Ask a Missionary - Catch The Fire

with those folks, even if they have incompatible visions or
personalities. You can’t choose with whom you work.
• Vision cost. With an agency, you may have to go along
with what they’re doing, even if the season for one type
of ministry in your area is finished and you feel led to do
something different. In most cases, you will have to plug
into the vision of your agency’s founder or current head,
or that of your local team leader, rather than going with
the vision God gives you.
My feeling is that all the benefits of a mission agency can be
gained in a variety of ways for a fraction of the financial, time, relationship,
and vision costs.
In my view, many missionaries are unsuccessful or unproductive
for at least one of the following reasons:
• They are not disciplined and self-motivated.
• They don’t have a clear vision of what God is leading
them to do.
• They are not committed to accountable relationships.
Without these traits you will fail, whether as an independent
missionary or as an agency-affiliated missionary. Going with an
agency will not make up for these shortcomings.
If you can’t honestly say that you are disciplined, have a clear
vision, and are committed to accountability, I’d suggest that you pray
and fast, review your guidance into missions, and spend a year or
two with an “open” agency that emphasizes training and formation
of leaders, such as Operation Mobilization or Youth With A Mission.
Only after you’re certain you have some measure of these traits in
your life should you even consider career missions.
Answer from Jay, an independent missionary who has been working in Italy
for five years.
54 | Ask a Missionary