1) Is this really what God wants you to do? I know you may read this question and wonder how you can know that. It isn’t easy but I would recommend a short study of the book of Nehemiah. God wanted him to move from Susa, in Persia to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. So how did God go about getting him from one place to another? He had a successful “job.” But God got his attention through a report from his “brothers.” Then he prayed…hard and long…for like 3 months. During that time God solidified in his mind what he wanted him to do, so much so that when the King asked him what was wrong he took the risk of sharing from his heart, even though it may have cost him his life. So, that is step one. You have to know this is the thing God wants from you for now. The path is not easy and if you get into it just because there aren’t any jobs available where you are, you may be sorry. I don’t mean to criticize if this is your thinking here, at all. I just want to be open with you about what I know to be true from experience.

2) Assuming that this is God’s will for your next phase of life and ministry, begin to bring your “network” into your thinking. I would categorize your “team” into three groups. Your core will be the people who are with you in everything. They are the ones that you are connected with on FB on a daily basis…or close family and friends who you know will pray for you, at least, on a daily basis. Your second level group is made up of friends that you respect who will want to know what is going on with you and who will pray and most likely support you financially but who are more distant. They love you but don’t necessarily care what movie you saw last night. The third group is made up of all your other acquaintances. Start with your FB friends and then add anyone else you can think of that may want to know what you are doing; for example, connections you have through church, school, at work or whatever.

3) Meet with the mission’s leadership at your home church. This is critical. You want them behind you, for sure. They may have some requirements for their missionaries that you need to consider…like a program you need to complete, or service in the church first. They may also have some agencies they feel good about and some they don’t like. They may be your largest prayer and financial supporter; so again, it is good to know what they think and require.

4) Pursue an agency. Your first question should be, “Do you send MK teachers?” Your second should relate to doctrine, if you have some specific beliefs that are really important to you. Those deep issues get big in a cross-cultural setting. Your third question should be about the agency’s “Philosophy and Strategy.” Do you agree with what they do and how they do it? Your fourth consideration should be the agency values, their heart. Do you resonate with who they are on the inside? If you are single, your fifth question should relate to how they view singles in roles of ministry on their teams. Will you be an equal? Are there limits to what you can do? Your sixth question should be about membercare. Do they have a membercare department? What does membercare involve for them? How will you experience their care for you? Your seventh question should be about locations available (unless you have one in mind – then that should be your second question). In what countries and in what schools are there opportunities for me to minister? Where are the greatest needs? Finally, I would ask about money. Will you be an employee or self-employed? How much money goes to overhead and how is it used? What percentage of support will I need before I can leave? (If they say anything less than 100%, I would look elsewhere – really! – but then that is just me). Will the agency help you in the support raising process and what will that help look like? If you find an agency that fits you, begin a conversation with them about joining. Remember, MK teaching will probably also require an application to the school as well as to the agency, so don’t procrastinate!!

One more note: Commitments to the school should be at least a year in length though I would recommend at least two years. If you have school loans, they can usually be deferred for this period of time by one means or another. The funds you may need to raise can usually be kept to a minimum for a two year time commitment.

Many steps will obviously follow the above four but they should give you a start.  If you have questions, comment on this blog post or send us an email at Mobilization@oci.org.

-Jeff Boesel, Director of Mobilization

I.      Spiritual Preparation

A.  Develop habits of feeding yourself spiritually. If you end up in a place where English is not the spoken language you may have little opportunity to worship in your own language so self growth is critical.

B.  Develop habits of feeding yourself spiritually. If you end up in a place where English is not the spoken language you may have little opportunity to worship in your own language so self growth is critical.

C.  De-clutter your spiritual life. In our own culture we hold onto some bad habits that usually have cultural background. Habits that we know are wrong deep down but justify. It is best to deal with these before you go than try to deal with them in the midst of cross-cultural stress.

D.  Develop a deeper sense of listening to God. Most of us are too busy to take time to listen. This is a key spiritual discipline for fund development and cross-cultural ministry.

E.  Deepen your prayer life. As with the above you will find that we often get by with minimal prayer in our US-based Christianity. We find we can do most things on our own. This will not be true in another culture. Better to develop the habit of a deeper dependence on prayer before you go.

II.     Emotional Preparation

A.  Cross-cultural ministry often requires a lot of leaving. Begin to clean up your relationships now so that the leaving process does not create baggage that is best left behind.

B.  If you are single, consider getting some counseling to help you walk through your life and deal with any issues hanging on from past hurts. Cross cultural stress tends to bring out our ugliness. Don’t go into it with any more baggage than you have to.

C.  If you are married, consider doing some marriage counseling. Not to imply that you need it in your own culture, but living cross culturally tends to strip us bare of all the coping habits we have developed to cope with that person living with us. If you have some of those it may be good to deal with them before you go. Also, improved communication between you and your spouse is critical.

D.  If you have children, prepare them for what is ahead, even if they will not be coming with you. They will be losing their home, at the least.

III.    Educational Preparation

A.  Make sure you have the education or training needed for what is ahead. This education does not have to be formal but must be usable. In other words, formal Biblical education is not required unless you are going to teach at seminary or something, but the proper application of the Word to life and ministry is critical so a working understanding of scripture is necessary.

B.  Many times getting a usable visa is dependent on having the proper certificate to do what you say you will be doing.

IV.    Experiential Preparation

A.  Work Experience:  It always helps to bring something to the “game” in the way of skills. Don’t think job title; think what skills it takes to accomplish what you have done. Often God uses those skills in different ways for his Kingdom.

B.  Ministry Experience:  The absolute best preparation for cross-cultural ministry is ministry within your own culture.

1.  Mono-cultural experience has value so get involved in your local church ministry or with para-church organizations in your area working in areas of interest.

2. Cross-cultural experience is certainly available in all of our local experiences. The world is literally at our door. You have to look no further than the closest university or ethnic body of believers.

3. Short Term missions experiences are a great intro to what life and ministry are like if approached with that goal in mind. Let me say here though that longer term missionary life is more like your current “day to day” than it is like any short term “busy every second” experience.

V.     Physical Preparation

A. If you haven’t done so recently, get a full physical. Cross-cultural living adds significant stress to your body. Also, nearly every mission agency will want some kind of medical report as part of the entrance process.

B. Focus some on your physical conditioning just as you should spend time focusing on your spiritual conditioning. A missionary who is constantly dealing with physical issues due to lack of care is hindered in how God can use them. I am
not referring to disabilities that God may have allowed in our lives to help us rely on him. Things from God push us to him. I am talking about problems of our own making…neglect in caring for the body God has given us.

VI.    Practical Preparation

A. Make sure that the leadership of your home church knows of your consideration of these steps. They need to be your greatest support and guide through the process. You will be an extension of their ministry wherever you go…at least, that is how you want it to be, it they are open to considering that.

B. De-clutter – so many of us, especially in the United States, have way more stuff than we really need. I remember when we first when to Guatemala we had stuff stored in our attic and in the barn of a supporter friend. Some of it was sentimental
stuff we still have but when got back we threw most of it away. Why didn’t we just do that initially? Shrink your physical footprint, so to speak.

C. Learn to live more simply. Missionary work is not the career you should be pursuing if you want to be comfortable by US standards. Most agencies try to provide adequate funding so that you live at a middle class level for the area you are
in. However, that may be well below where you live now. Also, our “extravagance” can be a deterrent to our witness…though we wouldn’t consider it extravagance in our own culture. I am not recommending that you “become” a national. You can’t. As a Guatemalan once told us, “Your mother’s not Guatemalan.” Strive to be an accepted and, if possible a respected, outsider to the culture.

D. If you have a sense for where God may be leading you, begin to acclimate yourself to that culture and language by developing relationships with people of that culture within your local area. This may take some research, but that too is
good preparation for what is ahead. Though there may be value in language learning programs, I would more strongly recommend a relational learning approach. Learning vocabulary and grammar is not learning a language. Knowing how those words and grammar are used in any given situation is. Proper language learning cannot happen apart from cultural learning.

E. If you are a meat and potatoes kind of person, you might want to consider expanding your palate.

VII.   God’s Will

A. Do a study of Nehemiah to gain a better understanding of recognizing and following God’s will.

B. As I mentioned earlier, practice the art of listening in prayer.

C. Practice a life of obedience to God’s leading. Many of us have little in our lives that force us to depend on God’s leading. Our lives are pretty much laid out in front of us. Missionary life is certainly not that way. Push yourself out of
your spiritual comfort zone.

D. Begin praying for the nations. A systematic way is usually best, like using Operation World, or a similar guide, to lead you through various people groups. God often plucks our heart-strings as we pray.

E. Take the Perspectives course, if you haven’t already. If you have, and you have time, volunteer to help put the next class
on in your area.

VIII. Finding an Agency: This requires an entire paper on its own, but just a couple of comments here.

A. Finding an agency takes some time. I usually recommend that people start the search process 2-3 years before they envision themselves living somewhere else.

B. Focus on the philosophy and strategy of ministry, the values and how money is handled within any agency you are considering.

C. Seek God’s peace over the lowest financial support requirement!

IX.    Entrance Process and Training

A. The entrance process into agencies takes time and so does the training they require. Once again, a 2-3 year window is a good starting point.

B. Don’t quit your “day job” until you have enough support raised for your agency to pay you a salary…or until God tells you to, whether it makes sense or not. Obedience is always preferable to the Jonah approach.

C. Practice being a “learner” no matter how learned you already are. You are beginning a path that very few have taken ahead of you. But those who have, in general, know the path ahead better than you…no matter how crazy some of their advice may sound.

X.     Finding Funding

A. This is a future project but anyone considering missionary service should give some thought to fund development
before jumping in.

B. Make a list, hopefully on a spreadsheet that can be transferred easily if and when needed, of anyone and everyone you think will want to know you are taking these steps. Then divide them into three groups. Identify the core. These are the
people who are very close to you and walk along with you now…praying for you and caring for you. Get them involved with your process as soon as you can. Have them seeking God’s direction with you. The second group is made up of people you think may want to be part of your financial support team. The third group is comprised of everyone else you want to know you are doing this. They may or may not partner with you in some way but you have a relationship of some kind.

C. Make a list of churches within which you have had ministry. If you have never been involved in local church ministry, begin right there. Get involved!

D. Begin supporting missionaries individually, if you are not already. If you are, get to know them better and ask them about how God provided for them financially. Be the kind of supporter that you want your future supporters to be!

There are many good reasons to join an agency, but not all of them apply to everyone. There are also a couple reasons, depending on the agency, which I would consider “bad” reasons to pursue an agency. I will close the article with those thoughts. Most of what an agency offers the missionary revolves around the area of support, in one way or another. I think you will see what I mean as we proceed.

1) An agency can provide emotional support. Just living in another culture can be one of the hardest things someone can do, not to mention trying to minister there. Having someone from a supportive team there to hold your hand when you need it can make the difference between success and disaster.

2) An agency can provide spiritual support. When you are in this different culture, initially at least, you will feel like you have entered a box into which God cannot reach. This isn’t true, of course, but cross-cultural stress and the lack of language ability puts you in a place of deep lack in the area of spiritual support. Having some people around who speak, think and worship like you can make the difference.

3) An agency can provide safety. When you first get to a country you really have no idea who to trust or how to go about what God is asking you to do, even if you already speak the language. It is easy to get influenced by people who are not moving in your direction because they seem to be helpful. They may, very well, not be. Many people will call themselves Christians who have no idea what that means to you. You will think that they are like you but you will be wrong. There is actually a joke in Guatemala about a guy who gets kidnapped and in conversation with his kidnapper mentions that he is a Christian. The kidnapper responds, “That’s great. So am I.” You see, being a “Christian” in Guatemala can basically mean that you are not a Catholic. So, the agency team in your new country, if
there is one, can be your “Wikipedia” of local knowledge and keep you out of the potholes that, for sure, are there whether you see them or not.

4) An agency can provide platform for initial ministry opportunities. Trying to actually do something significant can be a real challenge at first. It takes, literally, years to establish relationships that lead to greater Kingdom things – longer in more closed contexts. If you are with an agency, though, you can begin with the platform that they have already established and build on their relationships…not that you won’t also create and grow some of your own along the way. It just makes your effort there more effective from the beginning.

5) An agency can provide accountability. This accountability is necessary in two main arenas. First, it provides a confidence that gives some peace to your donors. Your church may need this too. Knowing how money is spent is important to some people and definitely to the IRS. If you are not part of a nonprofit agency you cannot give people a tax deduction for their financial support (though your sending church might) and you have to be responsible to keep records and justify the use of the funds to the IRS. If you are part of an agency, they stand between you and the IRS, assuring them that the money is being spent appropriately and you don’t have to worry. Secondly, an agency provides accountability to keep you from getting off track. Often we think an idea is great and will pursue it until
trusted spiritual advisors say it is not wise. That wisdom often comes from the experience the agency team has already gained while living and working in the culture. Many a well-meaning missionary has crashed and burned pursuing a plan that would never had been attempted if they had followed the wise counsel of the seasoned veterans in their agency.

6) An agency can provide logistical support. So much of your energy in living and working in another country is spent on just that, living and working. You will find very little time for even keeping up with a blog, or other correspondence with your support team, much less for keeping your visa current, banking, reporting to supporting churches etc. The agency can (not all do) help by maintaining your mailing list, publishing prayer letters, receipting your donations etc. This may be one of the most clearly apparent reasons for being part of an agency. For years we worked at a Missionary Kid (MK) school in Guatemala and saw many independent missionaries struggle month after month just trying to respond to their support teams. All we had to do was send an email to our HQ and the rest they did as a service to us.

7) An agency can provide Membercare. This is something you don’t think you will need until you need it. If things are crashing and burning around you…and believe me, there will be times when you think they are…it is an assurance to know that your agency has your back and will go to bat for you and care for you. I was sitting in a conference once where the mission pastor of a large church was explaining how well their plan was going to send and support their own missionaries. There was, apparently, no real need for us pesky agency types. But he closed with an interesting comment saying, “Now, if you are out there with some of our missionaries and they need help, we hope that you will come alongside them in the love of Christ to meet their needs.” He knew there was a big hole in their plan and they were wanting to trust the agencies to be the care people he was not willing to pay for. Of course, we would step in the
gap when needed but that could be avoided if Membercare was part of the plan originally.

There are many more reasons, like financial security, retirement planning, good medical coverage globally, emergency extraction plans and funds, opportunity for personal development and training for new growth areas. But still, agencies are not the best choice for everyone and there are some downsides you should be aware of in considering joining one.

1) Agencies tend to be slow in making decisions. Some allow missionaries to make ministry decisions on the field and that helps (like ours) but, in general, it seems like trying to turn a battleship.

2) Agencies are expensive. All of the services an agency provides do not come without a cost. If you compare the costs of various agencies and the services they provide there is usually a one to one correlation with cost v service. It would be so much cheaper to just go it alone. I should warn you, though, that many missionaries that try the cheaper road end up regretting it and joining agencies later.

3) Agencies have personalities. Make sure, if you join one, that you join an agency which has a personality to match yours. It is like choosing a college, sort of. You are going to be “living” with this agency for the next so many years and you don’t want to be attached to one which is constantly causing you pain and discomfort.

4) Agencies can, and often do, make mistakes. Hey, an agency is just a family of flawed people. We do our best, but even the best of us get it wrong from time to time. Go into this with grace and patience.

5) An agency may restrict your freedom to minister as you feel God is leading you. We are required to define ourselves for IRS purposes and in our accounting we must show that the money given to us and receipted goes to support ministries within our definition. In addition to that you may get a team leader that questions your ideas, goals and motives. Those can be hard days.

6) An agency will require that you think beyond yourself and your ministry. Seems like it may be a good thing but if you are a pioneer type and feel God has you on a course out there alone, an agency would be a constant source of irritation.

I hope this helps some of you who are wondering about the value of being with an agency. May God bless you as you seek to follow him in obedience, wherever he is leading you.

-Jeff Boesel

• www.shorttermmissions.com – This is a great search engine for short term options (up to 3 years).
• www.rightnow.org – This site also offers a search function for global ministry opportunities.
• www.missionteach.com – This site is geared towards those in the education field. It allows you to post your resume as well as search for needs at MK Schools around the world.

Check these sites out! They are great resources! And drop us a line here in Mobilization if you need help with next steps!

If you are a credentialed teacher and are interested in a new challenge, check out this opportunity with OC International in Mozambique! Contact Mobilization@oci.org if you would like more information or have any questions!!

(What to do while you wait on God)

By Jeff Boesel

So God has you in a holding pattern, waiting on his timing for entry into missionary service. If you are jazzed about getting involved, waiting to “get there” can be hard. Waiting, however, should not be seen as a necessary evil to be endured or a waste of time. Remember that, as believers, we are to be about Kingdom business wherever God has us at the moment. Here are some suggestions for how to be involved now with God’s global cause.

1. Focus on your own walk with Christ. There are at least two reasons for this.

a) It is through this relationship being evident in your life that others will be drawn to him.

b) Going cross-cultural will test the very fiber of your commitment and relationship with God. You want your roots to go down as deep as possible in him and into his grace before you get there. Then as things get hard, and they will, you will have an assurance of nourishment that comes from within. There is something about going to church in a language you don’t understand that makes spiritual growth difficult, if you are not in the habit of feeding yourself.

2. Get involved in ministry at your local church. Become “visible” to the membership at large. This is important in two ways.

a) It will give you ministry experience, which is critical for use by God later.

b) It will give you exposure to many who may feel led of God to join your prayer and financial support team.

3. Get very familiar with the missions people at your church. Make sure they know of your desire to do missions longer term (whatever that means to you). Join the missions committee, if possible, or be involved with them in some way.

4. Pray for the people groups that God is laying on your heart. You are probably already doing this. Get “Operation World” and begin praying daily for different people groups. Pray for the work of the missionaries already there as well as for those who are trusting God in going.

5. Get involved with people of that nationality in your area. Find out where they are and what they do. Begin relationships and grow them. Whatever your ministry will be, it will include relationship building with host county people. As you get to know them let the Holy Spirit lead you to spiritual things in his way and in his time. It will be clear.

6. Get involved with a mentor who can speak into your life about the real issues. Be intentional about this. Focus on being moldable and teachable. These two things are critical when getting involved in missions. You will be stepping into a life that you don’t know at all but where others have gone before you and can help you if you let them. Begin practicing now and a mentoring relationship is a great way to start.

7. Take a variety of short term mission trips, some to your area of interest and some to other areas.

8. Take the Perspectives Course, if you haven’t already.

9. Start communicating with missionaries already in the area where God leading you. Find out what life and ministry are really like. Get on their prayer letter lists and pray for them. Support them financially if you can. The amount doesn’t matter but the commitment does.

10. Start communicating with missionaries doing what you want to do. Find out what this ministry is like. What are the ups and downs? How can you best prepare yourself – from their viewpoint?

11. Make a list of people you think may want to be part of your prayer and financial support team. Start to correspond with them about what you are doing now and your vision for the future. You are not asking for money. You are just making them a closer part of your life. If God leads them to give in time, that will be his business, not yours.

12. Try to stay out of significant debt. If you have large amounts of debt, try to work on paying them down. Most agencies hesitate to send people if they have high consumer debt. Talk with the agencies you are considering about what their policy is on debt.

13. If you are within two years of a longer term commitment to missions, begin searching for an agency partner. You may already be involved in this to some extent. In the search, look for a fit in the area of values. What is most important to you in life, spiritual walk and ministry? Then look at areas of focus in the world and ministry opportunities that are available. These last two may change in the process so the “values” piece is the more important one. Start with websites and agency reps. Go on from there to communicating with some of the agency’s missionaries in the area you are considering. Find out how they feel about their agency and ministry with them.

14. Go to some agency orientations. Most have one. I would do this after you have narrowed the field down to two or three. There may be travel expense involved so going to more than a couple could be cost prohibitive.

15. Pray Luke 10:2; that the Lord of the Harvest would send more workers into his harvest field – even today.

BCA is a non-denominational K-12 Christian school located in the heart of Bucharest, Romania. We were founded by four missionary families who arrived shortly after the fall of communism in 1989. We now serve over 75 students in grades K-12. BCA’s mission is to provide a Christ-centered, quality education, primarily serving the children of missionaries and Christian expatriates. BCA is an English-language school, using standard American (secular and Christian) curriculum taught with a Biblical worldview.

Contact: Todd Long at tlong@bcaromania.org or visit our website at www.bcaromania.org to complete an application (scroll under GET INVOLVED, then STAFF, then select APPLICATION)

All positions are self-supported ministry positions.

POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR 2008- 2009 SCHOOL YEAR:

ELEMENTARY TEACHER
SECONDARY MATH TEACHER
LIBRARIAN
Elem. / Sec. MUSIC
Elem. / Sec. ART
BUSINESS MANAGER
CHAPLAIN

Teachers interested in the 2009-2010 school year can begin the application process now!