WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

HOW TO ASSESS PROSPECTIVE CANDIDATES
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contribution both to the country as well as to the ministry with people will
seek to lengthen their period of work in the country.
Missionaries need to remain on the field for two or three terms for a
reproducing ministry to result. This means having a long-term view of ministry
in seeing faith communities emerge and leadership developed for the advance
of the Gospel. 1
In cultures where language learning is difficult, missionaries may need
to minister for much longer than three terms to see to the equipping of leaders
in the host culture. The first term is spent primarily in language learning with
minimal ministry. It is only in the second term that effective evangelising and
establishing occur. During the third term, leaders are being equipped.
Candidate assessment and proper selection of cross-cultural workers are
therefore absolutely essential to ensure that the right workers and teams are
sent to various fields of ministry. Selected workers should have the potential to
fulfil their mission and complete their full length of service.
SHORT-TERM ASSIGNMENTS
Although our emphasis is on long-term assignments, there is a place for
the short-termer. In the previous chapter, I proposed that those desiring missions
experience could plan to devote one to three years on the field. They could
then ascertain whether God may be leading them to long-term cross-cultural
assignments.
It would be invaluable for short-term personnel to serve alongside more
experienced workers on the field. For those who return to the field as longtermers,
their short-term assignment may be viewed as a period of valuable
apprenticeship. They now become an asset to the mission effort with their added
experience.
Short-termers who are sent should be sufficiently mature and be able to
contribute to the total field ministry. If they are immature or untrained, they
would unnecessarily add to the burdens of the team rather than share in the
load of the ministry. Short-termers are sent to the field not to be served but to
serve others. Therefore, although criteria for selecting short-termers may not
be as stringent as for long-termers, there are still some basic requirements such
as relative maturity, stability and basic ministry skills.
Some short-term assignments are for support or administrative roles
and do not require ministry proficiency skills or as much missions preparation
as other positions.
1 See Appendix B Six Critical Factors for a Multiplying Ministry