Entrepreneurship and International Missions

I have a close friend who is preparing to be sent overseas to Saudi Arabia as a missionary. One of the biggest reasons that this friend, and most other missionaries that is, get sent overseas is to share the gospel with those in the country. Certainly there must be proper theological and evangelism training as part of that process, yet I believe that Entrepreneurial training should be a vital part of the training required for international missionaries. This is often times neglected, which can be a significant detriment.

For many international missionaries, proper evangelism does not look like going into a city, setting up a speaker system, and proclaiming the gospel day and night. Instead, these missionaries often work at or even run a business in their new community. Many of these people cannot even enter a country without proving how they can economically impact the country in a positive way, and they must be able to work in order to sustain themselves. If these missionaries are only trained to share the gospel and have good theology, there is no viable way that they can sustain themselves or make a positive economic impact on the country. When it comes to Entrepreneurship, teaching these missionaries how to ideate, innovate, and evaluate a community and/or business is vitally important.

It is through these businesses that the missionaries can become a vital part of their community, they can build relationships with the members of the community, and they will be able to sustain themselves. All of this will have a positive impact on their original mission to make disciples of all nations, sharing the gospel with all of the people that they encounter. It is clear that missionaries should be trained in the world of Entrepreneurship because of the ways that it can influence the longevity and effectiveness of their mission.