Survivors: The Contemporary Missionary in a Time of Transition

By Bill Commons

Reality TV pales in comparison to the contemporary missions scene. When a new missionary arrives on the field, he often faces challenges far different from those he expected, and must adapt in ways his training could not have anticipated. Added to this is the challenge of an unstable, constantly changing world. But resourceful servant-leaders find ways to harness change in order to advance the gospel. Following are some of the changes faced by missionaries during the last few decades, as noted by three ABWE missionaries who are in various stages of their service: Dr. Russ Ebersole, Jr. (ABWE veteran missionary/administrator of over 50 years), Jane Schmitz (mid-career missionary nurse in Africa), and Scott DeWitt (new missionary to Paraguay).

From Leader to Partner

The Lone Ranger missionary has ridden into the sunset of history. His modern successor has traded in the silver bullets for a servant’s towel, and he wants his national partner to lead rather than follow. Missions in the New Testament is team oriented, thus the 21st-century ambassador for Christ desires full partnership for nationals, promoting their ministries and success rather than his own.

Dr. Russ Ebersole, Jr. recalls how God blessed his early evangelism and church-planting ministry in the Philippines with a “mature and experienced” Filipino pastor as a co-worker: “He became my close friend and informal tutor in the language and culture.” Together they led many Filipinos to Christ, and established strong churches.

From Passive to Pro-active

Scott DeWitt observes that “we can no longer build a building, open the doors, and expect the people to come. I desire to find creative ways to enter community life and plant churches that target the youth population. Through participation in schools, city celebrations and cultural life, I hope to build credible bridges that lead to honest discussion. Whether in a sports facility, an internet café, or through acts of unusual kindness, real relationships are built over time and occur outside the walls of the church building. I am not going to wait for people to come to me – I am going to enter their world and their culture to proclaim that there is hope in Jesus Christ.”

From Independent to Interdependent

Pioneer missionaries prized independence. The “builder generation” often preferred to work alone. Contemporary servant-ambassadors, however, prefer the New Testament model of teamwork or interdependence. The Apostle Paul was never alone in ministry, unless in jail or transit. Interdependence on missionary teams models “Body of Christ” dynamics and points nationals toward Biblical unity and cooperative, rather than competitive, ministry.

Missionary nurse Jane Schmitz remembers her anticipation at the beginning of her missionary career: “I was looking forward to working on a team. As a prefielder, I knew I would need to go as a learner, adjust to a new culture, and be flexible.”

From Confronting to Caring

In some open societies “cold-turkey” evangelism is fruitful, but in most contexts, relationships are crucial in earning a respectful hearing for the gospel. Russ Ebersole discovered that “interpersonal relationships are extremely important and…people everywhere respond to sincere love and concern.”

From Rigid to Flexible

Missionaries used to think they would do one thing on the field – the ministry vocation for which they had prepared. Surprise! Often their faith journey to the “front lines” brought opportunities to develop latent talents and, in doing so, make historic advances for the cause of Christ.

Renowned surgeon Dr. Viggo Olsen and gifted nurse Lynn Silvernale became translators of the Scriptures; their work brought God’s Word to millions in restricted countries. Nurse Jeannie Lockerbie Stephenson turned from medicine to a missionary career in writing and publishing, which resulted in the largest Christian literature ministry in the nation where she served. Dedicated pilot Butch Jarvis responded to government restrictions on missionary aviation by “parking his plane” and pouring his life into fulltime church planting. Medical doctors Bill Stevenson and James Langston eventually moved from medical evangelism into church planting and missionary administration. Many other ministry professionals have made similar adjustments to maximize their effectiveness.

From Places to People Groups

Our Lord commissioned us to “make disciples in all the ethne.” Rather than nations as geo-political entities, “ethne” refers to peoples or people groups bound together by language and culture, inside or outside the group’s country of origin. Bob and Esther Howder served in Japan for several terms and now minister to Japanese in Singapore. Rod & Angie Stucky planted a church in the Philippines and are now planting churches among Filipinos and other Asians in Indianapolis.

From Church Planting to Church Multiplication

The old model was planting a church, or a series of churches, in a lifetime. Now the focus is on planting church-planting churches, or planting church-planters, as the missionary multiplies his ministry through nationals. From the outset, intentionally establishing sending churches is the goal. “Planned parenthood” takes on a positive meaning, as church plants plan “pregnancies” to birth daughter churches on a regular basis, stimulating church-planting movements.

From Receiving to Sending

Traditionally, developing fields viewed themselves as “receiving countries” and church plants as “receiving churches,” dependent on the missionaries. Now the New Testament pattern is replacing dependency with a vigorous intent to become full partners in missions. “Every church a sending church, and every field a sending field” is becoming the theme for vibrant, new-century missions.

From Reached to Unreached

Researchers currently identify ten to eleven thousand unreached people groups (UPGs), with no believer, church or missionary. Missions planners recognize those who have never heard the gospel as strategic priorities, and are allocating resources and personnel to these last frontiers. While recognizing the continuing responsibility to maintain and expand church-planting among peoples who have believers, churches and missionaries, we focus increasingly on unreached peoples and seek committed and courageous Christians to form specialized teams tailored for each culture and context.

From Bias to Bonding

Racial conflict is a human problem, reflecting man’s fall from harmony (with God and man) to alienation (from God and man). God’s love is for all people equally and the ground is level at the foot of the Cross. Embracing the gospel produces color blindness, and commitment to racial reconciliation in Christ. This is a vital part of the missionary message, one which brings hope to a broken world torn by pride and prejudice.

Russ Ebersole says, “The gospel message is indeed ‘the power of God unto salvation to all who believe,’ and as people become part of the body of Christ, racial and ethnic barriers can be removed.”

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