New missionaries now to complete apprenticeship
9/24/2003RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- Trustees of the International Mission Board approved a major change in the way new missionaries are sent to the field during a Sept. 8-10 meeting in Austin, Texas. All new candidates for long-term missionary service will be required to complete a three-year apprenticeship before being changed to career or associate status. Research shows that missionaries who serve short-term overseas assignments before serving as career missionaries suffer fewer transition problems, become effective more quickly and serve longer than workers without previous experience, said Tom Hatley, chairman of the board's mission personnel committee. The new approach will help new missionaries by giving them a mentoring relationship with experienced workers as they adapt to cross-cultural ministry, he said. The change will not affect personnel currently serving in the board's short-term programs or candidates already in the approval process, Hatley noted.
