We received a question from Dan last week, “Is there a ‘missions agency selector’ tool that someone has developed? In the same way as there are for selecting a Christian college for example? If not, it would be very helpful as candidates are searching for the right ‘fit’–things to be taken into consideration: where serving, ministries available, method of support, age group, educational requirements, church affiliation, focus, ministry philosophy, years in service, degree of personal freedom in decision-making, etc.” Can anyone help Dan? Please comment.
6) Mission Agency Selector Tool? Is There Such a Thing?
There is a tool at ergatas.org that lets you search for existing missionaries with many of the criteria you mentioned (location, focus, ministry philosophy). It’s not exactly what you’re asking for. But if you find a specific missionary there performing a ministry you’re interested in, you can send them a message to find out more about either their sending agency, or the kind of work they are doing, etc.
Catholic Volunteer Network has a search tool that can be found here:
https://catholicvolunteernetwork.org/choose-service/search-program/
Various filters that you can adjust include: location, living arrangements, length of service, program size, financial commitments, language fluency, types of ministries, etc.
https://missionnext.org/ Mission Next is a great matching service.
https://www.themissionapp.com/
This is another excellent option for people to use!
There is a list of 10 important criteria to consider when choosing a missionary organization in Chapter 10 of Avoiding the Tentmaker Trap. This list has been published as a stand alone brochure and is being used by some mobilizers.
As an alternative to missions agencies, there are also missions partnering organizations. A partnering org comes alongside missionaries who may not need an agency, because they are being sent by a church or an organization – but they DO need an org to help them with logistics, most importantly processing donations and giving tax deductible receipts to donors. That was our situation, and we found Modern Day Missions. We’ve used them for a decade and they have been incredible!
Forgot to give the website: http://modernday.org/
I don’t know of a tool, but the North American Mission Handbook is quite helpful in looking for agencies.
There are thousands of missions agencies so it can be overwhelming. That is why MissionNext is a great resource for those looking for a missions agency to serve with. It matches you with organizations and positions that are a good fit. It helps narrow down the options. A disclaimer, I do work for MissionNext.