Audio Transcript:

Welcome to Missions on Point, the Propempo perspective on church and missions. Please come on in to episode 218 of Missions on Point. We're in a series called From Here to There. We're walking through a conversation with a missionary candidate and anyone interested in getting this missionary candidate sent to the field is welcome to listen in. Episode 218 is about getting a sending agency partner. This will help you select a mission agency that is a good fit for you and your mission field, and also willing to give your sending church a leading role in partnership with you. I have known and been drawn into situations where a local church thought they were able to send a missionary from their church directly without a mission agency and had to come in to assist or help either the disintegration of that team or them leaving the field or them getting reintegrated into an actual mission agency team.

I should add, in each case of the disintegration of a missionary on a field and having to come back home, the local church was not able and willing and even knowledgeable to step in and do their role of missionary care as they ought to have done. There are any number of examples of missionaries who really needed that mission agency to be there with their experience and connections at key times in their missionary life. I've known of more than one instance where one of the missionary husband or wife had emergency medical needs and needed to be evacuated to their home country for emergency medical care to save their life, and it's most likely that the local church would not have been able to work that out because of not having the connections and the experience to make it happen quickly. There was a team planning to go into North Africa sent without the help of a mission agency and they were poised to sign a major business deal that would've established an important presence in that nation.

When the North African business partner realized that the team could not speak French, the deal collapsed. The team didn't realize that French was the language of business in North Africa. The whole team had to leave that opportunity and go back to France for six months of language training before trying again. A mission agency with experience in the region would have averted that serious misstep. So if you as a missionary candidate think it's kind of cool to move right ahead with the mission agency that is wooing you to sign on the dotted line and go with them to some country with an unreached people group and you happen to go through with that, I'm here to tell you that is a bad decision. The first time your church hears of your desire to go to the field and that you have actually chosen an agency and just want the pastor to sign on the agency's pastoral reference form, that is a bad way to start.

I've seen a couple do that and the church basically had to go back to zero with them and say, "Wait a minute here, let's see if you're actually qualified. Let's see what your life is like before you sign on the dotted line." And they basically spent a couple of years making up the gap because of serious shortcomings that they didn't understand how important those issues were. Let's think about an exaggerated analogy. Suppose your parents have every reason to believe that they have a warm close relationship with you. They've raised you well. Without warning, you notify them that you've developed a romantic relationship with someone they've never heard of and gotten engaged without their approval or counsel and already set a wedding date for the near future. But wait, there's more. You continue as you tell them this incredible news, which is new to them and good to you, you tell them that you and your intended expect them to totally pay for an extravagant wedding and a house.

And on top of that, you expect them to financially support you for the rest of your life. How do you think that would go over? That scenario is kind of ridiculous, but it's very similar to you going out and deciding to be a missionary, applying to a mission board, getting accepted, choosing or being assigned to a prospective field and then telling your home-sending church about it. Do you think that would work out well? Hopefully by now you're convinced of a strong local church-centered ministry philosophy, yet your church's heart to be deeply involved in your ministry does not negate the usefulness of having a partnership relationship with a reputable sending agency. You'll need prayerful discernment as you and your church leaders sift through the information and promotional materials. Asking the right questions will save you a lot of headache and surprises down the road.

This stage in your missionary pathway to the field to get over there may take a little bit longer than you would expect. It's not simply like applying for a job and getting it. There's a lot more depth to it and a lot more commitment, especially if you think you're going to live out the rest of your life of ministry with that mission agency. Why do you need a mission agency? Churches sometimes question the need for a mission agency. After all, the churches in Acts directly sent missionaries. At first glance, it seems much less expensive if you're able to bypass the mission agency for a variety of reasons. Local churches tend to overestimate their abilities and underestimate the complexities of functioning as their own mission agency. Having accessibility to the internet does not make anyone omniscient, but it can fool you to think that you and your church can do this missionary thing on your own.

Wisdom humbly learns from and harnesses partnership with allies having positive experience and insight. It seems like normally the local church first thinks of not paying fees to the mission agency will save a lot of money in administrative assessment fees. What churches don't realize is that it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort managing complex details and decisions at a distance. Managing and supporting a missionary thousands of miles away in a radically different cultural context is completely different than managing staff at the church. If you priced the time and talent needed for the local church to do what only the mission agency can do well, it would cost them more than paying the admin fees of the agency. I've known a church that did this for over 20 years before they realized this is killing our people back in the church, trying to take care of all these things.

International transfer fees, all kinds of forex and laws on both sides of the water. It's a big deal. A well-selected mission agency lends its specialized expertise, adding benefits and help to the local church in managing some complex issues, including things like retirement plans, group health insurance, field supervision and accountability, language and culture study, financial management involving foreign currencies, compliance with tax codes and requirements, experience strategy and personnel management, visa and immigration legalities, corporate identity and team issues in the target country. Should you serve with your denomination's mission agency? The answer is very possibly. If your church is part of a denomination, you and your church leaders might automatically assume that you should serve with your denomination's mission agency. It could well be the best fit. However, it would probably be a mistake to act on that assumption without also asking the right questions to help confirm your decision.

What are the questions you should be asking about potential mission agency partners? Here are some important places to start. Number one, what is the agency's doctrinal statement? This area is of paramount importance. It drives every agency's field ministry and leadership decisions. You'll want substantial agreement and doctrine rather than general agreement over a broad "evangelical statement of faith." How does their doctrinal statement compare with your church's doctrinal statement in the following areas? God's sovereignty, the sufficiency of scripture, a God-centered view of salvation, agreement with the five solas of the historical reformation that make us Protestant Evangelicals, strength in the primary matters of the gospel such as the deity of the triune God and the exclusivity of the gospel, appropriate freedom in secondary matters, matters of Christian conscience and disciplinary issues. Number two, how does the agency operate financially? Consider at least three key areas. How are you expected to raise financial support?

Most typical is an individualized system where the agency releases to you only funds given for you in a pooling system. Teams, regions, or even the entire agency divides up the pool of funds received into the mission. Traditionally, some denominations such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance and Southern Baptists pay missionaries from denominational funds with missionaries needing to raise no personalized support. What are the agency's administrative fees? It costs money for a mission agency to provide services for you while you're on the field. The agency receives and transmits your incoming support, finds good health insurance for you and provides you with a team on the field to name a few functions. These fees also help pay for services originating on the field. At least a portion of this cost is passed on to missionaries in the form of administrative fees that are part of your support package.

Depending on the amount and quality of services provided, you'll be assessed a share of the administrative costs, usually a percentage between 3% on the low end to 25% of your monthly support package. In some rare cases, the costs of the mission agency doing its work could consume up to 40% of the gross income of the mission. This personalized support percentage is usually between 9% and 15%. There are a few missions that work on a pay-as-you go basis. In other words, a cafeteria style or if you choose to access certain privileges and benefits, you get administrative fees for those and not for others that you don't use. Another question is, does the agency operate with financial integrity? Does the agency conduct regular audits according to standard accounting principles? Membership in an organization such as Missio Nexus or the Evangelical Counsel for Financial Accountability requires such standards. What is its policy and track record regarding internal borrowing?

Does it have a board-level policy against private inurement, conflict of interest, corporate debt? Who are its board members and on what basis were they selected? How is the support level for the field determined? How well or poorly are the needs of its workers accommodated by their support level? One way of checking this out is to see how does this agency support for a particular field compared to the support needed by missionaries with different agencies on that same field. Number three, is the agency experienced in your ministry or region? You'll want to choose a mission that has specific experience and skill in the particular type of ministry or location to which you are going. If you are beginning ministry to a previously unengaged people group, the agency should have experience in entering similar settings. Number four, how is the agency organized to lead the work on the field?

At issue here is how much autonomy you and your team will be given to carry out the ministry. More hierarchically organized agencies make ministry decisions in the home office and hand down directives to the field. Decentralized agencies give virtually complete freedom to the team on the field. In the middle are agencies that give substantial freedom to teams subject to oversight by one or more layers of field leadership like leaders over teams, countries, or regions. Are you and your church comfortable with the agency's leadership structures? Number five, how willing is the agency to partner with your church? The answer to this question can be a deal breaker with your church. If your church wants to authentically partner with you and your ministry, the prospective mission agency partner must, must, must allow for an enlarged role for your sending church. We have some sample terms in an appendix in the book Here to There.

Let me just boldly make this recommendation to you. Dear candidate, if you're exploring and asking questions of a sending mission agency and they don't allow the possibility of having a partnership agreement with your local sending church, run the other way. If you're looking for a mission sending agency that is local church-centered in its missiology and is willing to work with the church to beef up their skills and understanding of their sending church roles and responsibilities towards you as they're sent one, you don't have to look farther than MissioSERVE Alliance. There are other mission agencies that are turning the tide in favor of the biblical role of the local church. You can find them. There are actually 10 areas of questions we'd like you to ask a potential sending agency partner. We'll start with number six in the next podcast.

Thanks for joining us today on Missions on Point. We trust that you'll find more help and resources on our websites at propempo.com and missioserve.org. We are so thankful for those who support us, enabling us to produce this podcast. Now to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.