Missionary

The backbone of Alliance efforts around the world, front-line missionaries are men and women who are committed to ministering with The Christian and Missionary Alliance on a long-term basis in ministries that contribute to our goal of making the greatest Kingdom impact we can by developing culturally sensitive and appropriate overseas churches. Our missionaries are highly trained, gifted, and expert in the ministries of evangelism, discipleship, theological training, youth work, and community development that contribute to the establishment and development of overseas churches.

Front-line missionary work with the Alliance is a very serious commitment on your part and ours. One reflection of how serious we are about this is our funding system. Alliancemissionaries are fully funded through our Great Commission Fund (GCF) resources. Another reflection of how seriously we take this commitment is our expectations of you in terms of a preparation process. Most people today arrive at missionary work with solid theological and missiological training, as well as at least two years of full-time ministry

In light of the serious commitment that is involved, we recognize that for most people, a decision like this will need to be made in incremental ways. Long-term decisions involving deep personal investment like this are not to be made lightly or hastily. So we have created a number of "onramp" experiences that will let you and us work carefully through a gradual process of clarifying God's leading for a front-line role. Our Global Ventures Discovery and Global Ventures Praxis Communities programs as well as our Missionary Apprentice Program (MAP) are wonderful ways of working your way gradually towards a front-line role.

Qualifications

The Alliance does all it can to ensure that its missionaries are the best trained and most qualified people possible. While a detailed listing of qualifications can be found in the Missionary Handbook, below is a general outline of the qualifications needed:

Spiritual Maturity

Applicants must give clear evidence of a genuine spiritual conversion, a vital Christian life, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and full consecration to the Lord.

Doctrinal Soundness

Applicants must be in full accord with evangelical truth and subscribe to the Statement of Faith of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Knowledge of the Scriptures

Applicants should have a comprehensive knowledge of the Word of God so they can impart His words of life to others.

Competence in Ministry

All C&MA missionaries complete at least two years of full-time ministry in the States before departing to the field, where they can clearly grow in and demonstrate passion and leadership ability in the specific areas of evangelism and discipleship.

Educational Competence

Minimally, a bachelor's degree and one year of post-graduate studies are required for missionaries.

Motivation for Missionary Service

Applicants should have personal assurance, which has been confirmed by others in spiritual leadership, that their motivation for pursuing missionary service is legitimate and sustainable. Their sense of calling should be based on biblical truth and inward conviction.

C&MA Commitment

Applicants must be in agreement with the mission and practice of The Christian and Missionary Alliance and the objectives of International Ministries (IM). Generally, Alliance missionaries are required to hold membership in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church.

Adaptability

Candidates should demonstrate a proven track record of being able to adapt to new relationships, environments, and modes of living.

Indication of Physical Health

Applicants are to obtain satisfactory medical clearance from IM's medical adviser, who will give an evaluation on the suitability of the candidate for missionary service.

Marriage and Family

International Ministries views a spouse as a full partner in ministry. Married candidates will be appointed after careful consideration of the suitability of both husband and wife. Couples with three or more children will be considered only if their other qualifications—including maturity, motivation, language learning aptitude, compatibility, and ministry experience—are above average.

While the above represents the essential qualifications for C&MA ministry, all candidates are encouraged to consult the requirements as outlined in the Missionary Handbook for International Ministries for full details.

Opportunities

With work in roughly 81 countries, trust us, we have huge needs around the world. Our missionaries find almost no limit to the types of roles they find themselves in as they seek to creatively get among and relate to lost people. To try to list these is dangerous because the list is almost as diverse and extensive as we have people. Examples of what our people are doing would include teaching English in community centers, leading Bible studies and discipleship groups, hosting "contemporary life issues" discussion groups, and marriage enrichment conferences, managing coffee house ministries, building youth centers where creative approaches like computer training and after-school study programs are all real-world examples of work being done by Alliance missionaries TODAY. If any of these or others sound interesting to you please make use of contact information below and make a connection.

The Process

Make initial contact with the Candidate Development Office (CDO). You can do that a number of ways—select "Next Steps" to complete a preliminary questionnaire, email us at called@cmalliance.org, or call 877-284-3262. Any of these ways will create that initial connection that will let you begin to develop a relationship with us and us with you that will become the basis for those advising and developing discussions that will move you effectively through the process . . .
As you get connected with us, a Regional Representative will be assigned to walk you through our online application process.
As you work through the application process, the Regional Representative will be working with you to clarify the important issue of "fit." This stage will involve us encouraging you to access our Global Ventures program (Discovery or Praxis) in order to spend time on one of our overseas fields with some of our teams. The Regional Representative will coordinate this visit with the field in order that you get the best possible experience in terms of learning what our overseas work is like.
Once a clear sense of fit and potential for missionary service has been identified, the Regional Representative will work with you to schedule an initial endorsement/accreditation interview.
Upon successful completion of the endorsement/accreditation interview, the Regional Representative and now the Director for Missionary Candidates will work with you to create a personalized Individual Development Plan (IDP) which will outline a process for personal development and completion of Alliance missionary requirements related to education and ministry experience.
Upon completion of the requirements and with church and field recommendation, candidates are scheduled by the Director for Missionary Candidates for a pre-appointment interview, which, once successfully completed would lead to formal appointment as an Alliance missionary.