Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Redefining Normal: How to Develop the Future Overseas Missionary Force
January 2009
Meet Amy, a 17-year-old student from Oregon (USA). Amy is not typical. If God allows, Amy is committed to giving her life in service as a foreign missionary. She is not typical because she is part of a shrinking group of Americans who are committed to full-time vocational service overseas and to taking the gospel to the remaining corners of the world.
Ryan Shaw, director of the Student Volunteer Movement 2, recently wrote a book1 articulating the missionary potential in the emerging generation. He writes, “While the number of young adults involved in short-term, cross-cultural ministry (two weeks to six months) today is staggering, the number of new long-term workers, from the emerging generation, continues to dwindle.”2 To combat this trend, it is crucial to study the environment and attributes of students such as Amy.
It has been reported that the American missionary force in 1988 totaled sixty-five thousand missionaries. Just over twenty years later that number has dropped almost fifty percent to under thirty-five thousand. To combat this trend, it is crucial to study the environment and attributes of students such as Amy.
Are there certain aspects of her family background, personality, church involvement, or short-term mission experience that increase or decrease her likelihood of making a long-term, overseas commitment? Do the pastors and leaders of an emerging generation have any influence in seeing greater numbers of people rise to meet the remaining need? The answers might surprise you.
The Study
A recent study was conducted with middle school and high school-age students from the Pacific Northwest (USA) who attended an event where they had an opportunity to make a commitment to give their life as a foreign missionary. Of the 1,100 students in attendance, 198 made commitments to give their lives as foreign missionaries. A follow-up survey was given to a portion of the students. Of the 902 students that did not make a commitment, seventy-six completed surveys. Of the 198 students that did make a commitment, sixty-four completed surveys.
Excursus
A word about the significance of studying this age group as it pertains to world evangelization. A recent poll among thirty missionaries serving with the Christian and Missionary Alliance found that more than two-thirds of them had experienced their call and commitment to missions prior to turning eighteen. Bryant L. Meyers says that “important, life-shaping decisions are made when people are young.”3 Tomorrow’s missionaries are today’s teenagers. Investing in the likeliest of candidates is the most strategic investment in the cause of world evangelization as it relates to developing missionary personnel.
And while the reliability of adolescent commitments may leave something to be desired, the purpose of this study is not to gauge the quality of the commitments made to missions, but rather to look into the differences between the students who make them and the students who do not.
Back to the Study This study is part of a larger 10-year study which will track these students over the coming decade. This portion was intended to explore whether or not there are any statistically significant differences between the students who made commitments and those who did not. Students were asked to answer more than forty questions that included areas such as: gender, age, amount of church-related activities per week, birth order, whether or not they would describe themselves as a leader, and mission experience.
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Josh Mann is youth pastor at Salem Alliance Church in Salem, Oregon, USA. He is committed to informing and inspiring students to find their strategic role in world evangelization. He would welcome feedback on this article at: [email protected]. |