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Missionary Associate Pathway

Long-Term (3+ Year) | Serving Globally | Fully Funded

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Details

Funding:

Fully Funded

Duration:

Long-Term (3+ Years)

Education:

No Degree Required

Overview

A Missionary Associate does the same work as a career missionary church planter, fully funded and long-term, but with the seminary requirement waived. This pathway is designed for those who have spent years pastoring or serving in ministry and carry a depth of practical experience that speaks for itself. Rather than a seminary degree, the Missionary Associate pathway recognizes a lifetime of ministry experience as the qualification. If God has been preparing you in the local church for decades, this may be the pathway that finally gets you to the field.

Why This Pathway?

  • Do the same work as a career missionary church planter without a seminary degree requirement
  • Qualify through years of pastoral or ministry experience rather than formal academic credentials
  • Serve as a fully funded, long-term IMB missionary committed to the core Missionary Task
  • Bring the wisdom and credibility of a seasoned ministry leader to the work of planting churches and sharing Jesus
  • Ideal for pastors, church staff, and ministry professionals sensing a call to the nations later in life

What You’ll Do

  • Serve as a fully funded, long-term church planter on an IMB missionary team
  • Evangelize among the lost, disciple new believers, and develop local church leadership
  • Contribute to the full scope of the Missionary Task alongside career missionaries
  • Leverage your years of pastoral and ministry experience to strengthen the team’s church planting strategies
  • Commit to the long-term work of seeing healthy, reproducing churches planted among the least-reached

Interested in Serving?

Connect with our team to explore the Missionary Associate pathway and ask questions about serving globally.

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Explore Other Pathways

Team Associate

Use your career, retirement, or life experience to serve alongside IMB missionaries and reach people others cannot. Use your career, retirement, or life experience to serve alongside IMB missionaries and reach people others cannot. As a Team Associate, your everyday platform becomes a gateway for gospel impact.

Self-Funded | Mid & Long-Term

2+2

Two years in the classroom. Two years on the field. The 2+2 Pathway is a straightforward road from seminary training to fully funded, hands-on church planting, designed for those who want to do both and waste no time getting there.

Fully Funded | Mid & Long-Term

Masters 55+

Give your first years of retirement to the nations. Masters 55+ is a fully funded pathway for adults 55 and older to serve on IMB church planting teams, bringing a lifetime of skills and experience to the mission field.

Fully Funded | Mid-Term

Career Missionary

This is not a short-term assignment. A career missionary is a fully funded, lifetime church planter sent to the world’s least-reached places, starting as an apprentice and growing into the full work of planting healthy, reproducing churches.

Fully Funded | Long-Term