 NECF Research Commission will release in September the fourth installation of its Watchmen’s Forum, a compilation of research articles focussing on current issues. This time, the theme is “The Realities of Christian Living”. Among the articles are “Faith and Fengshui”, “Christians and Knowledge Economy”, “Cronyism in Asia” and “ Christian Earthkeeping”. The book is available from NECF office at RM10 per copy. During the two-year period between Jan 1, 2001 and Dec 31, 2002, the percentage of Malaysian missionaries who left the field including retirement was 2.94%, which is significantly lower than the global average of 5.42%, but slightly higher than the new sending countries’ average of 2.72%. These Malaysian missionaries who returned had served an average of 7.43 years, compared to the global average of 9.11 years.
Lessons from the research
From this survey, the obvious key areas for improvement are: handling of complaints from missionaries, dealing with interpersonal conflicts, and re-entry arrangements. The survey also suggests that more investment is required in terms of training and dissemination of information to be given to mission agencies and churches on the areas mentioned above, while adequate resources should be channeled towards preventive member care.
In addition, as Malaysia matures in mission sending, more families rather than singles will be going out. The issue of MK schooling therefore needs to be addressed adequately and MK Care would become even more relevant in time to come.
Note: This is an excerpt. The complete article first appeared in “The Connections”, published by the WEA Missions Commission. The booklet, which also contains full reports from other countries, is available from Intercare at RM10 each. Contact tel. 03-7784 8430 or e-mail icare@streamyx.com |
