|
|
FellowshipRd
|
|
Tom Daniel
209 Pond Dr.
Divide, CO 80814
719-687-3331
road2hebron@jesusanswers.com
|
|
Departing in Peace or
Pieces? Research on Missionary Attrition
“We in missions
must commit ourselves to more comprehensive,
culturally-sensitive approaches to sustain and nurture our personnel
over the long-haul. Who will do all this? Caring leaders (church and
mission) who make time for their people. Personnel development
specialists who are available to support and further train our workers.
And finally colleagues and friends - you and me - whose mutual
encouragement provide the backbone for effective member care programs.”
~Dr. Kelly
O'Donnell~
COPING
MECHANISMS OF THE CROSS-CULTURAL
MISSIONARY FAMILY
Missionaries
develop a 'quick release button'
and jettison the
'relationship' to minimize pain of separation from colleagues when
transition is imminent,. Newcomers can likewise be jettisoned, since
current friendships and workloads make little time for them. (Dave
Pollock of Interaction).
Life-style
Issues Intensify in Cross-cultural
Ministry. Missionaries
share with their children many of
these characteristics (see Missionary
Kids). General
Busyness in Ministry Stress MISSIONARIES as well as PASTORS. The
missionary shares with the pastor many of the same stressors, but the
cross-cultural lifestyle intensifies these and has its own set of
unique stressors.
Financial issues and maintaining
relations with supporting constituency at home interrupt ministry
pursuit;
Culture Shock, Culture Stress and Reentry
through the missions travel
cycle is constant; Crisis and/or
Trauma increase potential for
hostility or violence to
"Foreigners;" Isolation,
Separation and loss. Family
Opposition intensify the
impact "normal" crises;
Multi-national Teams and Relational Issues
create conflict or
misunderstanding; Transience, even
planned transition,
destabilizes due to a sense of
loss or mourning.
"Member
care is the ongoing
investment of resources by mission
agencies, churches, and other mission organizations for the nurture and
development of missionary personnel. It focuses on everyone in missions
(missionaries, support staff, children and families) and does so over
the course of the missionary life cycle, from recruitment through
retirement . . . the goal is to develop godly character, inner strength
and skills to help personnel remain . . resilient . . . and effective
in their work."
(Dr. Kelly O'Donnell, Doing
Member Care Well, WCL 2002,
p.4)
|
|
Spiritual Direction Through Faith
Stages &
Cross-Cultural
Transitions (Adrienne
Thompson)
CROSS-CULTURAL
MINISTERS NEED STABILITY |
Permanent, long-term needs:
* Counsel ( to enable forgiveness, acceptance)
* Protection (physical, spiritual, emotional)
* Reunification (family, culture, religious)
* Resettlement (residence, employment)
* Possessions (household, vocational, cultural)
* Transportation (return, immigration, daily)
|
Interim needs:
* Shelter (from extreme temperatures and
storms)
* Nourishment (to keep body and soul together
temporarily)
* Health care (curative and preventative)
* Rest and recuperation (physical, emotional,
spiritual)
* Retooling (vocational and technical training,
equipment acquisition |
12,000+
missionaries are lost each year out of the 400,000 (Catholic
and Protestant) global missionary pool (Barrett, 1998;
International
Bulletin of Missionary Research).
World
Evangelical Fellowship in 1995 surveyed mission
administrators
from 453 missionary sending societies in 14 countries concerning
attrition (full report in Too
Valuable to Lose,
edited by Dr. Bill Taylor, 1997). At the April, 1996 WEF Missions
Commission Consultation on Missionary Attrition, at All Nations
Christian College, England, Peter Brierley of Christian Research
presented an analysis:
- 5.1% of the career or long-term
global
mission force leaves the
mission field to return home every year, 3.5% leave for preventable
reasons.
- Of those leaving 27% are single
women, 14% single
men, and 59% married couples.
- 13% of the time and 12% of the
resources of agencies are spent
on pastoral care and supervision.
- In terms of preventing attrition,
the key issues
to address
relate to management, leadership and spirituality; the larger and older
the mission society, the lower the preventable attrition rate. Those
who worked in the same culture vs cross-culturally had almost the same
preventable attrition rates. Workers in pioneer / church planting
settings had lower preventable attrition rates than those in relief and
development settings.
Sound the ALARMM to mission agencies!
85% of
attrition stems from systemic issues. "When the system stops
working the purpose gets lost." (Too Valuable to Lose, John
Powell) Systems issues would include all of the following:
Avoiding confrontation until transitioning out, leaders pass problems
to successors (Larry and Lois Dodds of Heartstream Resources have named
this "fired on furlough"); Lack of continuity in care
because it is viewed as the realm of either the home or field entity,
but not both; Authoritarian
use of power rather than servant leadership on the
mission field; Recruitment goals
push the mission to accept people who should not be
accepted or misrepresent the actual field situation and/or job
assignment, creating unrealistic expectations for new members.
Missions operate on the premise that missionaries need to be
independent, strong, and resilient individuals who can care for
themselves; Mission organizations
develop a personality or culture which does not
effectively deal with, but rather screens out, “no fit” people who
offer balance.
This
is ALARMMing!
MULTI-CULTURAL, MULTI-NATIONAL TEAM DYNAMICS
Westerners are reluctant to work on the field
with Koreans or other Asians. The relationship is difficult to develop
and maintain. Yet for 10 years I have been advocating the partnership
of Western and Eastern missionaries. I am available to provide
orientation, counseling, consultation to multi-cultural teams, either
stateside or on the field. I have relationships with administrators of
50 South Korean mission agencies from my years as Mobilization and
Training Team Leader, working to increase the numbers of missionaries
in the 10/40 Window.
At
the turn of the Millenium
approximately 12,000 South Korean missionaries served the Third World
either alongside or in perceived competition with Western missionaries.
Koreans are bearing fruit throughout the Muslim and Communist world,
where Westerners often are not welcome. Multi-cultural teams are
quickly increasing, especially in the 10/40 Window. At a Front Range
Caregivers Forum, a mission executive observed "Multi-cultural,
multi-national teams are imploding." This is because the Eastern
mindset cannot understand the Western mindset and vice versa.
Tom
speaks Korean and Russian, having
spent 10 years mobilizing, training, and supervising Korean
missionaries serving in the Muslim and Communist world.
In Central
Asia's largest city, an equal number of Western and South Korean
missionaries in a five year span produced vastly different results.
While Westerners started 2 churches, Koreans started 80. Of course,
more Koreans were deported than Westerners, but they accomplished so
much more. On more than one occasion upon seeing a Westerner, a Korean
would shout in public, "Missionary, hello! I also am a missionary." For
fear of having their cover blown, Westerners avoided being seen with
Koreans. Western co-workers were paranoid
about
their contact with Koreans. I supervised a team
of 8 Korean couples and developed the curriculum for an unregistered
Korean seminary, so Western workers would not socialize with me
(missionaries were illegal).
Yet Koreans (and other Asians) are
able
to work in
restricted-access populations where Westerners cannot work openly. The
only known Indian pastor targeting Muslims, had a reputation for
disliking Americans. As the Strategy Coordinator
mobilizing South Koreans, he invited me to bring in several short-term
teams to work in a Muslim slum. The Muslims thought the Koreans were
from Northeast India, until they spoke. The response was so favorable,
they received an open invitation to work with him.
|
|