The WEA Missions Commission has launched a new research project entitled ReMAP II: An International Study on Missionary Retention. Coordinators from twenty participating sending countries representing some 3,000 agencies and more than 150,000 missionaries, met in London Oct 6-11, 2002 to finalize the survey research instrument and receive orientation on administrative procedures. Seminars were developed that will be used both to introduce and debrief the study to mission agencies in their respective countries.
ReMAP II is a follow-up to the Missions Commission 1994-1997 ReMAP study on missionary attrition that led to the publication of “Too Valuable to Lose: Examining the Causes and Cures of Missionary Attrition” (William Taylor, Ed., 1997, Wm. Carey Library, Pasadena). While the first ReMAP project looked at the reasons missionaries leave their field of service, the current study will focus on agency practices that contribute most to missionary retention, well being, and productivity. Although agency leaders will again be surveyed for their thoughts and opinions, organizers of the study are developing a similar instrument to be administered to individual missionaries by their own agencies or in cooperative research by national missions alliances.
The materials reviewed during the London meetings are the product of two years of work by the ReMAP II steering committee: Drs. Seth Anyomi, Detlef Blöcher, Barbara Griffin, Jonathan Lewis and Jim Van Meter. Input and discussion from the twenty country coordinators representing national missions movements from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the South Pacific gave the final shape to the survey instrument and the seminar presentations. Each country coordinator will administer their study from November 2002 through April 2003. Results will be compiled and analyzed at national, regional and global levels. The ReMAP II task force will re-convene during the WEA Missions Commission plenary meetings in Canada in June 2003. Findings will be discussed and plans made to further disseminate the information and provide appropriate training for agencies desiring to implement culturally appropriate practices leading to missionary retention, well being, and productivity.
Contact: Jonathan Lewis,
Missions Commission, World Evangelical Alliance
phone: +1-604 530-4283
e-mail: [email protected]
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