State of Our Missionaries
ReMAP II is a 22-nation study on long-term missionary retention and agency practices – what keeps them in ministry and what organisational factors contribute to this. The survey was launched last year by the World Evangelical Alliance Missions Commission, of which the NECF Malaysia Missions Commission is a member. The project in Malaysia was coordinated by PHILIP CHANG, who is Intercare Chairman and a member of the NECF Missions Commission as well as Asia Member Care Task Force. He is also an associate of the WEA Missions Commission. Currently he has a full-time job in the financial services sector. He reports key observations of the study on Malaysia.
 The respondents have been sending for an average of 20 years. Hence, Malaysia is quite new as a sending country. The total number of active long-term missionaries sent as of Dec 31, 2002 was 121. About 40.5% of them have children aged below 21 years. This is lower than the global figures as well as other regional figures.
It is a common fact that the majority of long-term missionaries from Malaysia are singles and mostly women. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of married couples with children venturing out into long-term missions, which is a healthy trend.
Allowances• The estimated percentage set aside for retirement is 8.77%, which is similar to global averages.
Ministry Priorities• Among Malaysian missionaries, Evangelism and Church Planting among Unreached Peoples command the highest percentage at 35.24%. Taking second spot is Services at 21.94%. About one-fifth or 19.17% are involved in Social and Community Work, 13.69% in Evangelism and Church Planting among people with more than 1% evangelicals, and lastly, 9.96% in Supporting Ministries to existing churches such as Bible teaching and pastoral. Overall, nearly half of all Malaysian missionaries are involved in Evangelism and Church Planting work.
Candidate Selection• Malaysian mission senders place the most emphasis on having a clear calling and mature Christian character, as well as the endorsement of the home church pastors or leaders. Importance was also given to agreement with agency’s doctrinal statements, knowledge of agency’s principles and practices, good character references and good health. The blessing of family is also an important factor that is reflective of the local culture. Having previous cross-cultural experience was of least importance.
Education• An over-whelming majority of 65.02% of Malaysian missionaries have a Bachelor degree, diploma or the equivalent. Another 11.51% have a Master’s degree and only a small percentage of 1.85% have doctorate degrees.
Pastoral Member Care• Malaysian senders spent on average about 10% of their total time and about 10% of their budget on pastoral care. However, only 14.71% of these resources represent preventive member care. This is rather poor compared to the global average of 27.6%. This strongly suggests that more effort and resources should be devoted to preventive member care such as prevention, personal development and support, rather than responsive care or crisis resolution.
Communication and Leadership• Malaysian mission leaders gave top ratings to a culture of prayer being actively promoted within the agency and leaders as a good example of the agency’s beliefs and values, which are quite consistent with most other countries. On the other hand, lowest rating was given to the handling of complaints from missionaries. Perhaps this is a cultural thing or it could be the lack of experience or knowledge in dealing with such issues.
Ministry• Top ratings were given to commitment to ministry and loyalty to the agency. Like most other countries, Malaysian missionaries were seen to be overloaded in the amount of work they do. As far as Ministry Outcome is concerned, mission leaders strongly believed that the churches on the field value the ministries of our missionaries, and that they are developing good relationships with the people they serve. In general, ministry outcomes have been rated positively.
Personal Care and Family Support• Highest ratings were given to emphasis being placed on the maintenance and growth of personal spiritual life. Two items scored quite poorly; firstly, the resolution of interpersonal conflicts in a timely and appropriate manner; and secondly, the satisfactory schooling opportunities for missionary kids or MKs. On the resolution of interpersonal conflicts, this could perhaps be related to the low rating given to the availability of documented and adequate procedures for handling complaints of missionaries, as well as the relatively low level of resources given to preventive member care. As for MK schooling, this could also be related to the relatively low percentage of missionary families with children; hence, sending agencies and churches may generally be lacking in terms of experience and knowledge in dealing with MK education.
Finances• High ratings were given to having sustained financial support and the transparency in handling finances. On the other hand, low rating was given to the availability of financial back-up for missionaries with low or irregular support. This is indeed a serious problem - if missionaries do not receive enough or regular support, it is only a matter of time before they are forced to leave the field prematurely. One Malaysian missionary once remarked, “We missionaries don’t just live on fresh air and fresh water alone; in fact, most missionaries live and serve in hard places where there is not even any fresh air nor fresh water!”
Home Office• Malaysian mission leaders gave positive ratings for most agency practices, with the highest rating given to home office staff praying regularly for their missionaries. Lowest rating was given to re-entry arrangements being provided for missionaries returning for home leave. This is clearly an area of weakness, which requires much more improvement in the Malaysian context.
Retention (or the number of missionaries still in active ministries)• The total Retention Rate for Malaysia is 95.79%, whereas the Retention Rate for Unpreventable Attrition is 96.97% and Retention Rate for Preventable Attrition is higher at 98.82%.
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