Cheaper by the Dozen?
Traditional Western Missionaries Still Wanted and Needed
Can generous churches in North America and Europe pay the costs of sending a dozen missionaries from certain parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America for the same amount or less than it would cost those same churches to send one missionary from among their own people?
If it’s only about dollars and euros, maybe. However, looking at this through only an economic lens is neither helpful nor appropriate. Here’s why:
1) It’s an incomplete picture. Many other factors must be wisely considered: training, on-field supervision and accountability, shepherding, and bringing missionaries and local partners together to carry out a shared, long term, high-impact strategy.
2) The “Global South missionaries are more effective” argument is not consistently true. Some are, some are not.
3) Fulfilling the Great Commission among those without access to the Gospel requires “all hands on deck” thinking. North Americans and Europeans, along with missionaries from the Global South, are all needed.
4) If the assumption that one percent of believers in a local church are called by the Lord of the harvest to give themselves to cross-cultural mission, how are called ones from North American and European churches to be sent unless people from their churches and country send them?
5) Paying missionaries from other countries to go instead of sending North American and European sons and daughters results in missionary mercenaries. Is it appropriate for traditional sending countries to pay mercenaries to avoid the hardship and suffering their own sons and daughters might face in cross-cultural mission?
6) The essential Acts 13 linkage between sending church and its sent ones is often compromised. If this is just about writing checks and doing bank transfers without a strong, healthy connectivity between sent ones and senders, this relationship is lost.
7) In many places around the world, a North American or European missionary is afforded a significant hearing and influence among some populations. Why deny this or cut it off?
How much did it cost Jesus to provide redemption for you and me? His very lifeblood. Everything. An infinite price. In helping others know and follow him, the mindset of “How many followers of Jesus can we get for a buck?” cheapens the sacrifice of our redeemer and Lord. The mission of Christ is bigger than all the gold and silver this world has to offer, and so is the value of one person who bows the knee before him … as well as the representative of Christ on mission who helped that person kneel in repentance and faith before him.
Granted, missionaries sent from North America and Europe are usually more expensive to send than those from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Yet, while the work of mission and finances are intimately linked, we cannot reduce missionaries and their impact to an amount of money, no matter their origin.
In response to the idea of cheaper by the dozen, my call is three fold. First, let’s look for ways to send more missionaries from North America and Europe. Second, let’s wisely and discerningly help with missionary sending from the Global South, leaving sending responsibility and authority in the hands of sending-church leaders from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. And third, please join me in viewing this through a wider lens, not just an economic one. If we carry out well these three actions, God’s glory among all peoples will be rapidly advanced!
Bob Fetherlin
President, One Mission Society Global