Why do some missionaries serve independent from an agency?
» more related questionsQ: Why do many missionaries join agencies?
A: Because agencies help missionaries be more effective.
Agencies differ, but most of them offer the following:
• Placement: They tell you in which countries they work, the activities they are involved in, their requirements for membership, etc.
• Financial Support: Agencies usually require you to raise your own financial support. However, they can guide you in this, give you materials to show, help you describe what you'll be doing, etc. Once you are accepted, they can provide your supporters with tax-deductible receipts.
• Orientation: Crossing cultures is an intellectual and emotionally demanding experience. A good mission agency can be of great help since they know the culture of where you'll be going and how best to prepare you. They will recommend a language training option and help you find your way around.
• Supervision: We all need supervision to guide us in our work, help us learn from our mistakes, and encourage our development.
• Membercare: Early pioneers were pretty much on their own.
More mission agencies now look out for their people: their spiritual needs, their intellectual growth, their plans for furlough, the education of their children, and preparation for retirement.
Mission agencies are like people - they have different personalities. Each missionary candidate needs to get to know several agencies, find out how they operate, and ask the Lord where they fit.
• Placement: They tell you in which countries they work, the activities they are involved in, their requirements for membership, etc.
• Financial Support: Agencies usually require you to raise your own financial support. However, they can guide you in this, give you materials to show, help you describe what you'll be doing, etc. Once you are accepted, they can provide your supporters with tax-deductible receipts.
• Orientation: Crossing cultures is an intellectual and emotionally demanding experience. A good mission agency can be of great help since they know the culture of where you'll be going and how best to prepare you. They will recommend a language training option and help you find your way around.
• Supervision: We all need supervision to guide us in our work, help us learn from our mistakes, and encourage our development.
• Membercare: Early pioneers were pretty much on their own.
More mission agencies now look out for their people: their spiritual needs, their intellectual growth, their plans for furlough, the education of their children, and preparation for retirement.
Mission agencies are like people - they have different personalities. Each missionary candidate needs to get to know several agencies, find out how they operate, and ask the Lord where they fit.
A: For encouragement by a team on the field.
I feel it is important to be a part of a mission organization. I have done it both ways. You face so many new situations when you are out in the field. Being in a team provides support and council (when it is functioning properly). I have also found the fellowship of my fellow missionaries to be invaluable, even when there were tensions that needed to be worked out. It is also beneficial to be in close communication with one's sending church. Your home church needs to know how important it is for them to stay involved and communicate with you.
A: Because their church has learned missionaries need an agency.
We decided to send our missionaries directly to the field without the help of an agency. Looking back, we were quite naive. We essentially believed that sending people for longer terms would not involve any particularly different challenges than sending them on short-terms. We were wrong.
We first sent two women to Panama. Immediately we encountered numerous complicated background checks and bureaucratic paperwork in order to acquire their visas. Then we needed to consider where to secure medical insurance and a pension plan. Once our workers arrived on the field we had to furnish their office, which raised another question. What if our missionaries returned home soon? What would we do with our office furnishings sitting in Panama?
We also sent my grown son to minister in Ecuador. He coordinated our incoming short-term teams. One day while he was traveling on a bus, bandits hijacked the bus and forced everyone out for a couple of hours. While we were thankful that no one was hurt, we realized that we could encounter even more difficult political upheaval. We knew that if our missionaries were ever taken hostage, we lacked the expertise to negotiate with terrorists or foreign governments.
We decided that we indeed needed mission agencies through which to send our people. Agencies offer the church wise placement of workers, expertise on the field, and contacts in the host country. So we earnestly began looking for agencies willing to partner with us. We found one in particular that is proving to be an excellent fit for us. This agency approves Pentecostals for service. It has also developed ways for missionaries to receive quality training in shorter stints, closer to home.
I would encourage the church that is considering sending longer-term missionaries without an agency’s help to exercise extreme caution. Such a church is shouldering a tremendous responsibility for its missionaries’ safety, health and supervision in ministry. It ’s a big task for which not many churches are prepared. As mentioned previously, we are a church of 8,000. We are well staffed and financed for missions, yet we found that we weren’t equipped for the job of mission agency. I’m not sure how smaller churches would pull it off successfully.
Excerpted from the article “We Found That We Needed Agencies” in the March 2002 edition of Mobilizer magazine, published by ACMC (Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment).
We first sent two women to Panama. Immediately we encountered numerous complicated background checks and bureaucratic paperwork in order to acquire their visas. Then we needed to consider where to secure medical insurance and a pension plan. Once our workers arrived on the field we had to furnish their office, which raised another question. What if our missionaries returned home soon? What would we do with our office furnishings sitting in Panama?
We also sent my grown son to minister in Ecuador. He coordinated our incoming short-term teams. One day while he was traveling on a bus, bandits hijacked the bus and forced everyone out for a couple of hours. While we were thankful that no one was hurt, we realized that we could encounter even more difficult political upheaval. We knew that if our missionaries were ever taken hostage, we lacked the expertise to negotiate with terrorists or foreign governments.
We decided that we indeed needed mission agencies through which to send our people. Agencies offer the church wise placement of workers, expertise on the field, and contacts in the host country. So we earnestly began looking for agencies willing to partner with us. We found one in particular that is proving to be an excellent fit for us. This agency approves Pentecostals for service. It has also developed ways for missionaries to receive quality training in shorter stints, closer to home.
I would encourage the church that is considering sending longer-term missionaries without an agency’s help to exercise extreme caution. Such a church is shouldering a tremendous responsibility for its missionaries’ safety, health and supervision in ministry. It ’s a big task for which not many churches are prepared. As mentioned previously, we are a church of 8,000. We are well staffed and financed for missions, yet we found that we weren’t equipped for the job of mission agency. I’m not sure how smaller churches would pull it off successfully.
Excerpted from the article “We Found That We Needed Agencies” in the March 2002 edition of Mobilizer magazine, published by ACMC (Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment).
A: For prayer support.
To not have a missions agency is asking for disaster. An agency is not only responsible for praying and organizing prayer support, but will also make sure that prayer is being directed in the right way. The agency can provide a large part of the prayer covering that a missionary must have to do the kingdom work. To select a mission agency takes time and prayer. It must be a good fit for them and you. Sometimes things work for a while and then you have to change agencies. Every agency will have some things that may not perfectly suit your situation, but no shoes ever fit exactly perfect. Shoes do not fit perfectly because of the imperfect feet in them.
A: For preparation and teamwork.
Being a member of a mission agency, I would highly advise a person to go through an agency rather than going independently. I have known some independents who have very good ministries. However, I have met some independents who seem to be content on reinventing the wheel and making mistakes that others could have warned them about. Thus, let me just list some of the benefits of going with a mission agency:
• pre-field preparation--most agencies require anywhere from a few intense weeks to several months studying different issues like cross-cultural adjustment, anthropology, mission strategy, church planting.
• strategic planning--Often the mission agency can give you a clear understanding of a particular situation on the field or put you in direct contact with workers already there. This helps avoid rather silly mistakes in planning. I give one example of an independent couple who came to the country where I work without trying to learn French, which is the national language. They thought they would work through translators (which, by the way, works quite well in some countries). However, I don't see how anyone would ever have much credibility with the people here if they refuse to learn the French. (By the way, this couple now recognizes the need to learn French and have started to do so).
I think of a couple I know who are working in France. They are independents as well. They have decided to work in an area very closed to the gospel. Although they have a strong heart for the Lord, many of their practices make them stand out like a sore thumb. Because they come from a church background which is opposed to working with other evangelicals, they don't want to consult with other evangelicals to reach the area. There are no other missionaries of their church background there, so they proceed with their strategy, giving accountability to no one. This has led some French Christians to say that they will be perceived as a cult.
• Accountability --With a mission agency, there are usually others working in the same area who will help keep us accountable and on track. Many people may have trouble planning their time and using it wisely or knowing how to evaluate goals. Also, in an isolated situation where we are "lone rangers,” it is usually easier to fall into temptations because we think we won't be caught.
• Encouragement--With an agency, there will usually be other missionaries who share your ethos of mission and will encourage you and pray with you in the hard times. Yes, one can always email friends back in the states, but it is really nice to have a "flesh and blood" person "in person" to hear your concerns.
• Freedom for Ministry--Usually an agency has several people to take care of matters that would consume a lot of your time if you had to do it yourself. In the country where you work, this might include buying airplane tickets, money transfers, obtaining certain supplies, keeping track of your finances, etc. In developing countries, often one must be near the capital city to conduct your business. Weeks of time can be lost if one has to make frequent trips from upcountry to take care of such matters. This extra personnel frees you up more for ministry.
• Teamwork--The New Testament concept of evangelism and church planting usually involved teamwork. Working in fellowship, a team has the potential to model Christian community for a lost world, especially a team of internationals working together. In addition, a team can give several different perspectives on the work, especially if it is an international team. The Bible teaches that joining together increases our potential exponentially (not simply additive!). Other people working with you from your agency can offset your weaknesses. Additionally, other people can help continue a ministry you have started in case you must return back to your home country.
• Response in crises --An agency usually has a network on the field who are up to date on your situation. If a personal crisis occurs or an outside threat is imminent, the mission can provide prompt response with personnel on the spot.
• pre-field preparation--most agencies require anywhere from a few intense weeks to several months studying different issues like cross-cultural adjustment, anthropology, mission strategy, church planting.
• strategic planning--Often the mission agency can give you a clear understanding of a particular situation on the field or put you in direct contact with workers already there. This helps avoid rather silly mistakes in planning. I give one example of an independent couple who came to the country where I work without trying to learn French, which is the national language. They thought they would work through translators (which, by the way, works quite well in some countries). However, I don't see how anyone would ever have much credibility with the people here if they refuse to learn the French. (By the way, this couple now recognizes the need to learn French and have started to do so).
I think of a couple I know who are working in France. They are independents as well. They have decided to work in an area very closed to the gospel. Although they have a strong heart for the Lord, many of their practices make them stand out like a sore thumb. Because they come from a church background which is opposed to working with other evangelicals, they don't want to consult with other evangelicals to reach the area. There are no other missionaries of their church background there, so they proceed with their strategy, giving accountability to no one. This has led some French Christians to say that they will be perceived as a cult.
• Accountability --With a mission agency, there are usually others working in the same area who will help keep us accountable and on track. Many people may have trouble planning their time and using it wisely or knowing how to evaluate goals. Also, in an isolated situation where we are "lone rangers,” it is usually easier to fall into temptations because we think we won't be caught.
• Encouragement--With an agency, there will usually be other missionaries who share your ethos of mission and will encourage you and pray with you in the hard times. Yes, one can always email friends back in the states, but it is really nice to have a "flesh and blood" person "in person" to hear your concerns.
• Freedom for Ministry--Usually an agency has several people to take care of matters that would consume a lot of your time if you had to do it yourself. In the country where you work, this might include buying airplane tickets, money transfers, obtaining certain supplies, keeping track of your finances, etc. In developing countries, often one must be near the capital city to conduct your business. Weeks of time can be lost if one has to make frequent trips from upcountry to take care of such matters. This extra personnel frees you up more for ministry.
• Teamwork--The New Testament concept of evangelism and church planting usually involved teamwork. Working in fellowship, a team has the potential to model Christian community for a lost world, especially a team of internationals working together. In addition, a team can give several different perspectives on the work, especially if it is an international team. The Bible teaches that joining together increases our potential exponentially (not simply additive!). Other people working with you from your agency can offset your weaknesses. Additionally, other people can help continue a ministry you have started in case you must return back to your home country.
• Response in crises --An agency usually has a network on the field who are up to date on your situation. If a personal crisis occurs or an outside threat is imminent, the mission can provide prompt response with personnel on the spot.
A: Because it’s Biblical – and practical, too.
Mission agencies find their roots in Acts 13, when Paul and Barnabas were "freed", "divorced" and "escaped" from their prior "staff" relationship with the Antioch Church. The local church was their sending authority under the Spirit of God, but it was God who called and the church which recognized that call.
In Acts 13 we find the formation of the first mission team/agency. It was not micromanaged from Antioch. Here were capable Christian workers, who had proved their ministry "salt" in Antioch and who were sent out in confidence to do God's bidding. But just as Paul and Barnabas were careful to keep ties with Antioch on their return from the field, so it is also incumbent on mission agencies that they maintain healthy ties with their denomination and/or local church. We are all members of the larger body of Christ, the Church invisible and universal. Inter-relatedness is essential to effectiveness.
Agencies can and should provide experience and expertise in reaching their target people groups. Reputable agencies today will be authenticated by The Mission Exchange or CrossGlobal Link. They will be financially accountable with books audited by an independent organization. Agencies should be able to provide in-depth training in culture and language and spiritual discipleship and evangelistic methods proven effective in their particular venues. Of course, if an agency is new, then its leadership ought to have some kind of track record in ministry as credentials of their leadership. New agencies should be focusing on some unreached area or peoples; not duplicating and competing with work already being done effectively by others. Missions is not an excuse for hot shots seeking to make a name and fame for themselves, along with gaining the money that is given. It is a serious undertaking whose model is nothing less than the Cross.
Does God ever call someone or a team to go it on their own? Sometimes, but the exception proves the rule. Most "lone rangers" end up shooting themselves and missions in general in the foot. But God does have individualists like C.T. Studd and William Carey.
Should a local church be its own agency? In these days of instant communication through email and faxes, one might think that it's ok for the church to become not just the sending authority, but the sending agency itself. Generally what happens when people go out from and with such churches, they become culturally blind and inhibited. The rest of the world is not individualistic, and most speak another language. The most effective way of communicating the Gospel is not in a language foreign and without emotional content to those you are seeking to reach. The most effective way is incarnational just as God the Father sent the Son to take on our flesh, culture, language and societal relationships. Jesus sends us to be a replica of His incarnation: living with people, learning their language, mastering their culture and norms, loving them in a way that they appreciate and can emotionally absorb. Most churches are not equipped to send this kind of incarnational missionary, nor to be knowledgeable of their needs on the field.
In Acts 13 we find the formation of the first mission team/agency. It was not micromanaged from Antioch. Here were capable Christian workers, who had proved their ministry "salt" in Antioch and who were sent out in confidence to do God's bidding. But just as Paul and Barnabas were careful to keep ties with Antioch on their return from the field, so it is also incumbent on mission agencies that they maintain healthy ties with their denomination and/or local church. We are all members of the larger body of Christ, the Church invisible and universal. Inter-relatedness is essential to effectiveness.
Agencies can and should provide experience and expertise in reaching their target people groups. Reputable agencies today will be authenticated by The Mission Exchange or CrossGlobal Link. They will be financially accountable with books audited by an independent organization. Agencies should be able to provide in-depth training in culture and language and spiritual discipleship and evangelistic methods proven effective in their particular venues. Of course, if an agency is new, then its leadership ought to have some kind of track record in ministry as credentials of their leadership. New agencies should be focusing on some unreached area or peoples; not duplicating and competing with work already being done effectively by others. Missions is not an excuse for hot shots seeking to make a name and fame for themselves, along with gaining the money that is given. It is a serious undertaking whose model is nothing less than the Cross.
Does God ever call someone or a team to go it on their own? Sometimes, but the exception proves the rule. Most "lone rangers" end up shooting themselves and missions in general in the foot. But God does have individualists like C.T. Studd and William Carey.
Should a local church be its own agency? In these days of instant communication through email and faxes, one might think that it's ok for the church to become not just the sending authority, but the sending agency itself. Generally what happens when people go out from and with such churches, they become culturally blind and inhibited. The rest of the world is not individualistic, and most speak another language. The most effective way of communicating the Gospel is not in a language foreign and without emotional content to those you are seeking to reach. The most effective way is incarnational just as God the Father sent the Son to take on our flesh, culture, language and societal relationships. Jesus sends us to be a replica of His incarnation: living with people, learning their language, mastering their culture and norms, loving them in a way that they appreciate and can emotionally absorb. Most churches are not equipped to send this kind of incarnational missionary, nor to be knowledgeable of their needs on the field.
A: For pastoral care.
Yes, you should choose a missions agency. The book ”Too Valuable to Lose“ (published by Wm. Carey Library) describes different reasons for missionaries leaving the field. One of the reasons is the inadequate missionary care from a mission agency. Often times the vision of the missionary and that of the agency are ill-fitted.
A: For services.
It is wise to get a missionary service organization behind you. They can help your ministry in many ways, by managing finances to helping with newsletters and other details of missionary work.
Inquire about every part of the organization -- what they have to offer you and what they require of you. Do not go with an agency that will require you to spend a lot of money just to get started with them.
Inquire about every part of the organization -- what they have to offer you and what they require of you. Do not go with an agency that will require you to spend a lot of money just to get started with them.
