Missions Frequently Asked Questions

This page assumes you take the Bible as God’s written word — the main source of direction, purpose, and wisdom for every person. The Bible is a single story of God’s interaction with people, communicating His identity, character, purpose, plan, and provision. Missions is about reflecting the goodness we’ve received to people who haven’t received it yet.

I want a basic overview of missions. Where do I start?

What is the Bible basis of missions?

Why should I consider being a career missionary?

A better question than “what is God’s will for my life” is simply: what is God’s will? Once you know what He’s doing, it’s easier to offer whatever strength, energy, and gifts He’s given you toward what matters to Him.

How would I meet financial needs as a missionary?

What is the goal of missionary work?

What does it take to hear “well done”?

Do I have to learn a foreign language?

Learning another language may not be as impossible as you think — and it’s probably nothing like your high school language class. Language is necessary for the in-depth relationships that allow real discipleship: “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Ask yourself: can the God who created your mouth, and every language on earth, enable you to learn a new one? Most Ethnos360 missionaries become fluent in two or three languages by the time they begin teaching in a remote people group — the country’s national language, the regional trade language if different, and the language of the people they’ve come to serve. Good training on how to learn a language matters more than natural aptitude. And if teaching the whole Bible in your own language sounds hard, try doing it without knowing the language of your audience.

Isn’t missionary work dangerous?

Yes — and no more than any other calling. Every missionary eventually dies, like everyone else; most from age or illness, in their home country. No missionary’s life is a day longer or shorter than what God determined before He made the world. In more than 50 years around missionaries, kidnapping, plane crashes, and tragic accidents have touched some families — real dangers exist in unfamiliar places and cultures. But it’s rare, and most missionaries will tell you how God delivered them through it. The real question isn’t whether it’s dangerous. It’s whether we’ll live as though we control life and death, or as though God does.

  • Matthew 16:24 — “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
  • Matthew 16:25 — “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

What questions should I ask when considering a mission organization?

I’m going! Where do I get started?

Start with training, then expect honest, specific questions about your readiness before you’re sent.