Secular Skills an Asset in Ever-Broadening Mission Field
by Allie Martin
March 26, 2004
(AgapePress) - The president of an international mission agency says there are now more opportunities than ever before for Christians to enter the mission field on either a short-term or long-term basis.Dr. Hans Finzel is president of Colorado-based CB International, a mission organization with evangelism, church planting, and leadership development ministries in 65 areas worldwide. He says while there are extreme dangers for missionaries in many parts of the world, there are also numerous opportunities.
"God is raising up the Church around the world -- in the Southern Hemisphere, the Eastern Hemisphere -- and it's so neat to see the rise of the Third World missionary that we're partnering," Finzel says. "Yes, we have more open doors. The Iron Curtain's gone, the Berlin Wall's gone, China is opening up -- [there are] incredible opportunities."
The mission agency leader says many professionals are finding that the skills they acquired in the secular workplace can be a big benefit when it comes to taking part in missions work. Many Christians with a background in business are now serving on the mission field, he says.
"The people we need the most [today] are what we call people who have marketplace skills or secular skills -- whether they are teachers, or business administrators, or computer experts, or doctors, nurses. Those are the kind of people that we are successfully placing around the world, especially in restricted access nations," he says.
CB International also trains national Christians for effective ministry, and develops strategies to evangelize urban areas of the United States. Finzel says many countries are now sending Christian missionaries to the U.S. as well.
