Have you been on a mission trip and now you are thinking “What’s next?”. Could full-time missionary work be in your future? If so, what does that journey look like? Consider these “next step” resources to continue growing in your understanding of what God is doing around the world and deepen your involvement in His global mission.
Websites/Blogs
- Ask a Missionary – Provides answers from missionaries to frequently asked questions on topics like: support-raising, selecting an agency, the call, training, and singles/families concerns.
- Go.Serve.Love – Motivational stories and resources for the aspiring missionary.
Supplies
- The Journey Deepens Retreats – Weekend retreats to help prospective missionaries explore what it is like to be a missionary, discover whether a missionary or sender role is God’s fit, and connect with mission agencies.
- Perspectives on the World Christian Movement – A course designed to help believers learn about God’s heart for all nations and how believers worldwide can play an active role in the Great Commission.
- How Ready Am I? – Free self-assessment for global work.
- Radius International – Radius International provides training to those wishing to plant churches among unreached people groups in a pioneer context. This pre-field training equips cross-cultural workers to partner with Jesus Christ to establish healthy, indigenous, reproducing churches among unreached people groups.
- Global Frontier Missions Missionary Training School – For future global workers, Global Frontier Missions offers a training school with classroom plus hands-on experience while living in heavy refugee or international apartment complexes.
- KAIROS – a foundational course on world Christian mission. It brings out God’s heart for all the nations of the world and His desire to use His people to be a blessing to them. KAIROS emphasizes the importance of ministering to cultures that still have few or no indigenous churches.
Articles
- Debriefing Your Mission Trip What is next? Great insight to help you process your short-term mission trip and consider how it fits into God’s bigger plan.
- What are some of the First Steps to Becoming a Missionary? Three different missionaries/mobilizers provide practical steps you can start taking today as you consider full-time mission work.
- Raising Support for Long Term Global Work A collection of best resources on fundraising support from Go.Serve.Love.net.
Books
- People Raising: A Practical Guide to Raising Funds by William P. Dillon. Too often, the desire to accomplish ministry is squashed under the fear and perceived burden of raising the necessary funds. Break through that perception into a reality where you reach out and effectively develop relationships that quickly allow you to reach your funding and prayer support goals. This tried and proven manual has been updated to include new sections on social media, coaching, mastering six critical support raising skills, and confronting the “Fear Factor”.
- Friend Raising by Betty Barnett. Betty Barnett began full-time voluntary Christian service in 1975, dependent upon missionary support from her church and individuals. Her home is in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, where she leads the College of Communication for Youth With A Mission’s University of the Nations-Kona campus. She teaches internationally on principles that have benefited thousands of missionaries.
- Live Life on Purpose -book by Claude Hickman, Executive Director for The Traveling Team, The aim of God’s entire biblical story has one mission, reaching all the nations, and one method, all believers. Finding your life purpose only makes sense in the context of God’s plan to reach the world.
- God’s Heart for the Nations– Bible study by Jeff Lewis takes you from Genesis to Revelation in order to see the connection between two critically important themes that are woven together throughout Scripture—God’s blessing and God’s global purpose. In this eight-week study, you’ll be challenged to consider your role in God’s plan of redemption, a plan that involves making disciples among all nations for the glory of God.
- Pursuing the Call: A Practical Guide for New and Prospective Missionaries by Danny Lamastra. Becoming a missionary can be daunting, but what if you could learn from others who’ve already faced the challenges? No matter what stage you’re at in your missionary journey, Pursuing the Call will prepare you to make the wisest, most Christ-centered decisions. With step-by-step advice from the early stages of exploring God’s call, to ultimately moving overseas and ministering in a new culture, this book details the necessary considerations and decisions you will need to make. Written by a missionary, it is not based on theory alone but has been tried and tested through experience.
Audio/Podcasts
- Better Mission Trips From Standards of Excellence, this podcast highlights topics that every mission leader thinks about. These conversations with mission leaders are meant to spark thoughtful consideration and equip you to make your mission trips better.
- Global Missions Podcast A show for Christ-followers who want to participate more effectively in God’s work both at home and to the ends of the earth.
- Bridges for Mission (B4M) What is it like to serve overseas as God’s ambassadors? How does the Kingdom of God look around the globe? Through International Ministries’ Bridges 4 Mission Podcast, we bring the answers to these and other mission-related questions directly to you. Join us as we interview a diverse group of servants working in a variety of capacities around the world.
- Call to Missions: The Call to Mission (C2M) podcast is a conversation that engages pastors, missionaries, missionary candidates, IM staff, theologians, missiologists and scholars as they reflect on cross-cultural mission and God’s call to serve in God’s mission around the globe. The C2M podcast is an initiative of Mission Mobilization at International Ministries (IM) and will be available monthly.
- The Missions Podcast, from ABWE International: “The Missions Podcast exists to answer hard questions about theology, missions, and practice to help goers think and thinkers go.”
Videos
- The Biblical Basis for Missions (6:27) Shows God’s heart for all nations and the story of His glory throughout eternity. God’s mission is mentioned throughout Scripture, not just in the Great Commission.
- I Didn’t Feel Called – Jungle Missionary Joil Marbut (5:10) Powerful missionary testimony about calling and obedience.
- I am a Missionary (4:05) Inspiring imagery and full of scripture.
- How to Know if you are Called to Mission (3:33) Explores the question, “Are all called or is the missionary call a special call?” Provides 5 practical steps as you seek to confirm the Lord’s direction for your life now.
Download Docs
- O.V.C (Orphans & Vulnerable Children) Guide – A guide provided by (Standards of Excellence in Short Term Missions) that shows conversations and resources reevaluating and redefining how we serve orphaned and vulnerable children through short-term missions.
- Unshakeable Truths as You Head Overseas A free printable infographic with some scriptural truths to help you as you prepare to serve long term overseas, from Go.Serve.Love.net
Know of other tried and true resources that would benefit those beginning to explore full-time missionary work? Send your ideas to: [email protected]