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Ron Youde

Why We Are Not Affiliated with A Sending Agency


Christian missionary sending agencies are organizations that help mobilize missionaries worldwide in partnership with local churches.


Our family really appreciates the history and impact of Christian sending agencies throughout the world. Our own calling to missions was influenced by missionaries affiliated with World Venture and Missions Door.


A sending agency can be very useful for new missionaries and seasoned missionaries alike, but associating with an agency is not required or even necessary in all circumstances. A deeper understanding of the role of sending agencies is necessary to make this determination.


Overview of Sending Agencies…


There are many wonderful Christian missionary sending agencies in the U.S. and Canada. These agencies vary greatly. Some only receive and process donations on behalf of otherwise independent missionaries. Others do more, including:

  • missionary vetting;

  • fundraising guidance;

  • donation processing; choosing an assignment;

  • logistics (visas, travel, arranging furloughs);

  • training and language resources;

  • biblical accountability;

  • mentoring and counseling;

  • newsletters and other communications; and

  • group benefits (group insurance, retirement planning).

Sending agencies can be vital to the effectiveness and longevity of a missionary’s calling. For example, some missionaries begin with no financial resources and struggle to find donors because they’ve not yet served one day in the mission field. The agency provides legitimacy to their calling and reassurance that the assignment will be carried out.


Sometimes new missionaries are less specific in their calling, less mature in their faith, or less established in their relationships with mature believers and their local church. The agency provides vision, training resources, day-to-day encouragement, and accountability against sin and complacency as the missionary grows in faith and develops stronger relationships with other believers.


In some ways, sending agencies can hinder ministry inadvertently. Depending on the services provided, these agencies retain between 5% and 20% of the missionary’s funding. Missionaries are required to raise and maintain financial support beyond their needs to fund the agency’s home office staff and related activities. The cost remains the same while the benefits typically diminish.


There are potential distractions from the mission. For example, if your agency has other people working in your area, there is an expectation that you will spend time building relationships with people whose vision or personality is not always compatible with your ministry. Agencies often require participation in several meetings, conferences, and trainings throughout each year, which can absorb a lot of time and resources. Sometimes the vision of other people up the agency hierarchy are rigid or distant. This can deprive missionaries of the ability to develop the vision God has given them.


Our Decision…


It became evident to us that the benefits of a missionary agency could be accomplished in a variety of ways for a fraction of the time, cost, and inconvenience.


Julie and I were nearly 50 years old when we entered missions. We both had reputations for being disciplined and self-motivated at work, at home, and in church ministry. We initially reached out to World Venture and Missions Door. Their leadership teams were encouraging, and both played a role in realizing God’s vision. After several discussions, they encouraged us to continue in ministry without them. The staff at World Venture referred us to one of their missionaries, April Campbell, Missions Director at Ocean’s Edge. We now serve alongside April, who has been in ministry for nearly 15 years. She is a Godly woman and a faithful servant.


Our family stepped into ministry with a clear vision of what God was calling us to do. We had the faithful prayer and encouragement of many wonderful family members and friends back home, as well as the support of our new partners in ministry at Ocean’s Edge. Our church family, where we served faithfully for nearly 18 years, knew us well and affirmed our calling. The board of directors for our nonprofit entity, Swift Sunrise, was established to oversee the Biblical standards under which we serve (available at www.swiftsunriseinc.org/about).


We were experienced travelers and blessed to be financially established enough that we could fund our initial entry into ministry without delay. We immediately committed personal financial resources to our calling out of obedience to God, trusting that the Father will provide for the future of our ministry. Our fundraising is in its infancy and will require perseverance and faith, but our ministry is worthy of the support of fellow believers. When we are fully funded, we will rejoice over God’s faithfulness and fully devote ourselves to ministry.


The Future of Sending Agencies…


It’s interesting to note that, while traditional Christian missions will continue, nearly every major sending agency has adopted, or is adopting, new categories of affiliation in recognition of the fact that, like us, a growing percentage of new applicants to these agencies are entering the mission field later in life. Many new missions candidates are more established in church ministry and relationships and able to support themselves financially, at least part-time. More and more Christians see the digitization of the workplace as an opportunity to live abroad in an impoverished or closed-access country in need of evangelism, discipleship, and church-planting.


Likewise, many prominent sending agencies are developing new BAM-focused ministries. “Business As Missions” is what we do here in Jaco. BAM is the marriage of the mission field and the workplace for the purpose of lifestyle evangelism. We teach young entrepreneurs how to use their profitable business activities to support Christian ministries in their communities and build relationships for the purpose of evangelizing and discipling. For the most dedicated students in our ministry, our goal is to send them to implement BAM principles in targeted mission fields.


What Can You Do...


We encourage you to pray for the Christian sending agencies that are active in the United States and Canada. Every agency is under tremendous pressure right now due to sin and waning support. Please pray that these ministries stay true to God's Word and avoid the shifting cultural issues that are leading many churches and believers astray.


We also encourage you to pray for missionaries, particularly those who are supported by your church. This article by the International Mission Board contains a guide and printable graphic helpful to understanding how to pray for missionaries:



Get to know missionaries well and volunteer to be a liaison between your church and its missionaries. Send them words of encouragement. Send them financial support on an ongoing basis as much as possible. If it is within your ability, go visit them and volunteer at their ministries. If you cannot go, help coordinate a short-term mission trip for others in your church. There are many ways you can be a blessing to missionaries and sending agencies.


-Ron Youde, Swift Sunrise, Inc.

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