Becoming a missionary

1. If you live in the UK, write to us in Minchinhampton. We will join you in prayer for the Lord to guide you and us. Send us your completed questionnaire, which we will forward to our Paris headquarters, who will take up your references.

2. Assuming that your references prove satisfactory, we will invite you to meet the Mission's UK committee of Trustees for an informal interview. At this meeting you would be able to put questions to us, and we would inform you of our latest projects and personnel needs.

3. If you live outside the UK, you should, instead, write direct to our Paris headquarters.

4. We should next invite you to Paris to meet our parent committee. If at all possible, we try to arrange this visit to coincide with the France Mission annual congress held in Paris each May, when, over a long weekend, you would be able to meet other France Mission missionaries and gain a better insight into the total structure of the Mission. These visits would be at your own expense.

5. Assuming at this point the favourable opinion of both the UK and French committees, we should accept you as a probationary candidate. During this period, we would expect that both our UK and French committees would keep in close touch with you and with your home church, to offer advice and to seek, together with you and them, the Lord's guidance about your future area of service.

6. From this time onwards, we would join with you in attempting to raise the necessary pledged support (see later section) by organising deputation tours, featuring you in our publications, and so on, so that you could become an official, salaried employee of the Paris headquarters.

7. You would work under the supervision of a more experienced missionary for a period of two years and during this time attend regular training seminars. If your fluency in French needs improving, your probationary period would normally be spent near a university city where you could enrol in a course of study.

8. After two years of successful probation you would normally become a full member of our team of missionaries. 

There is no one "right" sort of person! But these guidelines may prove helpful to you:

A. SPIRITUAL LIFE
Clear testimony of personal conversion
Foundational Christian disciplines of prayer and Bible study practised regularly
Clear conviction of personal missionary call
Objective evidence to confirm this call
Firm understanding of basic Christian doctrines

B. CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
A life of mature Christian character and discipline
Joy and humility while serving others
A teachable spirit
Positive relationships with co-workers and leaders
Considered trustworthy in all relationships
Reputation for honesty and integrity in all financial matters

C. MINISTRY SKILLS
A recognised course of biblical studies, or its equivalent
A proven record of effective ministry and service
Trained and experienced in effective leadership activities
Eagerness to serve others within his/her gift area
Gift area includes pioneer/evangelist/teaching skills

D. CROSS-CULTURAL SUITABILITY

E. RELATIONSHIPS
Known for the harmony and integrity of his/her family relationships
Role of servant leadership
Committed to life and ministry of a local church
Evidence of ability to work harmoniously with others in service and ministry
Willingness to be accountable to leadership

The local church is without question the place where a foundation is laid which will develop interest and responsibility towards mission. It is here that training in spirituality is given, spiritual gifts are recognised and put into practice, and a potential missionary candidate can prove him/herself by working as part of a local ministry team.

Local church leaders are best placed to discern a candidate's suitablility for training and future service.

The local church will offer spiritual, logistical and financial support to its members of the mission field.

France Mission brings into this situation its specialised knowledge and expertise, acquired during 40 years of church-planting in France. The Mission is best placed to see where a new candidate's gift-mix can be suitably deployed. The Mission's existing networks can assist in raising financial support and publishing prayer news from the field.

The Four Stages

Typically, there are four stages in the commissioning of a new missionary:

1. SELECTION

The local church, through its leaders, will "set aside" a candidate for future ministry, taking into account his/her current ministry in the local church and testing his/her spirituality, personality, family situation and missionary call.

On receipt of a completed candidate's questionnaire, France Mission will assess the suitability of the candidate for specific ministry in France. References from local church leaders and other mature Christians are an essential tool in this assessment.

2. TRAINING

The local church will commend a candidate to study at Bible College, as necessary, or will offer its own in-house discipleship training provision.

The local church will maintain regular contact, to communicate its ongoing concern and love, and will ensure regular specific prayer, through:
Personal visits
Letters
Telephone calls
Emails
Practical, logistical support
Discussion, as required, between church and Mission leaders.

France Mission will provide spiritual oversight and training on the field, through a combination of:
Oversight by a more experienced missionary
Help, as required, with language training and cultural adaptation
A regular systematic training programme for all FM probationer missionaries
FM's programme of annual retreats and congresses
Regular contact with FM's Paris headquarters and the FMT office in the UK
Occasional visits by UK Trustees

but this in no way diminishes the importance of regular contact with the local church.

The following paragraphs bring together the fruit of several years' thought and search for the will of God in the delicate area of missionary finance in a pioneer situation.

France Mission works by faith, and depends for its funds entirely on the Lord and on all those who share with us the vision of spreading the gospel in France.

The Bible teaches that "those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel" (1 Cor. 9.14) and it is on this basis, repeated by the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 9.6-15, Galatians 6.6 and 1 Thess. 5.12-13, that our financial strategy rests.

When a missionary has been accepted by the UK and French committees, and when his full support is pledged (i.e. his salary and the employer's social security contributions levied thereon), his contract of employment with France Mission will take effect and he will be able to start on his two year probationary appointment.

France Mission Trust, through deputation tours and English-language publications, will join with the candidate in raising the necessary pledged support. Because the Trust is a UK registered charity, income tax can be reclaimed on covenanted and Gift Aid gifts. This reclaimed income tax is treated as part of a missionary's pledged support.

This attempt to raise sufficient promised support also allows the Lord to confirm a missionary candidate's true call by meeting his financial needs. Secondly, it causes a team of concerned prayer partners to be formed around a missionary candidate, a group of people who will be instrumental in the spiritual success of his future ministry.

Our church-planting strategy has the goal of working with short-term teams and full-time missionaries to see a viable church group founded within a period of five to eight years.

We expect, within the same period of time, that the new church group will contribute progressively towards the Mission's finances by sending an increasing contribution to the France Mission treasurer in Paris. Thus, the new church will be trained in giving to the point when, at the departure of the pioneer missionary after the five to eight year period, it will be financially self-supporting. 

Conclusion

If you feel that God would have you join the team of salaried, full-time France Mission missionaries, then we encourage you to write to us and request a candidate's questionnaire form without delay.