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245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 140 140 Developing Tomorrow’s Missionaries Qualifications for the Missionary Those wondering if they have what it takes to be a missionary may have difficulty finding a typical missionary against whom they can measure themselves. Missionaries come in all personality types. There are outgoing missionaries who seem to never stop talking. There are quiet missionaries. There are missionaries who see the big picture but who never quite master the details. There are missionaries who are great with detail work. There are missionaries who are incredibly optimistic. There are others who see themselves as “more realistic.” Since sending agencies want missionaries who will exercise their calling in truly incarnational ways, they look for people bearing an abundance of the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. The “sent ones” (apostles/missionaries) are commissioned to be conduits through which God’s love will flow to the global mosaic of cultures. Mission boards, therefore, look for people with versatility, humility, adaptability, and a sense of humor. Mission agencies also know that people who practice spiritual disciplines like regular church participation (Hebrews 10:25), prayer and fasting (Acts 13:3), Bible study, and submission to others (Philippians 2:5-8) will be more likely to have productive cross-cultural ministries than those who do not. The rigors and stresses of cross-cultural missionary ministry can exacerbate physical and emotional weaknesses. So, in addition to spiritual qualifications, mission boards want future missionaries to be physically and psychologically healthy. Even if physical health-care needs exceeding those of the average person can be met on a mission field (which is not always possible or advisable), some medical problems require resources beyond a missionary’s financial capabilities. As to psychological health, in the 21st century, getting along with coworkers and serving under indigenous leadership may be the biggest challenges missionaries will face. A missionary with personality issues will flounder in interpersonal and intercultural relationships. The struggles of missionaries to get along with each other cause some to drop out and return home early. Indeed, denominational leaders and mission boards regularly cite personal incompatibility as the number one cause of shortened careers and failure of missionaries to achieve their potential. Emotional issues are not, of course, the only reason why missionaries do not get along. However, because it is a significant reason, many mission boards attempt to deal with psychological issues ahead of deployment by giving personality and psychological tests and then following up with individualized counseling. It has often been said that a call to serve is a call to prepare. Most mission agencies want missionary candidates to have college or seminary training for cross-cultural service. Generally, missionaries will be more effective if they have grappled with major missiological questions before arriving on the field. Most
245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 141 mission boards want missionary candidates who fully understand core Christian beliefs and who know how to communicate Christian faith to unbelievers. A basic grasp of various world religions is considered helpful. Missionaries need to know how to enter another culture as well as how to constructively critique their own. Missionaries need to know how to absorb culture shock and most need to know how to learn another language. Missionaries need to be aware of how paternalism, ethnocentrism, and racism can be cancerous to the health of the Church. In addition to classroom studies, future missionaries will find that mission boards like for them to have had some cross-cultural ministry experience before deployment. Of course, even when missionaries have received specialized mission training, they should view that as only the beginning of their missiological education. People heading to a missionary assignment should be encouraged to subscribe to journals like Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Mission Frontiers, and International Bulletin of Missionary Research as one avenue of continuing their education. To be sure, even the best missiological training is no guarantee that missionary life will be problem-free and that there will be no unsettling days. Good training can, however, cushion the impact of discouraging problems and enable the missionary to confront them effectively. If God calls you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king. 10 What Do Missionaries Do? Developing Tomorrow’s Missionaries 141 —Jordan Grooms For a time, it was common to categorize all missionary work as being of three types: preaching, teaching, and medical work. Of course, to see how that was an oversimplification, one has only to look at the huge variety of things that missionaries like William Carey did. 11 Missionary assignments do not just come in the three categories of teaching, preaching, and medical work. What missionaries do is evangelize, supervise disaster relief, recruit and develop church leadership, facilitate economic development projects, and run broadcast and print media programming. Missionaries are anthropologists and linguists who translate the Bible and other books. They train village health-care workers. They coordinate incoming short-term mission teams. They start Bible colleges and Theological Education by Extension programs. They develop programs for youth and children. They pilot airplanes and boats and do computer systems support. They account for finances and wrestle with the red tape of
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