Within weeks after last year's Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board (IMB) noticed a surprising trend. Instead of missionaries backing out of short-term or career commitments because of safety concerns, more volunteers were coming forward.
The trend has continued, according to IMB officer Kenn Shirley, who works with prospective missionaries in Alabama, Florida and Puerto Rico. The IMB reported nearly 34,000 volunteers in 2001.
Interest this year is even greater. The attacks on American soil have jump-started missionary projects, Shirley said, noting particular interest in overseas operations. In fact, denominational leaders say church members are more eager than ever to go around the globe.
Heath Koth, who works with the Wesleyan World Missions mobilization team, said church members are feeling a burden to share the gospel with those in foreign lands.
"There certainly is a heightened awareness of world events now," Koth said. "But despite the negative reports and the safety concerns, people are willing to go. The best part is that now more than ever, they're going on faith."
Wesleyan World Missions has sent 1,250 missionaries, including teens, overseas this year. That puts the organization on track to surpass 2001's total of 1,449 missionaries.
"We find a lot of parents and church leaders concerned about sending their families into dangerous territories, but overriding all of that is the call to share God's Word," Koth said. "I don't think there's been a more exciting time or better opportunity in the missions field than now."
Ministry first, safety second
Wesleyan World Missions, like other missions agencies, has onfield staff in foreign countries who monitor security situations and advise leaders how to best proceed, if at all.
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Playing it Safe Most denominations, including the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church in America, and the Assemblies of God, all reported a brief drop in volunteers for short-term missions following last year's terrorist attacks. It didn't take long to rebound, though, and these same denominations are now reporting more interest than ever before in reaching the rest of the world with the gospel. The U.S. State Department posts travel warnings, consular information sheets and other advisories on its Web site. |
That doesn't mean missionaries are casually sent into such situations. Koth said his agency is truthful with volunteers about risks, and takes precautions to make sure everyone remains healthy and safe. The focus, though, is on sharing love rather than fear.
"We're in the ministry business, not the world security business," he said.
New Tribes Mission, which works with local churches of all denominations to send missionaries to more than 25 countries, limited its short-term missions in 2002 to Central and South America. Those areas are considered lower risk, according to New Tribe's security department.
"We wanted to respond to the churches and their concerns," said Raymond Parker, international coordinator for New Tribe's short-term missions program, Destination SUMMIT. "We value our volunteers and don't want them or their sponsor churches put in any danger, but anytime you enter the missions field, you assume risk."
Opportunity knocks
Volunteer missionary Jennifer Jackson of Ann Arbor, Mich., said the constant news about terrorist attacks and pending war prompted her to do something abroad. She might not change the world with one or two weeks of missionary service, she said, but her service is still important.
Jackson spent nearly two weeks in Taiwan last year working with young children in an English-language school. Her job, she said, was to share God's love and get people thinking about Jesus.
"You have to go with an open heart, letting God use you in the way He wants to," she said.
Jackson went to Taiwan with a group sponsored by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) World Mission. Now she's trying to encourage others to take up the cause.
LCMS World Mission wants to place 500 people into short- and long-term missionary positions next year. Sean Harlow, the organization's recruitment counselor, said there is always a need for more missionaries. He considers the world's current political climate - as dangerous as it may be - a great opportunity to share the gospel.
People are open to asking questions about Christianity, he said. And local church members have a responsibility to minister not only on American soil, but abroad.
"We want to encourage people, no matter what they do, to think about serving the church," Harlow said, referring to church in the global sense.
A costly endeavor
Overseas missions trips are more costly than in terms of risk. It costs the Church of the Nazarene, for example, nearly $74 a minute to operate its world mission program, which has 742 short- and long-term missionaries.
Koth, of Wesleyan World Missions, claims the biggest obstacle to spreading the gospel is money.
"It's not that people aren't willing to go to those areas where the Word has never been shared; it's just that most people and most churches can't afford it in addition to what they're doing at home," Koth said.
Volunteers most often look for 10-day trips that cost around $1,000 a person, Koth said. "That's just what they can afford, both out of pocket and with work schedules."
That means most short-term missionaries will end up in Mexico or other South and Central America countries.
"There's work to do there, too, but my concern is that we're not getting to Africa, the jungles, the Amazon, where plane tickets alone can cost $2,000," Koth said. "We have to remind ourselves that souls are more valuable. It's a good time for an attitude check."
