Keys to Resilient & Effective Workers

How can we as a church help keep missionaries & global workers effectively serving in their areas of ministry without having to cut off their ministry service prematurely?

There are numerous challenges they need to overcome, and they will often need our help to serve the Lord effectively.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THEIR KEY CHALLENGES?

Attrition – defined as workers having to leave the field of ministry and return home prematurely. There are times this happens for unpreventable reasons, such as political upheaval, major health issues, children’s needs, etc.

The bigger problem in this area is attrition for preventable reasons, such as faith crisis, team dysfunction, conflict with team members, marriage or family crisis, and even burnout.

A study on missionary attrition, published in the book Too Valuable to Lose (Edited by William D. Taylor; William Carey Library, 1997) highlighted several positive and negative factors missionaries will face. Positive factors that help missionaries succeed in ministry include:

• Relational Skills
• Strong sense of calling from the Lord
• Flexibility
• Work well with authority
• The ability to handle adversity well

There are other issues that also factor in this discussion. Some of the key parts include:

• Family of Origin: i.e. broken families, alcoholism, abuse and/or neglect growing up, lack of support.
• Immorality: includes pornography, addictions, self-defeating patterns in their life.
• Health Issues: chronic illness, significant allergies, overall poor health, specialized medical needs.
• Mental Health: depression, anxiety, personality disorders, burnout.
• Other Factors: including marital dysfunction, workaholism, isolation, a “know-it-all attitude”.

Another Key Challenge is Spiritual Warfare

These attacks are very real. It’s possible that being Christians in the US may dull our sensitivities to the realities of spiritual warfare and attacks. Often missionaries are being confronted by dark spiritual forces including witchcraft, demonic worship and activity, witchdoctors, persecution and oppression.

How can we as a church body respond to these needs effectively?

There are a number of attitudes and actions that we can take to support these amazing workers, set them up for success in the mission field and express the love of Christ to them.

Some key elements to provide a high level of care to missionaries include:

• Accept them as normal people – including being needy, lonely, and going through the same life challenges we all go through. This means we don’t put them on a “spiritual pedestal” but rather just reach out to them as people like us.

• Though they are normal people, they often find themselves in incredibly challenging situations. Studies have shown that missionaries daily life is on average 3 times more stressful than our life in the US, including factors like language, culture, poverty, political and economic challenges, health care concerns, etc. We need to respect them for this, and be committed to pray and support them. Let them talk about their experiences in a confidential and non-judgmental way, even it it’s way outside of an American Christian’s normal life.

• Member Care – Loving on them in practical ways to show our love and care for them, goes a long way in helping build trust with them and reminds them that they are not alone or forgotten. It also provides encouragement and support. Some practical ways can include: financial support, gifts, favorite foods, good books, getaways. Ask them what they both need and want, and seek as a church to provide these things for them! Missionaries can also benefit greatly by providing them the resources to see a skilled counselor who understands missions and missionary life firsthand & knows how to best help them become resilient & effective long term.

When missionaries are hurting for any number of reasons, it’s important to be supportive, available, non-judgmental and work proactively to meet their areas of need. The goal is always to help raise them up, so that they are able to return to their ministries even more effectively than before. Since often the most productive terms are their 3rd, 4th & 5th helping skilled and experienced workers return gives a big boost to building the Kingdom of God all around the world.