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How North American Evangelical Missionaries Experience Home Furloughs

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How North American Evangelical Missionaries Experience Home Furloughs 11. David Bosch, "The Church in Dialogue: From Self-Delusion to versity Press, 1978) and Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ: A History or Vulnerability," Missiology 16, no. 2 (April 1988): p. 144. the Gospel in Chinese (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1986). 12. Robert Schreiter, "Changes in Roman Catholic Attitudes toward 15. Wallace Merwin, Adventure in Unity (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Proselytism and Mission," in Marty and Greenspahn eds., Pushing Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974), p. 23. the Faith, p. 106. 16. Covell, W. A. P. Martin, p. 247. 13. Notto R. TheIle, Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to 17. Covell, Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ, Chapter 6. Dialogue, 1854-1899 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987), pp. 18. William Hutchison, Errand to the World: American Protestant Thought 7,39. and Foreign Missions (Chicago, Ill.: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1987), 14. Material on the Confucian and Buddhist contexts in which the early p.205. China missionaries preached is taken from two of my books: W. A. P. 19. The attitudes expressed in these few pages are to be found expressly Martin: Pioneer of Progress in China (Washington, D.C.: Christian Uni­ in the writings of some evangelical missiologists. A Boon or a "Drag"? How North American Evangelical Missionaries Experience Home Furloughs Robert T. Coote ccording to the ideal, a missionary shoul~ experience his through the pledged support of the individual candidate's net­ A or' her home furlough, or "home assignment," as a work of friends and sympathetic churches. It would be difficult time of personal renewal. Protestant mission agency handbooks to imagine today's vast evangelical missionary community based typically prescribe a combination of rest and family visitation, in North America-some 40,000 career missionaries-apart from medical checkups, deputation or "mission interpretation," and the extensive use of this decentralized approach to financing. This personal enrichment studies "so the ministry will beenhanced." means that a significant portion of the evangelical missionary's But .according to the findings of a recent survey conducted furlough time must be spent on the road, affirming and if need by the Overseas Ministries Study Center of New Haven, Con­ be, renewing the network of supporters. Some missionaries may necticut, furlough time may not always be a boon; sometimes it be so solidly underwritten, and their base of support so concen­ is experienced as a "drag." "My Furlough Experience," as trated in one area, that they may be able to keep their away-from­ the survey was titled, explored patterns among conservative home deputation work down to just a few weeks. The amount evangelical missionaries in North America regarding furlough of time on the road for North American evangelical missionaries­ housing and continuing education. Provision was also made for as reported in all three of the surveys conducted by the Overseas spontaneous comments, and since one out of three respondents Ministries Study Center-typically ranges from eight to fourteen volunteered additional information, the survey produced a rather weeks. Some, however, spend two to three months of their fur­ well-nuanced picture of how missionaries experience their fur­ lough away from home in the fall, plus additional time in the lough periods. The surzey was thethird in a series conducted by spring. A minority report being on the road as many as 40 to 50 the Overseas Ministries Study Center during the decade of the weeks out of their year of furlough. 1980s, and therefore we are enabled to identify trends as well as current issues. The fifteen agencies that participated in the 1989 survey are Conservative evangelicals make up the vast majority of the as follows: North American Protestant overseas career missionary force, and therefore fifteen of the .larger evangelical agencies were invited Members of the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Associa­ to participate in the survey. For the most part, these agencies tion come under the rubric of "faith missions," a term rooted in * Africa Evangelical Fellowship the final years of the nineteenth century, when North American AIM International (formerly Africa Inland Mission) mainline denominational societies could not muster the funds out * Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly China Inland of their central treasury to support all of the volunteers who Mission) presented themselves for overseas service. The denominational * SEND International (formerly Far East Gospel Crusade) societies also emphasized formal educational preparation, and SIM International (formerly Sudan Interior Mission) this deterred many of the newer evangelical candidates who at * UFM International (formerly Unevangelized Fields Mis­ that time often took exception to the mainline emphasis on higher sion) education. * World team Inc. (formerly West Indies Mission) In response, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen­ turies a number of "faith mission" voluntary societies were Members of the Evangelical Foreign Missions Association formed, financed on the basis of "personal support," that is, ** Baptist General Conference Christian and Missionary Alliance Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society * Evangelical Free Church Robert T. Coote is Assistant to the Director for Planning and Development, * Mission to the World (Presbyterian Church of America) Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut. * OMS International (formerly Oriental Mission Society) JANUARY 1991 17 ,. WEC International (formerly Worldwide Evangelization agency's housing allowance of $300, they said, was "totally Crusade) inadequate." • One family (second furlough; three children) reported being so Unaffiliated "stressed out" that they are considering leaving missionary Wycliffe Bible Translators life. These agencies supplied names and addresses of the mis­ • Still another couple reported the wife's commitment to getting her master's degree-"a good but very intense program." sionaries that were home on furlough in 1989; the survey was Meanwhile the husband traveled the deputation road and con­ conducted during the summer and fall of 1989. Out of 647 ques­ cluded, "I can't wait to get back to Kenya and have a normal tionnaires mailed, 472 were returned, or 73 percent. This unu­ 6O-hour week." sually high rate of return evidently reflects the eagerness of the respondents to tell their story. The two earlier surveys were conducted in 1981 and 1984. At the same time, an element of personal style, resourceful­ The three surveys provide insight as to how missionaries over ness, and general outlook on life must be taken into consideration. the last decade have dealt with deputation pressures, met their The 1989 survey also included some upbeat comments, such as housing needs, and enhanced their educational and professional this one from a Canadian missionary couple with the Overseas credentials while home on furlough. Missionary Fellowship (OMF), who after six furloughs and five For most North American evangelical missionaries, furlough children testify: "God has provided beautifully for us as a lasts nearly a year, following terms of service that average nearly family during furlough." four years. This pattern may come as a surprise to those more One of the most significant aspects of the 1989 survey is its representativeness. In addition to the fact that more than seven out of ten "units" answered the survey (a "unit" is a mis­ sionary couple or a single, unmarried missionary), the survey "Studying for degrees dealt with a larger universe of furloughing missionaries than in and further education?!" the previous surveys, and therefore it garnered a much larger number of responses: 472 as compared to about 200 in 1981 and replied one furloughing 1984. As already indicated, fourteen of the fifteen agencies in the missionary. "Surely survey are members of the Interdenominational Foreign Mission you jest!" Association (IFMA) or the Evangelical Foreign Missions Associ­ ation (EFMA). The personnel of these fourteen agencies account for about 35 percent of the total IFMA/EFMA overseas force; there­ familiar with mainline mission societies, where furloughs/home fore we can surmise that the survey reflects a reasonably accurate assignments may be limited to three to six months and come as picture of the IFMA/EFMAcommunity as a whole. And Wycliffe often as every three years. Bible Translators, the fifteenth agency, is known to be very rep­ resentative indeed of the North American evangelical community. Some of the 1989 survey respondents went out of their way to express appreciation for families and friends who arranged Continuing Education affordable housing and transportation and to mission headquar­ ters that increasingly encourage them to seek further education At the time of the first of the Overseas Ministries Study Center during furlough in order to enhance their ministry. However, the furlough surveys, in 1981, numerous respondents commented on words of appreciation are frequently accompanied by sober as­ the lack of support within the agency headquarters for continuing sessments of the pressures and problems that typically accom­ education. At that time, the number involved in continuing ed­ pany furlough. Sometimes it appears that problems loom large: ucation (everything from one- or two-day workshops to full ac­ ademic programs) was about 40 out of 100, and of these only 14 • "Furlough is a drag." This missionary couple visited twenty­ were engaged in graduate degree programs.
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