As mankind continues to fight against the global disruptive virus, the world has begun to lift its appeals for masks and housebound living. With an increasing number of countries returning to their former open state, many people are able to resume traveling—none more important than Christian missionaries.
Disease has always been a significant factor in sifting those called to missions abroad from those called elsewhere. However, the dangers of exposure to native viruses have never restricted missionaries so heavily as that of the worldwide COVID-19 virus. With the world’s anxiety starting to unravel, missionaries and their organizations can resume their high and noble calling to evangelize the world over for Christ.
Are those who feel called to be international missionaries ready to face the challenges—especially COVID—that accompany the missionary life? Very few Christians are ready to follow the Great Commission abroad since, according to a recent study by Barna Group, only 17% of Christians in 2018 knew what the Great Commission even is.
Not only must they be ready in spirit, but also be guided in evangelism and other missionary preparations. The Barna study included data which surveyed teenagers’ confidence in having had evangelism training. Most of the studied group, 68%, did not believe they had any evangelism training.
Jodi Wallace, a former missionary to Kyrgyzstan, as well as a former member of Campus Crusade for Christ (an umbrella of missionary organizations that serves 191 nations), has some insight as to the nature of evangelism training.
“There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of missionary agencies, and everybody has their own way of doing things. CRU tends to be very training oriented…whatever we receive we can give out,” Wallace said. “We want our training to be very transferrable, very practical.” This training is helping to curb the lack of evangelism training new missionaries may not feel they have previously had.
Missions work has always been a complex social, economic, personal and spiritual gauntlet. Wallace understands this: “Things become amplified when you’re in a different environment and you don’t have the regular resources or comforts or crutches to fall back on… [A]s missionaries, we need to be very careful that we’re going in as servants and we offer but we never force,” she said. “We observe and we are seeking the Lord on how [to] communicate principles in culturally-relevant ways”.
The cultural tensions and differences in living have been quite the calling of God for missionaries to embrace. COVID is just the newest deterrent.
COVID presented some new challenges according to Wallace. “How [COVID] made it harder is that…almost all of the university campuses around the world shut down. And missionaries [couldn’t] go and meet students at the student commons or a certain place on campus where people tend to hang out,” she said.
Still, Wallace does concede a very positive result of the pandemic. “In some ways, it’s been a help because, for some people, it really raised the issue of fear,” she said. “It really raised the issue of the lack of control that we have. It raised the issue of death and eternity, and all of those, Jesus addresses.”
While COVID is the latest aspect of this daunting evangelistic task, the pandemic continues to weaken. It has become so regularized a disease that people now can return to normal to a significant degree.
The most important normalcy for missions is the ability to travel around the world. Nevertheless, the pandemic’s sudden worldwide surge continues to fill the history books. Whatever the global missionary effort does in response to COVID, it is clear that the fight for Christ abroad has been severely hindered by this worldwide terror. While the future is still uncertain, the Great Commission still calls many to spread the love of Christ throughout the world.