A Conversation with Mobilization

By Donna Messenger

Recently I sat down with Don Trott and Dan Branda to find out how the Mobilization Department perceives the current generation of missionary candidates. Here is a part of that conversation.

Don: I see a radical change within the last 5-6 years in how we counsel prospective missionaries. People now ask more in-depth questions. "How can I use my training, my experience, my gifts and my interests to the fullest on a given mission field?" Five to seven years ago, people said, "God is leading me into missions. I'm willing to go. I'm willing to be flexible and used however God sees fit to use me." The current climate is more specific. People want to be sure that they will be in a cutting-edge ministry and that they are not going to be in a box. They want to make sure they are in a situation where they will develop good, deep relationships, both with missionaries and with nationals. They'll ask questions about a specific field, such as, "How does that field get along? How do their gifts seem to work together? Is there a clear strategy for where they are going in the future?" These things weren't discussed years ago when I first came into Mobilization.

Dan: I've noticed two things - they know what they want, and it's personal. It's not just a mission from God, hence I'm going. It's the developing of personal relationships. "I'm going to go someplace where there's a team - where I can fit in." They want to know what they are going to do. My folks spent forty years in Brazil. When they were appointed, they had never been to Brazil. Today most people have already been to several countries. A lot of it has to do with our culture and travel - it's so much easier today. So, it's more personal, more interest in teams, and they want to be more informed.

Don: They're also not necessarily committing themselves to a lifetime in missions, and I don't think that's all bad, quite frankly, though some could disagree with me. This is a whole paradigm shift. They're saying, "If God leads me, just like he leads a pastor into education or a Paul Dixon out of evangelism into the presidency of Cedarville University for 25 years or takes a pastor from Michigan and moves him to Pennsylvania - why can't that happen in our lives?"

Dan: There is also more of a sensitivity to say, "What are the nationals doing? How can we assist the nationals?" There's more of that rather than, "Hey, this is what church planting is about. This is the model." I think people are going with less models and more, "Let's go see what they are doing, and see how we can fit into the culture."

Donna: Do you think that comes from the fact that our generation today can see more of the world than generations before us could see? Television, videos, news - we're watching a war on live TV. We can see events around the world as they are happening.

Don: Good point.

Dan: I think that's a fair assessment. I also think, quite frankly, that the younger generation is looking, for lack of a better term, at the traditional legalistic church and realizes they have failed and they're dying. In a sense, they are saying it shouldn't be just, "This is the way we do it." The church needs to be doctrinally sound, but there's more than one way to "do" church. They're looking at church, willing to ask the tough questions.

Don: I think Dan has a good point, and I would agree 100% with his analysis. It crosses all denominational lines. But in the context of today's culture - there is a tremendous concern for the needs of people, not only spiritually, but they're asking, "What are you doing with AIDS? What are you doing with pregnancy situations - worldwide?" Six or seven years ago, if I received a half dozen requests about orphanage work, that was a lot. Today, I would say it's normal in a conversation for people to ask about physical needs. They see these crises - not only war, but maybe the products of war, such as AIDS and starvation - and they're saying, "What are you doing to meet the felt needs of the people in these countries?" I think that's why we're getting such a variety of academic backgrounds.

Dan: Can I back up for just one thing? One of the negative things of our culture is that travel is so easy. Twenty years ago teens didn't do trips - it was college students. Today you talk to a teen that has been on four missions trips in his high school years, and somebody says, "Would you do missions?" and he says, "Oh, man, I've done it!"

Donna: So the danger is thinking that they can get the job done in perpetual two-week trips.

Don: Exactly! Why commit myself to a lifetime when I can go for a month? They're taking all these trips and feeling like their duty is discharged. On the other hand, when you get 78% of the candidate class having been overseas, there is the flip side. They see the social needs. They see the needs of street kids, for instance, and say, "That's something I'd like to do."

Donna: I think every missionary has wanted to make a difference. We wouldn't risk it all to go if we didn't want to do that, but is it just the social needs around the world that spark their hearts and cause them to stand up and say, "I want to do this?"

Dan: Well, you know how we've all been so safe for the last 40-50 years? Now they're starting to say, "I'm willing to lay my life on the line." ABWE and other missions are doing surveys into Baghdad. We're looking at places that are difficult and dangerous.

Donna: So, they're more willing to take a risk - more so than the generations before them?

Dan: Absolutely. That's one of the characteristics of GenEx and Milleniums. They want something to put their life on the line for, something worth dying for.

Don: That's why they're asking the questions they're asking. One student said to me, "Don't get up in chapel and talk about numbers. You talk about 6 billion people in the world. Alright, great. China has 1.4 billion people. How do I fit into this? Here I am, a student. What mark can I leave for the glory of God in the world in which we live?"

Dan: Obviously the Lord uses these experiences - Expedition and Impact - to get them to realize, "Wow, I can really see how I can do this."

Don: We are living in a society that is crying out for relationships. They go overseas, and what do they experience? Relationships. They're wanted, they're needed, loved by the nationals. Just think about that. They see the nationals doing everything together as families. They see church done in a non-traditional way. They see fellowship and relationships that exist in churches overseas. It's a tug on their heartstrings.

Dan: I think American society is one of the few in the world that is time-oriented. Most other cultures are relationship-oriented. That makes a huge impact on teens, and it's what they're finding as they go on these trips. Everyone wants relationships, especially teens.

Don: We don't have time for each other here. I think this is true across society - no time for real relationships.

Dan: Along those same lines, I think they also see that, "Hey, I may not be the best singer here at my church, but you know what? I can go over there and sing and they appreciate it." In some churches here, you can be great and still not be good enough. People have gifts, and then they get overseas and find they can actually use them.

Don: They can see that, in other cultures, they are needed and wanted, even though they might not have all the giftedness or abilities that you would have to have to minister in some churches here.

Dan: A lot of people are also asking about the unreached. They're not saying that this or that country doesn't still need missionaries, but they're saying, "I want to spend my life with people who haven't heard the gospel."

Don: Or tribal people. I'm hearing a lot more of that than I've ever heard, which again goes back to the risk.

Dan: Maybe it has to do with the results - you want to go where there are results. Think of all the comforts of this culture. This younger generation enjoys those things, but they're saying, "If this is what it takes for my life to make a difference, then I'll give up all this junk. I'd rather live with nothing and make an impact." In Europe, you might not see much of a change if someone comes to the Lord. In a tribe, his whole lifestyle could change.

Donna: How does this generation make decisions? Who are their counselors?

Dan: This generation gets their counsel from friends. In a sense, our department becomes their friends. We have the privilege of shepherding them through this process.

Don: We don't pressure them to come with ABWE. We want them to be who they are.

Dan: I think it's refreshing to answer the question, "Do you tell me where I'm going to go? Do you tell me what I'm going to do?" I think they're surprised when we say, "No, that's for you to determine. What's your passion?"

Don: We believe the Holy Spirit does the enlisting. Our job is to mobilize them to action.

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