Does foreign mission work have a future? Is it time we spent our effort and funds on the home field?

The Foreign Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist church is approaching its 120th anniversary. Since John Nevins Andrews pioneered the way in 1874, thousands of missionaries, initially from North America but today from many countries, have gone abroad in response to Jesus' ringing command, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations."

The span of time God allotted to Noah to build the ark and to preach to his generation—that same span of time has seen Seventh-day Adventists preach "this gospel of the kingdom" in most of the countries of the world. Africa, once the "dark continent," has a larger concentration of Seventh-day Adventists today than any other continent. South America, long a stronghold of Catholicism, has become a powerful evidence of the value and success of the church's foreign mission program.

At the end of 1990 about 88% of the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist church was in countries outside the church's birthplace of North America, an indication that the church has surely taken giant strides in the fulfillment of its mission. Almost anywhere today one can meet people who have worked as missionaries outside of their own homeland. In a manner never seen before, the church today is surely a world church.

Need for Missionaries?

Does it follow, then, that missionaries are no longer needed in today's world? Should the people and financial resources of the church be concentrated now on urgent and critical needs in the home base areas?

Frequently today one hears comments like "The Adventist church is growing much more rapidly in overseas countries than in America, so we need to retain more of our funds for use locally." Recently, in light of the exploding growth of the membership in many countries of Inter-America, South America, Africa, the Far East, and the islands of the South Pacific, there has been an observable attitude approaching embarrassment over the relatively slow growth of the church in the "home base" countries of North America and Western Europe. Understandably, some today are calling for a re-focus of emphasis on local needs, especially financial ones.

Then, too, in some countries deeply indebted to the church's missionary program, local training programs currently provide sufficient indigenous workers to fill the variety of positions required in these countries, and even to supply missionaries to other areas of the world.

Have we come to the time when the overseas fields are able to care for themselves, when the critical need for human and financial resources no longer exists abroad, and when the greater problem of the church is to "strengthen the stakes" in the first-world countries rather than "lengthen the cords" in foreign fields?

Basic Mission

We must see this question in light of the basic mission of our church. The Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists include this statement as Number 12:

This fundamental belief of the church clearly states its mission, with Scripture support, and indicates that every believer is called to have a personal part in this world-wide mission.

"A personal part" involves us personally. Some of us go, some of us support others who go. With 900 million Muslims, 600 million Hindus, 300 million Buddhists, and other millions of nonreligious peoples, the mission of the church staggers the imagination. Though we have some work in most countries of the world, the church's mission is far from complete. Charles Taylor of the General Conference global mission program reports that there are about 1800 unreached people groups, each with a population of 1,000,000 or more. Where are they? In China, in India, middle eastern countries, and many other places around the world.

Do we still need missionaries? Yes, but perhaps of a different kind, with different approaches and a new and fresh attempt to take advantage of existing opportunities.

Missions at Home

As never before the United States is becoming the adopted country of people of every race and every religion in the world. Frequently I drive by Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, and Muslim places of worship in metropolitan Washington, D.C. and observe large gatherings of people who have come there to worship.

These people live among us. They are our neighbors and potential friends. They are also potential candidates for heaven. Do we know how to approach them, to befriend them, and interest them in the gospel message? Some of these may be the church's most effective link to their relatives and friends in their home country. Are we willing to do our part?

They need friends, they are more open to fresh concepts, and are not so tied to the old beliefs once they are transplanted into a completely new environment. They need to belong to something, to a group, to find friends and security and acceptance in their new area. Some notable successes have been achieved in converting Vietnamese refugees in certain areas of North America. But there is so much more we ought to be doing.

In talking recently with one of the leaders of the Hare Krishna group in Washington, D.C., I learned that only a small percentage of the Indian people who would normally belong to such a group actually come to their services. I was also impressed, after talking with the leaders of different non-Christian groups in this area, that many transplanted peoples in this country do not necessarily wish to continue on with their traditional religious beliefs. They cling to a nominal religion but could, it seems, be open to consider the Christian religion. This is particularly true of the younger generation.

Opportunities

What are we doing to grasp these opportunities? When we find such people, the first step is to be friendly to them, winning their confidence. This takes time, and requires persistence, prayer, and genuine love. It means doing all those little things that one good neighbor does for another.

After a warm friendly relationship develops it is possible to move tactfully into the area of religion and invite the neighbor to attend some special program in the church, not necessarily the Sabbath morning services but perhaps a musical treat of some kind. Ultimately, with careful nurturing, an opportunity can be created to develop a religious interest.

This is doing foreign mission work at home; it is worthy of more attention than we are giving to it. In this way we can reach those from other cultures who are most open to change, and who themselves are best equipped to minister to their countrymen when they return to their homeland or contact friends and relatives there. Thus even those of us who do not go overseas may participate directly in such "mission" work!

Foreign Missions

Still, there is enormous potential today for overseas missionaries. A few days ago as I write, the little country of Albania in the Balkans made an appeal to the world for English language teachers. Are we prepared to take hold of opportunities such as this?

On another front, the General Conference is looking for 200 language teachers willing to go to China. Do we have any volunteers? At last count there were 27 couples! Where are another 173 who are willing to prepare and go? For years we have prayed for China and the other Communist countries, and we could not get in. But today the door is open! Shall we let the opportunities pass?

The calls for English language teachers illustrate a kind of mission service opportunity more broadly available than we have recognized—filling a secular need in another society, while looking for opportunities to witness for Christ and further His kingdom. One need not work for the church in order to be a missionary. In fact, in a number of societies officially closed to Christian work, one would not be permitted to enter the country as a church worker. But agricultural experts, scientists, public health practitioners, accountants who refuse bribes, and others whose skills are both needed and scarce in other lands may find entry into countries and social strata that regular church workers cannot reach. If they labor with integrity, kindness and tact, they will discover opportunities for ministry that go far beyond the professional skills that gained them entry.

Church-sponsored Missions

The church mission program still lives, too. My wife and I spent 35 years in the Far East—happy, fruitful years. The challenge of missions is greater than ever, though the approach to missions may be different. My national friends and associates have assumed many leadership responsibilities. But there is still a need for overseas missionaries in many countries, serving in a variety of ways. It is essential that we carry on with our support of overseas as well as home missions.

What calls come to the General Conference for workers now? Requests continue to originate from most of the world divisions. As I write, there are pending calls for 165 regular full-term missionaries and 101 volunteers. Among the regular calls, 44% are for health-care workers and 31% are for people in the educational field. An additional 8.5% are for pastors and evangelists. Less than 8% are for administrators.

Interestingly, many of these calls are directed to nationals working in countries that just a few years ago were themselves dependent upon missionaries. Physicians and other health-care workers are being called from South America. Teachers are going from the Philippines to many parts of the world. Families from Europe, Australia, South Africa, and North America continue to respond to calls from every part of the globe.

Broad Needs

The needs today are not so much for administrators, department directors, or even pastors and evangelists. Rather, the great call today is for educators, specialists from every part of the medical field, radio broadcasters, agricultural teachers, computer specialists, language teachers, science and math people—and the list goes on and on. Significantly, the opportunities beckon to a broader base of our church membership than ever before.

Just a few years ago some predicted that gradually missionaries would work themselves out of a job. But one of the greatest blessings that can come to this church is to continue an exchange of workers worldwide, thus ensuring a unity of mission and purpose, fostering an understanding of one another's problems and concerns, and encouraging a desire to see a finished work in all the world so our Lord can return.

There is neither time nor space to discuss here the giving patterns of the Seventh-day Adventist church member in today's world. But Jesus proclaimed the cardinal principle in giving when He said many years ago, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt 6:21). So long as our hearts are set primarily on the treasures of this world, we will find it hard to find enough to give to the Lord's cause. Someday the Lord is going to awake us to our tremendous responsibilities, and to the tremendous opportunities before us. May that day come soon!