In this Episode:

• All of us want to hear Christ say to us “Well done good and faithful servant.” Few mission workers have thought deeply about what “well done” means for them as missionaries.
• Everyone has some type of understanding of what “success” means. Many times expectations of churches and mission workers are unspoken.
• Mission workers can struggle with confidence and can be susceptible to latching on to inadequate understandings of success.
• Ken’s personal struggles in evaluating his level of success as a missionary led him to study scripture to define success in missions.
• Ken has written 7 blog posts on the topic of missionary success.
• Some inadequate definitions of success include “arriving and surviving”, language fluency, comparison to other mission workers, living a godly life, leadership responsibilities, public recognition, and leaving a legacy.
• Ken has written a blog post called “What is missionary success? 10 definitions that miss the mark”
• We must look to scripture to find a healthy definition of success in missions. Success is defined by God. Our goal should be to please God.
• The first marker of success is the clear proclamation of the gospel message.
• The second marker of success the spiritual fruit of changed lives.
• The third marker of success is endurance and integrity in the face of hardship.
• All three markers may not be present right away, but should be evident over the long-haul.
• Mission workers need to recognize that they have unconsciously adopted some definitions of success. Mission workers should be asked “How do you define success?”
• Goers should talk to their home church about the question “How do you define success?”. Expectations need to be clearly articulated.
• Goers should determine in their heart whose applause they are seeking. It is God’s approval that is most important.
• Senders should think through what they are expecting of mission workers during the first term on the field and communicate with the mission workers before they leave.
• Senders should avoid extremes in their expectations. Think through what is realistic and base it in scripture and transparency.
• It may be realistic to expect that at the end of a first term a missionary should be able to clearly share the gospel in the local language.
• It may be realistic for a first term a missionary to identify one or two people who they want disciple and whose lives could be changed.
• Mission workers should be encouraged to see their hardship and their godly response as markers of success – not as failure.
• Ken can be reached by email at kguenther@send.org