Are They Ready? Train and Test Your Missionaries Before They’re Sent

Jan 1

STATEMENT

Membership in a biblically-ordered local church is the primary context for missionary training. Sending churches should ensure that aspiring missionaries receive adequate training and testing in character, confession, and competency prior to being commissioned and deployed. The qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:5–9 serve as guidelines for training and assessment.

Pete was brilliant. He had studied at one of the best schools in his home nation. He devoted himself to his campus ministry for several years. He knew his doctrine well. He was a passionate evangelist and apologist for the gospel. His organization was proud to send him out and even make him a leader of one of their teams. Yet he was not deeply known by his sending church or his organization. He always seemed to have his guard up. Others saw him as clever, wise, and friendly, but people never really knew him because he was “investing so deeply” in others.

He wasn’t on the field long when unshared hidden sin became a stumbling block not only to himself but also to his co-workers and those he was ministering to. He was trained theologically and was competent to do the job, but his character was never tested. He was sent home for moral failure, leaving the ministry in shambles.

Brittany loved God and loved people. She wanted to make a difference in the world. Her life was above reproach, and she strove for holiness. She was sent out without reservation to work with other sent workers from her church to disciple women of a local congregation. However, her sending church did not know that Brittany did not believe in the assurance of salvation. She strove for holiness, partially out of love for God but primarily because she feared she would lose her salvation. When she began serving in a local church, her faulty doctrine began to confuse the young sisters. Her character was flawless, and she could lead Bible studies well. But what she was teaching was unbiblical, and local believers were led astray and eventually walked away from the faith altogether.

John had walked with the Lord since he was young. He loved God’s Word. He had sat under solid teaching his whole life and had rightfully caught the vision for God’s world. As an adult, John was deeply rooted in the life of his large home church and served faithfully in areas he was skilled in. However, when John was sent to do an evangelistic ministry among an unreached people group, he struggled. He had never really shared his faith with strangers. He had never really discipled anyone. Truth be told, he wasn’t a people person at all. His team’s capacity to train him on the field was limited because of the deep ministry they were all involved in. John was godly and rooted, but he did not have the particular skills needed for the job he took on the field.

These three people loved God and desired to serve as missionaries, yet each one had glaring issues that prevented them from making it long-term on the field. They ultimately did damage to the work they wanted so badly to help. Had each worker been carefully assessed and trained, their stories might have differed. Pete could have dealt with his sin before disqualifying himself for ministry. Brittany could have spent more time discussing these deep doubts in her heart and come to see that God’s saints cannot be lost. John may have found a missionary position better suited to his skills or realized he was meant to be a mobilizer and cheerleader for others being sent out.

Why Train?

As we think about missionary training, we must consider who is responsible for their training. Is it the responsibility of the seminary? Does it fall to the agency? What role does the sending church play?

Churches plant other churches; ultimately, it is the job of the sending church to assess and prepare those they send. Look at the example of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13. They did not decide they wanted to go out and plant a church and then go by themselves. They were sent out by their local church through the leading of the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean everything they learned came from the church in Antioch alone. But the church in Antioch affirmed that Paul and Barnabas were ready. This does not mean that some important training cannot come from seminary or Bible college. This does not mean that agencies should not try to provide training opportunities for those they send. However, the sending church is responsible for the care of its missionaries, and there are few things more caring than ensuring a missionary is adequately trained for the job they are being asked to do.

Also, it is the church's job to ensure that its resources are being used to truly advance the kingdom of God through clear biblical teaching rather than sending well-meaning but misguided missionaries who lack theological depth and sound doctrine. The sending church must ensure that the missionaries it sends are men and women of character who are able to teach biblically and live lives worthy of the gospel they proclaim.

While helpful, seminaries and training organizations are limited in how much they can care for individuals in deeper, more personal ways. A missionary's training must begin before they are even in the sending process. Likewise, it is unloving to send a worker into a position that they are ill-equipped or unable to fulfill. Conversations about the suitability for the particular opportunity on the field and opportunities to practice the skills required are essential in equipping future missionaries. This happens best in the context where potential missionaries are already known and receive regular guidance on important issues.

Who Trains?

As we think about missionary training, we must consider who is responsible for their training. Is it the responsibility of the seminary they attend? Does it fall to the organization sending them? What role does the sending church play?

Churches plant other churches; ultimately, it is the job of the sending church to access and prepare those they send well. Look at the example of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13. They did not decide they wanted to go out and plant a church and then go. They were trained and accessed and only afterward sent out by their local church through the leading of the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean everything they learned came from the church in Antioch alone. But the church in Antioch affirmed that Paul and Barnabas were ready and then sent. This does not mean that much training cannot come from seminary or Bible college. This does not mean agencies should not try to provide training opportunities to those they send. However, the sending church is responsible for the care of its missionaries, and there are few things more caring than ensuring a missionary is adequately trained for the job they are being asked to do.

While helpful, seminaries and training organizations are limited in how much they can care for individuals in deeper, more personal ways. A missionary's training must happen before they are even in the sending process. Likewise, it is unloving to send a worker into a missionary position that they are ill-equipped or unable to fulfill. Conversations about the suitability of the job and opportunities to practice the skills required are essential in equipping future missionaries. This happens best in the context where potential missionaries are well known and have regular guidance on these issues, amongst others.

What Training Is Needed?

No training can prepare any missionary for every possibility of life on the field. No training fully prepares one for exactly what to do when one of the members of the church they plant is caught in adultery. No amount of training can prepare one for when the police raid their gathering on a Sunday morning. No training can fully prepare a missionary for when they are suddenly kicked out of the village they have been teaching in for over a year.

However, training that covers both practical skills and biblical knowledge will fortify missionaries as they face unexpected situations on the field. Training should include but may not be limited to:

Ecclesiology: what does the Bible say about the church
Systematic theology: the doctrines of the faith
Biblical theology: how the whole Bible fits together
Preaching/teaching: how to teach the Bible expositionally
Evangelism: how to share the good news before going overseas
Discipleship: learning to build relationships to do spiritual good to another intentionally
Culture/language acquisition: preparing for some of the practical realities of the culture and the people the potential missionary will serve

What Happens When Training Is Done Poorly?

A lack of proper training will be deeply felt by both the missionary and those they mean to serve. True believers may be led astray, non-believers may be inoculated to the true gospel as they are taught false or distorted gospels, and the reputation of Christ may be tarnished in a new place.

What’s more, a lack of training often causes the families and marriages of missionaries to suffer. They may struggle to prioritize their own or their family’s spiritual life because they are so committed to meet the spiritual needs of others.

If marriage or family challenges arise, a missionary may not know where to turn for support, especially if they fear that honesty would automatically lead to being pulled off the field. However, if a sending church has trained its missionary through the “going” process, then the necessary trust has been built.

When we wanted to be sent to the field, our sending church delayed us for about two years. They took time to know us and train us. After several years on the field, we hit a rough patch in marriage; we first went to our field church for counsel and support. When our field church did not feel like it had the ability to support us, our sending church was brought in for counsel. They decided that a sabbatical in the US would help us walk through this difficult time and get us back on the field even healthier than before. We trusted them because they took the time to know us and train us before they sent us out.

Finally, poor training can make missionaries susceptible to pragmatic, worldly methods that are not based on God’s Word.

What Happens When Training Is Done Well?

But when missionaries are trained well, everyone benefits. The right gospel is preached. Sound doctrine is taught. Healthy churches are planted. God is glorified.

Properly trained missionaries are better equipped to endure the difficulties and trials of life and ministry on the field. They will also know when and who to ask for help.

Finally, properly trained missionaries equipped to evangelize and disciple others will lead to indigenous Christians being equipped to evangelize and disciple well long after the missionary leaves.

Are They Ready?

In this age of modern missions travel is easy and mission conferences abound that stir up zeal and passion. Churches and organizations are jumping at the opportunity to send anyone devoted (dare I say, crazy?) enough to go abroad for the sake of the gospel. By God’s grace, thousands of men and women are doing good work.

However, if we look closely, we would see that too many workers get sent only to leave the field before their term is completed. They leave before they persevered in the hard work of language and culture acquisition and the even harder work of church planting. We would see millions of dollars spent on work that did not go much further than some bags of rice or a church building built for a congregation that doesn’t exist. We would see many so-called churches that are under the sway of a false gospel because missionaries sent by good churches gave into pragmatic methods that increase numbers rather than make true disciples. We would see that in many of these cases proper missionary training would have prevented the heresy and the heartbreak.

Are your missionaries ready? Is your local church committed to the slow process of training and sending? Is your church okay with sending fewer missionaries in order to send more qualified, longer-lasting ones? Church, you are responsible to and for your missionaries. Know them, train them, and send them well!

Great Commission Council