The Missionary Team - Where do you fit in? 
by Judi Chow

I was introduced to a group of people who is interested in missions recently. Once they found out I am a missionary, they asked a very insightful question. This type of question can only be asked by people who are really into missions. They asked what people group I work with. It took me a minute to think through this question. By the way, the hottest talked-about people group nowadays is the Muslims. I gave an unexpected answer to their question by saying, “missionary is my people group and Chinese missionaries in particular.” Oh... ah… that’s… uh… interesting… I knew what was in their minds but being Chinese it would not be polite to ask me, Chinese missionaries as a people group? I am not surprised over this response; not long ago I thought the same way. No, they are not the unreached people group we often refer to, but they are the seemingly neglected soldiers sent out to fight on the frontline with inadequate training and backup resulting in much casualty. 

Be aware when you hear of missionaries wanting to leave the field for further studies to get another master’s degree or whatever. I am not saying all missionaries applying for a study leave means there is a serious problem. This is a culturally acceptable face-saving exit many missionaries have used to leave the field, including myself. This is a “bubble” indicating there is something under the water. Caring investigation is in order. God has called me to do just that, caring, supporting, facilitating, counseling, coaching, and speaking on behalf of the missionaries. God has also called me to go out and seek for the wounded missionaries, bring them into a loving community to allow God to heal them and nurse them back to health and the field once again. A research done by the Hong Kong Association of Christian Missions reports a 50% dropout rate of missionaries sent from HK between 1990 to 2000. That means for every two missionaries sent out, one did not make it! The real reasons given for leaving mostly have to do with interpersonal problems relating to the missionary team. 

 The Traditional Missionary Team 
When we think of the missionary team, we see Bible-thumbing, halo-shining, highly-gifted spiritual giants. We think of Hudson Taylor, William Carry, and Robert Morrison; they truly reflected the sacrifices of Christ in their willingness to leave family, friends, and the comforts of home to go and live in foreign lands for the sake of the Gospel. Yes, it is a high calling to be a missionary, but is this the real picture of a modern-day missionary or are we stereotyping them? Are they the only ones worthy to be counted on the missionary team? Should the missionary team consist of only missionaries working on the mission field? We have been too nearsighted. A paradigm shift is needed in order to broaden our perspective to see the bigger picture God has so skillfully painted for us.

 Chinese and Teamwork 
Traditionally, most Chinese people operate small family businesses, no matter if it is a restaurant or a tailor shop. The owner takes care of everything and hires others to help out with the manual labor. Historically, the Chinese lived in a hierarchical society which has influenced our thinking and our value systems today. We know how to deal with our superiors with proper respect and carry out their orders without question. In the same way, we give orders to those under us expecting them to carry them out per our instructions. The term “partnership” is novice in our thinking; who has ever heard of an emperor needing partnership in our history? That’s why the team concept is revolutionary and hard to implement among Chinese no matter if in the business world or in the Christian world. Of course, there are exceptions to those who have adopted the Western concept of teamwork.

 What is Teamwork? 
Teamwork happens when it actualizes collaboration among individuals towards a common goal. Teamwork is not just having a group of people work together on the same project – the “you do your part and I do my part” mentality. There's a difference between cooperation and collaboration. Cooperation is working together agreeably. Everybody contributes their parts to the pot and it’s like addition, 1+2+3+4=10. That’s good, the sum is greater than the parts. Collaboration is working together aggressively. Everybody distributes their parts and it’s like multiplication, 1x2x3x4=24. Needless to say, you can see the difference from the end result between cooperation and collaboration.

 The Dream Team 
Ready or not, here comes the paradigm shift. Let me propose to you THE missionary dream team. I draw this from the Biblical image of the body of Christ in Rom.12:4-5, ICor.12:27-31, and Eph.4:11-12, 5:23. The following diagram is by no mean exhaustive but it forces us to see the bigger picture of what the missionary team ought to look like. 

With Christ as the head, the missionary should not focus just on “his right hand,” meaning the coworkers on the field, and neglect the rest of the team. The missionary should utilize “his left hand,” collaborating with those back at the home base as well. We all know one cannot walk without any feet and can only hop on one. In other words, missionaries need both feet to travel any lengthy distances. There should be a balanced development in all the limbs in order for the team to grow and function healthily. It is very important for missionaries to see they are not sent to the field to do all the work themselves. Training up disciples and working themselves out of the job is vital to any missions endeavor. I’ve seen hard-working missionaries establish many ministries in the field, but after they left, the ministries eventually diminished. They neglected to develop their “feet,” the next generation of leaders, their successors who can pick up their baton and continue to run the race in the field even when the missionary is no longer there in person.

The missionary should be involved both on the field as well as at the home base. Yes, I know, missionaries usually see their responsibilities mainly lie within the mission field and with the unsaved. The missionary should consider the missionary family as a whole, a unit living, working, loving, witnessing, and playing together. Let me tell you a secret, missionaries are only human beings; sometimes we might have mistaken ourselves to be human “doings.” That’s why we need this paradigm shift in rethinking: what is this thing called the missionary team and with whom God has enlisted to be in this spiritual battle with us? 

 Team Players- Where do you fit in? 
The Apostle Paul didn’t go on the first missionary journey by himself. He was sent along with Barnabas by the church of Antioch after the church leaders fasted and prayed over them, and they took John-Mark along. The team went back to the church to report what great things the Lord had done through them. If you are part of the sending church or missions agency behind the missionary, consider yourselves part of the team. If you’ve promised to support the missionary financially and/or by prayers, you are also part of that same team. If you are the missionary’s pastor or mentor, yes, you are a very important member of this team. If you are the missionary’s disciples, you are most special because who is going to receive the baton from the missionary? If we see ourselves as part of the missionary team, then we won’t be so passive in our action. As team members, how can we aggressively collaborate with the rest of the team members so we can claim victories through multiplication for the Lord?

 Check List for Team Players 
John Maxwell gave the word TEAM an acronym standing for Together Each Achieves More. In his book, “The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player,” he proposed the following qualities for us to check and see if we have what it takes to be a team player so we can achieve more for the Lord. Study the list and work toward attaining these qualities if you are a member of the missionary team.

q Adaptable
q Collaborative
q Committed
q Communicative
q Competent
q Dependable
q Disciplined
q Enlarging
q Enthusiastic
q Intentional
q Mission Conscious
q Prepared
q Relational
q Self-Improving
q Selfless
q Solution Oriented
q Tenacious

As a missionary myself, I know we can go much farther on this spiritual journey if we are traveling as a team. Yes, we need to keep a very close vertical connection with Christ, our Head, our Lord, and our Master, but the horizontal connections with other team members are also important. Include them, inform them, and enlist them as our partners in ministry. Please remember there is a great big difference between team players and the audiences in any sport. If God has called you to be a member of this missionary team, please don’t sit with the audience on the sideline. Come down to the field and play your part! We need your collaborations! 

Judi Chow is the missionary facilitator of CCM International responsible for caring and counseling missionaries. (The author reserved the copyright to this article.)