Most people who sense a pull toward missions ask the same first question: where do I even start?
The good news is that the path is well-worn. For two thousand years the church has been sending ordinary believers to carry the gospel across cultures, and the steps are clearer than you might think. This guide walks through what a missionary is, what the work involves, and the practical path from where you are now to serving on the field.
What Is a Missionary?
A missionary is a believer the church sends across a cultural or geographic boundary to make disciples. The word traces back to the Latin for “sent one,” and the idea is rooted in Jesus’ final command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19 ESV).
Every Christian is called to witness where they live. A missionary is set apart and sent by a local church to take the gospel where it is not yet known or where the church is not yet established. That sending is what distinguishes a missionary from every believer’s ordinary witness.
What Do Missionaries Actually Do?
Missionary work is more varied than most people picture. The aim is always to make disciples and strengthen the local church, but the daily work takes many forms:
- Evangelism and church planting — sharing the gospel and gathering new believers into healthy churches led, in time, by local believers.
- Theological training — teaching pastors and leaders so the church can stand on its own.
- Medical missions — serving through clinics, hospitals, and community health, often opening doors in places closed to traditional ministry.
- Education — teaching children, training teachers, and serving missionary families.
- Marketplace and business — using a profession or business to live and serve in regions where a traditional missionary visa is not possible.
- Media, translation, and the arts — putting Scripture and gospel resources into the heart language of a people.
You do not need to fit one mold. The mission needs preachers and surgeons, teachers and pilots, accountants and church planters.
Do You Need a Special “Call” to Be a Missionary?
Many people wait for a dramatic experience before they act, and the waiting can last for years. Scripture shows God calling his servants in different ways — Isaiah heard a voice and answered, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV); the church at Antioch set apart Paul and Barnabas through prayer and the leading of the Spirit (Acts 13:2–3 ESV).
A genuine sense of calling usually grows from a few things together: a love for God and for people who have never heard the gospel, a desire confirmed over time, the affirmation of your local church, and a willingness to go. You do not need to hear an audible voice. If your heart is drawn to the unreached, your church sees the gifting, and the desire holds up under counsel and prayer, that is reason enough to take the next step and let the process test the call.
What Qualifications Do You Need?
Mission agencies look first at character, not credentials. The most important qualifications are spiritual and personal:
- A clear testimony of faith in Christ and a growing walk with him.
- Maturity and stability — emotional health, healthy relationships, and a teachable spirit.
- A life that matches the message, with the integrity Scripture expects of those who lead and teach.
- The endorsement of a local church that knows you and will send you.
These are the traits that sustain a missionary through the hard, slow, often unseen work of ministry far from home.
Do You Need a Degree or Seminary Training?
No. There is no single educational requirement to become a missionary, and many faithful workers serve without a seminary degree. That said, training matters. A solid grounding in the Bible and theology prepares you to teach and to plant churches that last, whether you gain it through Bible college, seminary, or a structured program through your church and agency.
Your field and role shape what helps most. A church planter benefits from theological training. A medical missionary needs current professional credentials. A teacher needs teaching qualifications. In many countries a professional degree also opens the visa that lets you live and serve there at all.
What Skills and Professions Translate to the Field?
Almost any vocation can serve the mission. Skills that travel well include healthcare, teaching, counseling, business and finance, technology, aviation and trades, agriculture, and the creative arts. Professionals are especially valuable in regions that do not grant traditional missionary visas, where a real job and real skills are the doorway to ministry. If you already have a profession, you may be closer to the field than you think.
Short-Term, Mid-Term, or Long-Term?
Missions is not all or nothing. There are several ways to serve, and many long-term missionaries started with a short trip:
- Short-term — from a week to a few months. A good way to test your readiness for cross-cultural life and to serve an existing field team.
- Mid-term — roughly one to two years. Enough time to invest meaningfully without a lifelong commitment up front.
- Long-term — a career commitment, usually preceded by language and cultural training. This is where deep, lasting church-planting work happens.
ABWE offers all of these, along with associate, internship, and volunteer tracks. A short trip is often the wisest first step.
How Do Missionaries Get Paid?
This is the question most guides skip, and it is the one new missionaries worry about most. Most missionaries raise their own financial support. Rather than drawing a paycheck from a company, they invite churches, family, and individual partners to fund the ministry through regular gifts. Your agency provides coaching, budgets, and training to help you build that team of partners before you go.
A few practical notes. Get out of debt, or have a clear plan to, before you raise support — debt is one of the most common obstacles to reaching the field. Support covers more than salary: it typically includes housing, medical care, travel, and ministry costs. And raising support is itself a ministry. The partners who fund your work become a praying, invested team behind everything you do.
Training and Preparation: How Long Does It Take?
The path from first interest to arriving on the field usually takes one to a few years, depending on your role, your support-raising, and the training your field requires. A typical timeline includes:
- Application and assessment with your agency.
- Spiritual, theological, and cross-cultural preparation.
- Support-raising — often several months to a year.
- Language and culture training for many long-term fields.
- Pre-field orientation before you deploy.
The preparation is not a delay to push through. It is what makes long, fruitful ministry possible.
The Step-by-Step Process
Here is the path most missionaries follow, from where you are now to the field:
- Talk with your local church. Missions begins with the church. Tell your pastor and leaders, and invite their counsel and affirmation. A sending church stands behind you for the long haul.
- Connect with a mission agency. Reach out and start a conversation with a missions coach who can help you weigh your options and next steps.
- Explore where and how you might serve. Consider regions (for example, missions in Africa or Europe), peoples, and roles that fit your gifts, your training, and the need. You can also browse open opportunities.
- Apply. Complete the agency’s application, which usually includes a doctrinal review, references, background and medical checks, and interviews.
- Prepare and train. Work through theological, cross-cultural, and role-specific training, and begin building your support team.
- Be sent. With training complete, support raised, and a field team ready to receive you, you complete orientation and deploy.
How to Choose a Mission Agency
Most missionaries serve through an agency that vets, trains, sends, and cares for them. Choosing the right one matters. Ask:
- Do we agree on doctrine? Read the agency’s statement of faith. You will serve alongside these people for years.
- How do they train and prepare missionaries? Strong preparation is a sign of an agency that wants you to last.
- How do they care for missionaries and their families? Ask about member care, medical coverage, and support for children on the field.
- What is their track record? Look for a clear ministry philosophy and a history of healthy, lasting work.
- Do they partner with the local church — both your sending church and the churches you will serve?
ABWE has sent missionaries to plant churches and train leaders around the world since 1927, working in partnership with local churches and caring for missionaries and their families across a lifetime of service.
Going as a Family
You do not have to be single or wait until your children are grown. Many missionaries serve as families, and children often thrive in cross-cultural life. Agencies plan for this with schooling options, member care, and support for missionary kids. If you have a family, raise it early in your conversations with an agency so you can prepare well together.
Your Next Step
Becoming a missionary rarely starts with a leap. It starts with a step — a conversation with your pastor, a short trip, a note to a missions coach. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14 ESV). The nations are still waiting to hear. If God is stirring your heart to go, take the next step.
Talk to a missions coach · Explore opportunities · Take a short-term trip
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a degree to become a missionary?
No. There is no universal educational requirement. Bible and theology training is valuable, and some professional roles require specific credentials, but many missionaries serve without a seminary degree.
How do missionaries get paid?
Most missionaries raise their own financial support, inviting churches and individuals to fund the ministry through regular gifts. Support usually covers salary, housing, medical care, and ministry costs. Agencies coach you through building your support team.
How long does it take to become a missionary?
Usually one to a few years, depending on your role, training, and how quickly you raise support. The path includes application, preparation and training, support-raising, and often language study.
Is there an age requirement to be a missionary?
There is no single age limit. Agencies send college students, families, mid-career professionals, and retirees. The right fit depends on the role and field more than on age.
Do I need a special calling to be a missionary?
You do not need a dramatic experience. A genuine call usually grows from love for the unreached, a desire confirmed over time, the affirmation of your church, and a willingness to go.
What is the first step to becoming a missionary?
Talk with your local church, then connect with a mission agency’s coach who can help you weigh your options and next steps.