in time) and still reproduce the biblical convictions of the sending churches of the missionaries. As churches develop they will have special training programs for new ministry personnel, but at first the missionary is the resource for such in-service training and apprenticeship.
• “Commended them to the Lord” 14:23 by prayer and fasting is the vital stage of entrusting to the Lord these national church leaders who will carry on the work. They have the basic resources of the Baptizer, the Book, the Blood, and the Body, so God can freely work through them as through the founders.
• “They passed” 14:24 indicates that the missionaries departed from the field. The hardest part for missionaries is often leaving behind the people whom they have won and nurtured and come to love. They move on to do it all again somewhere else.
The actual work of church planting can take on many forms, limited only by the Spirit-guided imagination of the church planter, following biblical guidelines. Here are some methodologies, among many others, proven by experience. In all cases there is publicity within the community by door-to-door distribution of flyers and tracts, ads in the local newspaper, and plenty of word of mouth advertising of the new church. Sister churches in the city should be aware of the new church planting effort so they can pray, or even direct some of their members to help for a while.
Starting home Bible studies
Missionaries can move into a neighborhood and open their homes to neighbors for Bible study. They hope to win people to the Lord as the nucleus of a new church in time. Or, they may find solid Christians already well known in a neighborhood, and use their home as a base for such ministry. As more people come to faith in Christ they can begin to gather on Sunday, and then rent larger facilities more appropriate for regular services.
Starting public services of worship and preaching
Some missionaries begin by securing land and putting up a basic church building, and then invite the neighbors to attend their Sunday services. Or they may rent a place suitable for public meetings and put out the invitations. From those contacts there will be home visits, home Bible studies, children’s meetings, and the normal range of outreach and inreach activities.
Starting with evangelistic meetings
Some missionaries begin with a series of tent meetings or street meetings to win a core group of new believers to Christ. These then meet in rented facilities with a growing range of ministries, and eventually purchase their own church property.
Starting as a daughter congregation
In some cases, an established church will supply their people in a given community as the nucleus for starting a new church. Some of them will later cycle back to the mother church while others will remain as permanent members of the new church. This has the advantages of offering a proven model for operation, the oversight of a mature senior pastor, the authority of an established Baptist church for temporary membership of new believers in the congregation, and resource persons who can train new teachers within the daughter congregation. The mother church often helps with securing the original property or rented location for the daughter church, and helps with the support of national missionaries involved there.
MINISTRY DESCRIPTIONS
Does this mean that only a church planting pastor is a “missionary?” By no means! When we look at churches here in the States we find a variety of ministries led by both laypersons and by members of the church staff. Here at home, we may only consider the pastors to be “in the ministry,” with others working alongside them. On the mission field, all of those pioneer workers come under the “missionary” umbrella, both as pastors and in support ministries.
Baptist Mid-Missions offers a set of Ministry Descriptions so its missionaries can identify their primary and secondary ministries. Many people who are specialists of one sort or another are involved in starting a new church, but not as the pastor. So their secondary ministry identification would be as a Church Planting Associate. Once missionary personnel have identified their primary and secondary ministry descriptions, they can confidently present these to pastors and churches. The Candidate Department has fuller pages which provide a behavioral description of that ministry, like any job description, to highlight the specific functions of their ministry. This is particularly helpful when churches want to focus their giving on church planters, and can see that other specialist are directly involved in that process.
A major factor in looking forward to a career in missionary service is attitude. If one gets ready to fit into an existing structure as a team player, he or she will contribute well and carry on the work of others. Or, if they are ready to expand from that initial teamwork pattern
• to create new structures for church ministries,
• to form creative partnerships with national workers within what will become their churches and institutions, and
• to be a facilitator for others’ ministry more a practitioner of one’s own ministry,
then these will be the missionaries who will leave a serious mark on those churches into the next generation.
We ask ourselves how long we would welcome having someone from outside our own culture as our pastor, and then remember that our hosts feel the same way. We want them to know that these are their churches and schools and camps, and not always ours as foreigners. That helps us develop the mentality that our greatest task is to prepare them for competent ministry of their own churches and the institutions which help carry out their basic ministries. It helps them to develop the mentality that they will have the responsibility to carry on the ministry of the Word when the missionaries go, and to “own” such ministries right away.
Perhaps the best model for ministry is not the champion player, but the player-coach. On many teams there is an expert player who gives his best energies to training his fellow team members rather than to doing all of the work himself. If this were a basketball game, he would be a good passer with an eye to see what other players will soon have better access to the basket than he does. Such a playmaker may score fewer points himself, but the result of his work will be a winning team which can win with or without him. Passing can be more significant than shooting for the final score. We can continue in this parable to say that the real goal of such a player-coach is not just to win the present games, but to develop a team of players who work together for team victory even when he is not there as the spark plug to keep them fired up.
This is the real work of a missionary, not just to be a soul winner, but to train soul winners; not just to disciple new believers, but to train church workers who will disciple others; not just to be a lab technician but to train national lab technicians. Whatever may be the specific area of expertise of the missionary, his job is to prepare his partners and successors. The missionaries are the temporary foreign element in establishing work which will outlive them into the next generation.
TYPES OF MISSIONARY SERVICE
It is clear, then that the title “missionary service” embraces a broad range of activities which work together for the final objective of establishing new self-multiplying churches. The Ministry Descriptions we surveyed already suggest the scope of missionary work, but let us review some of the major support ministries.
Seminary training. The training of national pastors, church workers, and missionaries is the completion of the church planting cycle. Founding missionaries want to leave the national churches equipped to carry on their own ministries and also to reproduce the churches as they reach out to start new churches in adjoining areas. This vital work calls for missionaries with advanced degrees, experience in teaching and pastoral ministries, and a mentoring mindset to develop people to serve with them and over them. Most ministry training takes place in familiar school settings, but others have decentralized or extension programs using various forms of distance learning. The Internet now enables more people to study in their own locations and time frames more independently of school schedules. Training takes place at several different academic levels depending on the needs of the students.
Bible translation. God invented languages, and wants to speak to all people in their heart languages. Some missionaries, working with trained native speakers of the languages, focus on translating the Bible into their hosts’ language(s). They begin with verses, then Bible books, sometimes topical collections of verses, and then the entire New Testament. That takes about eight years of concentrated work. The initial translated text is read to people and discussed to see if they understand what the Bible says. This leads to revisions to clarify the accuracy and proper expression of the original texts. To complete the Bible with the Old Testament and a revision of the New Testament will normally take another ten years, and can cost a half million dollars. See chapter 14 for details of this dynamic ministry.
Disaster relief. Disasters strike the people who are least able to recover and rebuild. These include storms like hurricanes and typhoons that devastate island and coastal towns. Floods and fires are unpredictable and destructive. Earthquakes can suddenly provoke landslides, tsunamis, and the direct damage from falling buildings and bridges. Drought leads to famine and breakout of diseases when weakened people have little resistance. The desolation of wars can displace whole populations. Baptist World Relief provides a channel for churches in America to contribute funds for the rebuilding of churches, homes, and communities in a context of Christian compassion and sharing of the gospel. The richest churches ought to help the poorest, without leaving them dependent on foreign funding, so funds are granted carefully to victims of disasters in ways that associate it with Christian witness and the love of Christ. This expresses the caring nature of the contributors.
Medical ministry. People all over the world have health problems. Jesus healed people to show His compassion and to demonstrate His power over the natural realm. Mission efforts have always included care for the sick as a tangible way to meet peoples’ needs and express the compassion of Christ. So there are many mission hospitals calling for the full range of workers, including many who are hired from the host population. Mission hospitals treat all patients, regardless of their faith or non-faith in Jesus, but all will hear the offer of the gospel as part of the daily routines, for both in-patients and out-patients. Many hospitals also maintain networks of clinics where national nurses or other trained medical workers treat routine illnesses and injuries, or refer more serious cases to the central hospital. Hospitals need doctors, nurses, technicians, office personnel, and other support staff. Missionaries who do such work normally train national people to do their jobs so the nationals can eventually run the hospital with competent personnel. So every hospital is a school.
Administrative work. On each field of service the mission needs to establish a legal entity of some appropriate form. This is often a non-profit corporation of religious or educational nature, just as we set up here at home. The mission agency and its missionaries then enjoy the protections and privileges accorded by the laws of the land instead of being just a bunch of autonomous individuals with no legal reason for being in the country. We don’t want to be illegal aliens there, whether or not the nation welcomes religious workers. This is a common problem for churches that seek to send their missionaries apart from an established structure in the host nation. Obtaining a residence visa calls for an invitation from some national entity within the country. Maintaining such corporate identity takes time. The mission agency has an office in each country where it serves for registration of personnel and properties, handling finances, and representing the mission before government agencies. The mission often needs an official address within the country, other than a mailbox or the home of one missionary. The various ministry institutions also have their own office functions: seminary, radio station, camp, hospital, etc. All of these call for normal clerical and administrative functions.
Camping. Camping ministries overseas are very similar to camping ministries at home. People get away from the normal rush of their lives, often in age groupings or as families, to focus attention on the spiritual issues in their lives. For urban settings it is important to get away from the bustle of the city. For those who already live in rustic exurban settings the focus is on the camping programs rather than on the casual nature of housing and facilities. In camping, much of the work is on training national workers to perform the various tasks related to the ministries, from the physical maintenance to the planning and execution of the programs, from counselor training to financial operations, from promotion in the churches to protection from the elements. All of the normal camp activities are begun by the foreigners who initiate the programs expecting that throughout the conduct of such ministry national workers will be trained and entrusted with the work and leadership. A key to such transition is the development of national sources of financial support so the camp will not be perpetually dependent on outside financing.
Broadcasting. Radio and television ministries are expensive, and call for levels of expertise and experience that only specialized training can provide. Long before the mission seeks to own and operate a radio broadcast station, its personnel can produce programs to be aired on existing stations. Broadcasting gives missionaries, and the national churches they serve, a presence and influence far greater than what can be done in person. Many people who would not accept an invitation to go to church services have listened to the gospel in their homes, and later gone to church services. In recent years “broadcasting” has come to include the production of other audio-visual media such as CDs and DVDs for personal distribution to those who can use them.
Publications. The printed word has a permanence and portability which increases its value greatly in propagating the gospel. Tracts and booklets are the normal starting point. Our Spanish and Portuguese language publishing houses major on Sunday school curricular materials with teaching pictures for all ages, and have expanded into the publishing of books for family and pastoral use. This is also a step in the translation of the Bible, or portions of it, into new languages. Magazines call for a major long-term commitment of editorial effort and financial support that makes them less viable as a new ministry effort.
MK education. The majority of missionaries go to the field as families, so the care and training of our MKs, “missionary kids,” is a vitally important part of the big picture of how missionary service works. Chapter 13 looks at many details of MK experience and some viable options for their schooling. Teachers are always in demand, whether in separate schools or to help clusters of families by overseeing their home schooling efforts.
PERSONNEL STRUCTURES
Every mission agency has its ways of structuring missionary life and relationships. Some distinguish between veteran missionaries and the new arrivals who are in a time of orientation and getting established in life and ministry in that country. Some simply allow each mission family to determine its own plans without consulting one another. We tend to work more effectively in harness so we balance one another’s gifts and skill areas.
Field Councils. The Field Council is simply the gathering of all the missionaries of the mission on a given field, or region, or city, for mutual support and encouragement. The group has its leader, one of themselves, so they can devise plans in which they all share insight and resources. Missionaries negotiate the plans that involve all of them, and give appropriate liberty for each church planter to follow his own methodologies within the masterplan for their city or region. In BMM we now call these “Ministry Teams” to highlight the factor of mutual consultation more than being just an authoritative body. Leaders of the Field Council are in touch with the Field Administrator in the Home Office for liaison, questions, and clearances as needed. Leadership of the Ministry Team rotates and is a primus inter pares (first among equals) type of shared servant leadership rather than having one among them as the permanent field supervisor.
Resolving conflicts. We hear much about the conflicts among the missionaries as the most serious problem in missions. That is quite exaggerated, but is clearly an area of concern. Missionaries work much more closely with one another than do pastors or workers in other types of ministry. They consult and vote on one another’s work and so interact more deeply than do others in the ministry. When we hear of conflicts we should recognize that missionaries are much closer to each other, and more deeply interdependent, so the little problems can grow into large ones if they are not handled with grace and growth. There are formal procedures spelled out for serious differences, and informal approaches that help maturing Christians talk through their tensions in a biblical fashion.
KEEPING IN TOUCH
Part of normal missionary activity is keeping in touch with the churches and families which make their ministry possible by regular prayer and giving. Modern technology has made this easier than ever before so the supporters can enjoy a sense of participation in their ministry through their missionaries. Here are some common media.
• Prayer Letters are still mailed out regularly to a mailing list, normally three or four times per year. The sending church can legally do this for their missionaries on their mailing permit since those missionaries are on the church staff and this is an essential part of that church’s ministries. The return address would be the church, not the missionary.
• E-mail letters are often sent every week to the inner circle of supporters who are most directly involved in the ministry. Some missionaries write every Monday, others every month.
• Telephone contact is always welcome, and is possible from a growing list of countries where missionary work is being done. Some such calls are facilitated through internet connections. It is possible for phone connections to be channeled through the church sound system so the congregation can hear the conversation directly.
• Instant Messaging® is increasingly used for immediate email interaction, but it calls for arranging a mutually convenient time to meet online. Chat rooms offer the same kind of informal contact. Such written conversations can also be edited and printed out for the church to enjoy.
• Ham Radio is pretty much a thing of the past. An earlier generation enjoyed the direct contact which amateur radio afforded, but most such missionaries have gone to email.
• PowerPoint® Presentations can be prepared on the field with digital photos and emailed to churches which increasingly have the necessary technology to project them for the congregations. Some are still sending occasional slide presentations with a taped narration, or new informal video snapshots of their work during the term.
• Videotape presentations involve more expertise and expensive software and hardware than most missionaries have available to them. When this is practical, it is the premier form of presentation, short of the missionaries’ actual presence. This brings written descriptions of ministry to life in the hearts of the people who support it.
Keep in touch with your missionaries!! When your missionaries serve in restricted access nations (RANs) be extra sensitive to those who watch over the shoulders of Christian workers who are in such nations with a passport identity other than “missionary.” Don’t jeopardize their freedom to live there by making any reference to their Christian witness or mission. Just write friendly and supportive letters or emails.
Chapter 10
WOMEN IN MISSIONARY MINISTRY
The 1960's introduced a new controversial agenda. This included the freedom of women to participate in ministry leadership in a field dominated by men for centuries. There is no question that biblical Christian ministry is male-dominated. The debate is much older than the 1960s, but matters really came to a head during that decade called “the national nervous breakdown.” The issue is whether male leadership of churches is an ancient cultural accident to be corrected, or the will of God to be obeyed by all biblical churches.
As a mission, we are quite open to the participation of women in ministry, granted certain limitations which are derived from Scripture. The biblical limitations which are clearly spelled out limit the pastoral office, and authoritative teaching in mixed audiences, to men. This is a matter of stated principle, not just a few isolated cases. We will observe how this plays out in real church life. First, some background studies.
1. Old Testament WOMEN IN MINISTRY LEADERSHIP
A. CREATION ORDER
We know well that God created human beings in His own image, Genesis 1:27. This lone verse is the first poem in the Bible, set in the midst of the historical narrative of the creation. Typical of Hebrew poetry, it shows its parallel concepts:
In the image of God He created them;
Male and female He created them.
The nature of Hebrew poetry is the parallelism of ideas. This suggests that "the image of God" encompasses attributes of both maleness and femaleness, and really surpasses both. God is revealed to us in masculine terms like "He", "Father", "King" and consistently masculine gender pronouns and nouns. This does not mean that God is merely male, only that all three Persons of the Trinity are presented to us in male terms. God is above gender. All of the qualities of maleness and femaleness are fully present and exceeded in God’s nature, with a lot more in degrees of perfection.
The creation order placed on Adam the responsibility of headship, reflecting the dominance of God as masculine. The fact that Adam is to lead does not imply any superiority of nature or character, only of the quality of his responsibility to provide and protect. The focus is on responsibility, not privilege. Eve had her responsibilities in the creation order where her leadership and initiative were equally crucial. The creation of humanity in the image of God reflects the very nature of the Eternal Trinity where the Three Persons are equal in deity and glory, but have different functions that are prioritized and ranked. These principles are essential to the larger questions that arise in the practical issues of church leadership.
B. MIRIAM: A PROPHETESS EXODUS 15:20, 21
The sister of Aaron and Moses was designated a prophetess, and this involved occasional public proclamation of the goodness of God. The passage does specify in verse 21 that she prophesied to “them,” that is, “all the women” mentioned in verse 20. While she was of the tribe of Levi in which only the descendants of Aaron could be priests, Miriam was never intended also to be a priestess with tabernacle functions related to sacrifices or other “sacraments” of Israel. With her high privileges as a prophetess there were clear biblical limitations to her ministry.
C. DEBORAH: A JUDGE JUDGES 4:4,5
During the centuries that judges ruled the Twelve Tribes there were some national and some regional judges. These were people who functioned in political more than religious leadership at the low points in repeated cycles of disobedience, oppression by neighbor nations, revival to serving the LORD, and military deliverance under a judge. Deborah was just such an inspirational figure, being called a “prophetess” and providing leadership during a period of oppression from remaining Canaanites not wiped out in Joshua’s occupation of the Land.
Deborah’s early influence was doubtless simply as a wise local judge, prudently resolving conflicts among the people. She would have established a reputation throughout the region for her fairness, firmness, and fieriness, sort of an early version of Judge Judy. This would recommend her for national leadership when a crisis of oppression arose.
She summoned General Barak to lead the counterattack, and was asked to accompany the army (v. 8) as visible evidence that the LORD was with them in battle. Deborah has stood out through centuries as a woman in leadership, an inspiration to the likes of Joan of Arc and Israeli prime minister Golda Maier. Still, she is more analogous to political leadership as if a queen or president than to spiritual leadership as if a pastor. Her spiritual qualities clearly enhanced her credibility as a leader for the nation to follow.
Once the military peace was established by General Barak there is no further mention of Deborah. She most likely returned to her open office with her shingle hanging on a palm tree. There she composed her powerful victory poem that was later included in the written history of that period (Judges 5:14-18), one of the very few women who contributed to the written Scriptures with the thoughts of her heart and worship.
She then apparently continued her normal life as a judge, wife, and mom in her community. Deborah was an outstanding inspirational political leader, but does not serve as a model or argument for women pastors.
D. HULDA: A PROPHETESS 2KINGS 22:14-20
There may have been many prophetesses at various times in the history of Israel and Judah, just as there were many unnamed prophets who spoke God’s words to His people as needed. Hulda is mentioned here as one who gave private counsel to the high priest (verse 4) as he counseled the young king Josiah through reformation and revival based on the recently-unburied Book of God (v. 8). When King Josiah directed the priests to “enquire of the LORD for me” they went right to Hulda. She did not hesitate to speak what she had received of judgment for false religious leaders and blessing for those who sought the LORD.
As far as can be determined, the “college” of Hulda in Jerusalem (v. 14) would be the apprentices she was teaching, perhaps on the order of Elijah’s earlier “school of the prophets” up in Israel to train the remnant that remained faithful to the Law of God.
2. NT WOMEN IN MINISTRY LEADERSHIP
A. ANNA: A PROPHETESS LUKE 2:36-38
While Anna’s story is told in the New Testament, the setting is still related to the Old Testament Law. In the years leading up to Jesus’ arrival there was heightened Messianic expectation. The rebuilding of the second temple had recently been completed so the sacrificial system could be restored after years of neglect. Still, the ark was never recovered from Babylon and the temple life was a shadow of its former glory. Only Messiah Himself could make the crucial difference.
Like Simeon before her, Anna got a glimpse of the infant Messiah, the pinnacle of her decades of dedicated service to the temple. From then on she joyfully “spake of him” (v. 38) to all who would listen, apparently more in private personal conversations than in any public venues. Anna the prophetess was not a preacher to crowds, not a leader of ministries, but a lowly widow who received privileged information from God and was pleased to share it to encourage those who also looked for Messiah. “He’s here; I saw Him!” A prophet speaks openly what is revealed by God in private.
B. PRISCILLA:, A DISCIPLER ACTS 18:2-3, 26
Priscilla is sometimes mentioned before her husband Aquila, suggesting that she was more outspoken than her craftsman husband Aquila, a maker of tents and other leather artifacts. Here in Acts they clearly worked together in training Apollos for ministry and toward a more biblical understanding of the Holy spirit. In Romans 16:3-4 Paul honors them together as “fellow workers.” They had been powerfully used of God in discipling new believers and encouraging Paul as a missionary. They developed a house church in their home where much of the burden of hosting would fall on Priscilla as her husband led the work wit her full support and collaboration. She was not a model for women pastors.
C. PHILIP'S DAUGHTERS: PROPHETESSES ACTS 21:9
After the temple veil was torn, the direct way to God was open. The Holy Spirit came upon believers as God’s manifest presence in temples of flesh rather than of stone, and the New Testament economy was well underway. The godly daughters of Philip the evangelist were known to speak words of prophecy. No specific office of “prophetess” is mentioned for them, only their giftedness to speak God’s Words in the years while the New Testament was just being written. There were doubtless other men and women who were gifted as the occasional spokespersons for God in settings where some directive influence was needed.
In the noted case, Paul was struggling to justify his continuing on to Rome for what would clearly be a decisive, and final, move in his ministry career. Agabus the prophet also spoke strong words to Paul, warning of his impending imprisonment. We are not told what counsel these daughters of Philip offered, but their significant influence is noted.
D. BELIEVERS EQUALLY GIFTED 1COR 12:28-29
The distribution of spiritual gifts is to believers in Christ. Nothing in the lists of gifts (see Chapter 5 for details) limits certain gifts to men only or to women only. What is limited is the office of pastor (to be “the husband of one wife”) rather than the qualities that pastors need. Women often have gifts for teaching or effective administration, among others, and have many ways to exercise those gifts in ways that never violate the few restrictions of certain ministry positions to men. Men and women freely apply their giftedness in the variety of ministries exercised by large and small churches. Later in this chapter there is a detailed listing of significant opportunities for women in ministry, demanding the use of spiritual gifts through their talents, learned skills, and creativity.
E. TEACHERS OF GOOD THINGS TITUS 2:3
In Paul’s brief missionary training manual to Titus, he highlights the major influence of women in the church, especially those with long experience and crowned with gray hair. They are models of godly behavior, profitable speech, and wholesome self-control. As “teachers of good things” they perpetuate the wisdom of their years, now enriched by the gospel. The focus of their influence is the younger women (v. 4) who may well still be swayed by the effects of the pagan culture from which they were all recently saved. One practical proof of the real depravity of humankind is that mothers need to be taught to love their own children. The mentoring by experienced women who respect them is the most effective teaching. These teachers are not in classrooms but in kitchens and living rooms. Today, such teaching does take place in classrooms as well, and there are women who are very effective “teachers of good things” inside and outside the churches.
F. DEACONESSES (?) ROM 16:1, 1TIM 3:11
The New Testament does not clarify any specific office for women who are honored in these verses as faithful servants of Christ. The verse in Romans refers to Phoebe as a “servant of the church” using a feminine form of the word we transliterate as “deacon.” We have no way to define whether that was a recognized office in the church or simply the quality of that particular woman’s influence and activity. The ITimothy passage mentions “their wives” after describing requirements for deacons, with a presumption of their participation in the caregiving work of deacons. The passage does not seek to define whether they had a defined post in the church or were actively enabling their husbands to serve effectively in their posts as deacons. What is limpidly clear is that only men with godly wives can be deacons, whether or not those women have a teaching or service ministry themselves.
The earliest churches did not have women deacons since deacons were to be “the husband of one wife” just like the elders / bishops, leading their homes well. This rather absolutely limits the office of deacon to men. All of the proto-deacons selected in Acts 6 were men, as were all of the apostles before them. Earlier, the elders of the Jewish synagogues were all men. It seems clear that the synagogue, rather than the temple, served as the pattern for the churches that were being established.
Many Baptist churches do have deaconesses as a good practical solution to real needs, as a ministry certainly permitted though not prescribed by Scripture. The functions of deaconesses normally involve help with women being baptized and preparations for the Lord’s table, along with helping the needy and counseling women and children. Neither deaconess nor deacon is an executive office in the church. Even the deacons serve to counsel and support the pastors, all under the authority of the congregation.
“The New Testament freely acknowledges the significant activities and responsible roles of women, both during the ministry and passion of Jesus and in the new churches that followed. This was in stark contrast to the relatively minor roles for women in Judaism. Jesus set the pace by honoring women during his ministry years and by including many in key events surrounding His crucifixion and resurrection.
Women were among the 120 disciples gathered at Pentecost. So it followed naturally that women would participate significantly in the expansion of the churches, apart from the pastoral role” (Schnabel 2004, I: 513-514.). The vibrant Christian movement spearheaded a revolution in the uplifting of women in society, even while maintaining its own inherent limitations.
In summary, the biblical examples we have examined briefly honor the contributions of women in the work of God. Their full participation following biblical principles is not in conflict with their creative activity within the church and its outreach and inreach ministries. We do not find biblical justification for the ordination of women or women as pastors, but the broad range of other ministries are open to all obedient believers, especially as members of their local churches. The simple fact is that in virtually all societies, the majority of church members are women and the church around the world would not prosper without their significant contributions and influence.
3. CURRENT AMERICAN PRACTICES
We will take a quick look at the practices of major groups of churches: ecumenical, Catholic, Evangelical, and Fundamentalist.
A. ECUMENICAL CHURCHES B.E.M.
One of the biggest issues before the member churches of the World Council of Churches today is BEM: Baptism, Eucharist And Ministry. This is a document proposed by the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order back in 1982, being increasingly implemented.
• It recommends among all professing Christian churches the mutual recognition of each other’s baptism. They do not want anyone who moves from one church tradition to another to be considered a “convert” and have to be baptized again as if they had been non-Christians prior to the move.
• It recommends that any Christian baptized by any church be welcome to share in the communion or Eucharist service of any other church. This lowers the bars on one of the major obstacles to visible church unity and a one-world church.
• It recommends that any minister ordained in any Christian church be considered worthy to be invited to minister in any other church, for preaching, cooperation in ministry, and administering the ordinances. Even if that ordained minister is opposed to the teachings of a given church, whether divorced, or homosexual, or Marxist, whether man or woman, be considered has having the necessary credentials to be invited as a guest minister in any other church. If enacted fully, this will be enforced pluralism that overrides specific convictions.
BEM is still being hotly debated in the member churches, and various objections are being processed in the midst of pressure to accept any differences of tradition in the name of unity. The strongest differences are related to infant baptism vs. believer’s baptism, with more argument being based on ecclesiastical tradition than on Scripture.
B. NEO-EVANGELICAL CHURCHES
There is a growing tendency among the broader Evangelical churches to favor the ordination of women, apparently by influence of the feminist agenda with its cultural reading of Scripture. Otherwise, they follow the more traditional practices noted below. These churches, mainly outside the ecumenical movement, are responding to it with diplomatic compromise, while many more conservative Evangelical churches hold to traditional practices. The declining sense of the inerrancy and authority of Scripture undermines an obligation to obey the Bible even when its principles are contrary to contemporary culture. An excellent balanced view of related specific biblical passages and issues is Women in the Church edited by Kostenberger, et al, noted in our Bibliography.
C. CHARISMATIC CHURCHES
Pentecostal and other charismatic churches have always had women preachers, ordained or not. Women have preached, pastored, administered the ordinances, led services and all aspects of ministry, side by side with, beside, and over men. While the majority of Pentecostal ministers are men, women leaders have always enjoyed full parity among them, including in ordination.
The Pentecostal denominations started up in the first decade of the 20th century, while Pentecostal practices spilled over into non-Pentecostal churches during the decade of the 1960s. This formed the Charismatic Movement. Some of the acceptance of women preachers reaches back into the more informal Methodist movements from which the Pentecostal churches emerged.
C. FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCHES
Our kind of conservative evangelical and fundamentalist churches take two approaches:
• There is a growing consensus that women should be permitted far more responsibility in ministry leadership than has been experienced in past decades: Ministers of Christian Education, Directors of Women's Ministries, Sunday School Superintendents. More churches have Deaconesses with specific areas of responsibility. Church offices including Church Clerk and Treasurer have long been filled by women, as well as leadership of various women's organizations.
• We oppose the ordination of women, and the calling of women as pastors. We do not see women administering the ordinances of the church. We do not see women teaching mixed adult classes on a regular basis. (This does not eliminate special speakers who don't exercise authority over the mixed class, or men attending a class which is designed for women. It does not disallow women missionaries from speaking in church services since the pastors are in charge of such services.)
• Women have gradually increasing roles in participation in the leading of worship services, not just their musical roles.
4. CURRENT MISSIONARY PRACTICES
A. MISSION POLICY
The stated policy of Baptist Mid-Missions is probably typical of traditional or Fundamentalist mission agencies that have a written policy. Before reviewing our stated policy on women in ministry, it is noteworthy that all our missionaries are equally members of the mission and of their respective field councils with voice and vote, whether men or women, whether single or married.
There are some mission boards in which the women do not have a vote in field deliberations, though they do have voice in discussion of issues. They presume that the husbands always speak for their wives (sometimes a risky assumption), and invite single women to express their preferences to the man in charge as he expresses the consensus of the group in preparation for a vote by the men.
In Baptist Mid-Missions, the active career missionaries are about 56% women, with a majority of women on many fields. This gives determinative power to the majority of missionaries regardless of whether male or female. This has rarely created problems. We say "rarely" advisedly, since there have been cases of friction, generally in cases of women of strong vision and initiative relating to some more passive men who are the formal leaders of the field councils. This is really more a matter of personalities in conflict rather than conflict over principles.
In the Policy Manual of Baptist Mid-Missions (pp. 39,40) we read the following:
MINISTRIES OF WOMEN
The manifold ministries of women are recognized as invaluable in the work of world evangelization. Women missionaries are to be respected as co-workers in Christ with their male colleagues. They also hold equal standing as members of their respective Field Councils.
The role of women in ministry is bound by certain biblical limitations, especially as regards functions of leadership, teaching and preaching. Such principles are the basis for the following policies.
1. Women shall not teach or preach in the presence of men in the context of a church meeting or service.
2. Services shall be under male leadership, whether in an organized church or fellowship ("church-in-view").
3. A woman shall not be in charge of a church-planting station, since such work is the function of pastoral oversight.
4. Women are permitted to teach in external ministries such as Bible institutes and colleges. It is strongly preferred that a man shall teach in the disciplines of theology and ministry.
5. Local conditions, such as the age of manhood for nationals, shall be defined and specified by the Field Council and shall be in accord with the general policies above.
B. MISSION PRACTICE
See the following list, “Ministries For Women,” from the Baptist Mid-Missions Candidate Seminar Manual Missionary Methods. This is an extensive, though not exhaustive, listing of ministries typically undertaken by women on the mission fields, whether married or single, adapted for use in this book.
Case Studies of women in missionary activity under male leadership abound, including these from one foreign mission field. The one married couple worked with several single ladies after all other couples had left that city for ministry elsewhere. Each of the ladies had her own ministry according to her gifts and preferences. No one required that single ladies on the same station (that is, in the same city) share an apartment unless they so wished. Two people can work together well in the same ministry, but not necessarily in the same kitchen. Each of the ladies had her own apartment and chose a national housemate when they wished. All of them worked together in the Baptist seminary of that region, and each had their own local church ministries. Look at each one, and sense the freedom with which they defined their own ministries in terms of their gifts, skills, and interests.
LADY 1. She worked within the ministries of a large established Baptist church, under the direction of its national pastor and Sunday school superintendent. She would focus on one of the children’s departments each year, training those teachers, helping them organize their teaching materials, accompanying them on visits in the homes of their students to train them in witnessing and discipling. In the seminary she taught Christian Education and mentored many students in that field and in counseling.
LADY 2. She worked under national pastors with the youth groups of two churches, training youth leaders in the churches and training the youth in music ministry. She worked closely with a national colleague in those churches, and shared in that lady’s seminary classes in Christian Education. She directed the seminary choir as well. So she freely exercised her gifts as they were applied to education and music.
LADY 3. Her parents were seasoned church planters, so this was her inclination as well. She worked in the new church planting project of one of the established Baptist churches, under the leadership of the national pastor of that congregation and thus also under the mother church. She was a behind-the-scenes mentor to the young pastor, and actively trained some of the Sunday school teachers. She also led the youth group together with a family in the church that she was discipling for that ministry. She provided accordion music for services, and welcome transportation with her baby blue pickup truck. In the seminary she was the nurse, and taught classes in health, first aid, Bible and Christian Education. So she directed her energies into her preferred areas of activism in church planting in non-pastoral roles under the direction of national pastors, as well as in the seminary to teach in her areas of expertise.
MINISTRIES FOR WOMEN
By Sallie McElwain, Director, Women’s Department (Ret. 2003)
The missionary woman is a vital part of the missionary team. Of course, the married woman's first responsibility is to her husband and children, but her ministry need not stop there. Single and married women have made important contributions to missionary efforts and will continue to do so in the strength and power of God's Holy Spirit.
Baptist Mid-Missions’ active career missionaries are about 56% women, including 4l% married, 12% single, and 3% widows.
We read in II Kings 4 of the widow who was about to lose her sons to a creditor. She entreated Elisha to help her, and he asked what she had in her house. She replied, "Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil." The widow gave all of that oil to God's servant, and God multiplied it many times over by their obedient hands. Likewise as we submit our God-given gifts and talents to the Lord, HE will multiply them for His honor and glory that our testimony might be, "She hath done what she could" (Mark 14:8a).
The following are some ideas and suggestions of missionary ministries for women:
A. TEACHING
1. Sunday school
2. Vacation Bible School
3. Teacher-training classes
4. Christian Education program planning
5. Bible institute teaching (Christian Education, Music, English, Typing, Health,
Various ministry topics, Bible, Christian Life, etc.)
6. Bible Classes, or English, or other topics in public schools
7. Teaching missionary children
8. Christian day schools
9. Children's clubs
10. Ladies' Bible studies
11. Seminars for Ladies (for a weekend or a week to train women to work in their
local churches)
12. Language (to missionaries)
13. Miscellaneous classes: English, Crafts, Sewing, Charm, Cooking, Literacy,
(Purpose: Personal Evangelism)
14. Counseling
15. Curriculum design
B. EVANGELISM
1. Visitation
2. Village outreach
3. Visiting nursing homes, hospitals, etc.
4. Opening one’s home for informal or personal contacts
5. Street meetings: Help with tract distribution, music, personal witnessing, etc.
6. Postal evangelism
7. Campus Bible Fellowship
8. Evangelistic campaigns
9. Camping programs
10. Prison evangelism
11. Friendship evangelism in local clubs, classes, civic organizations in the city
C. MEDICAL WORK
1. Doctor, nurse, midwife, PA, anesthetist, etc.
2. Midwifery courses
3. Lab technician, pharmacist, sonographer etc.
4. Managing a dispensary
5. Handling patients and callers
6. Managing hospital
7. Teaching primary health care in villages
8. Hostess for ill missionaries
D. PRAYER
1. Personal, private ministry of intercession
2. Organizing and stimulating prayer meetings in homes and classes
3. Teaching on prayer in all appropriate venues
E. BUSINESS
1. Secretary / administrative assistant
2. Bookkeeping
3. Office manager
4. Assistant to station director
5. Answering correspondence for broadcasting station
6. Purchasing agent for school or hospital
7. Bookstore manager or clerk
8. Teaching computer operation classes
F. MUSIC
1. Leading choirs
2. Teaching Music classes, performing vocal music
3. Teaching musical instruments, performing music
4. Organizing youth music groups for church and outreach ministries
5. Writing and arranging hymn, training national hymn and chorus writers
6. Producing CDs of national Christian music
G. ORGANIZING AND SPONSORING ACTIVITIES
1. Children's activities and parties
2. Social activities and fellowship for young people
3. Activities for the elderly
4. Organizing English classes for the community
5 Organizing literacy classes and training workers
H. WRITING and DESIGN
1. Monthly newsletter (community news, people profiles, recipes, Gospel)
2. Magazine for children
3. Script writing for radio
4. Art/Layout for literature production, graphic design
5. Artwork, bulletin boards for school and seminary; training nationals in art and
graphic design
6. Writing articles and books about missions and missionaries
7. Preparing Christian Education materials (Sunday school and training hour
lessons on different grade levels)
8. Articles for mission publications
9. Children’s missionary stories (for illustrations and flashcards)
10. Website design and maintenance
I. TRANSLATION
1. Translating Scripture
2. Consulting for translators
3. Preparing primers and dictionaries
4. Translating and adapting hymns and choruses for national use
5. Translating/editing books for pastors and church members’ Bible studies
J. OTHER
1. Hostess for mission home
2. Entertaining visitors
3. Housekeeping for headquarters
4. Housemother for missionary children
5. Mobile library
6. Speaking to women's groups in churches
Chapter 11
DEPUTATION:
GETTING TO THE FIELD
The front porch of missions has come to be the period of ministry we call “deputation.” For better or for worse, this interim ministry keeps many people off the mission field while propelling others out there. Many have bemoaned the system, have renamed it, have sought alternatives to it, have tried to wish and pray it away. We bemoan the number of people we have talked with who have glibly said, “I’d love to serve as a missionary, but I’m not going to do deputation.” It was not, “that won’t be my favorite phase of ministry,” but “I refuse to do it.” So where’s the spirit of service and surrender?
Deputation seems to be here to stay, so let’s come to terms with it: Either people pay their own way to the mission field from their work (“tentmaking”) or private gold mine, or have a denominational salary, or they raise support from interested churches and families. For independent Baptists this third method is the most familiar and practical.
We have seen the three major sets of hoops to jump through on the way to the field:
• the assurance of the Lord’s special calling to ministry and direction to a field
• the approval of the local church and its chosen mission agency
• the support of enough interested churches to underwrite the ministry.
These are the tri-C hoops to the mission field. Here we’ll look at that third hoop, the deputation process. In this test, the churches get to state their approval or disapproval of missionary appointees, leaving the final vote with the churches, where it belongs. It is a real test, and does need to be passed, even if one has a private oil well or gold mine.
RATIONALE FOR DEPUTATION
The chief example we have in Scripture of a sending church, in Acts 13, did not involve any deputation since the sending church simply authorized their missionaries to serve, and presumably financed their travels. They really seem to have presumed that they would sustain themselves by working as they traveled, as peripatetic rabbis or philosophers were accustomed to do. They would earn wages or receive gifts to keep them on the field, as the Lord provided. Granted, their lifestyles were considerably simpler than those of most missionaries today, and none of the mission families in the New Testament had families they took with them.
What they regarded as normal, we might today take as irresponsible. Of course it would all be expressed in spiritual terminology, called “faith” missions, and justified. We on some fields wearied of seeing couples who came out without doing much deputation, confident that “The Lord will take care of us.” After months of severe limitations on their freedom for ministry, and of mooching off those who did do deputation, they returned home (on borrowed funds) with a sense of failure. Or did GOD fail to care for them as they had presumed He would? Or did they fail to understand “faith missions?” We’ll see.
PURPOSE FOR DEPUTATION
Deputation is a period of ministry among compatible churches to stimulate participation in one’s ministry by prayer and financial cooperation. Some of those churches will “deputize” those appointees to fulfill part of their Great Commission responsibility through their field ministries. Those missionaries are their “deputy ministers” in their ‘posse’ at the ends of the earth. These churches become supporting churches.
We can RENAME it as we wish. That’s not an issue. Call it…
• pre-field ministry to designate the time rather than the purpose
• reporting ministry to highlight the relationship with the supporting churches
• support team building to stress the objective of this ministry period
OTHER options suggested? Do any of the new names make the process any easier?
FUNCTIONS OF DEPUTATION
1. Ministry Activities
• Visit churches to present their calling, ministry rationale, challenges, and needs, using appropriate oral, audio-visual, and artifactual media. This will include adult services, youth meetings, children’s services and programs.
• Visit Bible colleges and other Christian schools, especially their alma mater, to similarly present their ministry challenge and recruit new colleagues.
• Pray for and challenge listeners to come participate in missionary service as God leads them.
• Seek financial support to underwrite the proposed ministry on the field.
• Maintain correspondence with those who have been contacted: by circular letters, e-mail, even a website.
2. Ministry Description
Back in Chapter 9 we discussed Ministry Descriptions. The last of them, through which virtually all of missionaries pass, is “Deputation Minister.” While it does include the fund raising element, it clearly has other ministry-related criteria.
POSITION: Deputation Minister
RESPONSIBLE TO: Administrator of Church Relations, Field Administrator
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To secure prayer and financial support for the proposed field ministry through promotional efforts.
PREREQUISITES FOR ENTRY:
1. Training for the intended ministry on a field of service.
2. Appointment to missionary service with Baptist Mid-Missions.
3. Commissioning by a fundamental Baptist church as their missionary through Baptist Mid-Missions.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Visit churches to present the activities and needs of their appointed field to inform, challenge and thank them.
2. Visit Bible colleges and seminaries to present the Mission's work, to inform, and to recruit new missionaries; speak in chapel, classes and student groups as invited; interview and counsel interested students.
3. Secure the prayer support of interested churches, families and individuals; maintain regular contact with supporters through newsletters and visits.
4. Secure promises of financial support sufficient for the carrying out of the proposed ministry.
5. Direct potential missionary candidates to the Mission office.
PROCEDURAL SKILLS EMPLOYED:
1. Organizing and completing a full itinerary of meetings.
2. Contacting pastors and school personnel for meetings.
3. Planning and preparing field presentations, using media consultants as needed.
4. Communicating the field challenge through sermons, lessons, overheads, slide-tape, video, table displays, literature, and counsel.
5. Operation of instructional media equipment.
TENURE:
This public relations ministry representing the work and needs of a mission field is intended to be temporary. The initial period of deputation shall normally not exceed two years, subject to review by the Administrator of Church Relations. It is preparatory to, or between, terms of field service, a term usually lasting four years. During regular one-year furloughs this deputation ministry shall be undertaken as needed to maintain contact with and/or broaden the support team.
Now prospective missionaries know just what they are getting into.
ADVANTAGES OF DEPUTATION FOR CHURCHES
There are some wonderfully positive benefits to the deputation process for all involved.
1. Churches enjoy close contact with missionaries.
Unless churches have some way to maintain an active missionary vision they will lose sight of their responsibility before the Lord of the Harvest. The deep contact of appointees and churches enriches both for lifelong contact. There are two or three hundred families circulating among the churches at any given time, a wonderful resource for their mission vision growth.
2. The changes in missions have a human face.
We can read about new strategies and methods, but when real people show up for services headed out to those exotic places, and in those new methodologies, and using that new technology, it all becomes a reality. They have needs, children, hobbies, skills like ours.
3. Churches get directive challenge to send new recruits as missionaries.
The church cannot escape the missionaries who are “right in their face” pleading for surrender to God’s calling and purposes. Books and videos do not have the same immediate impact. The appeal for new missionary personnel is made within the church family.
4. Awareness of opportunities for temporary missionary service brings action.
People are not called to serve in ministries of which they are unaware. Knowledge awakens responsibility, and responsibility seeks opportunities. This all enriches the church.
5. Exposure brings enrichment of spiritual life in families who host missionaries.
The main impact of a missionary conference or visit is often more in the living room than in the pulpit. Families now have personal friends on the mission field.
6. A missionary burden spills over into involvement in local outreach.
People who care more deeply about lost souls in BongoBongo will more likely reach out through the ministries of their own church. A concerned for the lost is awakened and church members come to see that they live on their own mission field.
7. Church families are enriched by participating directly in ministries around the world.
How many of your friends have friends in Bangladesh or Romania or Brazil? The children’s perspective is enlarged. They become aware of the world as a part of what God is doing there. They are a part of real work, exotic work.
8. United prayer for missionaries is an agent of spiritual growth.
Prayer for missionaries brings God’s people together with united purpose. They are working together, exposing their own hearts to one another.
9. Organizations within the church that draw women together, and involve men in shared activities for mission projects.
Missions becomes institutionalized within the organizations of the church. This enriches all involved to keep vision and involvement alive.
This is a mutually beneficial process, so we review the mission side also.
BENEFITS OF DEPUTATION FOR MISSIONARIES
1. Appointees get toughened up by touring.
No one pretends that deputation is not difficult. Future field missionaries taste the reality of rejection, of trial and error, of the joy of sharing ministry, of seeing God freely use them in others’ lives. It is a time of growth. Despite our good plans, God is not always pleased to speed them out to the field in one year. This ministry period develops perseverance and creativity for life and ministry. Each will develop flexibility in varied church settings, inconveniences, unexpected changes, disappointments, etc., before having the added burden of adjustment to a totally new culture. They will come out more weathered, enriched, and experienced as they face the rigors of their fields.
2. The spiritual dimensions of missions become more of a reality.
All missionaries transition from expecting quick support to praying about what they can contribute to each church and family in the churches they visit. Their priorities come into line with what they really believe. They find that God CAN move people through the ministry of the Word. Lost people find Christ during deputation ministry, a foretaste of life and work on the future field. They find that the whole venture really is based on the church. These spiritual dimensions include deep accountability to the churches and the mission before leaving.
3. Appointees sharpen their own objectives and mission focus.
The family deepens their burden for their field by sharing it. The appointees must have a clear vision of their future work in order to articulate that to others who will accept a share that vision and burden. As their calling and missionary vision are explained over and over, the appointees sharpen their own thinking as well as how they present it.
4. Future missionaries exercise public ministry gifts, developing related skills.
Appointees must develop skills in disciplined planning, execution and evaluation. They will measure their effectiveness in areas of previously untested spiritual gifts, better predicting fruitfulness on the field. All of this experience is valuable for similar future ministry once they make it to their destination.
5. The missionary family is integrated into the work.
Missionary children are uncalled participants in their parents’ missionary careers, as is true for children of families in any line of work or ministry. The time of deputation involves the children more actively in learning and talking about their new home and host people. Some will give public presentations in services. This knits the family together in one new purpose in ways that commercial and diplomatic and military families never experience. This should be a positive experience for the kids, but is not universally so, and families will exercise wisdom in how much the children are involved in deputation.
6. Appointees are exposed to a pool of potential new recruits for their field.
During deputation, appointees have direct contact with families and youth interested in missions. From the pulpit and lectern, and in living rooms, appointees counsel youth and adults facing career decisions about missions. The most effective recruiters have always been the missionaries themselves. These contacts continue as their field career begins.
7. Appointees experience God's faithfulness in providing for all needs.
It is necessary to know that God really does answer prayers long before getting to BongoBongo. Deputation helps to define realistic priorities of needs and wants.
SOME DISADVANTAGES OF DEPUTATION
1. The dollar cost is high.
Regardless of who foots the bill, the church or the missionary, the cost of supporting a family for a couple of years is high. Figure $50,000 a year for a family, plus travel costs, equipment, publicity materials, phone calls, postage. Figure that it costs at least $150,000 to get a family from church through language school, plus $50,000 for setup costs on the field with house and vehicle. All of this is before they can even begin their ministry. If they could just GO once they are ready, all that money would be unspent (which does not mean it is available for other use, since most of that is living cost for the family). These funds are spent, but not wasted, on the way to the field.
2. The personnel cost is high.
One tenure study showed that across 30 years of candidate classes, 16% of our accepted candidates never made it to the field. Now we don’t have information on all the various reasons why, but that is a terrific loss rate. Some discontinue for good reasons, and never did belong on the field, but some drop out with a lifelong sense of failure. The mission seeks ways to enhance its supportiveness of missionary appointees during the deputation ministry, a phase of ministry all must experience on the way to the field.
3. The needed skills don’t always reflect future ministry.
There are many different ministries on the fields, beyond church planting. But those who are not called to be preachers on the field still need to be preachers on the way there. Every missionary has to become an expert in public relations for a couple of years to jump through that hoop of church participation, even if those skills are not a part of the repertoire demanded by their fieldwork.
One appointee wrote in a prayer letter in 2005:
Deputation is 50 job interviews in a year. Wherever we go we are trying to convince people and churches that “Urbania” is an important city, that it lacks a widespread gospel witness, that we have been called to “Urbania,” that we need 7 years of support to go there, and that the money comes from individuals and churches just like those we’re speaking with. Folks need to be convinced at all those points, which is a tricky proposition. But we’re glad to say that our support has risen about $250/month since our last letter. A slight downer is that our required support rose slightly because of insurance premiums going up. But we are making headway.
Please pray for us. Pray that we will be safe in our travels and that our car will run well. Pray for good greetings and meetings with people. Pray that we will stay focused on this trip. Please pray that we will get to “Urbania” soon and start a church. Please pray that people would give sacrificially for us to get there. (Used by permission)
4. The time seems to be a distraction from real ministry.
Appointees groan at the prospect of spending two years in itinerant ministry, especially when hearing the horror stories of 3- and 4-year deputation experiences, the rare cases. Prepared people are eager to get right out to their language study and involvement in the ministry to which they were called.
SOME ALTERNATIVES TO DEPUTATION
Isn’t there a better way? Many creative alternatives have been proposed and discussed, but one way or another, appointees need to connect with those who will underwrite their ministry. Let’s look at a few.
1. Denominational responsibility
The denominational mission agencies take care of deputation by taxing the churches, or expecting them to provide for the missionary program of the denomination. The Southern Baptist Convention churches have their annual Lottie Moon missionary offering as well as a budget item in the Cooperative Program to which churches give a proportion of their gross income. There are obvious advantages - and disadvantages - in this approach. We independent Baptists have rejected the disadvantages of the denominational model for church polity, so we miss out on its advantages as well. The fund-raising costs have to be factored into such fund-raising, but it does work well for some.
When denominational missionaries are accepted for service, they are placed on salary and can go directly to the field. Some are required to tour among churches in their districts (as in the Christian and Missionary Alliance) especially during furloughs, but not all denominations require such ministry.
2. Endowed first term
A recent proposal was that an endowment fund make it possible for missionaries to go right out to the field for their first term instead of doing deputation when they are least capable of displaying their missionary skills. New appointees would make their ministries known to a circle of close churches for prayer support and then head out to their fields with endowed support. Once those missionaries have proven themselves on the field, it is presumed they will be more effective in raising their support quickly.
That’s an interesting concept, but has some drawbacks. More expensive professional fund raisers would raise the exorbitant amount of capital to produce needed income. The missionaries would end up burdened with an arduous first furlough interrupting their missionary career which has just gotten well established. Deputation would hit them just when they are exhausted and more apt to lose out on language perfection.
3. Supporting church consortium
This recent approach merits attention. A group of like-minded churches in a city or region will covenant together that any missionary families who are members of any of the partner churches will be fully supported by all of them together. If not full support, the missions consortium will promise a significant start or segment of support.
Positive Considerations
• NO DEPUTATION. This essentially eliminates deputation. Really, it limits deputation to visiting all of the partner churches to secure prayer interest and promote the ministry to those who are committed to provide for it with prayer.
• COOPERATION. The consortium plan draws churches into a covenant to actually work together in a major project. That in itself is healthy, and there will be side benefits to the depth of interaction and fellowship. Churches really depend on each other.
• MODELING. Before new missionaries even arrive on the field, they observe a group of churches actually cooperating in a joint venture, communicating, meeting to plan and to allocate resources. This is valuable training for field council functions and for interaction with national churches in planning.
• PROCEDURES can vary, and the partner churches covenant together with a virtual contract of virtual responsibilities. A typical pattern is that the sending church will provide the lion’s share of support, 100% or more likely 50%, while the others complete the promised amount. The churches would agree on which mission agencies they will use, and define their shared ecclesiastical and theological parameters. It is best that the partner churches already be on the same wavelength to avoid the inevitable conflicts that would come from an obligation to support missionaries which one church did not agree with.
• INCREASES: Churches normally cannot begin by giving the full amount of support that they will need, so they may begin at 10% and work their way up to the amount of support they have promised, especially for the sending church. The Consortium Agreement would make clear whether all churches are obligated to support all of the missionaries that come up, or if they can select only some.
Negative Considerations
• UNKNOWN. The missionaries are virtually unknown outside the consortium. This is only a drawback when they seek funding for projects beyond the resources of the consortium churches, and then the credibility of the mission agency opens the needed doors. Most missionaries are unknown outside their small deputation radius.
• CLOSED CIRCLE. The consortium churches tend to be closed to missionaries from outside their own number. This can lead to an ingrown view of missions, but there is more of a danger of hyperactivity than underactivity in such groups.
• SATURATION. A positive negative is that the elimination of arduous deputation creates an atmosphere in which many more families present themselves as missionary candidates! Now the church cannot afford so many of their own missionaries. Most churches entering a consortium agreement already have a full slate of missionaries they support. This might work best with a circle of new churches.
• DEPENDENCE. Dependence on a small number of churches in one city creates the possibility of reversals. There are cases of consortium churches falling apart, leaving their heavily-supported missionaries stranded for funds. A one-industry town may suddenly suffer financial disaster if the company moves away. But, trust is ultimately in the Lord of the Harvest, and all prudence is exercised. Missions is still a faith enterprise.
4. Self-financing through business
Three major approaches come to mind.
• RETIREMENT benefits that permit a second career in missions. This might be military or commercial pension funds, but they supplement missionary support funds, or provide the full needed support. A growing number of people are taking up second careers in missionary ministry, financed in part or wholly by investment and retirement income from their prior career. This is clearly not an option for college students, but is an excellent resource for older adults.
• INCOME from an established business or invested funds. Some spend more time building up their multi-level marketing network than they would have spent on deputation, and then owe significant time keeping it functioning, more than they ever imagined. That is NOT the same as leaving rental property in the hands of an agent. Still, when any business investment has been successful, it is a welcome contributor to world missions. This is generally not productive unless one already has such a business established before going into a missionary career.
• FAMILY ESTATE funds can bankroll a missionary on the field. This is rare, and tends to leave those few missionaries feeling quite independent from the others, and the routines of deputation and field cooperation. They tend to feel more autonomy, and less accountability to churches. Welcome aboard, to all wealthy candidates! Good for you.
5. Pooling Support
Some missions have their missionaries raise the required amount of support, but do not allow that support to be used as designated. All support funds go into a support pool for distribution by formula, to the general fund of the mission and to the missionaries by the support level policy. This policy is not uncommon, and such missions do advise both missionaries and donors of the practice. This approach is entirely legal since any mission agency must own and control the funds it receives, and both the donors and the missionaries are fully apprised of the practice.
Missionaries who have raised more support are thus helping those who have not raised sufficient for their own needs. Donors understand that if they send $10 per month for the Jones family that it does not go specifically to them, but to the mission on behalf of the Jones family who will get their due share. This can discourage donors from giving to missionaries they know since it will not necessarily get to them. They are really sending in missionary support in the name of the Jones family, who trust the Lord to bring enough for them and for others as well. If there is a shortfall, everyone suffers proportionately.
A variation on this is the limited rebalancing of support. That is, the administration could take surplus funds from missionaries who are over-supported and reallocate them to those who are under-supported. This would simply burn up all involved. Those who worked hard at completing deputation could deeply resent seeing their hard-earned support given to those who were less successful at completing deputation. Careful calculations show that shifting surplus support to undersupported missionaries would add insignificant support to those who need it while demoralizing those who raised it.
6. Missionaries on Home Church Staff: fully supported
SCENARIO 1: A candidate family comes with the promise of full support from their home church immediately upon acceptance by a mission. What would we REQUIRE of them? What would we RECOMMEND for them?
This extreme (and currently non-existent) case points up the reality that parameters for deputation are primarily financial. We would doubtless release the missionaries to the field as soon as papers permitted it. We would doubtless direct that missionary to present the ministry in other churches to seek committed prayer support from churches and interested individuals. The primary purpose for such deputation would be for the spiritual undergirding of the work in prayer. (Churches would welcome a missionary speaker who did not need support!)
SCENARIO 2: A candidate comes who is independently wealthy, and able to support himself out of his own resources without burdening the churches for any support. What would we REQUIRE, and RECOMMEND?
This extreme case highlights the place of the church in the life of the missionary. Though no financial commitment would be needed, the sending church would still be seen to hold primary authority over the missionary, and to be responsible to pray for him. We would doubtless direct the missionary to do deputation to seek one hundred committed prayer supporters.
Such prospective missionaries ought to have firmly in hand
• 100 people who promise to pray for them by name at least three times a week,
• 25 pastors who know them personally and are aware of their ministry needs.
7. Raising new supporters
Don McCall has proposed a new approach to deputation (in Dying for Change, an unpublished article.)
SUM: Missionary candidate prospects are to raise their support by bringing enough new folk into their home church that the church can afford to increase their pastoral staff enough to hire him or her as a staff missionary to be sent out to the field, and used in the home church during furlough.
This sounds like a winning solution that proves missionaries’ capabilities before they go to the field. However, it has its downside as well. The sole test of future success is evangelism. It would take 10 new tithing families to support fully a missionary (and more to support the increased needs of the growing church) but that is more than most pastors accomplish in two years. Are they disqualified? Is evangelism motivated by finances? Will only evangelists make it to the field? What about other gifts needed there? This may work in the urbs or burbs, but hardly in rural areas where there may not be 20 unchurched families.
8. Faith Missions
There is a certain mystique attached to the notion of trusting God to supply needs, and thus not mentioning any needs for finances or equipment either from the platform or in letters. No requests will me made except to God. “Faith missions” is an unfair implication that other methods do not really trust God, but that is what tradition has brought to us.
This approach intends to confirm that God does answer prayer, following the model of George Muller of Bristol, England. His orphanage ministry was really set up to demonstrate how God answers prayer, so they never made any of their needs known except to God. Their history is one of spectacular and constant answers to prayer, of tested faith and stretched resolve. Missionary Hudson Taylor followed that pattern and conveyed the principle within missionary service. Some missionaries today wish to follow this model, and are free to do so, but must do so with open eyes. There are facts that are not commonly factored into the process.
• They should know that George Muller did a lot of publicity through his magazines, though he only spoke of answers to prayer, never needs. Still, the publications created the awareness that there were constant needs, and that any contribution would constitute another such miraculous answer to prayer. The non-appeal was the appeal.
• They should also know that Muller only kept what was needed for the present, with no reserve. If he prayed for $1000 (really, pounds) and received $3000, he would give away the extra $2000 to missionaries like Hudson Taylor. His real purpose was not raising children, but showing off God’s joy in answering prayer. Few missionaries would adopt this practice in their approach to “faith missions.”
• They should prove their ability to live by faith before they go to the mission field. When new missionaries show up on the field without adequate support, they are demanding care from their colleagues who did responsibly raised their support funds. There is a sense of fairness that comes into play, so their spirituality should not be at the expense of others.
• They should carry their fair share of the load in the work, and not plead off because “God didn’t provide for that this month.” There are certain obligations which missionaries have to their collective work, which should not be considered optional as the price of their spirituality. If God is to provide, let it be the whole amount of needed support. That calls for serious faith.
See the fine book The Autobiography of George Muller in our Bibliography.
THE ROLE OF THE SENDING PASTOR IN DEPUTATION
The single most important factor that correlates with quickness of deputation is the active participation of the pastor of the sending church.
The sending church needs to understand that it is their responsibility to get their missionaries out to the field.
• Yes, it is up to the mission agency to facilitate the process of getting folks into meetings and instructing them in making contacts.
• Yes, it is up to the missionaries to beat the bushes, keep their calendar full of meetings, and have an excellent presentation.
• But the church is the sending agency and must do all possible to get their missionaries to the field as the pastor leads the charge.
When all three are churning along together, the missionaries get to their fields quickly.
How can a pastor participate in the deputation ministry of their missionaries?
1. Begin some financial support right away.
Church policy will specify what percentage of support the church will provide for their own members. That is a target to work toward as finances permit. Presuming the church cannot give 25% (or whatever) right away, begin with some regular support as a sign of solidarity and confidence, and to help underwrite the costs of deputation ministry. The fact that the sending church has begun support is an encouragement to sister churches to do the same.
2. Recommend your appointees to sister churches.
The pastor can write to inform sister churches right away that one of their own member families is headed out for missions, and will be available for meetings by a stated month. A statement of his confidence helps open doors.
3. Write a pastoral letter of recommendation for their use.
A deputation packet must always include a letter of recommendation from the pastor. The letter can also be enclosed in letters appealing for meetings in other churches.
4. Provide needed promotional equipment.
The church can buy (or lease) equipment for their missionaries to use, and then leave with the church (or return it). If the mission has such equipment available, the church can cover those start-up costs, as well as the production costs for a DVD or PowerPoint® presentation. If the missionaries expect to use such equipment on their field they can take it along with them.
5. Get appointees in touch with their own alumni association.
The pastor will motivate the appointees in keeping up good sources for contacts, including the alumni associations of the schools they attended. Appointees should keep in touch with fellow-graduates for future contact in their churches.
6. Contact pastors for meetings in specific open dates.
If the pastor will phone or visit pastor friends on behalf of the appointees, that will open doors for them. This is especially helpful for single ladies who are reticent to call pastors and seek meeting dates. The pastor can talk about the quality of the missionaries’ work and presentations. Stress the local nature of missionary support.
One home church pastor blocked off a six-Sunday period when their mission family would be back in California for deputation. This began with a missions Sunday in their own home church. The pastor scheduled a jam-packed array of Sunday services, prayer meetings, ladies’ and men’s meetings, pastors’ meetings, and even free tickets to a local amusement park. Those appointees also worked through other pastors who would have confidence in them, and in whom other pastors would have confidence, giving them sets of Sundays where they would stay with them and be in many churches in their area. They did the initial contact work to secure meetings, and then the appointee followed up directly to confirm and get details.
7. Get appointees into home Bible study groups.
Appointees need to be an integral part of the sending church. It is healthy for groups within the church to “own” their ministry and covenant to pray for them. Some time of small group that knows the missionaries well is the best point of contact for such quality linkage.
8. Take men appointees to pastors’ meetings.
The “sponsorship” of a known pastor will lend credibility to an appointee at a pastors’ meeting. The pastor should present his appointee to the group as a whole, and then personally introduce him to pastor friends. That personal acquaintance will later blossom into contacts for meetings. It is not necessary to try to do it all at once.
A variant is for the pastor to sponsor a breakfast or a dessert at a restaurant or at the church where pastors and deacons are invited in to meet their missionaries. Give some opportunity for the appointees to speak of their background and ministry proposals to awaken interest on the part of church leaders. Keep to the promised short time.
9. Offer to print & mail prayer letters.
It is legal for the sending church to publish and mail prayer letters for one of their own missionaries using the church’s mailing permit. Those missionaries are an integral part of the church’s ministries, and are really adjunct church staff, even though not salaried by the church. The mailing can go out from the church as one of its ministries, and noted as such as fact, and as information for the Postmaster. “Prayer letter of the Smith family, missionaries of Grace Baptist Church, through Baptist Mid-Missions,” with the return address of the church, not the home of the missionaries or the mission on the envelope so it is legitimate.
11. Use appointees in your VBS.
Not all missionaries are children’s workers, but all can present the challenge of their service for the Lord to children for a while. They are an integral part of the church’s ministries and can be included in VBS, provided their employment time permits this.
12. Provide housing if needed.
A local family may well have their own house. But if not, they may need the help of the church. Some churches, in diminishing numbers, own a house for the use of missionaries on furlough. Or it is possible for the church to rent a furnished house for the missionaries’ use as needed during deputation or furlough.
13. Set up an ordination council for the men.
An ordination examination in the midst of deputation is excellent exposure. Rarely does an appointee get to “show his stuff” to the very pastors he wishes to impress as a worthy candidate for support. One pastor set up the ordination council to examine their missionary appointee right in the middle of a concentrated period of several weeks of deputation meetings he had set up in that area. Five of the pastors out of that group ended up leading their churches to support that appointee. Thanks, pastor!
Chapter 12
FINANCING THE
MISSIONARY VENTURE
Baptist Mid-Missions is a service agency to facilitate the Great Commission obedience of independent Baptist Churches primarily in North America. We exist to serve the best interests of the churches by serving the best interests of their missionaries.
The financial policies and practices are clearly spelled out in the Financial Procedures Manual prepared for the orientation of our new missionaries in our annual Candidate Seminar. This manual is sent to the libraries of Bible colleges and seminaries around the country to keep it available to those who need to research the information
Philippians is a thank-you letter from a missionary to a supporting church. Let’s survey that fine letter for its references to principles of missionary giving. Look up verses.
A BIBLICAL EXAMPLE: Philippi
|1:5,7 |“Your fellowship in the gospel” is more than just friendly letters, more than mere offerings. |
| |“Partakers with me of grace” marks the bonds of commonality between the missionary who is suffering on the |
| |front lines and the supporters at home who pray and send offerings. |
|1:24 |The missionary lived to minister to those who serve through him. He is not a “hired gun” but a partner in |
| |ministry, given over to their well-being. |
|1:26,30 |All participated in the efforts and successes, and in the sufferings and failures, of their missionary. |
| |They were yoked together, inseparable. |
|2:25-28 |Their pastor Epaphroditus had been sent to minister to Paul on the mission field: in prison. The pastor |
| |had fallen ill, and Paul had sent him on home, mission accomplished, with honor. He was the incarnation of |
| |their missionary concern. |
|2:30 |They ministered in person as well as in finances. The pastor had brought the personal presence of the |
| |caring churchfolk right into Paul’s house where he was kept. The comment “what was lacking in your service”|
| |was not an insult, nor an appeal for more help, but the admission with them that they wish they could do |
| |more for the aged and suffering missionary. Money cannot do it all. |
|4:10 |The church had helped Paul before, and now he says, “you’ve done it again!” He knows how much they really |
| |enjoy helping missionaries but lack opportunity to do much. Their care had “flourished” again, blossoming |
| |with fragrance and beauty. What a compliment he sends them! |
| |Is the TITHE a New Testament requirement? It is never even mentioned. Since the tithe (or 10% of one’s |
| |income) was mandatory for the OT saints, it is taken as an expected minimum for church giving patterns. |
| |These people have learned to live on less, and give more. |
|4:11,12 |Paul’s support level estimate was pretty low: bread & water, a cot, and a computer with a ramp to the |
| |Internet. He was one of the few inhabitants of the state of Contentment. This is not to pretend that he |
| |did not have needs, nor that it would have been wrong to state them. Keep in mind that their pastor had |
| |just been with Paul, and had carried this epistle to them, so they had first-hand testimony of his needs and|
| |it was not necessary to write of them. |
| |In his experience, Paul had been rich; he had been poor; he had been high; he had been humiliated. He knew |
| |how to live within his circumstances. He knew that with more assets he could accomplish more ministry, or |
| |less with less, and was content to leave that with God. |
|4:14 |The help of the church is commendable. This is not a favor; it is the heart of their ministry. This is a |
| |quiet smile from God, and informs us gently that God’s great heart is warmed when His people take care of |
| |His front-line servants. We need such sensitivity to the things that please God! |
|4:15 |Only that church had inquired further into his needs for ministry support. The other churches just accepted|
| |his ministry to them and were satisfied to be on the receiving end. These folks were enriched by their |
| |desire to be on the giving end, and were a rare exception to the rule. |
|4:16 |“Once and again” Apparently the folks at Philippi had promised to send an offering. They did that, and |
| |fulfilled their obligation. The word “once” used here (hapax) means “once forever” showing that they owed |
| |no more and had delivered what they had promised. Still, they came through again, above what they had |
| |promised. |
|4:17 |They multiplied the joy of their missionary, for their good, not his. It was a benefit to them, not just to|
| |him. God is keeping the records of the amount and the attitude of our giving. What we report on our income|
| |tax form 1040 is only a tithe of what God knows about our giving! |
|4:18 |It seems that the folks had sent personal gifts of remembrance to the missionary. They might have sent food|
| |that would keep well since he did not have a refrigerator, some fresh food to eat right away, some warm |
| |clothing, some writing materials, the latest good adventure novel, and maybe even a prayer quilt made by the|
| |ladies’ missionary guild. Whatever it was, simple or fancy, they were images of the caring persons who |
| |thought enough to send along a bit of themselves with the pastor’s visit. What a blessing! |
|4:19 |This familiar blessing is cited for a church which is faithful in its missionary involvement. Remember, |
| |this is a missionary prayer letter, and the “all your need” is God’s feedback for those who give and give |
| |and give out of joy. |
CHURCH FINANCE PLANS
There are numerous approaches to the basic matter of how to provide the financial support of the missionaries. The biblical example was to send them out and let them find the needed financing for a very Spartan existence on the field.
1. Structured Unified Budget
Many churches, especially northern churches, have an annual budget meeting when their missionary giving is determined. Very little change is possible unless someone drops out. All missionary giving is through the church’s central accounting, and is generally only adjusted once a year.
We knew of one new church plant that had a policy that 50% of undesignated offerings went to missions. It sounds noble, but it crippled the church financially. As a new church they should have concentrated on supporting the pastor and youth pastor, both of whom worked full-time, and on getting into a building of their own instead of renting a school on Sundays for many years.
2. Unstructured Budget
Many churches take the liberty to add or drop missionaries as the occasion arises, rather than awaiting the annual budget meeting. This presumes a current awareness as to where they are in financial reality, but at least they are taking quick action steps.
3. Class Initiative
Some churches allow individual Sunday school classes to maintain their own separate missionary budget in a decentralized, uncontrolled program.
One larger church used to have 26 different missionary budgets as each class took its offerings and sent funds to its favorite missionaries. That was eventually pulled together into the one central budget, but not without a lot of hurt feelings. Where some classes gave an additional $10/month to a missionary on the church budget, they were assured that the church would increase regular support by the $10 if they would just give through the church. Class treasurers were keeping cash in a box at home and writing a personal check to the missionaries or missions. Everyone was honest, but it put an unnecessary burden of risk on them. The church as a whole never had a realistic idea of its total missionary involvement. Now it is all together, and the classes continue to write, pray, and send special Christmas gifts to them.
4. Faith Promise
FAITH PROMISE is a plan by which a church decides to finance its missionary giving by special giving beyond the tithe of the people which goes to the church. Each person, or each family, prays and talks, and decides how much extra they can trust the Lord to provide for them to give. By faith they make a promise to give X dollars per week, and then trust the Lord to provide that. Sometimes it means working extra, not just waiting for some mystery check in the mail.
Baptist Mid-Missions promotes the Faith Promise Plan, though not as the ONLY approach to giving. Dr. Bob Mundy has been greatly used of the Lord in promoting Faith Promise, but as a part of the larger experience of spiritual revival. God doesn’t want more money without having all of ourselves for His use. There are forms and bulletin inserts available, so that after he is in a church for a few days, they can encourage each other on a regular ongoing basis.
One thing normally done is to have each person write himself a letter about the amount promised, and seal it in an envelope. A few months later the church mails out those letters so the members can remind themselves of the commitments made by faith in God to provide for them. The church treasurer doesn’t even know how much each one has promised. They DO need to know the amounts promised, though, so they can make up a new missionary budget based on that promised giving. It also helps to be sure that some third grader hasn’t decided that God can provide $1000 per week for him to give when it is quite thoroughly improbable.
It would seem that a pastor using Faith Promise would want the church budget to give 10% of its revenues toward the missionary budget, to be supplemented by the gifts of the folks above their tithing. The church can tithe just as its families do. The annual missionary budget would be made up from the total of faith promise pledges and budgeted missionary support from the general fund.
A variant on this experience in one church was that families would specify faith promise giving for specific missionary families for that year, and maintain personal contact with them. The problem is that it only lasted a year or two, and then those families were fascinated with the next missionaries to come along and grab their attention. This also suffers the risks of designated offerings in the new climate of tax liabilities. We don’t recommend this variation.
Look in our Bibliography for the book by Robert A. Mundy, D.D. All About Faith Promise Offerings for a detailed exposition of the rationale and methodology of the Faith Promise approach to financing missions in the local church.
COVERING MISSION OVERHEAD
The Home office
Is there any question about the legitimacy of a home office for a mission? Yes, since some churches want to just do it all themselves and save all that “wasted” money. They overlook their own overhead costs in the process. There are needs for personnel and their equipment and workspace to make the agency functional. All such expense is for the sake of the missionaries, and on behalf of the sending churches who would otherwise do (or neglect) all of the work themselves.
Sources of Home Office Support
Where does the money come from for the support of the home office? Baptist Mid-Missions has been able to maintain the general fund at around 10% of the gross revenues of the mission. That’s around $3 million out of around $30 million annually. We would happily use 11% or 12% and be able to do more for your missionaries, but have always tried to maintain a lean administration.
That 10% includes ALL of the responsibilities of the general fund, now called the Missionary Services Fund to more accurately represent its purposes. No other Home Office departments are set off as a different line item. Most of that annual budget, about 70%, is compensation for personnel. Mission home offices are people, not just buildings.
1. Missionaries
Most missions require that their missionaries give to their general fund (by whatever name) a stated percentage or amount of their gift income each month. Baptist Mid-Missions has only recently instituted this plan, though a strong majority of missionaries had previously contributed voluntarily. The mission never considered the practice to be wrong, but it had never been done here.
We found an old letter from 1921 from the office of BMM (remember we started in 1920, so this is fairly early on.) which stated, “Since there are no home office expenses for the mission, no deduction is made from support sent in for missionaries” (paraphrasing the notion). Well, the former statement is no longer true, but the latter still was, and we held to that as long as possible. We ask that missionaries designate a set amount (still only about 5% of normal support levels) for the Missionary Services Fund for mutual benefit. When missionaries have raised support for the home office, as noted on their support breakdown list, we properly expect that such designations will be enacted in stages through their deputation ministry and while on the field. This missionary participation provides only about 40% of the needs of the Home Office.
2. Designated Church Giving
Many churches give to the home offices of the mission agencies they use as a line item of their missionary budgets. This provides a vital 30% or so of the total support needed for the Missionary Services Fund, and is strongly encouraged.
BMM has recommended that churches give to the mission Home Office an additional 10% over the total they give to our missionaries in support. This enables them to complete that responsibility to care for the missionaries. These “take charge churches” provide fuller care of their missionaries.
3. Support Raising by Administrators
Those who previously served on mission fields still have supporting churches and support accounts. In the case at BMM, such support is received in that family’s support account, and then passed along to the Missionary Services Fund each month as a part of the budgeted income. Each member of the administration seeks to maintain support to carry his or her own weight within the operating budget. Not all find that possible.
4. Honoraria and Special Offerings
Those of the administrative team receive honoraria for speaking engagements. These are all passed along to the Missionary Services Fund from which their salaries are provided.
5. Legacies
Those who give to the mission by deferred gifts after their passing, may direct it to certain ministries or leave it to the mission to use the funds as most needed. Some such funds are used to help underwrite the Home Office ministries on behalf of all the field missionaries. The Administrator for Stewardship Ministries can discuss estate planning with interested parties, offering the full range of deferred giving instruments.
6. Enablement Funds
Enablement funds are invested so the interest, rather than the principal, is expended on ministry. While a smaller amount is available immediately, such funds will multiply themselves over the years, and the gift is given again about every twelve years or so.
7. Miscellaneous Mission Income
Other minor sources for general fund include small margins from the
• sale of mission books and videos. As a non-profit corporation, the organization can properly profit from such sales, as long as the Council members and administrators do not personally benefit from such transactions.
• Interest Income on Invested Funds. Recent writing expressed shock that missionaries do not receive interest on their funds in the home office, yet that is standard procedure in corporate accounting. There is not interest paid on positive balances in accounts, nor interest charged on negative balances. There is interest income from some of the carefully invested non-demand and demand funds which does benefit all of the missionaries through the Missionary Services Fund. This is one small way that those few with a surplus in their accounts help those who are in overdraft.
GETTING FINANCIAL INFO ABOUT MISSIONARIES
Churches seek to keep informed about the real financial needs of missionaries, specific ministries, and the Home Office. We are happy to cooperate and provide all appropriate information.
1. SUPPORT PROFILE FOR CHURCH
We routinely send to the supporting churches who ask for them a CHURCH SUPPORT PROFILE. This lists the missionaries of BMM they support, their field, number of children, the total support level estimate, their actual support received as averaged over the past six months, the percentage of their support level actually received, and what percent of the support level is provided by that church. These generally go out the day after requests are received, if not the same day. Churches are very pleased with the quick and accurate information to help with their decisions about continuing or adding support to their present missionaries.
2. DEPUTATION PROGRESS REPORTS
While appointees are on deputation we regularly receive pastors’ evaluation reports on the quality of their deputation presentations and general impact. Appointees are regularly contacted directly by our Administrator for Church Relations about good and bad feedback for their constant encouragement and improvement. A quarterly summary is also sent to the pastor of the commissioning church along with a confirmation of the current support level. This is a routine part of our accountability to the sending churches.
3. SUPPORT BALANCES
Some pastors are asking to know the balances on hand of funds in the various accounts of their missionaries. Each missionary may have several accounts which are summarized on the monthly statement along with full information on activity in each account that current month.
• Support account (the central account for receipt and disbursement of support)
• Passage account (for the coming first travel to the field, or furlough)
• Vehicle reserve (toward the next car or truck)
• Tax reserve (when quarterly tax estimates need to be paid)
• Ministry reserve (funds designated for specific ministries of those missionaries)
• Transmission account (occasional in-out flow of personal funds through the account)
When churches want to know the balance in each account, does it give an accurate picture of the missionary’s financial profile? We think not. Positive balances seldom mark over-support, but are reserves for coming expenses or hedges against inflation. A negative balance may indicate under-support, or over-spending, or outside circumstances beyond their control. That is not known by a simple financial snapshot.
An occasional list of balances does not reveal what churches need to know unless that list can be explained and interpreted by the missionary (who generally knows better than the administrators why there is a positive or negative balance.) When churches want to know the balances, we encourage them to ask their missionaries what the balances are. We also encourage the missionaries to give that information and explain the account functions.
We will protect the privacy of the personal financial information of missionaries, but encourage them to disclose what they feel is appropriate to the very ones who are providing their resources. No one can say “that’s none of your business” to the givers, but there are laws governing the privacy of some financial information.
4. MISSION AUDITED REPORTS
Every year, Baptist Mid-Missions is audited by an outside professional accounting firm. This audit checks on financial procedures, proper tracking of designated funds, consistency with our claims, legality of functions, and truthful reporting of assets and liabilities. The audit is an expensive standard procedure, done for many years, not in response to recent financial scandals. It is one of the attributes of responsible financial management of the millions of dollars entrusted to us.
Copies of the auditors’ report are available to any supporter who requests a copy (not that we non-accountants can even read them). After some financial scandals elsewhere we had a phone call from a pastor who asked if we had an audited report. We explained that we have had an outside audit done for years and not just recently; would he like a copy of the report? “No, I just wanted to know that you had one.” Credibility counts.
OTHER FINANCIAL MISSIONS ISSUES
SCHOOL DEBTS
Too many Bible college and seminary students are graduating so deep in debt they will likely never get out of debt and be able to enter a mission agency. The traditional approach is that the basic training for ministry is the responsibility of the workers, not the future supporting churches. Still, we want to speed new missionaries to their fields. The General Council considered this quandary and has allowed new appointees to enter the mission and pay off as much as the final $10,000 of school debt out of missionary support. By their second term they must be free of such debt and able to invest toward their retirement.
INCOME TAX LAWS
Baptist Mid-Missions has a Tax Department Manager who is a CPA with special training and extensive experience related to tax regulations related to ministers and ministries. She keeps up with all of the changing tax laws and enables us to change our financial procedures as needed to operate within the laws of the various states and the nation.
We are able to offer income tax service to all our personnel. Report forms are sent in, and the completed tax forms are computer-generated. Electronic submission directs forms to our regional tax center. There are three levels of tax preparation, depending on the complexities of people’s estates: simple, complex, and ‘do it yourself.’
Donations given to any charitable organization legally belong to that organization. Donations for the ministry of the Smiths are given to Baptist Mid-Missions and the funds are owned by the Mission, not by the Smiths. We have to demonstrate to the IRS, and to our auditors, that we are in control of the funds, and that disbursal of the funds is in keeping with the stated purposes of the Mission. It is only when funds are sent to the Smiths that they become theirs. On the other hand, we will be conscientious about our using those funds entirely as advised by the donors. Your confidence is only merited by our integrity in the use of those funds for your preferred purposes within the stated purposes of the mission. Tax laws keep changing. We’ve had to modify our reporting procedures and forms for the calculation of personal income and ministry expense.
INSURANCE COSTS
Our President, Dr. Gary Anderson, says he has suffered more personal agony over the problems of insurance costs and policies than virtually any other mission problem.. We seek to offer a high-quality program of health protection with flexibility to reach around the world, and continue from field conditions to when folks are back at home.
We’ve balanced rising costs by curtailing some benefits, by raising deductible levels, and now by going to age rating, and preferred provider networking. It is still expensive, but it is excellent. The problem comes for missionaries who work in countries which have obligatory socialized medicine programs, so a hybrid program was developed for them. The mission protects supporting churches from volleys of letters requesting funds for emergency medical treatment since they have already provided such protection.
Baptist Mid-Missions is self-insured, with the program administered by a major insurance firm which will handle international personnel. The company pays claims out our funds that we keep on reserve with them, and we invest our insurance reserve to produce more income and keep the total cost down. Insurance premiums are calculated on the basis of our real history of claims, so increases in premiums reflect the increases in actual medical care costs. Our increases are often well below national averages.
BANKING
Baptist Mid-Missions works primarily through large banks in Ohio. This gives us advantages of corporate banking technology, investment transfers, international banking channels, and many years of excellent working relations. Our Accounting Department normally processes over 8,000 donations a month, with heavy times in December. Apart from such rush periods, the turnaround time for donations is 2 or 3 days, check in, receipt out, with all of the legal attributes required of a certified not-for-profit religious charitable organization as defined in section 501(c)(3) of the Unified Tax Code of the Internal Revenue Service.
The mission can receive direct electronic bank transfers as part of the cashless society. A church (or a donor family) can authorize the mission to withdraw specific amounts of funds from their bank account every month. This saves hassle and postage for church treasurers, and the funds and documentation get to us a bit faster, and save us processing time that make it cheaper to pay the modest fee for the service.
Baptist Mid-Missions does not receive gifts for missionaries by credit card because of the fees, though we can receive such donations for the Missionary Services Fund. We do accept gifts through PayPal and other such means of electronic transfers.
MANAGING DEBT
Like any other people, missionaries need money to make life and service possible. The faith principle is that we trust God to supply the funds needed for maintaining a missionary or family on the field. Support is promised by churches which also trust God to be able faithfully to provide that support. There are times that spending can outweigh support, or inflation makes real dollar value plummet, leaving the balance in the missionary’s support account in an overdraft. While one of the benefits of working with a mission agency is its ability to carry missionaries through such times of need, the missionaries must accept responsibility to eliminate such debt. Normal indebtedness, such as car payments or mortgage payments, are included in the support estimate and are part of monthly transactions.
So what happens when a missionary gets into serious debt?
• First we assess together whether the need constitutes a need for an emergency return home to raise support. The pastor of the sending church is a part of such discussions. Coming home briefly adds to debt and is not always the solution.
• Analyze source(s) of indebtedness, once or ongoing, irresponsible or unavoidable.
• Work out a plan for recuperation – writing to raise support, staying on field if at all possible.
• Get financial counseling if needed, to spend only what God has provided.
• Demonstrate fiscal responsibility and stability, trusting God.
• Communicate need without whining about every expense.
RETIREMENT PROVISIONS
Churches are expressing grave concerns about the rising number of retired missionaries they are continuing to support. We’ve taken definite steps to improve that situation, but a generation of under-supported missionaries will be with us for a good while to come. We have always allowed our missionaries to set funds aside in a retirement investment plan, but many never gave it high enough priority to begin, granted the financial pressures of lacking support for the work.
Now we require that missionaries be investing toward retirement before they can be cleared for their second term of service. If a couple will lay aside the specified minimum amount for 25 years they can retire on the income from that adequate nest egg, presuming favorable compound interest. We do not run a pension program for the missionaries. We offer a few series of professionally-managed instruments through the Office for tax-deferred retirement investment. Those invested funds are owned by the missionaries, not the mission.
We never recommend that missionaries get out of Social Security. For those who can conscientiously meet the requirements they are allowed to do so, expressing “religious convictions against receiving benefits.” That also means the loss of Medicare, disability coverage, Medicaid, and other retirement benefits. Technically, Social Security is not “welfare,” not when you have paid into it at a prodigious rate for many years. It is a retirement investment program which just happens to be poorly managed.
Our GOAL is to release the supporting churches from the support of retired missionaries. We want to be able to say, “Thanks, you’ve already provided for their future. Go ahead and divert that support to other active missionaries.” This will take another generation.
Retired missionaries continue to have a support account, to receive a monthly statement, and to continue in some reduced form of ministry as they desire and are able. In many cases their supporters will continue to underwrite their continuing ministries even at their diminished pace in retirement.
Retirees are still missionaries. Being a servant of Christ does not stop when the rigor of regular days and weeks of work at ministry comes to a halt. But the pressure is off and they are free to work to the rhythm of the rocking chair as well as the punch clock. Check out more details on retirement planning at the conclusion of Chapter 13, “the final furlough.”
Chapter 13
FORMULATING FURLOUGH
“FURLOUGH: Active duty away from the front lines.”
We take a lesson from the military culture which recognizes the need for military personnel to get away from the stress of front line duty, with or without combat, for the relief of R&R. Missionary soldiers need no less rest, especially when their working conditions routinely involve extremes of climate or of political hostility.
• Yes, the nationals don’t get a furlough, but they sometimes die young from the stress and they do not live in a cross-cultural stretch. They do take vacations.
• Yes, our American pastors don’t get furloughs, but do take vacations. Pastors don’t need to raise additional support or keep in constant contact with the source of their financial underwriting. Pastors don’t live in areas of extreme climate from which relief is necessary for prolonged service.
• Yes, it is said that the devil never takes a furlough, but that presumes that those superhuman demonic personnel don’t need rest, or that they are not rotated to different situations. We don’t really know. If the devil can get us to fret enough about him and his forces, he can take a vacation and we’ll keep on worrying about him without his help.
• Yes, some of the old heroic pioneer missionaries never took a furlough, but they died young on the field out of contact with churches and families. When the founder of Baptist Mid-Missions died in Africa in 1924 it took 14 months for word of his passing to reach his family in the States.
There is something to be said for furloughs, after all.
The first missionary team encountered in the Book of Acts returned home to their sending church for a time of reporting and rest and regrouping before they returned to that most strenuous ministry. Acts chapter14 concludes with the furlough visit to their home church. Acts 18:22-23 breezes through Paul’s second furlough in a couple of sentences.
• REPORTING: The missionaries were accountable to their sending church, so they went back and gave reports to “First Baptist Church of Antioch” and other churches along the way as to how God had worked through them. On the larger scale, these pioneer missionaries were witnesses of the theological changes being debated by the Church at large. They brought compelling testimony of the direct work of the Holy Spirit among the gentiles which prevented the churches from falling into the trap of cultural limitations on new believers. God used the missionaries on furlough to awaken sensitivity to the spiritual opportunities that abounded out among the nations. The missionaries contributed to the churches vital stimulation about evangelistic challenges and theological realities beyond their local vision.
• REST: There was time provided by the church to rest in the shelter of their protective care, the refreshment of their fellowship, and the reassurance of their continuing confidence. Jesus insisted that His disciples “come apart for a while” before they came apart for good. That wise counsel followed into the missionary efforts of the newly formed churches as they sent out disciples. This was the time for the church to minister to its missionaries rather than through them.
• REGROUPING: The missionary teams were restructured after the resolution of divergent visions for ministry (Acts 15:39-40). With the blessing of the sending churches, missionaries paired up and recruited new workers for two teams and headed out, or back, to their mission fields. Teams multiplied and fruit abounded.
Furlough is not an accident, nor a vacation. It is an integral part of the missionary career which is to be thoughtfully designed to maximize its benefit for the missionaries and their families and their churches. Again, furlough is active duty away from the front lines. How should missionaries formulate their furloughs?
FURLOUGH: A BOOST TO MINISTRY
Missionaries will come home for a debriefing with their mission administrators and also in their sending church. This allows time for analysis of plans, efforts, successes, failures, and new plans in a supportive atmosphere of understanding of the cultural environment in which they have labored. The measures of success are so much more than numbers – of services, or tracts, or sermons, or converts. Peoples vary widely in their responsiveness to the gospel. Assessment of “success” will be more concerned with quality of witness, spiritual dimensions of growth, deepening of discipleship, and solidarity of the churches than with mere statistics of results.
Once on their own, the missionary family will do their own evaluation of the quality of their ministry. Listen in on one family’s sharing of evaluation.
A. Post-term Evaluation
The first question in the post-term evaluation is, “Are you worth sending back?” We can calculate the total of support funds expended for a single term, and wonder if we accomplish enough that the churches would really feel they’d gotten their money’s worth.
• “Well, are you worth sending back?” After an awkward pause we answer “yes.”
• The next question is, “WHY?” The answer may surprising, since the inventory of accomplishments is sometimes mostly in an area where we do not consider ourselves to be gifted. Maybe one of the questions on tests for spiritual gifts needs to be, “What gifts are you afraid you might have?”
• The next question was, “How can you do better?” This leads naturally to the formulation of …
B. Furlough Prescription
The furlough is not a rest from ministry. We also call it “Reporting Ministry” since that is what occupies our highest priorities. FURLOUGH really is active duty away from the front lines. Unfortunately in South America, the word “vacation” is the same as “furlough” in military usage.
Furlough is a time of refocused ministry, including building up the family members for improved service. We ARE professionals, remember? We expect doctors and nurses to take refresher courses, so why not seminary teachers and church planters? Think of the value of further study during furlough to complete a degree or expand into a new field. There may be a Christian college or university or seminary nearby, or there are numerous internet-based courses which can then be continued back on the field. By the first furlough, missionaries have a far more realistic notion of how they can best contribute to the permanent work of the field. Possible profitable areas of study include:
• Further seminary or other biblical studies
• Ministry methodologies – church planting
• Counseling, or other areas of pastoral function for church planters
• Communications: publications, broadcasting
• Educational technology
• Educational administration
• Cultural studies related to their host nation and people groups
• Strategic planning, project management
• Missiology: technical studies in mission theory and strategy
• Social and theological movements faced on their fields
• Construction, or church building design, if needed
Going back to school, as I did, is NOT the only Rx. Think about what missionaries could learn for their work: Guitar? Puppets? Visitation? Christian education? Help in home schooling? Hair styling? Computer repair? Drafting? Music arranging? TESL?, Library science? Rest? What sorts of experts in the church might be able to train missionaries for certain aspects of their work? Not all areas of improvement call for academic programs. There are seminars, or night classes at a local community college or vocational school, which may meet some needs. Members of the home church may have expertise in computer operation, small business administration, bookkeeping, graphic design, sewing, music, and other useful fields for which they would be willing to give instruction to missionaries on furlough. Missionaries may have skills which enable them to teach in Bible college or similar settings during their year at home.
Develop a furlough plan with the missionaries which integrates that year into their lifelong ministry development, without wearing them out from frantic furlough activity.
C. Next - term Goals, or “GOPS”
By mid-furlough it is time to define ministry for the next term.
G oal
What is the one overarching purpose for going to BongoBongo? This is not their life’s vision statement with abstracts like “To glorify Christ.” This is more concrete like their primary ministry description: “To train national workers for the gospel ministry in our three-state region.” Or whatever is their main ministry.
O bjectives
What specific processes would help us to realize the general goal? Seminary teaching, ministry mentoring, TEE centers, music group training, etc. The objectives are the enabling methodologies and their aims which help them reach the goal.
P lans
Specific plans emerge from the larger goal and objectives, with phases and programs and targets for accomplishment in specific locations. What will WE do each year?
S tandards
Standards complete the plans with demanding statements of quality control, calendric deadlines, and parameters of success so you know when you’ve completed a plan or objective and can measure how well. Real success and failure are measurable. How well will we complete each of those objectives?
D. Plan of Action: 4 years ahead
So, missionaries return to their field with a (simple) plan in hand for each of the next four years. Each mission family will integrate their personal plan into the masterplan of their field team as they work together in harness. But having a plan facilitates their shift to a new track according to a new plan. A realistic new plan of action is soon laid out as the trajectory for that next term of service. It is adjusted annually.
FURLOUGH: A BOON TO MISSION FAMILIES
Despite the moaning and groaning about the rigors of furlough travel, it is really a welcome and refreshing break from the rigors of field ministry. This is particularly where the tropical or frigid climate does a number on health. If initial deputation allowed the concentration of supporters within a day’s drive from home, the whole furlough will not be spent in the car.
The children will need a normal school year getting re-oriented into American life – the other side of their TCK coin (See Chapter 14.). They will have their struggles to get in gear with what is cool, but with time and patience they will fit in comfortably, and even be resource persons in school. MKs naturally relate to internationals in their schools and neighborhoods because of their cultural adaptability.
Missionary families will soon get into the rush and crush of American life, but at least it is different from the stresses of their normal ministry responsibilities. Whether or not the church provides housing for their missionaries, they will shelter them for the first months by freeing them from heavy expectations of ministry participation. The pastor and his wife will spend some quality time with the missionaries, both husband and wife, or singles, to listen with interest and understanding to their stories of struggles and victories in an informal debriefing for mutual encouragement. Soon enough they will begin ramping up for their return to the field with new plans and equipment and supplies. Churches will keep in mind that it takes three months to get over living overseas for four years, and three months to get ready to return.
The youth groups in the church can be prepared in advance to receive the MKs in their age groups. They can be sensitized to the simple fact that these MKs may freely function in Africa or Europe, but may not know much about life in America. Teens can be especially cruel and impatient with those who don’t “fit” smoothly, so they can be open to explain things or at least accept people who may feel disoriented for a while.
During furlough ministries, missionaries are observed by pastors. They may catch glitches in ministry methods, family relationships, or attitudes that can be improved. Such a pastor may wish to counsel the missionaries in an encouraging manner. A persistent problem should be reported to the mission on the Deputation Evaluation Form that missionaries are to leave with the pastor after each meeting. Recurring hindrances are treated by the Administrator for Church Relations, and such matters are communicated to the pastor of the sending church. The team plays together for the good of all.
FURLOUGH: A BLESSING TO CHURCHES
Churches benefit from having missionary families around, whether as church members who are in services when not traveling, or as visiting families for reporting ministry. Many of the benefits mentioned in our chapter on deputation also accrue from furlough ministry. Again, furlough is active duty away from the front lines.
The church enjoys another mature Christian family or single person to model Christian living among them.
• The pastor has a back-up preacher on his bench, or a seasoned teacher to team teach in the Sunday school when available during deputation.
• The missionaries can be active in the visitation and other outreach ministries of the church. They don’t just talk about their missionary ministry “over there” but continue it while home in their church.
• The young people and other prospective missionaries in the church are confronted by the presence of those who live on the mission field, enjoy it, and expect to return – with new help.
• The church can realistically plan short term ministry trips to help in the ministry on the field, or construction, or other projects, to participate in the ministry of their missionaries.
One missionary doctor penned her own medical description of the furlough syndrome, thinking of furlough as a beneficial medicine to be taken. Let’s read the fine print in the packaging information on this effective drug.
• Indications. Prescribed for missionaries as a period of leave from their new home (the field of service) in order to the return to their homeland.
• Dosage. Dosage schedules vary, but often taken every 4 years (duration 1 yr.), or more frequently (duration < 1 yr.).
• Mechanism of Action. A concentrated effort is made to visit prayer and financial supporters, with the purpose of informing and expressing personal gratitude to them. Others are visited as time, schedules, and opportunities allow.
• Pharmacokinetics. Miles and miles of travel occur over a somewhat erratic course, with hours of sitting in a car and multitudes of fast food meals while driving.
• Other Treatment Options. None have been presented that are viable.
• Clinical Studies. Other missionaries have shown treatments to be fruitful and beneficial. Many churches and individuals appreciate the fresh, first-hand accounts of God at work in other places and in hearts of people little known to them. (Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, and others in the past took doses only infrequently, but that was a different era of time and travel.)
• Adverse Effects. 1) Eating too much (at first of foods one hasn’t eaten for a long time, then later of foods one won’t get to eat again for a long time); 2) eating too much of the wrong foods (Did you ever try to eat a healthy diet while driving?); 3) Suitcase confusion (In just which suitcase is that application, anyway?); 4) adjusting to climates one’s body isn’t used to; 5) missing the ministry, friends, and nationals on the field; 6) adjusting from the needs of the poor to those of the affluent (By comparison, that’s most of us.).
• Positive Benefits. 1) Reattachment to one’s homeland, learning of and adapting to cultural changes there; 2) building on old friendships and beginning others; 3) fellowship with family; 4) sharing with others what God has done where one has worked for the past few years, and introducing them to a unique people group and culture; 5) encouraging others with the truth that God can indeed use anyone; 6) stepping away from the ministry on the field long enough to see it from a fresh perspective; 7) rekindling one’s vision for seeing lost souls come to Christ.
• Conclusions. Furlough is a missions ministry to those in one’s homeland, laced with challenges but enriched with blessings which ultimately strengthen future ministry and renew confidence in God’s passion, power, provision, and purpose.
Joy Anglea, M.D., Prayer letter January 2004 (Now Medical Director for Baptist Mid-Missions) (Used by permission)
FURLOUGH HOUSING: NOW THE CHURCH’S CONCERN
Where will the missionary family live during their furlough? Finding a suitable place to live is no small matter, especially for a family with school-age children for a full year. This should be negotiated with the family well in advance of their return for furlough. The sending church should see that as one element of their responsibility to their missionary family.
There are a few options for consideration.
• Look for access to highways and an airport, availability of appropriate schooling for the children, cost of rental in relation to their housing costs on the field, especially if they need to maintain that housing together with furlough facilities, furnishings and equipment for living, and privacy for the family. It is no favor to locate a furloughing family out in isolation from their churches, schools, and healthcare.
• Some churches maintain a missionary house, available to a succession of missionaries from that area, with priority given to their own members.
• Such mission houses may be available within reasonable reach of the church as a base of operations.
• Some church members own rental houses which might be available for the furlough year of missionaries.
• Some church members who are empty nesters may be able to accommodate a whole family in their home during a year, especially as “snow birds” spend several months away for winter months.
• A few missionaries own houses of their own at home, and can arrange with renters to vacate the house in time for their return. This is unusual.
• Some furloughing families with few children rent an apartment or mobile home.
ACCOUNTABILITY INTERVIEWS
The visit of a missionary family on furlough is a natural time for the supporting church to have an in-depth interview. The purposes of such an interview should be carefully defined before they are undertaken. Keep in mind that the family has a special measure of accountability to their sending church, so that church will have more intimate interviews than supporting churches will conduct.
The goal of the interview for supporting churches is to get to know their missionaries better, to express their supportiveness, and to know what they have accomplished on behalf of the church on their field. Many churches send out an annual accountability questionnaire to the missionaries they support. What should be asked on such a form? The missionaries are certainly accountable to their churches. The churches want to inquire in ways that do not project judgment and doubt, but interest and care. Churches will keep in mind the degrees of responsiveness of different people groups and nations so they can measure effort rather than just results. Questions about ministry should relate to the nature of ministry that people carry out.
It is true that every missionary, regardless of their specific task areas, is there on the field at their expense as a witness for Christ.
• It is quite proper to ask about personal witnessing, whether it is entirely a sowing ministry or there is some reaping. Cite specific cases of individuals approached and touched, neighbors they have helped, friendships developed.
• Missionaries can describe their ministry responsibilities whether in a church or institution, whether formal or informal, whether public or below the radar.
• What is a typical day like, picking a Tuesday rather than Sunday? What is a typical Sunday like?
• What are the religious affiliations and practices of their host people, and how do they approach them with the gospel?
• What are their struggles in terms of general lifestyle? Family life? Education of the children? Transportation?
• Do they have adequate support? How much do they lack? How many supporting churches do they have? The missions committee may wish to review the support level breakdown as you review how the cost of living impacts ministry.
• How do they maintain their spiritual life and fervor, both as individuals and as a family? How do the children fit into their life at church?
• Who are their national partners in ministry, and how are they developing as successors? Is there a timeline for their church or other ministry with major goals to be accomplished?
• What specific prayer requests do they want to mention?
• How can the churchfolks help them? Could they visit and do a project? Or prepare something at home to send them? Are there magazines the family members would enjoy?
All of these inquiries are in a spirit of confidence in them and concern for them. This is not an investigation by the missionary cops who are checking up on ROI (return on investment), but a concerned family that wants to know how to lovingly help them toward their goals.
When the church prepares an accountability questionnaire for annual reporting it will maintain that same spirit. It will measure success by more than the number of souls won to Christ in the past 12 months. It will ask questions related to the kind of ministry done by missionaries, especially when their success is in the accomplishments of those they train and disciple.
FURLOUGH MINISTRY: ASSOCIATE PASTOR?
Some raise the question as to whether a missionary on furlough can function as an associate pastor in his home church. There is no simple answer to this, so let’s consider several dimensions of this situation.
If 70% of these missionaries’ support is elsewhere, they will spend a good bit of time on the road, though hardly 70% of it. If a missionary bears a titled position at the home church, the other supporters may wonder if they are just funding a free assistant pastor for another church. The “Smiths” are missionaries on furlough, or on reporting ministry, probably enough of a title already to justify their involvement in church ministries. Their mission ministries come first, however much they may be mixed with ministry at home. There may be other supporting churches within a reasonable travel radius which will expect to see them for more than one service during the year, or with some participation in their ministries.
In the meantime, when they are home and available, they ought to be freely active in their church. Once they are past normal R&R they are already a part of the church's ministry staff. The home church probably provides a healthy proportion of their support, so does not need to add part-time salary apart from normal reimbursement of ministry expenses.
Even when the missionaries have some regular responsibility in the church while at home, both they and the church understand that their primary responsibility is furlough: getting over the rigors of life abroad, getting to all of their supporting churches, raising needed additional support, and getting ready for the rigors of returning to their field. They will attend mission conferences, and may go back for more formal schooling. If the church wears them out with overload during furlough they do their own missionaries a great disservice. Of course, the Smiths need to understand that too, and not initiate so much that they exhaust themselves when they owe it to their church to return to their field charged up for another term of service. There is a delicate balance here.
Frankly, it is wonderful to see missionaries who are so eager to render service to their own church. That is the missionary spirit which we foster. But in Acts 14 it seems that Paul & Co. allowed the church to minister to them even as they participated in the greatest missionary conference ever. The focus of those missionaries on furlough was their return to their field, taking others along with them. So the Smiths could mention in letters to their constituency that when they are not out on the road, or otherwise attending to furlough activities, they are active in the outreach and inreach ministries of their home church. This is because they are missionaries by nature, not because of any financial considerations. They should not need to explain that they are not “double-dipping” by receiving missionary support plus any expenses from the church. They are already set free from the daily financial pressures by having missionary support and should not need to depend on part-time wages. If their support is low, as is normal, they should spend more of their Sundays out raising new support for their proven ministry.
The demands of furlough do not allow missionaries to accept regular ministry assignments such as teaching a Sunday school class for the year or pastoring an ethnic congregation. There are too many times they are properly absent. The church will understand that this is the church they minister FROM, not just IN. Still, the church can welcome them for occasional ministries:
• a substitute teacher in various classes
• a youth speaker
• an occasional guest preacher or teacher of ladies’ Bible studies
• in home visitation as available
• the missionaries in VBS
• Scheduling a short series of weekday missions studies during one month
• and other normal activities.
THE FINAL FURLOUGH: RETIREMENT
When should one’s active career come to a conclusion? When is the final furlough? Many missions don’t have compulsory retirement at a set age. When active missionaries of Baptist Mid-Missions reach age 70 they are detached from their field councils and brought under the direct administration of the Field Administrator in the Home Office. He is far more objective about yanking the cord of someone who is starting to undo all of the good he or she has done, especially when by then the senior missionary on the field.
Some are inclined to argue that retirement is not in the Bible. Well, the missionaries we see in Acts all died in active duty and never got to retire. That may not be the best model for those who work in less hostile environments.
In Numbers 8:23-26 we read that Levites could serve as priests at age 25 and had to step down at age 50. This 25-year limit did not mean they were no longer Levites, nor were not eager to serve the Lord. But their active duty had specified tenure in the will of God and then they served in other ways. This was their sort of an extended furlough, or “active duty away from the front lines.” They retired into support roles, probably including the training of the younger priests. They could also serve the Lord in roles not related to the strenuous tabernacle activities. They were still to “keep the charge” (v. 26) or maintain the high standards of servants of the LORD as dignified representatives of God’s work and will.
Those who retired were no less dedicated to the Lord than those who remained on active duty. They were not “un-called,” but had fulfilled their calling and now faced other options for service. They were still supported by the tithes of the larger Israelite community. God clearly blessed and even mandated their honorable retirement from active duty.
Earlier in Numbers, chapter 4 describes the service of the Kohathites who carried the furniture and equipment of the Tabernacle. The chapter repeatedly (from verse 3 on) limits their active service to “from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old…to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.” This heavy, demanding work was continually passed down to new generations of younger qualified workers, and the veterans took their places of honor in the ranks of the retired. They were instructors of the young. They had done their share of the demanding front-line work. Their continuing presence helped to maintain the high standards of the work through new generations. They were a seasoned voice of encouragement to those who continued after them to carry the load of service.
Mission agencies have administrators who are trained to walk missionaries through the mazes of decisions related to retirement. This is especially helpful for those who have spent most of their lives outside the USA and are not up on the blizzard of changes in retirement issues, Social Security, health insurance, revising wills, and myriad other decisions they face.
Retirement counseling will cover the major issues faced by those who are completing their careers, often done in concert with their home church pastors. The mission offers specific training for retirement planning as a phase of life. The main fields of inquiry include four areas of concern.
• What do we DO? Those who are called to a lifetime of ministry will always seek ways to serve the Lord: in their church, in their community, in their mission. The radius of responsibility of their home church is now their mission field. There are numerous ways to use that experience and energy for the glory of God and the good of many people. No retired missionary will languish in a rocking chair until that is all that health permits.
• Where do we LIVE? Careful thought can be given to stages in housing in the remaining years, including who in the family might be responsible for their care. Independent housing in a house or condo, or assisted living, or moves toward nursing home care. Good forethought and counsel can aid in future transitions before they become urgent. Baptist Mid-Missions has a retirement village for missionaries in the peaceful Ozarks, south of St. Louis, Missionary Acres. Some will select other retirement centers, or remain in places of their own choosing, normally with family. See for information.
• How do we FINANCE life now? In the retirement interviews, financial administrators will assess projected cost of living in retirement circumstances, and look into resources like Social Security, retirement investment annuity, and any other personal sources of income. Then they can accurately calculate how much, if any, support from churches may be needed to maintain their missionaries. The mission administrators serve as advocates both for the churches (which want to fund active missionaries) and for the missionaries (who began too late to prepare for retirement) for a mutually fair solution. Of course, the supporting churches may have their own internal policies about the support of missionaries in retirement. The objective of the mission in requiring missionaries to actively contribute to a retirement investment program during their career is eventually to liberate the churches from any sense of obligation to support retirees.
• How do we handle declining HEALTH? Some factors cannot be planned. The one certainty is that all of us will die. If we are interrupted by the Rapture this whole matter is cared for in one trumpet blast, not to worry. But we do not know when or how we will die, or if it will be sudden or drawn out for years. So issues of insurance, the cost of health care, and the need for care for elderly missionaries are issues of concern to all, including the sending churches. This is complicated when a new pastor does not even know a missionary his church has supported for 40 years, but is still a concern of the church.
RETIREMENT PROCEDURE:
As a mission family approaches retirement there are specific steps to be taken, sharing with the home pastor the appropriate details.
• Analyze with the Administrator for Missionary Finance the total assets of the family, both income and investments, real estate equity, Social Security, personal or inheritance funds, etc. This is entirely confidential.
• Estimate the needed income during retirement. This might be actual cost figures as known, or an estimate based on a percentage of current income (70%? 80%? 50%?) in light of anticipated activities and needs.
• Any shortfall represents a need for ongoing support at a reduced rate from churches. This presumes a willingness on their part to continue support. Churches will be sent a letter requesting continuation of support at 50% of their current rate (or whatever percent will meet the need).
• If there is sufficient support or excess, a letter will express thanks for support and release them to redirect it.
Some of our very wise missionaries figured, “As long as we can stand, and we can work, we’ll stay on the field. When we take others’ time away from the ministry to care for us, then for the good of the work we’ll go on home.” That particular couple retired to their hometown and rented an apartment. To their immense delight they found themselves surrounded by Asian immigrants and rejoiced to be on the mission field again.
Summary. The simple solution to the financial stresses in missions is for the churches to give more sacrificially and the missionaries to live more sacrificially. If all Christians would place a tenth of their income under the discipline and authority of their local churches, no worthy ministry would ever languish for lack of support.
Because of improved living conditions, missionaries are now retiring. When the modern missionary movement got underway the average life expectancy of a missionary in Africa was eight years. It was not unusual for missionaries to Africa or Asia to pack some of their goods in their own casket, taken along as a trunk. Very few retired, and little provision was made for such since their families would care for them in advanced years. Times have changed, and missionaries can serve a full career from age 30 to 70, and still be around for another fifteen years. So, honorable care for the elderly has become a normal part of member care for missionaries by the churches they served. As these retired missionaries continue in their churches at home they can often undertake ministries which help those churches to grow in quantity and quality.
The final furlough can still be one of the most productive and joyful phases of the missionary career.
Chapter 14
MKS: A TREASURED RESOURCE
The TCK Experience
In any family, the children are the treasured foreshadowing of the future. This is no less true in the mission family of Baptist Mid-Missions. Parents are called to lifetime missionary service and the children go along as part of the family under their parents’ calling. The world they grow up in is a mixture of their home culture and their host culture, and they do not fully fit in either one. As they develop their own personal synthesis of the two cultures that pull them in opposite directions they develop their own hybrid culture. So children who grow up in this cultural tug-of-war have come to be called TCKs, or “Third Culture Kids.” TCKs are not just Americans being raised overseas, but nationals of any country raised in nations other than their familiar home country. These TCKs have been called “global nomads” and are seen as the prototypical citizens of the new millennium.
This kind of cultural tension is common to several categories of children. We are focusing on missionary kids. Many of the same phenomena occur with the children in military families based overseas, business or university families outside their own country, and families of the diplomatic corps. The military and embassy families tend to have fairly well-defined living conditions, corporate culture, and special schools. They carry their own environment of the homeland with them as sort of a cultural bubble.
So the missionary kids, MKs, tend to have more in common with those from business families which are more on their own for life and tend to gravitate to the nearby missionary families for company and counsel.
THE MK STUDY AND RESULTS
When Dr. Gary Anderson became president of Baptist Mid-Missions in 1988, one of his first actions was to commission a detailed study of our own Missionary Kids, both current and those who are now adults, currently in and out of the mission. He stated, “I am consumed with the need to know what our children’s needs are and to know how best to make the resources of the Mission available to our children. I can find no excuse to be casual about so valuable a gift as our children.” A broadly representative committee under the competent direction of an MK, Rev. Larry Fogle, studied the key issues and resources to identify the most important questions to ask. There were plenty of open-ended questions which invited their more extended commentary. Appropriate questionnaires were prepared for all adults serving in Baptist Mid-Missions whether or not MKs, MK teens and adults whether or not still in the mission, and children of 6 to 12 years of age within the mission. Committee members repeatedly pored over the returned forms, carefully tabulating objective responses and recording opinions and suggestions.
The 80-page booklet For Love of the MKs was published in 1989 (now out of print). This led to an analysis of what we were doing right, what we were not doing right, what we needed to begin to do, and what we needed to discontinue. A few suggested avenues of service were enacted immediately, while others awaited budgetary liberty to proceed. The collective voice, a varied voice of joy and pain, was heeded at the highest strategic levels.
Many of the observations noted below are derived from this report as well as from related works in the Bibliography related to this chapter, and from direct observation of our precious Missionary Kids.
Typical MK problems
The problems of MKs are eloquently presented, though with some gross exaggerations and caricatures, in Barbara Kingsolver’s dynamic novel The Poisonwood Bible. The story follows a missionary family to somewhere in tropical Africa where the wife and three daughters narrate successive chapters in their own terms and idiosyncratic styles. They struggle in their own fascinating ways to adapt to their new missionary lifestyle and the intrusion of the jungle into all of life. The tropical setting is thoroughly authentic, since the author lived in the Congo while her father served in the diplomatic corps, but she views the missionary culture as an outsider and has a distorted view of its ideals, at least as the story purports to present evangelical missionaries. The lack of inner spirituality in the family, apart from the absentee father, is readily apparent. In a later interview the author stated that she purposely presented a caricature of missionary men to create the environment which made her story of the women meaningful. Still, the prize-winning book is an engaging and valuable experience to help one crawl inside the psyche of those TCKs. Oprah Winfrey is not the only one to recommend highly this work to those who wish to comprehend cross-cultural adaptation! Read with discernment.
Some of the problems which MKs face are the same as those in any family, or any Christian family, anywhere in the world. Teenagers are teenagers. Whatever their family settings, they struggle to transition smoothly from childhood to adulthood. In view of that commonality, we will ignore those problems which are universal and seek to isolate the tensions which are peculiar to MK experience. MKs tend to grow up on the road, swept into active deputation. Then they travel overseas, and they travel quite a bit or end up living apart from their parents. MKs call a lot of non-family people “aunt” and “uncle.”
As a rule, children follow the attitudes of their parents. If the parents are apologetic or frustrated over their intercultural life, the children tend to adopt the same dissatisfaction. The positive parents tend to have positive children. Some of the downside of this experience is notable. Let’s think through some of the negative dimensions of the TCK experience.
• Rootlessness. Ask MKs, “Where are you from?” and they are not sure if they should relate to their birthplace, or their parents’ home towns, or where they most recently lived overseas, or where they are on this furlough. They don’t know just where they really belong. “Home” is where their family is now located.
• Culturefit. Some MKs feel pressured to fit into a culture they don’t respect and where they don’t necessarily want to be. The strange language is frustrating and unwelcome.
• Separation anxiety. MKs seem always to be saying goodbye to the friends gained during a term of service or in one of their many locations. It is hard for them to build strong friendships, so they insulate themselves from needing others. They grow to be independent, sensitively linking to other disconnected teens.
• Cocooned. Some MKs are spoiled by the parents’ professional advantages, often having domestic servants, being perceived as rich kids, having special schooling, being protected, however isolated.
• Intercultural marriage. Cross-cultural or interracial marriage is a much stronger possibility for those who have adapted to another culture. This is not a disadvantage to them, but may be perceived negatively by others in the family. They, better than their parents, recognize otherethnic people as persons rather than as members of some people group or racial category.
• Unemployable. Some teen MKs face being unemployable foreigners, with no identity or skilled experience apart from their parents’ work. Once back in the States they can hardly compete with seasoned teenagers who are rooted in the American work force. Typical MK skills may not be marketable.
• Resentful. A few MKs grow bitter, depressed, and insecure, feeling tossed around by the whims of their parents’ ministry which may seem to have taken higher priority than family. Unknown dangers lurk just beyond the wall around the small yard. The universe has shrunk down to a tiny cell. A very few MKs have expressed resentment that “My dad loves those natives more than me.” This is also true of some pastors’ kids or deacons’ kids as well.
• Family. Even one’s family is ill-defined since all of the adults are “aunt” or “uncle,” while the other MKs are not cousins. One’s “real” family is far away and unknown. It may be possible to borrow a “grandma” on the field.
• Loss. When families have gone to the mission field in their later years without integrating their teens into the sense of calling, those youth have a lot more to give up for this venture into the unknown. Teens are rooted in America with sports teams, sizzling romances, and access to adventures. Suddenly they feel yanked away from all that they enjoyed most as they go far away to live in a strange environment.
Typical advantages enjoyed by MKs
• Adaptability: MKs are unusually adept at making themselves at home in new circumstances. They are models of the new international population, at home in a variety of settings. In 2003 one of our mission families which had served in four different countries wrote in their yearend letter, “This Christmas, our five children will be in five separate countries. Praise God for allowing them to serve Him all over the world.” Among those children there was also interethnic marriage and interethnic adoption in a positive and supportive family environment.
• Language. MKs are able to speak more languages and to function more readily in other cultural settings than are their monocultural American counterparts. This broadens the range of their confident functionality and employability.
• Friendflex. MKs have unique agility in making friends across cultural lines and behavioral differences. They have already lived on both sides of the culture gap. Once in college, the MKs tend to gravitate to each other and to the international students as fellow outsiders to the host American culture.
• Accepting. MKs are quickly at home with people quite different from themselves. This is because they have spent much of their lives with people of different ethnicity, allowing them to appreciate personhood beyond the skin color and superficial appearances. Their own sense of identity is a tad more ambiguous. They tend to be risk takers, in relationships, travel, and new experiences.
• Awareness. MKs are exposed to national cultures, from outside and inside, having national friends and being accepted in their homes and families. Missionaries are often friendly with high government officials and business leaders, so their children have some exposure to the homes of these higher-ups as well as among people at lower levels of the socio-economic ladder.
• Experience. MKs tend to be deeply involved in missionary ministries even as teens; given leadership responsibility earlier than teens at home may enjoy. If they learn to play musical instruments they play at church. Their Bible knowledge from Christian school equips them to teach Sunday school classes sooner than their American counterparts who are surrounded by adults who are equipped for such activity.
• Culture. Many MKs have been enriched by participation in the urban cultural life of Europe or Asia or South America, with training in music and the arts well beyond what American youth might experience.
• Family. Missionary life tends to incorporate the whole family, so MKs generally have more sense of participating in what the family is contributing to the country for God. In most American families, Dad just goes away for his job while the family lives their own life apart from that career. Even when MKs go away to boarding school they enjoy a deep sense of belonging to the family and being a part of all it produces.
• Enrichment. MKs gain skills valuable in adult life for international employment, or as missionaries. Some enter the State Department, some international business, some in their own import-export businesses. Language skills can lead to satisfying jobs in international business back in the lands of their upbringing, on linguistic assignments in the military, or in the diplomatic corps.
• Maturity. Most MKs are independent, confident, flexible, experienced, and mature for their years. They are accustomed to being close to leaders and taking responsibility for areas of their parents’ work. Some have observed medical work through the eyes of their parents’ colleagues and have those insights in their repertoire of enriched experiences. This depth is especially true when they have spent part of their childhood living away from home for schooling. This lends more of a sense of independence.
Helping MKs feel at home in America
So how do we of the churches and mission agencies in North America help our missionary children make the transition into “normal” life in America? The real security for MKs comes from their parents, and their attitude toward the host culture. All of them are individuals, and they range from the well-adjusted and ruggedly independent to the mal-adjusted and tentative few who hardly let their parents out of their sight. In this they are like children of churchfolk everywhere. There is no single magic formula for happy MKs, but some hints can help churches help them to adjust to life here in America.
• Accept the fact that MKs have different experiences and values than resident American kids, especially teenagers. They generally have broader and deeper experiences, and have a stronger sense of responsibility, than the kids who now surround them and gawk at them as being “strange” or way too serious. Be ready to accept them for who they are, now. Encourage real friendships.
• Create an atmosphere that allows MKs to ask questions about “things that should be obvious.” Many commonplace elements of our culture are foreign, strange, threatening. MKs may welcome some casual explanations of how things work. Don’t expect them to conform to American culture right away, or ever. Enjoy them as themselves.
• Encourage TCKs to find each other. Allow them time together to take refuge in their common mobile culture, their common foreignness to America. They tend to fit in well with international students from all countries, including their own.
• On occasions, ask TCKs for their observations on life and behavior in America, but don’t regard them only as foreigners. Allow them to feel at home in their own way and time.
• Integrate TCKs into normal church and school activities. One family home on furlough had their MKs enter the statewide church competition for brass instruments in a talents contest. Some lamented, “It’s not fair; they’re MKs,” presuming they had no chance and would end up embarrassed. As it turns out, those MKs in Europe had attended a famous conservatory and grew up getting professional music training all through their high school years. Once they swept the prizes people observed, “It’s not fair; they’re MKs,” noting their unique opportunities for cultural enrichment.
• Ask them to talk about life and work in their host nation. They have expertise there that is otherwise meaningless here in America. Allow them to show their strengths in knowledge of the customs, history, heroes, arts, and language of their favorite people and real friends.
• Offer prepared homes, or an MK home, for the transition back into Stateside life for students who return without their families for college. Send MKs to seminars. Introduce them to MuKappa, the decentralized fraternity for MKs (based at Taylor University, Upland IN). Their interesting website, offers more details.
• Educate churches to know that struggle in cultural adjustment is not a measure of spiritual failure, including fitting into some behavioral demands of dos and don’ts for American teens.
What BMM has done for MKs
• Baptist Mid-Maples in Wheaton. Back in the 1960s, Baptist Mid-Missions maintained a residence in Wheaton, Illinois, for high school-aged MKs whose parents were on fields which offered little educational opportunity. Students attended a Christian high school nearby. The rise of home schooling and other options led to the discontinuance of this ministry home.
• Baptist MK Home in Elkhart. The needs of MKs who were transitioning from their fields to the USA to start college led to the founding of a home for MKs in transit in Elkhart, Indiana. This provided a training center for teenagers who had no idea what it was like to live in America at a very sensitive time in their lives. The boys learned basic carpentry and car care while the girls learned about cooking and keeping house, all under the loving firmness of a seasoned Mom & Pop missionary couple. The MK house was a refuge and a home away from home during those months of becoming functional Americans on their way to college, and as a getaway for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The home met a real need during the 1980s, but diminishing need for such care led to its discontinuance.
• Baptist MK Ministries. A retired family with that same “Mom & Pop heart” traveled to visit our college MKs on their various campuses. They provided a caring heart, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, or just pizza and a chance to get off campus now and then. Since MKs are often far from “home” it is comforting to be treated as members of a larger family that cares about them.
VISION Newsletter. A dynamic newsletter from the Youth Department of Baptist Mid-Missions communicates with the MKs, along with zillions of other youth, to encourage a missionary vision and a sense of connectedness with a caring mission family.
MK conferences. During the summer Triannual Conferences the mission puts on a parallel conference for the many MKs who attend the conference. Youth and children of the host church share in that conference with its own focus on missions. This involves workshops and studies, along with outings and games geared to the various age groups.
Snow Camp. There have been several snow camps (though some have turned into mud camps) just for our college age MKs who could escape from their campuses in February. The leaders and key preachers are normally MKs themselves who can speak to the unique circumstances of the students. These spiritual retreats have been a highlight for students who need refreshment in an uplifting and understanding environment.
SCHOOLING OPTIONS
One of the most important decisions of parents on the mission field is the education of their children. As a matter of policy, Baptist Mid-Missions regards the decision about options for education to be the responsibility of the parents. Even where there is a BMM school within reach, it is up to the parents to decide whether it is better for each of their children to study in a boarding school, to commute to a school, attend national schools, or to do home study. Parents (should) know what is best for their children, even if the best response is different for each one. While some parents are horrified at the notion of placing their children in boarding school, it is an option which has generally worked for the good of all involved. The children tend to absorb their attitude about their schooling from their moms, so when the mothers are content with their choices for schooling for each of their children, those children feel secure that the best choice has been made in the wisdom God gave.
1. MK Schools. Schools of BMM
The establishing of a school for our MKs calls for some specific criteria, not the least of which is the presence of sufficient children to require and support a school with all of its costs and commotion. The need for opening a school of our own is predicated upon the lack of appropriate schooling opportunities in the other categories listed here. Such schools always presume that there will be room for children from other Evangelical missions as well as the children of American and other English-speaking business families in the city. The numbers of students rise and fall with the numbers of missionary families on the fields. In our own schools, all faculty members are missionaries of Baptist Mid-Missions, whether career or short-term.
Our own schools include…
• The Fortaleza Academy, Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. The Academy was founded in 1954, adding a high school in 1964. It moved to a brand new campus in 2000 as it outgrew its former downtown location. Grades 1 through 12 were offered with limited facilities for resident students, our only boarding school. Its dazzling new campus also housed the national headquarters of Baptist Mid-Missions of Brazil. This ministry continued active until 2010 when the campus was sold.
• Crato Satellite of FA, Crato, Ceara, Brazil. This mini-school serves the families who are working at the Baptist Seminary of the Cariri in the interior of the state of Ceara, with academic connections through the Fortaleza Academy in the capital city. Grades are offered as needed, often in multi-grade classrooms.
• Fetzer Memorial Academy in Lima, Peru. Our school in Peru offers grades 1-12 as needed by families resident in the greater Lima area.
Schools of other missions.
When Christian schools are available within reach of our missionaries they become a viable option for parental consideration. Examples of such schools are the International Christian Academy in Boake, Ivory Coast, and the Puraquequara school in the Amazon Valley outside Manaus, Brazil. Boarding facilities make it possible for children to live at school and enjoy the full-orbed school program for educational, spiritual, and social development in a bicultural environment. There will normally be differences of standards for behavior to be negotiated. When children will be away in boarding school, the parents will carefully avoid any sense of relief that they can dump the kids and get on the with the Lord’s work. For any family, the kids ARE the Lord’s work and their first mission field. For some families, boarding school is the Lord’s choice for them, to be accepted with thanksgiving.
Other schools for expat children
Embassy schools tend to be quite expensive since they are designed around government and business executive families who have a budget allowance for schooling which is higher than what missionaries allot. These tend to be secular schools whose moral and intellectual climate is not always desirable. They are also normally located only in national capital cities, and normally do not offer boarding facilities. Still, this is the best option for some families. Schools on or near American military bases overseas tend not to be open to non-military families.
2. National schools (for all or part of education).
Having our children attend national schools has been an evidence of our eagerness to integrate our lives into their culture. Such possibilities should always be discussed with the children themselves since they may find themselves in a minority setting and even face hostility. The level of their language facility is a major factor in this option. Such education will always have to be supplemented with home study in English and in classes necessary for transition back into the American school system, and to life in general. We cannot presume that our children will be called of God to serve in the nations where they are being raised, so they must be equipped for life in their own homeland.
The increased secularity of what had been traditionally Christian societies, whether in Great Britain or in Catholic South America, has made public schools overseas a less desirable option. In some settings the moral climate has moved from amoral to positively immoral, obligating parents to find other schooling venues for their children. Still, some national schools in urban and suburban settings may be quite acceptable. This is a vital decision to be made by parents, not policy.
National Christian schools.
As a mission we normally do not establish Christian schools, but we encourage national churches to do so when there is little opportunity for children to maintain a Christian testimony in public or parochial schools. Some of these Christian schools are also academically appropriate for the general education of missionaries’ children. Many of them in exurban settings only teach the lower grades and do not properly dovetail with future studies in American schools.
3. Home Schooling.
A growing number of missionary families are teaching their own children at home. Curricular materials and supportive help for undertrained home school teachers make this a valuable and viable approach to this important task. Several excellent systems of Christian home schooling curricular materials are available, some with realtime online interaction on the Internet and others with DVD classes. One concern is that home schooling missionaries not consume excessive time and energies on the raising of their own families. They are given missionary support by churches to go do missionary work as husband and wife, so a normal complement of ministry work is properly expected of the busy parents. That is why they are living in that foreign country.
Single family.
One family may well use home schooling when living in isolation from other missionary families. A family may also share the schooling effort with other families wanting this approach. We had one field where four different families moved to a town to work together, but each family was already using a different home schooling system. It was deemed wisest for each family to continue their own studies, so they studied together separately. It worked just fine since they all agreed to it. Again, parents know best what will work with their children.
Group of families with tutor.
It is often wise for home schooling families to combine their efforts for joint classes as the moms share mentoring responsibilities. It is also possible to seek a teacher to come work with the children in such a “one-room schoolhouse” approach to schooling while the moms give more of their time to their church ministries.
For further reading, see the works in our Bibliography by Blomberg & Brooks, Bowers, Pascoe, and Pollock & VanReken.
Chapter 15
BIBLE TRANSLATION:
PASSING ON THE WORD
The original missionaries determined to “give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). This highlights the central place of the Scriptures in the work of the gospel. The ministry of the Word was clearly the teaching and preaching of the Bible, the Word of God. As we explore some dimensions of the place of the Bible in missions, we discover that Bible translation and church planting missions have worked hand in hand for centuries.
THE BIBLE IN MISSIONS
The very first translations of the Bible in history illustrate the needs of Bible translation both at home and abroad. Nehemiah chapter eight describes in detail the very first known instance of Bible translation, the preparation of a translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew to Aramaic for the Jews returning from exile. They had the Word of God in the original Hebrew, but the returning Jews no longer clearly understood that ancient language. So Ezra and the “first translation committee in history” (Neh. 8:8) translated the Bible as it was read orally so that the “people at home” could understand it better in their own language (then Aramaic) and apply it in their daily lives.
But the Jews in Jerusalem were not the only ones who needed the Word. In Alexandria, Egypt, in the third century before Christ, a large population of Jews needed a translation in Greek, the language of their province of the Greek empire. Hellenistic Jews around the Mediterranean Sea and the Roman Empire spoke Greek. So the Septuagint came into being, a translation of the Hebrew and Aramaic Bible into Greek, the language of the Empire. This translation was in wide use at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry, and actually paved the way for the first missionaries sent out by the early churches.
Those earliest missionaries enjoyed having the Old Testament in both the Hebrew and Aramaic original and in the popular translation into Greek, the Septuagint, already in wide use for over two hundred years. As the apostles and their colleagues spread the gospel throughout the known world it soon became necessary to translate the Scriptures into other languages where the church was being established. Bible translation was one of the earliest support ministries of the second century missionaries.
It is evident as one looks at the history of the church, the history of missions, and the history of Bible translation, that Bible translation and missions are wedded together. When missions advanced, Bible translation advanced. When the church neglected its role in missions, not only did Bible translation languish, but the existing translations fell into disuse as their languages aged into obsolescence. The four periods marked by substantial increase in numbers of Bible translations are the first centuries of the establishment of the New Testament church (AD 30-405), the Renaissance and Reformation (1453-1792), the golden age of missions (1792-1881), and the modern translation explosion (1881-present). Those who were born during the last part of the twentieth century have lived during the greatest period of Bible translation in the history of the world. More Bible translations have been done for the world since the mid-twentieth century until now than in all the centuries combined from that first translation project in Nehemiah chapter eight.
BIBLES INTERNATIONAL
Baptist Mid-Missions was founded by a gifted linguist, Rev. William Haas. His earliest efforts in the former French Equatorial Africa focused on learning local languages so he could share the gospel in the heart languages of the people. As the work developed in FEA and adjoining countries, translations were soon undertaken in several languages.
Missionaries of Baptist Mid-Missions had long been engaged in translating the New Testament, and in some cases the Old Testament, into languages which formerly had no Scriptures. Some complications in finalizing the production of the New Testament for the Makushi language in the far north of Brazil, among other such projects underway, impelled then mission president Dr. Allan E. Lewis to bring to fruition a dream which he and missionary Paul Versluis had discussed. In 1981 Bibles International (BI) was formed as the Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions. This was designed to encourage and facilitate Bible translation by our missionaries by providing specialized resources and personnel in support of such efforts.
Henry Osborn, Ph.D. in Linguistics, had completed the New Testament in the Warao language for that tribe in Venezuela back in the late 1950s. He, along with other key personnel with roots in several African languages, brought significant expertise and experience to the growing translation ministry. BI would provide the consulting services needed by field missionaries engaged in the actual work of translation. They would aid those missionaries who were coordinating the work done by native speakers of the languages, called “mother tongue translators.” In some cases the consultants would work directly with nationals without the “interference” of missionaries.
BIBLE TRANSLATION STANDARDS AND METHODS
Churches are fascinated by Bible translation ministry, but are cautious about important issues related to the nature and clarity of the Word of God in new languages. Often pastors lack understanding of the process of translation, believing it must be done in a literal word-for-word manner. While Bible translation is a very technical matter difficult to describe in detail for everyone’s assurance and satisfaction, certain broad principles stand out as important and essential.
Formal Equivalence vs. Dynamic Equivalence
One of the major debates in our times about Bible translation has to do with the two terms “formal equivalence” and “dynamic equivalence.” In reality, seven different terms are used to describe translation methodologies in an attempt to grasp the complexity of the process: formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence, functional equivalence, complete equivalence, optimal equivalence, meaning-based translation, and closest natural equivalence.
Because these terms are overlapping, confusing, and defined differently by different people, Bibles International has chosen to designate their translation approach by using literary terms more universally understood. Bibles International’s work fits a certain range of these descriptions.
• very literal
• literal
• modified literal BI operates within this range
• near idiomatic
• idiomatic
• free
• very free
• creative rewrite
Another issue in translation that has often been discussed is what is called cultural equivalence or cultural substitution. This translation approach feels free to substitute culturally understood concepts or objects when the target culture of the translation is not familiar with the concept or object found in the Bible. A famous example of this was a translation suggested for Papua New Guinea, where sheep are unknown. In this case they suggested the use of the “piglet of God” instead of the “lamb of God,” since pigs are so abundant and common, and are used in sacrificial rituals. However, even when the concept or object is unknown, there are ways to introduce the concept to the people group, thus helping them grow in their understanding of the world as well of the Bible. The use of cultural substitution can and will actually distort the message of the Bible, and Bibles International does not do this type of equivalence.
Inspiration of the Bible and its Preservation
In keeping with the statement of faith of Baptist Mid-Missions, Bibles International is committed to the verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture. People often think that a belief in verbal plenary inspiration will require a rigid word-for-word translation technique. However, a word-for-word approach will not translate idioms correctly, where the meaning is the sum of three or four words put together in a given linguistic context. Nor will it take into account the meaning implied by the grammatical relationships between the words. Furthermore, what may be expressed by the words in one language may not be completely natural for the other language, so a certain degree of shifting of structures must take place for the meaning to be fully conveyed by the translation. We readily speak of “everybody” or “everyone” while many languages use the equivalent phrase, “all the world” as the closest equivalent. The meaning of the original text must be fully conveyed both by using natural structures of the receptor language and by mirroring critical vocabulary and grammar elements of the original. Good translation will neither rigidly reproduce the mere form of the original nor go beyond the stated meaning of the text to explanation, interpretation, or cultural adaptation.
God has promised to preserve his Word, and has elected to use human means to do it. In the light of this sobering fact, the task of translation is not to be approached lightly. Just as God has preserved his Word over the centuries through the careful work of scribes who copied the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words, so God is continuing to preserve his Word through the careful work of translators all over the world.
Research, Linguistics, and New Churches
Deciding on translation methodology and understanding inspiration and preservation are only the preparation for the work of the translator and the translation organization. The actual task of translation involves many practical steps that bring the missionaries and their organization in contact with the people groups that need the translation. It is not exactly like placing a want-ad in the paper that says: “Bible translations done. Will supply the paper.” The people who most need the translation often do not even know what the Bible is, and in many cases their language still has no written form. Further, a handful of new converts seeking to form a new church does not automatically include people who will be capable of doing a Bible translation for their own people. Much other preparatory work is needed.
Just as missionaries do survey trips to find out where there are people groups that have not heard the Gospel, so missionary linguists do survey trips to find out what languages certain people speak. They seek to know how they are related to other languages nearby, and what work may have already been done in translation or literacy. Such research can determine if these people can properly use an existing translation in a neighboring language or a dominant trade language in the area, or if a translation must be made for their language alone.
For those people groups that have no written form for their language, the missionaries’ first task is to develop an appropriate alphabet for expressing that language in writing. This will take into account the full range of significant sounds used by speakers, sometimes involving several tones, nasality, aspiration (puffs of air before or after stops), glottal stops, and intonation. Alphabets will conform to the larger linguistic context of that language group and nation to facilitate education later in the process. Common practice is to lean toward the national language for orthography and loan words. Some new alphabets call for approval by the national academy of letters in the capital city before any literature is developed. This process also calls for literacy training and the development of basic reading or literacy materials before people can begin to read their Scripture portions. Clearly, people who cannot read cannot read the Bible.
For Bibles International, an important part of this research is determining if there are believers and growing church groups that will benefit from the proposed translation. They must be willing to be the “crucible” in which the translation can take place. Many things short of a full-blown Bible translation can be done to foster the evangelism of a group of people. The commitment to undertake a Bible translation means there must be a group of believers ready to carry out the task with help from the missionaries and translation experts, and also ready to use the Bible translation for their own growth and the further evangelizing of their own people.
THE ACTUAL TRANSLATION PROCESS
What is involved in the process of expressing the Word of God in a new language? Why does it all take so long and cost so much? In common experience, a New Testament translation takes eight to ten years and costs a quarter of a million dollars (apart from missionaries’ support). Can we rely on the soundness and integrity of personnel involved in this vital work?
Let’s highlight the major steps in the translation of the Bible, generally beginning with the New Testament, and often with Mark, the shortest and most straightforward gospel. We tend to like John for its clear presentation of the gospel. But we must recognize that John is the most philosophical gospel, being in places quite complex and abstract for those who have not grasped the basics of the gospel message. Also, since it is not a synoptic Gospel, John does not contain all the accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus found in the other three Gospels This all leads us to conclude that Mark is a better beginning point for the overall process.
The first book of the Bible in the receptor language should introduce Jesus in His person and work. Also, Mark’s writing style is narrative, the easiest type of material to translate. So Mark is often where the Bible translation will generally start.
Translator training
The major initial drawback of using a missionary translator from outside the host society is that the translator is still learning the language of the people, and will continue to learn it for the next twenty years or so. He or she would feel the need to go back and improve the translation every time it is read for the first 5 years, just because of progress in how to say what needs to be said. A vital alternative is the use of a “mother-tongue translator” or MTT. This is a person who speaks his own language fluently and correctly, and thoroughly understands another language which does have a Bible, or New Testament. He can read the Word in the Bible he has, and write it in his own language in the way his people would express those words and concepts.
Before the actual translation work can begin, translators who are mother-tongue speakers must be selected and trained. The training is normally done by instructing a larger group of believers interested in translation and commended by their fellow believers. They will be taught basic translation principles while being observed. This allows the identification of the most skilled among the trainees and allows time to catch any speech defects, like a lisp or stammer, or personal quirks of speech that might detract from accurate expression of the sounds in writing. This training gives the Bibles International staff an opportunity to work with the potential translators and assess their abilities while training other potential members of the team at the same time. An intensive two-week period is usually devoted to this training. The core translator or translators are selected only at the end, always believers in Christ active in their churches. The other trained people are then organized into a group called the “read and review committee,” a group who helps the translator or translators to assess and test their work.
Analyze the text
For the newly-trained translator, the next task is to begin reading the first book to be translated, and to begin to absorb and analyze what it says (even though he may not yet fully understand what it means). The book of Revelation is one of the hardest books to understand, but is one of the easier books to translate, because John’s language is so simple. He is simply telling us what he saw. Translation is ideally done from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts, but few national translators have the chance to learn these languages well enough to translate directly from them. Since the translator’s work will be checked later on by a consultant knowledgeable in these languages, and since there are so many excellent helps today, even translators who have not mastered the original languages can clearly understand the words and thoughts of the Bible and make excellent translations.
Translate a first draft
Once this translator has done the analysis and studied the section to be translated as thoroughly as he can, he begins writing his first draft. The MTT is usually working from a translation in a language in which he has been educated, normally a major language in their country like Spanish, French, or English. We call this language the “bridge language,” and find it to be vitally important for the entire process of making and checking the translation. The translator will usually compare two or more translations in the bridge language, and work out his translation verse by verse, using Bible dictionaries and other helps in this bridge language.
Test with other speakers of the language
The first draft is now read to a language helper. This is a fluent, correct speaker of the language who can listen to the reading of the first draft, and comment on how to express it more clearly in his or her words. In the practice of Bibles International, our primary informants and mother tongue translators are always Christians so they have spiritual knowledge and enlightenment as well as a working knowledge of their language. We usually have two translators, able to check each other’s work and be the first to read through the draft. Once they have reached a consensus, the read and review committee members are asked to look over the draft in detail. This involves many of the others who went through translation training. Each person is given a copy of the passage or book in question to review it carefully. Then they get together and discuss details of the translation as a group, with the translators present.
We can only imagine what it would feel like to translate the Scriptures, knowing it is the true Word of God, and yet be the one to select the very words and phrases which express the Word of God for all others to follow! What a responsibility!! What is it like for a MTT to read the Bible in his language when he has written it himself? These translators experience the significant weight of the responsibility of handling the Word of God carefully, neither being too precisely literal nor too free and inexact. On top of that is the fact that this translator may be making the first book of any kind his people have ever seen. He is shaping the very literary form of his language. He must neither write at a level too high for the people as a whole, nor write in a way that is unnatural or stilted in their language. The read and review committee shares the responsibility of the translator in carrying this precious load.
Revise
The trained translator will now incorporate into the draft text those changes which the committee suggested, and which are accepted by the other translator. How do you mark the revisions? Scribble in the margin? This is where the computer is wonderful! The translator simply enters the changes and prints a new copy of the book in progress. Formerly a typist would have to type a whole page to change one word. This could easily inject a new typing error, and proofreading a page generally took twice as long as typing it. On the computer, only the changes need be typed, and the rest remains untouched. The computer has reduced project time for a New Testament from about fifteen years to about eight. Also, the use of battery-operated computer units that are simplified laptops has accelerated this work in remote areas where electric power is not consistently available. These tools have allowed translators to more readily translate in the first place and then revise with greater ease and precision. The old nightmares of having one’s sole manuscript copy be burned or stolen are (largely) a thing of the past.
Revise with a consultant
A consultant is a linguist with special training in checking the accuracy and clarity of translation, even if he or she does not know the target language (also called the receptor language). There are two primary ways he or she can check the translation even when not a speaker of that language.
• The first method is by means of an oral back-translation, which means that a native speaker of the language reads the translation and makes a spontaneous translation back into the bridge language he and the consultant are using. This method is spontaneous and can be done on the spot, but it is not the most accurate way of verifying the translation.
• The more accurate method is for a native speaker to write out a back-translation, either a smooth translation or a word-for-word translation, which the consultant then reads and checks. The consultant writes down or notes in another way all the questions he or she has concerning the translation. He or she then discusses these questions with the translator to ensure that the intended meaning of the text is getting across. The consultant also checks that the work conforms to the original text, not just to the intent of this new hearer. The work is tedious, and demands persistence, patience, and perfectionism.
Additional changes are made in the text in response to the consultation
Field Test
Now a first test is done with a small number of copies under controlled circumstances, generally one book at a time. The text is read by pastors and other church leaders, and the reactions of the hearers come in conversation about the text. When a translator for the Siona tribe in northern Ecuador had read, “I am the light of the world,” the hearer thought it meant, “I am the moon.” Try again! And, of course, the hearer might just be limited in exposure to ideas. The words might have been right, but the only light of the world he thought of, apart from the sun, was the moon. So, maybe it was right. Comment noted, try again. Ask questions that measure comprehension.
Field testing will usually include printing some more permanent copies. The quantity will vary with the size of the population, but there may be 500 copies, or 50 copies printed out for the next test. Checks for variations of expression within the target population are also vital. One such trial book of Acts, done for the Makushi Indians in the far north of Brazil, was printed on newsprint, and the cover was heavy paper for insulating electrical transformers, just the right weight. Churches were to use that rough book of Acts for study and reading for a period of months. Some were just learning to read. Then trained language informants circulated among them and asked what parts were difficult to understand, and how they would express those ideas. (The consultant can’t just ask semi-literate subsistence farmers to write their critical observations in the margins! They commonly have such respect for the printed word that they can hardly imagine criticizing a book! Even writing is strange for many.) The use of newsprint paper assures that those temporary early drafts will not be around to haunt them for years to come.
Analyze the feedback
The team collects all of the comments, generally scribbled in the margins of the trial text, and brings them back to the translator. While translation helpers are all Christian believers, the translation is also tested on unsaved people for whom it will express the gospel. Some uninformed readers cannot skillfully revise the text since they don’t necessarily understand what it was intended to say. But they can express their confusion as to what the text says. The problem is when they understand what it says, but don’t know what that means, or don’t like what that means.
This all calls for more changes. There will be many more thanks for the computer. It is fine to train the informants to use computers and save time for all involved, giving them a marketable skill in the meantime. People may be uneducated, but they’re not stupid.
Mistakes slip through. Dr. Henry Osborn had returned to Venezuela where he had translated the Warao NT back in the 1950’s. Now it was being revised and he was the consultant. As they got to the last check he noticed that the translator had properly pulled in a Spanish loan word for “ship” since Waraos didn’t talk about any boats larger than a canoe. But the word chosen was “vapor,” a steamship, when it should have been “návio,” a sailing ship. No one noticed the anachronism until that final final check.
Print for wide distribution
This is B-day, Bible day. The offering of the first New Testament in that language is an historical event. Once the books are printed and are available for distribution, they are presented with great fanfare. A public service is in order, with the region’s governor invited. Special editions are prepared with fancy covers to be presented to the chief informant or MTT, to the key pastors, to the mayor, the governor, the general, and the university people. God speaks their language, and this is an important day in the life of the nation!
The Sango Bible changed the lives of the people of the Central African Republic. Having the Bible in that language helped to define and stabilize that language, and heighten its prestige and utility. There are literacy primers and a dictionary in that language. Sango is today the official language of the CAR, along with French. This is possibly the only African nation to have a tribal tongue as its official language, all because of the decision of the pioneer missionary of Baptist Mid-Missions back in 1920 to select for translation that widely-used language of a river people. The Word of God powerfully affects the course of entire nations!
Continue to analyze feedback and collect corrections
A common pattern for pre-literate societies is that the first New Testament will last for years, and influence the language. By the time we translate the Old Testament, it is timely to revise the New Testament, and publish them together as the entire Bible. The revision will correct any remaining typographical and printing errors of the first edition and incorporate any clarified expressions of the language discovered in the use of that first Bible. There may be other notes or helps developed in the meantime such as maps, a concordance, Bible study aids, and cross references. By then readers will be able to discern the difference between the text itself and the added explanatory notes.
TRANSLATION PROBLEMS
We have alluded to a few of the logistical problems for translators, but we should identify some of the particular types of problems which translators face in going from one language to another, while keeping an eye on the Greek and Hebrew texts underlying them.
Degrees of literalness
The tension is between form (the words of the original) and concept (the meaning of the original). The more closely the translation seeks to follow the words and word order of the original languages, the less it sounds like something that belongs to the receptor language. It IS a foreign book, after all. Every translation in every language is stretched between form focus and concept focus, with plenty of both. No translation is perfect. Also, sometimes a literal translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek words will actually give a wrong impression. Isaiah 5:1 has a bit of poetry called the “song of my well-beloved,” where the beloved had a vineyard on a “horn, a son of oil.” The literal meaning of the Hebrew words here gives an incorrect understanding, since this is an idiomatic expression for a “very fruitful hill.” In Acts 12:19 the Greek text says that Herod commanded that the guards who let Peter escape “be led away,” using a common euphemism. The KJV and some other translations say “should be put to death” since that was the precise meaning of the gentler idiomatic expression.
Dr. Osborn told of a man In India who had faithfully used his King James Bible, took each word in order, looked it up in his dictionary, and had written down that word in his language. Talk about a literal translation! When he came to a phrase like “the Lord of Hosts,” he looked up the word “host” and selected a word for “one who receives guests,” and carefully inserted that in his Bible text. He had done the entire Old Testament in about a year! Unfortunately, despite the dedication and diligence of the man, his translation was neither accurate nor idiomatic, and Bibles International had to decline to publish his work. How important it is that any work as great and as time-consuming as Bible translation must be done with carefully understood principles.
The Social Maturity of the Target Audience
There is quite a difference between those who are receiving the first book ever printed in their language and are just learning to read, and those who have a long literary history but are just now getting the Bible for the first time.
In some language groups in India, we have readers who are highly educated, integrated in a mixed literate society, duly urbane. They already have libraries of their own literature as do all civilized peoples. They simply never had the Bible in their language. When they receive their first New Testament they are rather sophisticated readers who can compare it with their Bhagavhad Gita and other writings, and read analytically. They know about footnotes and indices, page numbers and italics. Books are familiar items. Technical language and complex sentences are not a problem.
Some more primitive folk have never seen a book, and hardly know paper. The capturing of their talk on paper seems magical. The fact that they can look at those funny marks and say words they never thought of is captivating. There is an awe of any words so important as to be recorded in a book, so they don’t criticize any printed material. This book must be kept simple, with one-breath sentences, with large print (since they need glasses just like we do, but don’t have them). Still, these people do express complex and abstract ideas; they are intelligent (or not) in normal proportions.
The technical level of a first Bible will be adjusted to the social maturity of the people, and to their accustomed reading levels. The degree and style of literary language must fit the needs of the people.
Sentence length
The famous sentence of Ephesians chapter one is 11 verses long in the original Greek. The KJV breaks it up into 3 sentences, and many other versions into 5 or 6 sentences, and simple language Bibles into 12. Bibles International is developing a Short Sentence Model (SSM) for translators to use when they need to fit the needs of a language that does not have the grammatical structure of a language like Greek.
The model also clarifies the beginning and ending of quotations in conversations, since many languages use what is called an “oral close quote” at the end of a quotation. For example, the Bible text says, “and Jesus said… but it doesn’t mark the end of His statement. This is a problem in chapter three of John where you can’t tell when the quoting of Jesus’ own words blends into the narration by John. Did Jesus say John 3:16, or did John? We don’t have to know in English, but some translators do. The SSM marks the conclusions of such citations, at least in the opinion of our scholars, to help the translators in cases where this issue shows up in their texts. When a quotation includes something someone else has said, we have an imbedded quotation, something that must be clearly marked by the proper close quotes in the right places.
Implicit notions.
The original text includes many things that aren’t separate words. For example, conjugated Hebrew and Greek verbs include the implied person and number (as does Spanish) while we have to state them in English in most cases. We’re not really ADDING to the text; we’re simply making explicit what the text states in implicit form.
When the original states something like, “the apostle crossed the Jordan,” the original reader knew that the Jordan is a _________ (“river,” right. You know that too). But a reader in a remote jungle doesn’t know what a Jordan is, and might imagine an apostle crossing a mountain, or a road, a customs barrier, or a pair of tennis shoes unless we place in the text as a word what already exists there as an idea which is clearly in the mind of the writer and the original readers.
In some English Bibles such clarifications are marked by italics. But in current English, italics are to mark emphasis, hardly the point in the old KJV. And to readers of that first Makushi New Testament, italics would be insignificant, meaningless, and distracting.
Metaphors beyond experience
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as ????” There is no snow in the Amazon Valley, and no word for it in some languages. What will you do? Add a footnote and teach physics? Borrow a word from Portuguese even though they don’t know what neve might mean? Can we say “as white as clouds” for now and wait for them to later learn about snow? (It is sometimes a problem to come up with any color names, since they often don’t match in range.) In some of the African countries the translators came up with the phrase “hail like powder” to describe snow. In Papua New Guinea, the Tok Pisin language, also called Pidgin English by some, has the word sno in its vocabulary, but it means “fog,” not “snow.”
It’s easy for us to debate pros and cons in a remote isolation booth. But someday it might be YOU sitting at that keyboard hunting for that truly accurate word.
“As snow” is much simpler as the analog, the illustrative comparison, than when the substantive word itself is unknown. That is far more serious. “Behold the lamb of God” is the text, but many tribes have no exposure to sheep. Now what? What is the essential “lambness” to which John referred? Fleeciness? Whiteness? Implied innocence? Something that says “ba-a-a-a”? How about the familiar sacrifice animal? Is there a similar animal used for sacrifice? Piglet? Kid? Fawn? Seal pup? Substituting another animal can seriously weaken the theological implications of many passages. Besides, most of us in western culture did not grow up around sheep either, and it is important that the translation not “patronize” the people group, as if they are unable to learn things outside their culture. Some such problems have no simple solutions, but the translator must realize that the Scriptures translated are both a tool in the hand of the pastor and teacher, and more importantly in the hand of the Holy Spirit, to shape and mold the hearts of the hearers. Some day that tribal society may have its Old Testament where they will see lambs, not piglets, being offered as a pleasing sacrifice to God. Their familiar jungle animals all have young ones. Also, even remote villages are getting satellite television, for better and mostly for worse, so that broader cultural exposure is on their horizon.
Active / Passive Verbs
Some languages do not have passive forms of verbs. Transitive verbs must be used. Instead of “John was surprised by the noise” you have to say, “The noise surprised John.”
There are a lot of passive verbs in the Bible, but if you force their thoughts into a language that does not use them, it all makes no sense. If the translator tries to imitate the English structure, the passage may come out saying just the opposite, instead of “Jesus was raised from the dead” it might read “Jesus raised from the dead.” But whom did He raise? A component of idiomatic translation is saying things the way the target language says them. Most of us don’t realize that there are already many such grammatical transformations in our familiar English translations.
Non-Congruent Grammar Features
No two languages are fully alike. Even Portuguese and Spanish have some grammatical differences. (Portuguese has a personal infinitive, something no other language uses, but its infinitives do not have tense, as they do in Greek.) German and Dutch are similar but distinct. Danish is not quite Norwegian.
• Greek has four different ways to say “IF,” and it takes a lot of explaining, or paraphrasing, to include those nuances in receptor languages, even in English.
• Greek has four different words for “love,” and our English word “love” does an injustice in trying to express any of them. Before the arrival of the missionaries, the Chadian languages had no word for “love” at all!
• Portuguese uses three different verbs where our English verb “play” covers the territory, depending on whether you will “throw” a ball, “touch” a piano or a CD, or “play” a game.
Words cover TERRITORIES, not just points, and the equivalent words rarely cover the same territory in a different language. In Portuguese you only “land” an airplane on land, because you “water” a seaplane on the river.
Negatives are expressed differently in different languages, and this is especially hard when Greek loves negatives, and can have a sentence with three or four of them. The Matu translator from Myanmar was translating the verse in Matthew 24:2 where Jesus says: “See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” The Matu language only allows one negative per sentence, so he had translated: “. . . not one stone upon another here shall be thrown down.” Because of the structure of his language we had to say: “every stone here that is on another will be thrown down.” This was both true to the original text and true to the receptor language.
Why not just teach them English?
An oft-repeated question every Bible translator hears is the question: “Why don’t we just teach them English?” There are several reasons. The first is that by teaching the Gospel in some other language than the heart language of the people, we are subtly implying that their language is not good enough. We are also implying that God is a foreign God, ignorant of their language. Practically speaking, the cost of teaching a whole people group English is far greater and would take far more time than doing a Bible translation.
But the most fundamental reason for doing a translation in the heart language of the people is because that is the language they understand best. It is closest to their culture, their family, their heart, and so it has the best prospect of reaching them. The Sara Kaba Dem translator in Chad grew up the son of the Baptist pastor. At the same time, his friend in the village grew up the son of the witch doctor. Job, now the translator, grew up and became a Baptist pastor, just as his friend grew up and became a witch doctor. Job talked to his friend about Christ, but the friend remained distant. Job began to work on Bible translation, and after some time the Sara Kaba Dem people dedicated the first portion of the Bible in their heart language. That witch doctor attended the dedication service with other tribal leaders, and trusted Christ when the Bible portion was read. Job asked him what had made the difference. He replied: “I never could understand how a God that did not know my language could really love me.”
TRANSLATION PROSPECTS
What does Bibles International foresee in future projects and challenges? The real answer to that is to look at the world and its needs. While the population of the world continues to grow, and more and more people need to hear the Gospel, the number of active languages in the world is slowly diminishing. However, the rate of extinction is slow, and people of those languages are dying before their language is dying.
One out of every twelve people in the world does not have even a single verse of the Bible in their language. Almost 4000 languages exist without even a Scripture verse. But that number is definable, and the goal of translating the Bible into every language that remains is a measurable and attainable goal. The Bible translation organizations in the world have a plan to have completed a significant portion of the Bible in every active language by the year 2050. If the Lord tarries, Bibles International is striving to do its part in accomplishing that plan. Compared to the past days of missions, the opportunities today are even more remarkable. A trained Bible translation consultant can be at the site of any of our 39 translation projects throughout the world within three days. Internet communications continue to improve in even the remotest parts of the world. Key barriers to completion of the task of Bible translation for the world keep coming down.
What would a world be like in which every person alive could say, “God speaks the language of my heart and home”?
For further reading, look for the works in our Bibliography by Schaaf, Schulte, and Smalley.
Chapter 16
COMPASSION MINISTRIES
DOES JESUS CARE?
Does God really care about the whole person, or only about the saving of souls? As we open the pages of Scripture we are reminded of God’s careful provision for widows and orphans, the poor, the unwelcome immigrants, those suffering the aftermath of war, enslaved peoples, and the handicapped. The greater desire of God’s heart is to bless and prosper those who trust and obey him in biblical faith and lifestyle, despite tragedy.
Jesus went about preaching the Kingdom of God before he left the mandate of the Great Commission. That preaching of a new order of existence by the grace of God very naturally included his compassion for those who suffered.
The atonement of Christ on the cross did not include physical healing except in the sense of eventually making all things right. But the redeemed who live in the shadow of his cross share the compassion of Jesus for those who need help. We cannot help but share God’s heart of care for those who are made in His image and yet suffer famine, war, and storm damage.
Jesus interacted directly with people in physical and social need. His primary interest, however, was their spiritual condition so any exercise of healing or other improvement was a means to the end of the salvation of their souls.
History: “The Great Reversal”
Historically, social care was most commonly ministered by Bible-believing Christians. The church was the normal source of help for the helpless and needy, and for the victims of storms and wars. Late in the 19th century Liberalism swept through the Protestant denominations of European and, later, American churches. Bereft of a spiritual message, those modernist churches turned their efforts to social activism. In 1907 Walter Rauschenbusch published his major work, Christianity and the Social Crisis, defining the new Social Gospel as the earmark of the modernist churches. Since the modernist-fundamentalist controversies were then boiling toward their most fervent heights, the fundamentalists abandoned social care ministries as unworthy cheap substitutes for preaching the gospel. This is traced by the Baptist sociologist David Moberg in his 1972 watershed book The Great Reversal, tracking the reversal of that trend. Social work was the playing field for the modernist churches until the government took over most such efforts in the wake of the two world wars. Today the government welcomes such efforts by any churches as “faith-based initiatives” since they cannot provide the spiritual dimension that is patent to churches.
Only in the past couple of decades have fundamentalist churches recaptured their proper sense of responsibility for aiding those who are unable to lift themselves. The pendulum has swung back to a balanced flow of social activism with the preaching of the gospel as it was 200 years ago. One notable fundamentalist pastor commented about the uplifting effect of the gospel, “Our church does more social work by accident than those modernists do on purpose!” Broken families were healed, and addicts were freed from the power of drugs, alcohol, gambling, and prostitution. The hungry were being fed and the underemployed were being trained. Now there is a refreshing new freedom to engage in socially-oriented ministries at an institutional level without any sense of having abandoned the heart of the gospel. It is a good working partnership.
It is interesting that the debate over the propriety of compassion ministries rages mostly among the comfortable suburban congregations for whom the ravages of social decline are remote. “The Social Gospel” is a cliché by which they shelter themselves from touching the unclean while they spend millions on their high-tech sanctuaries and give to relief works overseas. In contrast, the urban congregations incorporate compassion ministries into their missions giving and their outreach programs as a very natural expression of the heart of the Great Commissioner. There is no debate, just a great deal of immediate need to be met. So they feed the hungry and rehabilitate the drugged and evangelize the fallen and embrace the burned out dregs of society who stagger around the sidewalks of their church neighborhoods.
We also find that helping people in need who are far from us geographically is just as much the right thing to do. These ministries express the compassionate heart of Jesus Christ for those in dire need.
THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR COMPASSION MINISTRIES
A. Jesus’ Example of Compassion and Healing
It is hardly necessary to multiply examples of Jesus’ healing ministry among the people of Galilee or Judaea. The repeated statement that He was “moved with compassion” indicates that He cared deeply about people in need. He literally had a gut reaction to their poverty, illness, and other types of suffering. Healing was extended to men, women, and children in families of the poor and the rich. Jesus hurt for and with them.
The kinds of care Jesus’ exercised were as varied as the needs He confronted. Most of these instances created a context for teaching spiritual principles. The ultimate purpose for these expressions of compassion was to validate His identity as the Messiah, even while performing acts of mercy that were helpful to people’s immediate needs.
• Healing sickness, both visible and invisible, temporary and debilitating, by direct word or by touch or by means and processes.
• Overcoming demonic presence which impaired normal lifestyle
• Restoring (a very few) dead people to life and usefulness
• Providing meals for the hungry on special teaching occasions
• Hugging children by way of blessing them in God’s name
• Restoring marginalized people to public acceptance and dignity
• Openly declaring sins forgiven, sinners released from condemnation of the Law.
• Comforting people who were oppressed by a pagan government.
• Weeping at the human misery invoked by death and by destructive warfare.
• His disciples helped the church to organize food gifts for its hungry members
B. Jesus’ Non-Examples of Social Activism
It is quite significant that Jesus did NOT involve Himself in certain types of social activism which have become popularized by Liberation Theology and Ecumenical definitions of mission. The focus of Liberation is generally against economic inequity, depersonalization of industry, war, exploitation of the underclasses, and the dominance of multinational corporations over smaller countries. These are anti-capitalist, anti-democracy themes that had no part in Jesus’ message.
• Jesus did not try to provoke a political uprising to overthrow the oppressive Roman regime. One of His apostles was of that Zealot party, but only one. Jesus did not disallow such activism, but did not make it a motif of His ministry, nor teach His disciples to seek such posts of political influence in that pagan society.
• Jesus did not promote democracy over monarchy for political governance, nor promote capitalism over socialism or any other economic system. Even when he told the rich ruler to give away his assets and follow Him it was clear that the problem was not wealth but covetousness. His giving was not to be generosity but repentance. Many elements of the Middle Eastern culture that Jesus experienced were sinful at root, but were left unchanged.
• Jesus did not seek to change social structures which were unfavorable to many people. The rich had unfair advantages and the poor suffered many injustices. While Jesus did not like such, He did not become a campaigner for social justice or economic equality.
• Jesus did not crusade against slavery, racism, child labor, the oppression of women, prostitution, polygamy or similar structural evils which would eventually be ended in areas where His people had influence. He opposed sin on a personal level, and associated with known sinners, but did not focus His public ministry against the moral and economic problems at the societal level.
• Jesus did not campaign against sinful public behavior such as abortion, homosexual practice, prostitution, or predatory lending except as He lived to uphold and fulfill the Law of God by precept and example. His harshest words were directed against hypocrisy, unbelief, and hindrance of people who wanted to draw near to God. He was friendly with sinners in order to lead them to repentance and faith, not to leave them as He found them. But no one understands His merciful words to the woman caught in adultery or the woman at the well or the woman washing His feet with her hair as condoning their sinful lifestyle. He encountered them on their own ground as they recognized their sinfulness and moved toward repentance. He did not need to verbalize the wickedness of their behavior since it was already acknowledged.
It is true, however, that much of the activism against evil social structures has been led by Christians.
• The prime movers in the overthrow of the most oppressive Communist regime in Romania were evangelical believers.
• The leaders in China’s uprising against Communism in Tiananmen Square were evangelical believers.
• Leadership against slavery in Britain was by a Christian member of parliament.
• Leadership in the civil rights movement in the US was by Protestant pastors, however leftist some may have been.
• Most opposition to abortion, pornography, and homosexual marriage comes from gospel preaching churches and their people who express righteous indignation at the sinful behavior which is becoming more and more public and blatant.
All of this comes more from the Spirit of Jesus Christ than from His specific example in His own public life. It is also the exercise of civil rights of Christians in what has been a predominantly Christian society, and is shifting from that former evangelical consensus.
Many of the new evangelical social activists are Post-Millennial or Amillennial in their theology. Since they do not expect Christ to establish His own Kingdom, it is up to them to do it for Him. They seek to impose Christian principles on a world which is not Christian. They seek to impose principles posited for the Messianic Kingdom on populations which still reject the Messiah. No wonder it does not work! Premillennialists are accused of being socially pessimistic and thus not inclined to deal with social ills. But we know that biblical realism provides the best framework for any work that counteracts the effects of human sinfulness. We do not expect the present world order to conform itself to Messianic ideals, and look forward to a future Kingdom when they will be realized.
One of our fields has experienced extensive church planting among a population marked by poverty. The missionaries got deeply involved in distributing food and clothing, but found that it provoked envy and jealousy and did little to reduce the root poverty. The most positive social effects were observed among people who had become believers in Christ. They became honest and hard working, concerned about properly raising their children, caring about health, forsaking cultural patterns which drained resources, following biblical guidelines on stewardship and generosity, and becoming responsible citizens. So the missionaries came to focus on evangelism and church planting along with reduced social help, mostly job training and basic medical care.
Still, Christians are the voice of God for public morality. Our influence as salt and light must go beyond our personal lifestyles to a prophetic voice for righteousness in nations that are predominantly professing Christians. The Bible motivates Christians and others to act in the best interests of those who suffer need, oppression, loneliness, disease, handicaps, poverty, illness, disaster, the aftermath of warfare, and a host of other problems. God cares for such people, and He expects His people to exercise caring hearts with helpfulness. Let’s see.
C. New Testament Principles for Helping Those in Need
One Another passages. There are about 17 uses of the pronoun “one another” in the New Testament. (Crank up your concordance some time to find allelous and its forms.) All of these verses highlight the responsibility and privilege of aiding fellow Christians and then reaching out to help others in need. Paul wrote to suffering Christians, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us go good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). So God’s expectation is that Christians will be a source of caring help, beginning with fellow believers who will be less likely to be helped by a hostile world. Our helpfulness certainly does not stop at the church doors, but it certainly does begin there.
Acts 6. The needs of needy widows consumed the time and energy of the apostles. Raw hunger drives the emotions of people who think more of temporal than eternal survival. Instead of intensifying their relief efforts, the apostles trained local people to care for the needy among them and gave themselves to preaching and prayer. The priority of preaching over feeding the hungry is quite clear, even while doing both.
Healing Ministries. The four Gospels feature the healing and comforting ministries of Jesus as we have seen. Again, these specific activities demonstrated Jesus’ power over the powers of darkness of the supernatural realm as well as over simple disease in the natural realm. He had come as Lord of All and would return to reign over what was His. Apostolic activity in healings in the book of Acts was always adjunct to preaching the Word for the salvation of souls. Ministry to the body was never an end in itself. All of this justifies extensive medical ministries on the cutting edge of missionary expansion into areas that are underserved by national medical services.
Civil rights. Paul and other emissaries of Christ did absorb a certain amount of abuse from which they could have escaped. But when they were beaten and jailed after the uproar in Philippi the authorities found that these were Roman citizens who had been treated illegally. Paul refused to be hustled quietly out the back door simply to establish the civil rights of other Christians who were citizens of the Empire and would come to face the same kinds of persecution. The law protects the citizenry even when they are Christians. This was not the core message of Paul and Silas or they would have invoked their privileged status before they were beaten rather than after. Christians do have rights under law, and there are times to call governments to account for ignoring their own laws for the benefit of their own people. This includes constitutional guarantees of religious liberty that are ignored by biased local officials. There are ways that foreigners can help uneducated citizens in their host countries to realize the benefits which their own nations’ laws provide for them, whether related to protection or provision.
James on Poverty. The reality of practical piety (rather than “religion” in an abstract sense) is expressed by caring for the many uncared-for persons within the radius of responsibility of the church (James 1:27). No one can claim to be living for Christ who allows a brother or sister to be deprived of the necessities of life. This does not call for all to live on the same level of the socio-economic ladder, but does not excuse Christians from meeting real needs. The same epistle recognizes the validity of wealth but disallows special treatment for the wealthy (James 2:2-3). The evil is not wealth but oppression of the helpless (2:6-7). Christian well-wishers (2:16-17ff) are derelict in their duty when they observe a need they can meet and fail to do so. It is not merely bad form but a denial of the reality of their faith. In business, long-and short-term planning are not evil in themselves (4:13-15) unless plans are made without reference to God’s will. Those in business will be held accountable (5:1-7) for honesty, freedom from a covetous spirit, fair compensation of employees, and self-disciplined consumption so their honest prosperity may be blessed by God. Any extended study on the churches’ responses to poverty must include careful analysis of this key passage.
Jesus’ Ministry Objectives. In Luke 4:16-20 Jesus outlined His ministry objectives in the synagogue as the fulfillment of Scripture. He did not offer the recovery of sight to all the blind or the healing of all the sick persons. His program was really the proclamation of recovery of sight. His promise of preaching related more to the future perfection of a Kingdom and world over which He was Lord than to mere physical improvement for those who suffered in the present. Both the immediate and long-term solutions are in view, but this essentially inaugurated Jesus’ Messianic mission rather than His medical mission or realized Kingdom. Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah 61:1-2a identified Him with the Messiah unveiled there, marking “the acceptable year” as present and leaving out the phrase on judgment until His later return. So this passage which is often invoked as the foundation for ministries of physical help has a primary application which is far deeper and broader than a given relief ministry.
THE INTEGRATION WITH EVANGELISM / CHURCH PLANTING
There are several major categories of compassion ministries which are now commonly associated with church planting efforts. Each fits in particular social contexts.
A. Long-term institutional help to alleviate poverty and aloneness
Churches will integrate compassion ministries as they are appropriate for their context. Even suburban churches have a Deacons’ Fund for occasionally helping people in and beyond the church with urgent financial needs. People gladly provide meals for families that have suffered some loss, at least temporarily. Beyond that they extend help through institutions: mission agencies, city missions, Baptists for Life, Baptist Children’s Home, and so forth. Gospel preaching is an integral and effective part of such attempts at social uplift. Christ makes the real difference, working through his people whose caring hearts make room for people whose needs have overwhelmed them.
B. Post-disaster short-term relief
Storms and wars do not always occur where church planting projects are underway, so some relief work calls for dislocation to the site of need. Some of it falls outside our particular radius of responsibility. In the areas where we can, and must, work to relieve suffering we link giving of help with the giving of the gospel. If it were not for the love of Jesus, much of the help would not be given at all. In international settings the relief funds is directed in connection with any associated local relief agencies to deepen their identification with the gospel as a source of help, even from outside the society.
1. Medical Teams. Occasional medical teams visiting stricken areas have the advantage of identifying their compassionate care with the loving touch of Jesus Christ. Hospital chaplains, and even the caregivers themselves, can express the gospel of Christ with clarity and urgency since people have come to them for help. In no case is the medical help contingent on a positive response to the gospel invitation, but in every case is the medical help identified with the loving Savior.
2. Financial Help. Much of disaster relief is financial help for rebuilding homes, churches, and communities after destructive storms or warfare. The financial help from American churches is mediated through churches on site, when possible, to deepen their identification with compassionate help.
3. Construction Help. The rebuilding of homes has highest priority, and then of churches, so the community can see that Christians do care for one another. Where possible, help is extended beyond the circle of believers to the entire community to express solidarity and so the Christian believers are seen as compassionate and generous participants in Jesus’ name. It is also helpful to hire local workers to provide employment and help them restore the local economy to functional levels. When all work is done by outside volunteers the opportunity for self-help is sometimes diminished. Testimony is given through gospel literature, dedication services, public preaching, and witness to local authorities as help is offered.
C. Hospital Ministry.
Institutional medical ministries are time-honored expressions of the healing touch of the Savior. Christian medical personnel have free access to patients for witness at entry, during therapy, and in follow-up contacts through churches in their areas of residence. The technical quality of Christian hospitals, accurate diagnoses, low mortality rates, successful surgical interventions, caring counsel, family accommodations, professional training programs, programs of public health and hygiene, well-baby clinics, and helpful public relations all lend credibility and desirability to the hospital’s reputation and Christian impact. Hospitals are typically strong centers of evangelism, and contribute directly to the growth of the churches they serve.
D. Village development and education
• Relief work deals with the immediate effects of disasters that come on populations.
• Development work faces the causes of social depressions as they relate to uses of natural resources, enabling of talented work, upgrading of living conditions, improvement of public health in that environment, and equity in the development of economic systems. Development empowers people to shape their own futures with improved resources.
Schools and economic development projects are probably the least familiar of Christian compassion ministries. They are cash-intensive and not as directly productive of converts and disciples as are hospitals. Further, they tend not to deal with emergencies and so present less urgency. Still they play a vital role in the overall testimony of Christians in developing countries.
Village development ministries would include training in agronomy, vocational job skills, and other such basic life support systems. Such an investment allows people to be independent of welfare programs and self-sustaining as families within society, a culturally important status issue. Populations can be freed from dependence on growing coca or tobacco or other such crops that do not benefit society as a whole. New marketing channels may need to be established for a changeover from opium poppies to soybeans or another cash crop for which there is a demand. Local power politics quickly interface with such economic matters.
Those who operate such training programs have the option of including Christian training, whether to teach the gospel or to train disciples in Christian life and lay ministry. When the program is integrated into a boarding school or group house setting there is automatic Christian influence which figures large in the impact of the work. This is long-range investment but pays large dividends as a new generation comes to honor Christ in their daily work and their influence as citizens.
Microeconomic development is a new approach championed by Mennonite and other Anabaptist and Baptist workers who develop marketing outlets for selling the artifacts made by tribal peoples who have no outside linkages. They provide small loans as venture capital to help people establish small businesses for the support of their families and villages. The payback of loans has a respectable history.
E. Relief and Development Work with the Poor
Church planting in urban centers quickly comes face to face with the underclass. This includes
• the working poor whose earning power is below minimum standards for decent living. Most of these are single parent homes.
• the homeless, including those who work occasionally, and vulnerable street children with no family structure, no schooling, no moral examples, no ambition.
• the indigent whose health and ignorance keep them perpetually unemployable.
Ministry in such settings, whether in the USA or elsewhere, is compelled to incorporate means to show compassion and offer significant help to such people. These are underserved by the government services, and often unaware of the resources available to them. Government agencies are overwhelmed by the case loads of working with such needy people. They have come to value the faith-based organizations, including churches, that care for the needy with food, clothing, shelter, vocational training, literacy classes, tutoring for students, health clinics, family counseling, guidance toward government benefits, and other services. Such work is freely associated with ministry to explain the compassion of Christ and offer eternal salvation as well as temporal solutions to pressing problems.
F. Creation of Dependency
A vital principle in any such compassion or development ministry is the ability for that work to perpetuate itself and to use what is called “appropriate technology.” Our instinctive generosity can too readily create dependency by the recipients on the resources of the missionaries. We seek to help people without making them more helpless if we do not continue. We may casually use equipment which is out of the reach of national workers so they cannot possibly perpetuate some aspects of our ministries. To be sure, there are some areas of such ministry which can only be carried on because of the resources of foreigners. But we can be unwise in giving so much that the recipients come to a sense of entitlement, and that the help is owed to them because others have so much. In some countries the people stop trying to help themselves because foreigners will always come in to help.
The double point of relief work is…
• to empower and enable the recipients of help to carry on life without temporary outside help, avoiding “rice Christians” who respond to the message primarily to get the material benefits of the ministry, and
• to evangelize the needy to both save their souls and begin the discipling processes which will eventually transform their personal lives toward godliness, honesty and responsibility. This improves family life, education, health, employability, and moral lifestyle for the benefit of the families and the community as a whole.
There is a place for relief work, but the disasters pass into history. Jesus said “the poor you have with you always” as He ministered more to their souls than to their stomachs. But He knew that the growling of an empty stomach can drown out the sound of preaching, and the shivering body will be concerned about the frigid weather more than the fires of hell. Help was given when it was absolutely necessary and could be integrated with the ministry of the Word.
FORMS OF BMM’s COMPASSION MINISTRIES
Personnel of Baptist Mid-Missions confront disaster on the front lines in the aftermath of civil wars in emerging nations, severe storms in the typhoon belts of the world, the nagging effects of malnutrition from drought and famine, the blight of immorality and drugs in urban centers, and the devastating aftereffects of the global AIDS epidemic. All of this is within our spheres of church planting efforts, without over-extending our reach to areas where we have no presence.
Institutional Efforts
Baptist Mid-Missions expresses the compassion of Christ on behalf of churches through a variety of institutions designed to touch hurting people where they are situated.
• Hospitals. Hospitals are located in the remote areas of the world which are underserved by government and commercial hospitals. These are centers of physical and spiritual healing, as well as corporate witness to the compassion of Christ that sends workers there to touch the sick and dying people of that host population. While all patients hear the gospel, they are treated equally, regardless of the focus of their faith. The healing efforts of the hospital are never a reward for making a decision for Christ.
• Medical clinics. Smaller scale clinics, some associated with established hospitals and others with churches, offer compassionate care on a technically simpler level. This care is always salted with a loving gospel message.
• Urban Center. In downtown Cleveland, Ohio, our Faith Baptist Community Center combines Christian witness with job training, well-baby clinics, a crisis pregnancy center, free clothing, and some free meals. This is linked to a church planting effort among the urban residents served in that region of the inner city.
• Victim Care. As the AIDS epidemic kills off men in Zambia, our group houses provide shelter, job training, medical instruction, and Christian compassion for the widows and orphans of AIDS. These group houses are run by African Christians from the Baptist churches there with help and guidance from the missionaries.
• Storm Relief. In the wake of disastrous cyclones, hurricanes, and floods lies the litter of homes, churches, and businesses. The lives of families are totally disrupted, and there is an immediate need to restore order and security to their lives. While our rebuilding efforts are more modest than those of larger organizations, our contribution to public well-being by providing funds, and some construction teams, for rebuilding churches and the homes of Christians and non-Christians alike is linked to the sharing of the gospel of Christ.
• War Relief. Civil wars destroy the homes and lives of civilians who are caught in the crossfire. Some war situations provide a cover for the systematic destruction of unwelcome churches, so persecution is added to the ghastly aftereffects of war. Crops are often destroyed or harvested only for military personnel, leaving civilian populations to starve.
Relief ministry is channeled through Baptist World Relief, a ministry based in the home office of Baptist Mid-Missions. This ministry receives and transmits funds from American churches and other donors to go directly to the help of victims of disasters of various sorts. Accountability includes reports back to the donors of the quality of witness given with the help along with reports of construction or food distribution or whatever was the nature of the help given.
BAPTIST WORLD RELIEF
The missionaries of Baptist Mid-Missions have always been involved in helping the needy that surround them on their mission fields. They have normally appealed to their supporters for help designated for the victims of disasters, even while not seeking help for themselves in similar circumstances.
The main efforts of Baptist World Relief are directed toward
• rebuilding churches and homes after destructive typhoons and hurricanes
• rebuilding of churches, homes, and towns in the aftermath of civil wars
• providing basic foodstuffs for victims of extended drought and crop loss
• replacing losses from floods, volcanic eruptions, other natural disasters
• helping pastors whose homes and libraries have been destroyed in persecution
In response to overwhelming needs, and the responsiveness of so many donors, Baptist Mid-Missions organized Baptist World Relief in 19nn for a more systematic approach to facing such problems. The credibility of Baptist Mid-Missions gives donors the assurance that…
• They know where relief funds can be sent, sure that the highest possible percentage of such gifts will be delivered to those who genuinely need the help.
• Relief work will be associated with evangelism and church-based follow up.
• Relief funds are used solely in response to disasters and not for normal operational costs of hospitals or other continuing compassion ministries. Some such institutions may receive occasional grants as they deal with disasters within their radius of responsibility, but not for normal functioning.
• Full accountability for the wise application of relief funds is inherent in the system.
Purpose Statement
Baptist World Relief exists to assist Baptist churches to effectively manage their expressions of compassion – whether gifts of finances, goods, or services – in the larger context of evangelism through national churches, in the aftermath of storms, wars, famines, and other destructive or traumatic events.
Principles and Guidelines
The activities of Baptist World Relief are consistently associated with the evangelistic and church planting efforts of missionaries on site. There are occasions when funds are given to other compatible agencies in areas where we have no resident personnel, but that is still to associate the contributions with longer-term Christian ministries which will perpetuate the convictions of the donors. We cannot conscientiously just toss money at problems and walk away satisfied that we have done our job. We are there to accompany the donors’ funds with solid Christian witness over the long haul.
RRM: Rapid Response Ministry. In 2007? Baptist Mid-Missions established a pilot project that allows a team of trained and equipped helpers to arrive on the scene within days after a disastrous storm in the southeastern USA. This hurricane belt has suffered many destructive storms that damage churches and homes. The RRM maintains a trailer already equipped with hand tools and power tools (with an on-board generator) suitable for quick clearing and rebuilding. This is the first of several such trailers stored in the regions where they will be needed so teams can assemble quickly after a call and begin to help those in urgent need. This is not an emergency medical team, but is related to damage to buildings and some infrastructure.
The devastation of Hurricane Name demonstrated the need for mobilizing teams of helpers long before a fund raising project can enable them to gather and go. This provoked the organization of the RRM for readiness in anticipation of inevitable disasters that strike our southeastern states. The first experience of RRM in 2008 sent a team to Louisiana where workers soon …
The generators that were left behind there were later forwarded to an RRM team in Houston to help supply power there as long as needed. The generators were then returned to the RRM trailers to remain in readiness for the next disaster.
Let’s summarize the operating principles of Baptist World Relief.
• Partnership with evangelistic efforts. This is a basic non-negotiable principle. The objective is not merely to help lost people be more comfortable but to desire to hear the gospel that compelled caring people to help them. Funds will always be clearly identified with Christian ministries, especially those that are close at hand for follow up after the immediate disaster. We can partner with churches in the storm zone as bases for the extension of relief aid and rebuilding so people will associate the help with helpful neighbors rather than a distant organization.
o For an early example, in 1971 there was massive flooding in the central Amazon region of Brazil when three major rivers all reached record high water levels at the same time. Thousands of residents of small farms along the rivers were forced to high ground in a small city, Itacoatiara, where missionaries of Baptist Mid-Missions were working. Thousands of dollars were sent there to help with the rebuilding of churches and homes once the raging waters receded, and to aid with the handling of flood refugees. Half of the funds were given directly to the government authorities to help finance the feeding of flood refugees, housed in what had been barns for a cattle exposition. Missionary Al Spieth was named the Chaplain of the Refugee Camp, and the Baptist Mid-Missions workers had free course for open air gospel services and children’s meetings for several weeks. During that time they recorded 126 adult decisions for Christ, along with numerous children. The missionaries were able to meet with new believers from several regions, and they organized two separate congregations which began to meet together even before they could return home to build a simple church building and await the visit of the missionaries. Remaining relief funds were then distributed for the rebuilding of the believers’ homes and churches as the missionaries brought work crews from Baptist churches in the capital city to help them. This demonstrated solidarity with Baptist believers in the capital city and in America.
• Given through resident personnel. Contributions are channeled through our own missionaries or through responsible national leaders who will use the funds only for the intended purposes. Where possible, the local ministries are clearly identified as the channel for the relief grants.
o In Liberia in 19nn many churches had been destroyed during twelve years of civil war. Our missionaries partnered with leaders of the national association of fundamental Baptist churches in prioritizing the countless projects for rebuilding. The national leaders knew better than we did what projects were truly deserving and needy. In the shared plan, BWR helped to rebuild the city churches so they in turn could help their sister churches in interior towns with their simpler buildings. Over $84,000 was distributed and used for such aid for the benefit of all involved.
• Funds are for victims of disasters. BWR Funds are available for restoring destroyed churches, but not for building new ones under normal circumstances. Funds are for helping national church members rebuild their homes, but not for missionaries to rebuild their homes or replace their cars and computers. This is not a source for financing the normal building of churches or schools, nor for the needs of missionaries.
o When Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in 1998 our church planters there were able to direct funds for the rebuilding of an entire community of 300 homes. The grateful government ceded land for two new churches among them. Nearly a quarter of a million dollars was invested there in relief work, resulting in the salvation of numerous souls.
• Grants call for accountability. When funds are sent to a disaster site there will be follow-up reports, preferably with photos, within a reasonable time. What human interest stories accompany the project? Reports will go to the BWR donors that their gifts have produced the desired effect in spiritual impact and compassionate response to need. Missionaries are urged to communicate directly with such donors when known.
• Funds are advanced. There are standby funds are on hand for immediate response to crises as needs arise. These advances will be replaced by fund raising efforts of the missionaries along with additional funds that come in response to their appeals to their own supporters and the broader appeals of Baptist Mid-Missions. It is therefore very helpful when churches or families give regularly to Baptist World Relief without reference to any specific project. This also allows some smaller projects to be cared for directly without special fund raising efforts. If more funds are received for a specific relief project than are needed, the surplus is held in the BWR account in readiness for future help.
o When word came of
• Underwriting by BMM. The general administrative and promotional costs are not charged to the World Relief Fund, but are carried by Baptist Mid-Missions. Expenditures related to specific projects are considered a part of the response to disaster and charged to that project account. Much of the publicity for Baptist World Relief is in the Advance magazine or the website of Baptist Mid-Missions. This means that of each dollar contributed to a project of Baptist World Relief, 100 cents will go to that project.
FOUR KEY QUESTIONS
As we consider aspects of compassion ministries there are four key questions that keep priorities in balance.
1. How is the compassion work identified with the gospel of Christ?
Jesus asserted, “the poor you have with you always” (Matthew 26:11) while a repentant woman “wasted” expensive ointment on His feet. He spoke to the critics, whose insincere concern for the poor revealed their own spiritual poverty, that this holy waste was a “good work.” The presence of poverty is a fact of life, but is not cause for fatalistic ignoring of what needs we are responsible to meet. But all such work is like a cup of cool water “given in His name.” It is an eloquent expression of the compassion of Christ, not just of the prosperity of rich American churches. Only then is social work an element in evangelism. We will always maintain a higher priority for evangelism than for compassion ministries. Such work is worthy, but serves the larger objective of winning people to Christ and gathering them into self-reproducing churches.
2. Is relief of physical needs the primary task of the missionary?
It is legitimate for some missionaries and organizations to work primarily in relief/ compassion/development ministry, but that is to be by plan and calling. We do not fall into social ministries because we are swallowed up by the needs of our people but due to a vision for enhanced evangelism. Quite commonly, the provision of food and other essentials of life is done through churches and their institutions as an integral part of their outreach to the community. The miracles that Jesus performed were more to affirm His identity as their Messiah than to give mere health and nourishment to the Jewish people. His healing was simply an adjunct to His ministry of preaching the Word of God as He moved toward the cross for His real work as the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for their sins, for their redemption. Still, hunger distracts people from eternal concerns and screams for prior attention. A Nigerian proverb assures us, “An empty belly has no ears” so the first order of business with starving people is to feed them so they can attend to their souls.
3. Is the proffered relief the sole source of help for the recipients?
The compassionate work of the churches is generally tiny in proportion to what is given by major relief organizations: Red Cross, UNESCO, government relief programs, even the Salvation Army and global Christian relief organizations. They give millions while we give thousands to specific cases. The mission can only give what is given for those purposes by the churches served by the mission. Church leaders on site can help the suffering community by making known other resources that benefit them. We do what we can, but are seldom the only ones helping. But we are often the only ones bringing spiritual relief and renewal, so we keep the eternal objectives uppermost.
Jesus’ words “blessed are the poor” does not show favoritism to the needy but salutes an attitude of dependence on God as spiritual poverty.
4. Does the compassionate gift create dependency on the foreigners?
Our Western tendency to activism drives us to DO something when needs are evident. This is good. But sometimes we are working to meet needs that only exist in our minds. Some of the trappings of modern civilization are superfluous in tribal settings. We may create a desire for things not previously desired, and create an ongoing demand for it. We may leave people more deeply dependent on the flow of stuff and help they previously got on reasonably well without before the helpers came in. We create institutions with facilities that nationals cannot maintain, or with resources which cannot be duplicated locally. We dare not initiate ministries which cannot ultimately be carried on by local national churches and Christian agencies.
A related question is whether the relief work can be perpetuated by local workers. There are times when disaster relief must be undertaken until basic needs are met and life is restored to some degree of normalcy. Outside help is vital. There are other perpetual needs which are not entirely the responsibility of the churches, especially in areas with depressed economies. The prosperity level of the church will match that of its people and community, quite independent of the resources of the foreign missionaries among them. Handouts of clothing and food to the working poor is not as helpful in the long run as enhancing their work skills so they can improve their own levels of living. The greatest benefit we can share is the good news of Christ and the inner changes He brings into the lives of people, families, and communities.
John Wesley balanced open air preaching to the working class throngs with arranging care for their needs for food, shelter, and education. He commented,
“We are to do all the good we can, by all the means we can, in all the ways we can, in all the places we can, at all the times we can, to all the people we can, as long as ever we can.”
Chapter 17
PARTNERSHIPS IN MISSIONS
There is a new day in missions. The time of American leadership of all of the work is over. Our new model is the player-coach who is on the field, contributing to the play, taking some knocks on the field, but developing others to keep on scoring when he is on the bench. There are several fascinating models for the sharing of ministry leadership and responsibility, all of which are possible in today’s world. The center of gravity of the Christian world is shifting southward, near or below the Equator, and the receiving nations are becoming sending nations. Churches in the Majority World (no longer the “Third World” or “Two-Thirds World”) are providing competent and creative leadership in mission strategy, and now provide more of the global missionary personnel than do churches of North America. We wake up to a new day in missions, and welcome the Sonrise as He leads His global church.
Let’s consider together some of the new methodologies which present themselves. Not all are to be adopted uncritically since all have their up and down sides.
A LOT of attention is being given to supporting national workers, and this merits serious consideration. There are both positive and negative aspects of supporting nationals, and the debate really centers on the question of accountability
In PRINCIPLE, what we seek to do is further the work without creating dependency upon perpetual foreign resources. The idea that we have the money and they have the personnel is only a part of the total picture. Let’s consider a few of the ways we of Baptist Mid-Missions have been involved with national workers, and then extract some basic principles here.
1. Start National Mission Agencies
Needless to say, this is our favored approach, not yet practical in all nations while their churches are struggling to survive. In time, a body of churches needs to develop an agency for sending its own trained workers out for evangelism and church planting. These sister agencies are not under the control of BMM, but work in harmony and partnership in parallel ministries. As an international mission agency we seek to promote the integrity and strength of the national mission agencies, including not taking away their best leaders to join the foreign mission agency.
2. Accept Nationals as Missionaries
Such missionaries are special cases, normally people already extracted from their home cultures and often trained in the United States. This functions best in settings where there would not be a significant lifestyle difference between national pastors and international missionaries. This approach is also favored in nations that are not open to foreign missionaries, but national Christian workers can freely enter. Such national workers would only be invited to join the international mission on the recommendation of current missionaries who understand the ramifications of such a move. Otherwise the preference is that these workers serve through a mission agency of their own churches and nation.
3. Hire Nationals for Specific Ministries
National pastors often need outside employment, so there is no reason not to employ them in ministry positions (rather than driving a taxi or working construction). Some examples are Bible translator, language teacher, handyman, builder, school teacher.
4. Cooperate with Majority World Missions in partnerships
We’ll conclude this chapter with some optional patterns for partnerships. See below.
5. Train National Workers
Here is our basic approach, along with enabling the national seminaries to upgrade their credentials and train other nationals. International missionaries are the temporary foreign element in the establishing of national churches. Once competent national leaders are in place the foreigners can move elsewhere, within and beyond that country.
6. Support Local Church Ministries
The main ministry we will NOT support is the pastor of a local church. Each church is responsible to provide for its own pastor to live as the people of the church live.
We won’t explore all of these beyond our present commentary, but must take a good look at the popular notion of American churches supporting national workers.
1 10 COMMANDMENTS for the
2 SUPPORT OF NATIONAL WORKERS:
1 1. The richest churches can and must aid the poorest.
Surely there are ways that the richest churches in the history of the church can help sister churches that struggle with poverty, persecution and slow development. We do this within our own borders and can find many ways to share our abundance internationally without creating perpetual dependence on foreign financing before anything can be accomplished. We can never assert that it is wrong in principle for some churches to help others with outreach. It is worse yet when we refuse any help to the churches most bereft of resources for growth at a time when urban land is soaring in price. That fact alone drives the church to the fringes of society where land for churches is more accessible.
It is right and righteous for North American churches to help underwrite the cost of spreading the gospel around the world. It is wrong for such churches to excuse themselves from sending their sons and daughters into the harvest on the grounds that they are sending dollars instead. The Great Commission is not a field for sending substitutes. These are not avatars in some virtual reality video game. We participate directly in the most important business of the church, even if with newly defined roles for new decades of ministry.
2 2. Support must include accountability on ministry and finance.
Blindly tossing money at a problem is destructive. There must be parameters of ministry success and cost effectiveness just as Americans experience, even if those parameters are different in some dimensions.
Many tensions will arise between pastors who struggle along on what the churches can give, and those national workers who get outside income. There will also be tension between national missionaries in different categories and with different support levels. There will be national workers who will raise support from several different sources which are unaware of one another’s contributions. Such ‘double-dipping’ is not unusual. To whom are workers finally accountable? To what degree does administrative accountability follow the money trail?
3 3. Support levels MUST include appropriate lifestyle, the payment of appropriate social programs and needed work funds.
Beware that we do not presume the lowest socio-economic status for these national workers. “The nationals” span a wide range of income and lifestyle, varying with their education, family attributes and social expectations. To presume that national workers will always get by on the lowest level of support can be a form of ecclesiastical slavery. They may well be held in bondage by their convictions and loyalties to those who refuse to allow them to receive at least what they would get from their compatriots, even granting the local standards of living. (Still, a middle-class Haitian does live on less than a middle-class American living in Haiti.)
Labor laws in many countries demand payment of taxes to public health insurance programs and worker retirement funds. Such laws must be observed for the good of the workers we help. It is illegal for workers to be hired or supported without paying the taxes under social laws for health care and retirement programs as defined in each country. To use up the energies of Christian workers without providing for their future years is to rob them of their right.
We heard of a missionary in South America who generously supported a national worker for about 20 years. When it became necessary to discontinue the support, the national worker turned and sued that mission and the missionary for not paying his social security and retirement for all those years! He won his court case, got his funds with interest, and the missionary was deported from the country.
It may well be possible for a family to live in Bangladesh for $50 per month, for example, but that is probably subsistence living. If a subsistence farmer needs to spend most of his time in his garden in order for his family to survive, how is he to find time to evangelize, travel, prepare for teaching and preaching, or minister to others? He needs to provide for decent health, schooling for his children, transportation for ministry, and appropriate clothing for public ministry. The missionaries need work funds for materials, travels, and a proper place for initiating meetings. The line items of appropriate support quickly add up.
4 4. Workers must be identified with a body of our churches.
We say “our churches” conscious that we do not own churches, but we do identify with certain ones. So be it. We will each seek to link national workers with an established body of churches with which we cooperate, or with a future such body of churches. That is to say, we are not just scattering autonomous preachers out there who are not anchored to some church fellowship compatible with ours for support and accountability. The supporting churches on this side of the pond intend to reproduce their biblical convictions through those national workers. It is right for supporting churches to expect that there will be long-term outcome from their support in churches that believe as theirs do.
5 5. Workers must not be taken away from others’ ministries.
The loudest complaints come from those who invest years of effort in the training and nurturing of future pastors and missionaries, only to have some other movement with money come and hire them away. One group does all of the work of planting and cultivating while another organization takes the harvest. Sure, “it is all the Lord’s work,” but that is easier to say when you GET the new workers free than when you GIVE away the ones you expected to take over your work after investing in their training.
Those who wish to support nationals in the work should develop such themselves. They must not just take away the finest of the local workers and remove them from fruitful service to deploy them in other ministry without regard for what they leave vacant. Most such already ARE national workers, and are simply shifted into the visible orbits of support channels to the neglect of their former ministries. Those who offer support must be mindful of what such potential income does to the existing ministries.
6 6. Workers must have appropriate training.
“Appropriate” is a fluid term since it depends so much on the nature of ministry in view. Those who are supported as church planters should be trained for the complex work of church planting. It is best for national workers to receive all of the training available to them within their own church movement, and within their own nation, and within their own cultural family of nations before going to a “foreign” environment to be trained for the ministry. The academic level of training will be as high as is practical, though there will sometimes be a few who have access to master’s or doctoral level studies outside, or within, their own countries. Encourage them not to train themselves out of the ministry, ending up in other professional engagement that eliminates them from effective ministry.
The organizations that manage the support of national workers should define parameters of readiness to be supported, whether through national mission agencies or in independent church planting ministry.
7 7. Worker selection shall be overseen by responsible churches.
Foreign missionaries are seldom the best judges of character and of leadership qualities among members of a society. Church leaders know their own people, and which are worthy of support. Churches know which workers can spin a good story but do not live up to their promises. The process of support must depend on the counsel of mature church leaders to indicate who truly merits missionary support, and for how long. Even they need a system of checks and balances to prevent nepotism that favors the relatives of those in power.
National churches also know the realities of who needs support. One agency considered giving support to a worthy national worker, but he was already the best supported among many others there who were less visible than he was. There is a natural tendency to want to support only the best national workers, but they are normally the best cared for by their own churches and institutions. Church leaders in the locale know who truly needs and merits outside support. Everyone WANTS additional support.
8 8. Support is given to or through national or foreign agencies.
The best channel for support is a national mission agency or on-site missionary with a related mission agency so there is equitable distribution of support. We want to avoid favoritism, or autonomy of Lone Ranger missionaries. This helps avoid duplicate support, or support of those who are most visible instead of those who are most worthy of outside help.
National mission agencies offer supervision of the missionaries in ways that foreigners can only guess at. There is familiar with ministry effort and accomplishment for informal assessment of worthiness and wisdom in applying funds.
Church planters can receive regular support funds as long as they are engaged in starting new works as missionaries. Funds from national and foreign sources can be mixed and mingled. Once the missionaries settle into one church for pastoral ministry they depend on that church for support. It is not appropriate for pastors to be supported for that pastoral ministry in established churches.
9 9. Foreigners must not use money to weaken work or workers.
National workers who depend primarily on outside support are in jeopardy of perpetuated dependency. There should be a time limit set on supporting church planters, with the expectation that the new churches will pick up the support of their own pastors. Ideally, church planters will receive support that diminishes as local church support increases.
As long as outside funding is perceived to be perpetual, the national churches will never move beyond depending on that cash flow for their support. They will never take creative steps toward new structures for ministry which might not enjoy the same measure of financial support by the outsiders. Dependency is a dangerous poison that must be avoided by carefully defined giving patterns.
10 10. We should NOT support PASTORS of established churches.
Let’s support new church planting efforts for a while in rotation, new church properties, transportation projects, building fund help, literature projects, etc. Once the churches are fully established, the support of the pastors is the responsibility of each church. Churches that have not needed to support their pastors while growing inherit a sense of resentment when a national pastor comes along expecting the church to provide their support. Pastors generally share the lifestyle of their church families, so a pastor could be supported by ten tithing families. Dependent ministry will never be indigenous, nor have the self-identity necessary to last.
(Adapted from Chapter 1 of
Missions in a New Millennium, Glenny & Smallman, 2000)
C. IDENTIFY EXISTING CHANNELS FOR THE SUPPORT OF NATIONAL WORKERS
We have consistently used the term “national workers” instead of “national missionaries” due to the inherent contradiction in the latter descriptor. “Missionaries” by their nature are “sent out” by their churches to expand the territory where Christ is Lord. When nationals are involved in ministry among their own people they are not “missionaries” in the classic sense, except in the phase as church planting evangelists, home missionaries. So by using the broader term “national workers” we embrace a wider scope of ministries carried out by nationals, whether supported by their own churches or by outside churches.
Baptist Mid-Missions can receive and receipt contributions for national workers meeting the policy criteria as long as individuals are not named or exclusively intended. The ministry being supported will fall directly within the scope of Mission ministries as the extension of its intended work. When churches or families wish to support specific individuals, such support should be sent to the national missions under which they serve, perhaps via an American mission in harmony with them. American missions cannot give receipts for contributions to workers who are not members of that mission, but can receive and receipt gifts for categories of such workers without personal designation. The gift is to the institution for use within its normal operations, including passing along support funds as needed. So people can contribute to a given seminary, but not designate support for a specific faculty member since salaries for teachers are determined within the institution.
Here are some examples of legitimate channels for supporting nationals through Baptist Mid-Missions.
• National Bible translators through Bibles International
• National seminary faculty members (not named) through the 60 seminaries
• Scholarships for national seminary students (not named) or faculty-in-training
• Church planting Indian nationals through several Baptist societies established in India
• National church planting missionaries (not named) through “daughter missions” established in…
o North Brazil
o Northeast Brazil
o South Brazil
o Japan
o France
• National hospital staff members, both medical and spiritual ministries
o Hospitals (Bangladesh, CAR, Chad, Haiti, India either run by the Mission or by nationals)
o 1 clinic (Ghana)
FOUNDING NATIONAL MISSIONS
One of the most significant and encouraging trends in missions today is the accelerating emergence of missions founded by churches in the Majority World as they send out their own missionaries.
In Baptist Mid-Missions we have generally resisted the incorporation of foreign nationals into the Mission as missionaries to their own countries, or even to other countries. This tends to set them off from the very national churches we seek to strengthen, and to make them foreigners among their own people. We would inevitably pull the best leaders out of leadership in the very national churches we are there to build up for long-range continuing ministry. Our preference has been to encourage the national churches to found and operate their own mission agencies. These agencies remain as an integral part of the churches and their ministries, with or without the ongoing presence of our foreign missionaries.
In Brazil, as a prime example, the churches with whom we fellowship in the Brazilian Association of Regular Baptist Churches have established at least six mission agencies. These are mostly home mission agencies involved in regional church planting in that vast country. At least two of them are already sending Brazilian missionaries across the border or overseas to Uruguay, Colombia, Portugal, Mozambique and elsewhere. There is more vision than resources, but this is the very kind of vision and activity we foster.
The most recent reliable statistics and projections on missionaries from the Two-Thirds World indicate: (Keyes & Pate, 1993)
for 1990: 48,884 non-Western missionaries, 35.6% of 137,170 total.
for 1995: 89,160 45.1% of 197,430
for 2000: 164,230 55.5% of 295,952
Missionaries of Baptist Mid-Missions have helped national churches to start Baptist mission agencies serving their churches in nations as diverse as France, Brazil, Australia, Jamaica, Hong Kong, India, Peru, and elsewhere. It is normal to begin with home missions and then develop the infrastructure for foreign missionary effort.
RECEIVING CHURCH - SENDING CHURCH PARTNERSHIPS
A dazzling variety of models for partnering has been put forth in the spate of new books on this dynamic subject. We begin with a useful definition.
“For a basic description...we will define partnership in missions as an association of two or more autonomous bodies who have formed a trusting relationship and fulfill agreed-upon expectations by sharing complementary strengths and resources to reach their mutual goal.” (Bush & Lutz 1990, 46)
“For a basic description...we will define partnership in missions as…
an association of two or more autonomous bodies
Partnering is a voluntary relationship at the mutual initiative of two or more bodies which are equally free to enter or remain outside the partnership. Otherwise it is a dominance-driven relationship which is not a partnership except in name.
who have formed a trusting relationship
These bodies look up to each other, though there are generally differences of resources and objectives and history. One may have initiated and established the other(s), being now ready to work as peers instead of in dependency. They talk as relative equals within the partnership, even if their resources make them unequal.
and fulfill agreed-upon expectations
Agreement on expectations calls for some powerful talking, and some talking without power. Communication, transparency, credibility, good history, and the trust relationship already mentioned are crucial to the working relationship. Some power over expatriate personnel selection and deployment is expected. Nationals now in charge may expect to perpetuate some functions of the mission which do not pertain to the ongoing church. They may expect to have the power of denominational fathers which missionaries had, but now explain is no longer needed because the churches are established and are autonomous.
by sharing complementary strengths and resources
Generally one party has the money and the other has the manpower. The resources will come to be shared. Real estate will be turned over. Some vehicles and computers will be surrendered. “Are these tiny church building all we can have?”
to reach their mutual goal.”
“This is our church now,” is the unspoken statement as we negotiate the indigenous church. Equality is a relative matter, and needs to be carefully defined.
In principle, we are in favor of partnerships. The essential unity of the Church, the Body of Christ, is demonstrated in our freedom to minister together. There are, however, major minefields that must be honestly explored and defused. We exercise discernment in our determination of with whom we may cooperate and from whom we must separate as we establish and continue our missionary ministries with biblical freedom of convictions.
There are two extremes we must avoid.
#1: “Everybody ought to work with everybody!”
This is the popular, pluralistic, pan-evangelical approach. Dr. Ted Yamamori gets downright rapturous in his praises of the mainline (that is, liberal) denominational missionaries because of their involvement in the meeting of physical as well as spiritual hunger (what he refers to as “Hunger 1” and “Hunger 2”). Listen to him:
“SYMBIOSIS: A UNIFYING STRATEGY:
Over the last few decades, a global battle has been raging between evangelical churches and conciliar churches (those belonging to councils such as the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches). The subject: evangelism versus social action in the church’s mission. This battle -- sometimes called “The Great Debate in Mission” -- is both wasteful and unnecessary.
“The solution for both evangelical and conciliar churches is to commit to symbiotic ministry -- such as I have described as being practiced by Special Envoys in relief and development contexts. This symbiotic ministry blends evangelism (proclamation of the gospel) and social action (meeting people’s physical needs in a nonviolent manner) into a single, integrated and vastly more effective effort. Through the commitment to a symbiotic ministry, churches or members of churches primarily interested in carrying out the Great Commission can work productively and in harmony with church and church members who wish to minister to both the spiritually and physically hungry of the world. In the process, both groups would benefit” (Yamamori 1993, 134-5).
This approach is potentially disastrous: “the evangelicals can do the evangelizing while the ecumenicals do the relief work.” The presumption is that both groups are Christians who simply have a somewhat different emphasis in their approaches to ministry. This overlooks the published statements of the WCC’s Commission on World Mission and Evangelism clearly repudiating conversion evangelism, and defining salvation and mission in terms of providing a very earthbound humanitarian improvement scheme to allow people to be more fully human, whatever their faith, or non-faith, may be.
There is no basis for fellowship or cooperation with those who deny the faith we preach and repudiate our purpose for being there. It is not so much “effective” as self-destructive. This repeats the sad history of the world missionary conference in Edinburgh in 1910 where the evangelical leaders purposely brought in liberals to instruct the missionaries in the Social Gospel, as Walter Rauschenbush was a key speaker. The three streams that issued from that meeting grew increasingly radical in their rejection of biblical evangelism, and later merged to form the World Council of Churches.
#2: “We cannot find anyone worthy of working together with.”
The existence of ecumenical confusion is NOT to say that missionaries of different denominational or theological traditions cannot cooperate appropriately on the grounds of common Christian faith. But Yamamori wants evangelicals to cast aside suspicion of ecumenicals and work hand-in-hand with them in evangelism and relief. That is not symbiosis but syncretism!
Not all proponents of partnerships take their proposals as far as some new evangelicals wish to do. Virtually all of the case studies in the several new books on partnerships treat just evangelical churches and missions working together. What is significant is the leaping of cultural barriers for common labors in common faith, not the ignoring of theological barriers for syncretistic efforts that do not evangelize and own no good news.
3 MODELS OF CHURCH / MISSION PARNERSHIPS
A helpful summary of four basic models was outlined by Dr. Jim Kraakevik in his 1993 book from a 1991 conference. Some other configurations are observed within this general framework. .
1 A. FOREIGN MISSIONS + NATIONAL CHURCHES
The most common pattern is for a foreign mission agency to partner with national churches in the furtherance of their shared work. This is the natural outcome of the church planting cycle as the temporary foreign mission creates new churches and helps to establish their essential institutions for perpetuating ministry: seminaries, missions, and camps.
Familiar models of such work include…
• Foreign missionaries initiate new church plants, and incorporate seminary students or other national workers in ministry responsibilities. The goal is to have a national pastor take leadership of the work at an appropriate time, and for the church to be independent of mission control or resources. The expectation is that such churches will join together in national associations of churches.
• Foreign missionaries can work within ministries led by national pastors as their ministry initiative.
CASE: Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries served under the direction of a Brazilian church as it initiated two new congregations in Manaus Brazil, with a mission couple in one church and a single lady in another. The missionaries had other ministries as well in the mission’s seminary, with that pastor on its advisory board. There was clear definition of what was mission and what was church, but the people interacted and cooperated freely for the advance of the churches.
2 B. FOREIGN CHURCHES + NATIONAL CHURCHES
There are occasional instances of American churches coming into direct communication with churches overseas. This usually comes from pastoral visits to the mission field, or short-term construction or ministry teams coming home with a sense of responsibility for the churches they served, or by the visits of national pastors to churches in the States. It is usually the larger churches here that have resources to share with churches overseas, or denominational churches that have ties to counterparts overseas. The greatest dangers are of favoritism to one church while neighboring churches languish without help, and of dependency as that receiving church fails to develop its own inner resources. Email contact now facilitates this kind of church-to-church contact, especially in English speaking areas. Partnership can be with a group or body of churches.
CASE: BIBLE PROJECTS: Calvary Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI, entered a partnership with the Association of Independent Baptist Churches of Mizoram for the work of translating the Mizo Bible for use in northeast India. The church gave $900 per month to fund the project with a minimum of cost. They have enjoyed pastoral exchanges of pulpits, swapped videos, and the women’s prayer groups kept in communication regularly. This is a true international partnership. “Another church is already considering such a project, having seen this pilot project be so mutually beneficial.” (Fred Carlson, Bibles International, 11/99)
3 C. FOREIGN MISSIONS + NATIONAL MISSIONS
There is a growing incidence of foreign [American] missionaries working side-by-side with missionaries of the national missions they helped to found. This is an encouraging new pattern for future ministries around the world.
CASE: Baptist Mid-Missions is partnering with a new Brazilian Baptist mission agency which launched a church planting ministry (with a proposed medical component on the drawing board) in Mozambique, a Portuguese-speaking east African nation. While missionaries go from both missions, this remains a predominantly Brazilian venture which we foreigners will not smother or dominate. Our people serve with and under the Brazilian leaders of the overall ministry, even as we provide resources and share in ministries. The church planters will work in different churches, but the churches and missionaries will enjoy full fellowship. The intended outcome is a national association of churches free of any mission control.
4 D. NATIONAL MISSIONS + NATIONAL MISSIONS
Only in Brazil do we have several national mission agencies which have arisen among the churches there. The five or six national missions interact freely for sharing resources, conferences, and personnel within the larger picture of the circle of national churches served by the missions. Most of them do home missions church planting in their several regions of that vast country, but two of them are sending national missionaries overseas. We foreign missionaries are supportive spectators.
BIBLIOGRAPHY of
Works mentioned
ANTHONY, Michael J., Editor
1994 The Short-Term Missions Boom. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Books.
BAUDER, Kevin
2007 ”Mission Agencies and Local Churches” from In the Nick of Time archive for October 26, 2007 at the Seminary website:
BLOMBERG, Janet R. and BROOKS, David F., Editors
2001 Fitted Pieces: A Guide for Parents Educating Children Overseas. St. Clair Shores, MI: SHARE Education Services.
BOWERS, Joyce M., Editor
1998 Raising Resilient MKs: Resources for Caregivers, Parents, and Teachers. Colorado Springs, CO: ACSI: Association of Christian Schools International.
BURNS, Ridge and BECCHETTI, Noel
1990 The Complete Student Missions Handbook. Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan.
BUSH, Luis and LUTZ, Lorry
1990 Partnering in Ministry. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press.
COLLINS, Marjorie A.
1986 Manual for Today’s Missionary: From Recruitment to Retirement. Pasadena CA: William Carey Library.
DORAN, David M., JOHNSON, Pearson, and ECKMAN, Benjamin
2002 For the Sake of His Name. Allen Park MI: Student Global Impact.
GILLILAND, Dean
2005 “The Incarnation as Matrix for Appropriate Theologies” in Appropriate Christianity. Pasadena: William Carey Library, Charles Kraft, editor, chapter 28, p. 504.
GLENNY, W. Edward & SMALLMAN, William H., Editors
2000 Missions in a New Millennium. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publishing Co.
HALE, Thomas
1995 On being a Missionary. Pasadena CA: Wm. Carey Library
HENDRICKS, Howard G. and HENDRICKS, William d.
1991 Living by the Book. Chicago: Moody Press.
HESSELGRAVE, David J.
1980 Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: A Guide for Home & Foreign Missions. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Book House.
KEYES, Larry E. and PATE, Larry D.
1993 “Two-Thirds World Missions: The Next 100 Years” in Missiology, Vol XXI, No. 2 (April 1993), p. 190.
KINGSOLVER, Barbara
1998 The Poisonwood Bible. New York: Harper Perennial.
KOSTENBERGER, Editor
1995 Women in the Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.
KRAAKEVIK, James and WELLIVER, Dotsie, editors
1993 Partners in the Gospel. Wheaton IL: BGC Monographs.
KRAFT, Charles H., Editor
2005 Appropriate Christianity. Pasadena: Wm. Carey Library
LANIER, Sarah.
2000 Foreign to Familiar, Hagerstown MD: McDougal Publishing
MOBERG,
1972 The Great Reversal. Phileadelphia: J. B. Lippencott.
MUELLER, George
1984. The Autobiography of George Mueller. Springdale PA: Whitaker House.
MUNDY, Robert A., D.D.
1999 All About Faith Promise Offerings. Cleveland OH: Baptist Mid-Missions
ORTIZ, Manuel
1996 One New People: Models for Developing a Multiethnic Church. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press.
PASCOE, Robin
2006 Raising Global Nomads. North Vancouver BC: Expatriate Press, Ltd.
PATE, Larry D.
1989 From Every People. Monrovia CA: Mission Advance Research Center.
PETERSON, Roger
2003 Maximum Impact Short-Term Mission. Minneapolis: STEM Press.
POLLOCK, David C. and VanREKEN, Ruth E., Editors
1999 The Third Culture Kid Experience: Growing up among worlds. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
PRIEST, Robert J.
2008 Effective Engagement in Short-Term Missions: Doing it Right! Pasadena CA: William Carey Library.
RAUSCHENBUSCH, Walter
1964 Christianity and the Social Crisis. New York: Harper Torchbooks. A condensation of the 1907 original.
SCHAAF, Ype
1994. On Their Way Rejoicing: The History and Role of the Bible in Africa. Carlisle, Cumbria, UK: Paternoster Press.
SCHULTE, Elaine A.
2010 Untitled History of Bibles International. Grand Rapids MI: Bibles International. A book on the principles and history of Bibles International is projected for publication late in 2010. See that work for further details. See
SCHNABEL, Eberhardt J.
2004 Early Christian Mission, Vol 1 of 2, “Jesus and the Twelve.” Downers Grove IL: IVP
SMALLEY, William A.
1991. Translation as Mission. (Series: The Modern Mission Era, 1792-1992: An Appraisal. ed. Wilbert R. Shenk) Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press.
STEFFEN, Tom and DOUGLAS, Lois McKinney
2008 Encountering Missionary Life and Work. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.
WAGNER, C. Peter
1979 Our Kind of People. Atlanta: John Knox Press.
WASHINGTON, Raleigh and KEHREIN, Glen
1993 Breaking Down Walls. Chicago: Moody Press.
YAMAMORI, Tetsunao
1993 Penetrating Missions’ Final Frontier. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press.
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