God designed the local church to fulfill his mission around the world. The local church sends missionaries. SEND comes alongside local churches in partnership, providing missionaries with cross-cultural training, logistical support, connections to thriving teams, and coaching in partner development, ongoing member care, and other services. SEND helps missionaries thrive in new cultures as they share the gospel and make disciples among the unreached. 

God designed the local church to fulfill his mission around the world. Your missionary journey is your church’s journey, too. As you serve, your faith community will care, support, encourage, and pray, standing with you as you stand for Christ among the nations. Some ways sending churches partner with missionaries include:

• Affirming the call of an applicant who desires to move to a new culture. 
• Assessing, in collaboration with SEND, an applicant’s readiness for cross-cultural ministry.
• Providing opportunities for growth and development in discipleship and ministry.
• Joining in the partner-development journey.
• Providing ongoing care and support. 

We get this question all the time! Some people just know they’re called; others go through a long discernment journey; others can’t stand that term and prefer to talk about God’s “leading” into missions. Wise counsel from your church, family, or a SEND mission coach (www.send.org/pq), can help. 

Here are a few questions that can help determine whether you’re ready to go and how SEND’s mission coaches and your local church can help you grow toward being sent.

1. What is your personal story of hearing and responding to the Good News of Jesus and his offer of salvation? 
2. How would you describe your relationship with Jesus?
3. When you discuss your interest in missions with your church leaders, how have they encouraged you to pursue God's leading? 
4. What are your thoughts about SEND's statement of faith?
5. How do you feel about placing your faith in God for his provision and raising financial support?

A SEND mission coach can help you think through all these questions to discover your unique role in reaching the unreached! You can fill out a Get Started form to contact a coach.

SEND has thriving teams in about 20 countries in Asia, Eurasia, North America, and Europe. Explore these opportunities in our ministry guides. Maybe you’ll discover your place in God’s plan to reach the nations! But if God is leading you to a country that’s not mentioned, please reach out to a mission coach who can help you find the right ministry team with a partner organization.

SEND provides excellent support and benefits to missionary members, including: 

• Healthy, strategic teams 
• Guidance for support raising 
• Ongoing training and learning opportunities 
• Medical insurance
• Retirement plan
• Life insurance
• Missionary kid care and educational support 
• Communication services
• Donor support 
• Crisis care and intervention 

Click here to read more about SEND’s member care benefits, designed to help your whole family thrive. 

SEND is an evangelical, interdenominational, multinational Christian mission organization. We are not affiliated with a specific denomination and our members represent many different denominations.

Click here to read about what SEND believes.

Yes, but you won’t have to do it alone! SEND coaches will create a customized salary based on location, type of ministry, and family size. Then, we will help you build an incredible support team, just like we've done for hundreds of other SEND workers, and will guide you along the way as you experience the sovereign provision of God.

Short answer: It depends. A one-size-fits-all approach wouldn’t help all our missionaries thrive. Each missionary has different needs depending on family size, cost of living in their country, and type of ministry. We customize each person’s salary to reflect their unique situation, and then we coach our missionaries as they build a team of partners. Click here to learn more.  SEND occasionally has paid positions in its US Office. When this is the case, we post them on LinkedIn.

Missionaries do live on modest budgets, so your mission coach can help you develop a plan for paying off consumer debt before you move overseas. We understand that many people also have college loans; up to a certain point, educational debt can be paid off while you serve. 

Missionaries develop meaningful relationships through which they can share the gospel and disciple new believers. To connect at this heart level usually requires language and culture learning, though your particular role, location, or background could prove an exception. Our teams will come alongside you as you invest in learning so that you can share the love of Christ. 

Yes! We can help you find a team that needs your unique gifts and talents. We’ve had people serve through the arts, as teachers, by making YouTube videos, in accounting—and that’s just the tip of the opportunity iceberg. Start by exploring your options in our opportunities dashboard. If you don’t see a good fit, don’t worry! Fill out this quick form to reach out to a mission coach who can help match you with a meaningful ministry. 

Not at all! Many of our missionaries go short-term (a year or less) or mid-term (1-3 years).  Some return for long-term service, and others find that God directs their steps elsewhere. You can make a lasting impact, no matter how long you serve! Find short-term and mid-term opportunities at www.send.org/opportunities.

A home/sending church plays a vital role in your ongoing spiritual development and in providing the support and care missionaries need to thrive. SEND will ask for affirmation from your local church early in the application process. 

We will look together at your desired field of ministry to assess the physical demands of living there and the availability of quality health care. Together, we will evaluate whether your unique needs can be met there.

Short term: less than 1 year

Mid term: 1-3 years

Long term: more than 3 years

There are seven major milestones for mid-term or long-term missionaries. It generally takes 12-24 months after you first talk to a mission coach to complete this process.

1. Application
2. Church affirmation 
3. Assessment
4. Appointment
5. Partner development
6. Training and preparation
7. Deployment

Absolutely! New missionaries attend orientation to get to know the SEND community, connect with their mission coach, and learn to develop a partner team. Pre-field training will prepare you to thrive spiritually and to live fruitfully in a different cultural context. Based on assessment, ministry location, and your desired role, our team may also facilitate other training.

We generally send individuals, couples, or families to existing teams. We believe missionaries thrive when they have biblical community, healthy teams, and collaboration. Our mission coaches help individuals find teams where they can use their gifts and talents.