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BADAKHSHAN, Afghanistan — The recent attack in Afghanistan that left 10 members of the 12-member mission aid team dead will have an effect on the future work of the International Assistance Mission, according to Dirk Frans, executive director of the group that sponsored the aid mission. They will have to reassess their eye care outreach, since two of the four international volunteers from this mission were killed in the attack.
Some might argue that events like this have other, far-reaching consequences that can ultimately prevent others from going to the mission field.
However, Dr. Garry Morgan, professor of Intercultural Studies at Northwestern College in St. Paul, who also served for many years with World Venture in Kenya, believes events like this can actually have the opposite effect.
“Historically, events like this have had the opposite effect, e.g. the five men martyred in Ecuador 50 years ago resulted in a new surge of missionary applicants,” he said. “While it’s too soon to say for sure, the indications are that this will continue to be the case.”
Dr. Darrell Whiteman, who is vice president, Mission Personnel and Preparation, and resident missiologist at The Mission Society and also former dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., believes the recent attack might impact the number of people choosing overseas mission work. However, Whiteman said, “If an event like that freaks them out or makes them less committed, then they aren’t spiritually or emotionally prepared to begin with.”
In addition, the last several decades have witnessed a shift in the number of missionaries going overseas, which has complicated the overall picture.
Whiteman said there has been “an almost precipitous decline in the number of missionaries from North America and Europe over the last 25 years. At the same time, there has been a dramatic increase of missionaries from the nonwestern world.”
Whiteman believes the “drying up” of financial resources is a major factor in the changing landscape of overseas mission work. Denominational boards used to be the major sponsors of missionaries and actually paid their salaries. This is no longer the case, and Whiteman said it is currently taking the average missionary 18-24 months—or even longer—to raise the requisite amount of support before they can move to their particular mission field.
Another factor that has played a role in this changing landscape is the view of missionaries.
“In my day,” Whiteman said, “missionaries were at the top of the spiritual pyramid. I don’t think that’s the case at all anymore. I think there is a pervasive attitude throughout our culture that missionaries are no longer viewed as saints doing good. Instead, they are viewed as people who are trying to force their religion on somebody else.”
Finally, the rise of non-Christian religions, technology and globalization have changed the playing field.
Morgan said, “The growth and vitality of many of the non-Christian world religions” has resulted in new challenges. “Globalization has given the followers of these religions unprecedented wealth, education and, through the Internet, access to humanity. In a sense, the ‘playing field’ that used to be tilted strongly in Christianity’s favor is much more level now,” he said.
Missionaries also have to deal with the challenges of attaining visas in restricted countries, a challenge made even more difficult in the post-colonial age, according to Morgan.
Regardless of the challenges and the changing landscape of missionary work, Morgan and Whiteman believe it’s important to rely upon Christ’s promise in Scripture: suffering and challenges may come, but He has promised to be with us to the end of the age.
Related stories:
• 6 American aid workers murdered in Afghanistan
• Bodies of slain aid workers identified in Afghanistan
• Photos of eight of the slain workers in Afghanistan
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