Don’t Go to the Mission Field Without These 3 Things

In the digital age where you can find just about everything you need with a quick Google search, you might be tempted to try your hand at missions by yourself. But that could be the costliest mistake you ever make.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. You should know, too, that it takes a community to make disciples. If you’re looking to thrive on the mission field and make a lasting difference among the least-reached, you’re going to need these three things.

1. Coaching

Have you ever tried a new activity and realized the next day you were sore in muscles you didn’t know you had? When you start your missions journey, you’ll find a lot of new muscles that need some strengthening. Living and working in a new culture takes all kinds of skills you’ve never had to use in your home culture. That’s where you need a missions coach and a team of people who have walked this journey before. They’ll train you in areas you didn’t even know you didn’t know.

• Spiritual readiness
• Disciple-making
• Support development
• Language study
• Theology of work
• Security and crisis planning
• Ministry strategy
• Culture study
• Conflict resolution

2. Care

Just like you need training in new skills, you’ll need care in new parts of your soul. Old struggles will resurface — along with a host of new ones — when you land in a foreign culture. The way you try to manage the stress may surprise even you! And if you’re going through this transition with a spouse and kids, you’ll be juggling their needs in addition to yours. Trust us, it’s more than you can manage on your own.

Besides spiritual and emotional help, what about practical needs like healthcare, finances, and the logistics of moving? You need a community that cares for you in tangible ways, both proactively and as specific needs arise.

• Transition guidance to the field and returning home (which can be even harder!)
• Counseling
• Donation processing
• Healthcare and retirement benefits
• Parenting and kids’ education resources
• Child safety
• Regular gatherings with a missional community

3. Community

Life on the mission field can be lonely at times. Just ask any missionary you know. The one thing (other than God) that can help you stay the course is having a committed community of like-minded people around you. Your home church community is important — but you also need a community on the ground.

You need a family that understands the challenges of cross-cultural life and ministry. You need a community that cares about you, prays with and for you, invests in you, and stands with you. And they need you doing the same for them! In other words, you need a community that helps each other grow as disciples, even as you disciple unbelievers. After all, disciple-making isn’t just an activity but a way of life.

Want to know how Crossworld can provide these for you? Talk to a recruiter.