Best Missionary Work Abroad Programs (Revised)

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Are you yearning for an adventure that makes a real difference? Or do you crave a deeper connection to the world? If yes, Missionary work abroad offers a unique opportunity to serve others, explore new cultures, and find personal growth. From teaching English in remote villages to building schools in developing countries, countless programs cater to diverse interests and skill sets. This article will guide you through some of the best missionary work abroad programs, helping you find the perfect fit for your passion and make a lasting impact on the world. Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

Who Are Missionaries?

Missionaries are individuals sent by organizations (religious or non-religious) to help out communities in need. Usually, these communities are poor, war-torn, in need of basic amenities, or even a place where the environment is failing.

With these communities in their state, the work of these missionaries is to provide a source of food, provide education, and infrastructure, and sometimes work to protect the environment and animal species of these locations. They tend to spend a lot of time in these communities trying to guarantee improvement in their conditions.

Guide to Missionary Work Abroad

In your search for a Mission abroad, there are two methods to help achieve this goal. You can either attend a Mission school or get attached to a Mission agency or religious organization that sponsors Missionaries. This is how it works:

1. Missions College:

Missions college is common with religious missionaries. In general, these colleges provide hands-on experience, helping new Missionaries understand what it is like out on real missions.

Sometimes these Colleges require Missionaries to have a university level of education to become a missionary. We suggest you get one if you don’t as an added advantage.

Some missions’ colleges offer Missionary courses as a major, others offer it as a minor course. So it would be best if you look into the Missions college before picking it.

2. Mission Agency:

Not many Missions agencies would require you to have a Bachelor’s degree, unlike Mission colleges. To get connected with one, you can either inquire from your religious organization or connect with non-religious missions’ agencies through websites.

Whichever one you choose, it would be ideal to make some research. Research on the kind of missions they usually embark on, their locations, and their requirements.

Types of Missionary Works

Missionary jobs can be either paid or unpaid, and they can be long-term or short-term. Short-term trips typically last from one week to eight months.

Missionaries typically gain real-time experience through short-term projects, often focusing on construction, food distribution, or water provision, within a dedicated timeframe.

For long-term missions, it is more of a lifestyle change than a regular job. This is because these missions are not simple projects. An example is setting up a medical facility and running it properly till some indigenous members of the community can take the reins which are usually rare. These missions can take up to three years and would end up immersing the missionaries in the cultures of these communities.

Religious bodies typically sponsor unpaid missionary work. Consequently, unpaid missionaries receive food and shelter but no financial compensation. In contrast, paid missionary work provides financial compensation for services rendered.

Types of Works Missionaries Undertake

1. Early Childhood Education:

This is a very common form of Missionary work. Most times these are short-term Missions as they help the community with the education of various forms for their young ones.

Religious missionaries also add information about their religion which is usually different from what they are used to.

All over the world, people are experiencing a lot of injustice. This is one of the major reasons Missionaries are needed as they try to alleviate these situations.

An example is the issue of sex trafficking around the world. Some have labeled this as the fastest-growing criminal enterprise around the world.

These Missionaries do all they can to rescue the victims from this predicament. Helping them willingly stop and also taking them away from their ‘employers’.

3. Infrastructure:

Sometimes, Missionaries help these distraught communities with basic infrastructure: buildings for schools, hospitals, housing and so much more. This task works well with the early education of children task as they get both formal and informal education.

4. Medical Help:

Asides from helping provide a building to get medical attention, Missionaries help provide medical care. They are willing to treat and take care of the sick and the older members of these communities and most times for free.

Beyond just treatments, they advise the community members on how to help stay healthy and avoid ailments.

5. Wildlife and Environmental Conservation:

Sometimes, the services of these missionaries go beyond humanitarian services to humans. Sometimes they are sent to help curb the extinction of a species or clean up the water bodies in certain areas. This helps keep our planet healthy enough for us to live in.

Best Missionary Work Abroad Programs

Here are the best missionary work abroad programs:

How Do Missionaries Get Paid?

For someone considering being a missionary full-time as a career path, the biggest worry is usually the source of income. How would they get paid? Well, full-time missionaries get paid salaries, but these salaries are usually little and would barely be enough. So let’s look at the other sources of income for these missionaries.

Salaries: We had to still touch on salaries, these salaries like we said earlier are paid by the missionary agency that they work with. According to Indeed, the average salary for a missionary is $44,810 per year in the United States. These salaries are meant to cover the day-to-day living costs of these missionaries as well as take care of their families as well.
Monetary Allowances: Missionaries can receive allowances in situations of furlough, retirement, disability, and childbirth. Missionaries can also receive these allowances for other reasons asides from the ones we just mentioned. These allowances are gotten from the organization they work with and it is usually added to their salary.
Benefits: These are other forms of payments that don’t come in the form of money. This can be housing, free healthcare or education, or even transportation. These benefits can come from individuals (anonymous or not) and other organizations looking to show support however they can.

Conclusions: Best Missionary Work Abroad Programs

It might not be one of the most lucrative jobs around but being a missionary does come with its benefits. For some, just the joy of helping the less privileged is one of the pros of the job and any monetary gain is just an addition. It also provides the opportunity to travel to these locations and see their cultures first hand.