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245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 130 130 Volunteerism in Mission napped in Iraq in 2004. Kim was in Iraq working as a translator for a South Korean firm and doing evangelism during his free time. He was highly educated with college degrees in English, theology, and Arabic. His passion for mission work among unreached peoples led him to the dangerous task of working and trying to minister in a war zone. He had been in Iraq for a year when he was kidnapped by Jama’at al-Tawhid wa’l Jihad (in English, “Monotheism and Holy Struggle”) terrorists. They threatened to kill him and released video footage of him pleading for his life. Sadly, after a month in the hands of his kidnappers, Kim’s beheaded body was recovered outside of Baghdad. His killers posted an Internet message that read, “We have killed an infidel who tried to propagate Christianity in Iraq.” 14 Tentmaking should not be viewed as something less than the ideal, which is done mainly to get people into closed countries. Indeed, tentmakers’ professional training and abilities can give them opportunities to minister in strategic settings in open as well as closed countries. Pouring Out Their Lives When the world sees millions of “retired” Christians pouring out the last drops of their lives with joy for the sake of the unreached peoples and with a view toward heaven, then the supremacy of God will shine. He does not shine as brightly in the posh, leisure-soaked luxury condos on the outer rings of our cities. 15 —John Piper Evaluating Midtermers Douglas Terry did his doctoral dissertation on the effectiveness of longerterm or midterm volunteers who have spent from six months to two years on a mission field. Terry tried to evaluate the midtermers’ effectiveness by surveying them and the career missionaries and local Christians with whom they had served. According to Terry: Any mid-term missionary who contributed significantly to a mission ministry and its goals, witnessed effectively about Christ, was satisfied with his or her ministry, was deemed suitable for this ministry, was able to communicate adequately with those ministered to, had a good relationship with at least one on-site career missionary, had a good relationship with at least one on-site national Christian, and the recipients of whose ministry were satisfied with it, is by definition effective missionally. 16 From this list of characteristics or variables Terry developed a Missional Effectiveness Index, or MEI. He then correlated volunteer’s MEI scores with a
245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 131 number of other variables. The top three variables showing up in Terry’s study all have to do with communication and relationship. The most important variable contributing to the missional effectiveness of midterm volunteers was language communication skills. 17 Cultural adaptation, which is inseparably tied to language learning, was the second most important variable in the high MEI scores. The third most important factor was the development and maintenance of good relationships. The fourth was spiritual readiness. Terry’s study also showed age to be a significant variable. His research indicated that midtermers who had the best missional effectiveness scores were between 55 and 64 years of age. 18 Most midtermers discover that one or two years of volunteer service go by very fast. They find themselves just starting to connect with people when it is time to go home. Thus, they need to be intentional about training others to do what they are doing or else their involvement and contributions will not continue after they leave. Because of the significant missionary ministry that midterm volunteers have given, some mission agencies have begun including them in the number of missionaries they report as being deployed. A Win-Win Proposition Volunteerism can benefit everyone involved. Fruitful short-term and midterm mission can assist not only the mission outreach of the church but also the spiritual maturation of individual participants themselves as they look beyond their own interests “to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4, NIV). In a TIME magazine editorial, Margaret Carlson noted the current popularity of volunteerism within American culture, “Volunteerism hasn’t been cool since Camelot . . . [this is our] first chance to turn the Selfish Generation into something more like the Greatest Generation . . . to help our indulgent generation awaken to what [U.S. Senator] McCain describes as ‘a cause larger than ourselves.’” 19 By themselves, short-term mission programs cannot fulfill the Great Commission. However, there is a paradigm for using short-term volunteers that has win-win possibilities. Volunteer mission programs can have more than numerical success. Such programs can also be full of significance as they enable believers to contribute meaningfully to Kingdom purposes. Questions for Reflection Volunteerism in Mission 131 1. Why would young people and retirees be the best sources of volunteers? 2. Why has there been such an explosion of growth of volunteerism within the Church? 3. Most missiologists believe that the primary beneficiaries of volunteer programs
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