Setting Out

Rarely does God explain His big picture, global plans to us in any significant detail. He tells us in Scripture what we need to know, which often isn’t as much as we’d like to know. All we really need is a next step. If you’ve read this far, you probably have a missional seed growing in your heart, whether you’re considering serving abroad or closer to home. The Holy Spirit is germinating that seed. He might be calling you out of your comfort zone. God nudged Scott and Diane through a simple Sunday-morning sermon, and Ted and Peggy through the example of their many missionary friends. Is it your turn to be stretched in unexpected ways and surprised by God’s superior plan? If so, how to begin?

Pray, Plan, and Pivot

Prayer is always a good place to start. Pray for a heart that listens for God’s voice and is willing to take the next step of obedience even if it feels uncertain. Ask God to bring people into your life to give you good counsel. And pray for a growing sense of assurance that Jesus’ promise, “I am with you always,” will indeed be your experience at each stage of the journey.

Embark on this prayerful process with confidence that God loves you and won’t betray your trust. He won’t let you down, although at times it can feel like He does. You’ll be stretched in new ways both as you prepare for cross-cultural ministry and when you get to your destination. Spiritual muscles will be tested as never before. And there will be times when you’ll feel, This is not what I bargained for! But wherever you go, go with the expectation that God has provided all you need to represent Him well in each moment.

As for the specifics of where and how you serve, a lot of times it’s honestly not that hard to figure out. Major ministry decisions are usually made through a series of small steps. Conversations with one person after another lead to greater detail and greater clarity. It often has a lot to do with who you know, who you meet, and who answers your email first.

In a lot of the stories highlighted in this book, people worked through their relationship networks. Betty made her way to Central Asia because her church focused its mission efforts on a specific people group there. The Distlers joined a missionary couple their church supported in East Asia. The Harrises followed their son to West Africa. On the other hand, the Taylors’ choices were narrowed by Diane’s deafness and a global pandemic. You can’t predict what the Lord will use.

In most cases, your normal decision-making process applies to missions. Try following the natural road markers of your life and see what happens. For example, if you can’t stand hot weather, it’s probably not a good idea to move to the Sahara Desert. Now, God might change that. We need missionaries to serve in places few people would choose for the creature comforts. But the older you are, the more life markers you have to guide you. You’ve met a lot of people. You know what you’re good at, what you enjoy, and how God usually uses you to bless others. You may have connections to missionaries and ministry organizations. That’s an advantage over a young person who doesn’t have as long of a track record or as broad of a network. Bathe the whole process in prayer that God will lead you to the right conversations with the right people at the right time.

Whatever plan you make after praying and discussing and discerning probably isn’t going to work out the way you picture it. The world is too unpredictable. God is too unpredictable. It’s important to have a plan, but make it a malleable plan. That way, your preparation won’t be wasted but will help you pivot as circumstances change. Following God can be quite an adventure.

Key question: What is your logical next step toward the mission field?

Let Your Church Send You

A lot more people participate in global missions than the ones who get on airplanes and move away. As you take the next step in your missions journey, invite people with you, whether or not you expect the journey to include airplanes and exotic locations. You will naturally probably talk it over with a few close friends and family members. I suggest inviting two other important parties into the conversation if you haven’t already: your church and a sending organization.

Your church has an important role to play in your future ministry through prayer, encouragement, and finances, so I recommend including your leaders early in your process. Whether your church has a robust missionary sending program or is new to the whole idea, you’ll benefit from their insight and camaraderie in the early steps.

Ideally, your church will be excited and well-positioned to send you out. But maybe not. If your church does not have a strong interest in cross-cultural ministry or isn’t sure how to begin, the first step in your missions journey may be to help lift the eyes of your church leadership and congregation to the global harvest fields. Some sending agencies have staff members who specialize in church partnerships. They may be able to coach you on how best to introduce the idea to your pastor. If and when you do join a missionary team, part of your ministry will always be influencing your sending church and inspiring them through the impact of their prayers and financial contributions.

“Anybody going on this journey needs people who can encourage you, come alongside you, and help. We’re not meant to do this alone.”
Thomas, at age 62, preparing to serve in Sub-Saharan Africa

I hope that people going out in their retirement years will be sent by their church like conventional missionaries, even if they don’t raise funds. But as I mentioned before, I see an advantage to at least a nominal financial investment. To be sent by a group of people—a church—with financial skin in the game will expand the arena of blessing. Your partners are more likely to back you with consistent, heartfelt prayer if they also contribute financially to your ministry.

Key question: Who do you need to update about your interest in global missions?

Let an Agency Equip You

It’s an unusual person who is fully equipped to move to Japan or Zambia or Peru as a missionary with only their home church backing them. Even if they do go alone, they usually end up associating with other foreigners when they arrive. In most cases, it’s preferable to join a sending agency beforehand. And if you plan to serve unreached peoples from your home country, agency support is often still helpful. Sending organizations are designed to facilitate missionaries going to unreached areas and staying there for long-term effectiveness. I’ve used stories from Pioneers in this book because that is my context, but many other good organizations have their own personalities and ministry emphases.

Some people associate sending agencies with bureaucracy, and therefore with inefficiency. I think that idea is rooted in some faulty assumptions about what it takes to prepare and support an effective cross-cultural missionary, but it’s true that agencies often slow people down. Some missionary candidates feel ready to buy a plane ticket tomorrow, only to be told by an organization that they have six months or more of work to do first. If you feel a time pressure to get started in ministry, including more people and more steps feels cumbersome. Is it worth the wait? Likely it is.

A good relationship with a sending organization will prepare you well, alert you to pitfalls, provide fundraising help, connect you with a team, and orient you to cross-cultural living—all before you set foot on foreign soil. Once you join a team, an agency typically manages financial processes, provides ministry strategy and training, offers personal development resources, and supports you in the event of a crisis. A connection with an organization also opens doors for ministry. Agencies often have decades of experience and institutional memory, which can allow you to join what the Lord has been doing rather than starting from scratch. In short, a missionary sending organization can help ease the transition and make your ministry more effective.

“If you have the passion to reach out to Muslims, Buddhists, whoever—if you join forces with Pioneers, they will help you. They will equip you. You will find a community to help you determine where to go.”
Ayad, at age 62, serving Arabs in North America for two years and counting

Your sending church will still be a crucial part of your ministry, but few churches are equipped to help you troubleshoot a problem with your language tutor in a collectivist culture, navigate a tense relationship with a local pastor, or walk you through the aftermath of a natural disaster on the opposite side of the world. Partnering with an agency also reassures your church, family, and donors back home that you’re not alone and not crazy. Good preparation and a good partnership can make you more effective on the field and keep you there longer.

Sam and Janet are preparing to work with a local church-planting ministry in the Middle East. The organization is well established, and their co-workers will all be Arab believers. They didn’t have to join a U.S. agency, but here’s why they did:

We were looking for an organization with infrastructure in the Middle East, a good process for crisis management, and good experiences loaning their missionaries to other ministries. We need people who can talk to us when we’re going through culture shock. Our local co-workers may not understand. Pioneers has dozens of missionaries in our region. They immediately sent us an example of a partnership agreement with a local ministry. They have the people, the infrastructure, and the track record.

When Ingrid and her husband decided to serve in Western Europe, Pioneers staff advised them to wait until their youngest child graduated high school. Taking that advice delayed them by two years, but looking back, they believe they made the right decision for their family. An agency that slows you down initially might ultimately make you more effective.

How do you choose the right agency partner? It probably won’t surprise you that I recommend starting with your church and the missionaries you know. Ask them what organizations they have interacted with and who they recommend. What strengths and weaknesses do they see in each one? Some agencies have more experience sending people in older age brackets, and some have more flexibility in customizing opportunities for people thinking in terms of two to ten years rather than a full career. If you have a specific role or ministry in mind, that might also narrow your options considerably.

Key question: What factors are most important to you as you consider joining a sending agency?

Let the Agency Vet You

Each agency has its own process of evaluating missionary candidates and sending them out, so I won’t go into a lot of detail here. But as a general overview, the process usually begins with a conversation with a recruiter or mobilizer and an application form. They’ll probably ask you for references, a history of your walk with the Lord, some psychological testing, and possibly some type of evaluation of how well you know your Bible and theology. You may attend an in-person orientation and be interviewed by a committee or a counselor.

Once you are accepted (often called being “appointed”) as a missionary, a coach will likely walk with you until you arrive at your ministry location. That coach can help you choose a ministry team, suggest resources, and answer questions. Before joining a ministry team, most agencies require you to raise whatever financial support you need and complete any individual requirements based on your application process. Appointees are frequently asked to work through specific issues with a counselor, read books on relevant topics, take Bible classes, or attend cross-cultural or language-learning training. Most agencies will work with your sending church to coordinate any preparation steps they have asked you to complete.

“It’s not too late to start again or do something you’ve always wanted to do.”
Laure, at age 61, serving international students in North America for two years and counting

If a sending agency slows you down or turns you down, they might be trying to protect you from what you don’t know about yourself or about missionary life. There is no such thing as a perfect missionary candidate, but sending someone with a significant character weakness or lack of necessary skills can be risky, if not devastating, to the individual and to the ministry. Missionary life comes with both great joys and great pressures. No one wants a marriage to disintegrate under the strain of cross-cultural stress or a lack of biblical grounding to lead to a crisis of faith when confronted with unfamiliar spiritual realities. Sending agencies don’t always get it right, but experienced ones have evaluated hundreds, if not thousands, of candidates and watched the results play out over many years.

Mission organizations also evaluate new candidates carefully to protect ministry teams. Sending people under-prepared or under-screened can consume a lot of time, effort, and resources. Wherever you plan to serve, missionaries have probably already made significant sacrifices for the sake of the work there. They’re usually very focused people who don’t invite distractions. Your prospective team might face religious, cultural, or social opposition. They may have legal challenges and health risks. They may finally be gaining traction after years of effort and prayer. Adding team members can be a blessing, but it can also hurt the ministry if it’s not a good fit. Agencies strive to maximize the impact of the team and the organization, not just an individual missionary candidate.

If the screening seems like overkill, remember that all of your future teammates have undergone a similar process. It should give you confidence in the organization you’re joining, even if it means taking extra time to get where you’re headed. In global missions, the stakes are high, and everyone is trying to make wise decisions with limited information. A sending organization needs time and information to get to know you. To some extent, agencies take people’s word for things, but it’s fair to ask questions. If you trust your organization’s motives, trust their process, too.

If your chosen agency declines to appoint you as a missionary, that doesn’t mean you can’t be involved in global missions. Remember Ted and Peggy Fletcher. Rejection led to a fruitful ministry they wouldn’t have considered otherwise. Another organization might fit you better, or maybe the Lord has a different way for you to participate in the Great Commission.

Let the Adventures Begin

Assuming your church backs your plans, and your favorite sending organization appoints you, how long will it take to get to your destination? I have no idea. Factors are myriad. However, I’ll venture some generalizations if you promise not to hold me to it.

A typical appointee of any age spends about 6 months choosing an agency, applying, and attending orientation. After acceptance, it’s common to spend at least a year choosing a team, visiting them on location, completing “pre-field requirements” like counseling or Bible classes, and raising funds. That’s about 18 months from “I want to be a missionary” to getting on a plane. You might be able to condense the timeline somewhat, or you may need more time to prep. Going short term or as part of a customized program could expedite the process.

Factors commonly slowing down people’s timelines include house sales, fundraising, debt, preparation requested by their sending churches, and health issues. Factors often speeding up the process include knowing right away what agency you want to join, quickly deciding what team you want to serve on, having Bible education, not needing to raise much funding, and not having many requirements from your church and sending agency.

For a lot of the people included in this book, the pre-field process took longer than they expected. Some wished it had been quicker and easier. However, none of them said they wished they’d arrived on their ministry teams less prepared. If you have concerns about your timeline or feel more urgency than your mission agency, talk to them. It’s a good opportunity to build trust with the people who are sending you. Think of the pre-field process as both a ministry in and of itself as you educate and encourage others in Great Commission involvement and as a strategic investment in your future ministry.

Don’t be afraid of the discovery process. The Lord will teach you as you step out in faith. He’ll build your confidence in His care for you and in His answers to prayer. As you move into a new phase of life and ministry, God may use what you already know and love, or He may take you in an entirely new direction. Either way, if you step out in faith toward global missions, the Lord will give you a whole new adventure.

If, at this point, you have identified a clear path forward, great! Perhaps you immediately thought of a missionary you’d like to work with and have little holding you back. Maybe you’ve already done a lot of preparation, and you’re ready to buy a ticket. Ride the wave of enthusiasm and momentum as far as it’ll take you, but don’t be surprised if you hit a few obstacles between here and your destination. If you accept from the beginning that missionary life will not play out as you expect, it will free you up to enjoy the process and reduce the stress of living outside your comfort zone.

Or maybe you are overwhelmed by the whole idea of missions and don’t know where to start. Rest assured, you’re in good company. Most of us have been in that situation at one point or another (or lots!), and God will provide people to help you. Look to your church and a sending agency for information and prayer. Take steps of faith and watch how God opens doors and changes hearts, including yours!