What Makes a Good Missionary?

The truth about how missions agencies choose missionaries

Rejected. I had sent out over twenty letters to mission agencies to let them know of my desire to be a church planter among the unreached. Most of them never even gave me a second look - never even answered my letter. The few who did reply rejected me. They felt that they had good reasons, of course. I’m sorry, but you: don’t have enough Bible classes, have no overseas experience, look like you wouldn’t get along well on a team, etc. etc. 

I have heard many others who have raised their hand and volunteered to go have had the same experience. In fact, I have heard some mission agencies decide that they will reject 2/3 of the candidates who apply to them. I have seen this be devastating to those who do not know this and leave their candidate experience convinced that they are personally inadequate to the missions task. Most will never try to apply to another agency. Some, I’m happy to say, have found their way to All Nations.

I noticed a few years ago that many of my missionary heroes seem to be people who were rejected by missions agencies. Hudson Taylor had no university degree, which made him unqualified. He went on to start one of the longest and most fruitful missions agencies ever. Gladys Aylward had struggled with depression, which made her unqualified. She also was considered too old and not able to learn language. She went on to rescue children and make disciples in the middle of World War 2 in China. 

Those stories now haunt me because: I now AM the mission agency. I’m the one who needs to decide who would make a good missionary. What makes me toss and turn at night is wondering if I will turn down a Hudson Taylor or a Gladys Aylward or even a Pam Arlund. Will I make the right choice as I help train and send missionaries? 

I remember sitting around a table one day early on in All Nations and having a conversation about this topic with Dr. Mary Ho. We decided then and there that All Nations would be the agency that would take a chance on people that other agencies might reject. We decided, for example, that we would consider missionaries who had criminal records, had been divorced, had never been to Bible College (or maybe couldn’t read at all), or were a bit rough around the edges. We recognized right then that some of them would fail us, some would embarrass us, and some would cause us a lot of trouble. We counted the cost and decided it was worth it. Honestly, all of those things have happened, but not nearly as often as we had feared. Much more often, hearts were awoken and healed and those hearts went out and awoke and healed other hearts. 

So, how would we know who would make a good missionary? In short, we wouldn’t. We would have to take a chance on people and let them prove themselves as those who are “reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). We would give them chances to prove themselves as reliable and trustworthy people. 

This means that sometimes people in All Nations (including me!) are a bit hard to work with. I often tell our folks who are in conflict with each other, “The bad news is that we take a chance on people who are rough around the edges. This means you will have to be patient while Jesus works on that person. The good news is that we took a chance on you too, and we’ll try to be patient with you too.” 

This value also means that we spend a lot of time working on inner healing with our missionaries. We offer pastoral care and partner with Fresh Start as a great tool. We think that people with problems can still be missionaries, but we all need to get healthier as we mature in Christ. 

Some of our most fruitful church planters (missionaries) in All Nations would never have been accepted by other agencies. Some of the “other agency rejects” I can think of in All Nations have planted hundreds of churches. They were rejected for all sorts of reasons, but you know what? People who have been forgiven much, love much (cf. Luke 7:47). 

Many of these people with rough backgrounds are some of the most grateful people on earth. They minister out of an overflow of grace. Admittedly, they are still sometimes “unusual” and “lack social graces,” but they are so in love with the God who loved them when they were yet sinners. 

Those forgiven sinners make good missionaries. We’ll take a chance on a few more of those any day. 

Jesus already took a chance on you. Are you ready to be a missionary? What relationship do you need to take a chance on today?

Dr. Pam Arlund is a member of the All Nations International Leadership Team, providing leadership in the areas of training, research, and security. She began serving in missions more than twenty years ago as a church planter and Bible translator among an unreached people group of Central Asia. She currently lives in Kansas City with her mom, a cat, and a really great house mate. 

More Resources:
Devotional Series - Lessons from the Least, the Last, and the Lost brought to you by All Nations International and Blake Staton starting August, 2020. Link here for more info and to sign up.

Book Club brought to you by All Nations International and Dr. Pam Arlund. Club sign-up closes August 15th. The first book club meeting occurs August 31, 2020! Link here for more info and Sign-up.