The UPG Workers Strategy Group

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The UPG Workers Strategy Group

Posted by Justin Long ⋅ May 2, 2006 ⋅

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This strategy group worked to identify possible solutions to the new challenges to recruiting placing, training, and caring for workers serving among the Least Reached Peoples (Unreached People Groups), especially in light of constantly changing “sending” and “receiving” contexts.
We examined perceived new changes in the world, perceived changes in the missions, and related these to present day changes to the task of reaching the unreached. This led us to identify over 100 specific challenges to recruitment, equipping, deployment and member care (some of which are identified below). We ended with the following action plans:
1. We will establish an e-forum (or join an existing WEA forum) on member care.

2. We will setup an e-group for Ethne member care, to keep in touch and share resources.

3. We will make a list of currently available member care resources.

4. We will organize area and regional member care retreats for workers on the field.

5. We will recruit people to speak at churches on member care, teaching church members how to care forworkers.

Global Changes—
Globalization
Communications
Impact of Western Media
Population growth
Life expectancy
Urbanization
Rise in natural disasters
Environmental issues
Growing ecological crisis
Energy crisis
Increase in education
Rise of global south
Growth of middle class
Economic shift to East
Banking and finance
Multilevel marketing
HIV/AIDS
International youth culture
Intercultural marriages
Children without childhood
Breakup of USSR
Nuclear proliferation
Incr. independence of South
Incr. fundamentalism
Lifestyle changes/fashion
Breakdown of family values
Women in leadership
Religious global conflicts
Mobility/migration
Refugees and Displaced
Tourism
Changes in social culture
Strategic alliances
Mergers & Acquisitions

Changes in Mission—
No theology of suffering
Rise in persecution
Cultural insensitivity
Rise of global prayer
Strategic alliances
Interagency partnerships
New sending countries
Holistic missions
Increase in short-term mission
UPG Focus
Spread of the Gospel
Attrition of career workers
Multiregional coordination
Disassociation from identity as missionary
Move from lifetime career to mini-career
Rise in tentmaking
Rise in Business as Mission
Incr. variety of missionary expressions/platforms
Change from mainline to house churches
Mission research
Member care
Growth of parachurch mission
Tech-based proclamation
Empowering of indigenous leadership
Incr perception of Muslims as reachable
Third-world workers
Ease of communication
Church planting movements
Mission-aware local churches
Majority of non-western missionaries
Incr. missiological awareness
Growth in female leadership
Incr. Bible translation
Move from Church-based welfare to state-based
Second-career “finisher” missionaries
Mission opportunities out of crisis and disasters

Recruitment challenges—
Short-term vision
Recruiting where interested
Lack of understanding of UPG
Lack of mission education
Unwillingness to release best workers due to fear of loss
Apathy–too comfortable
Anticipated loneliness
NGOs often recruit heavily.
Security makes promotion hard
Expectations of home culture
Short-term teams ROI is not proportionate.
Academic requirements marginalize Third World workers
Many women willing, many churches unwilling to send
Finding the right people.
Perceived as less prestigious
Mobilizers lack field knowledge

Equipping challenges—
Lack of trainers with field exp.
Helping get at home in culture
Lack of focus on preparing long-term workers
Teaching on spiritual warfare
Too much training, people lose fire
Models on tentmakers
Organic models of relationships
Good training in local language
Character development
Lack of on-the-job training
Equipping the regular member
Need for mentors
Equipping through orality
Teaching indigenous writers to capture struggles & insights
Losing non-Western workers to the West for education
Equipping families

Deployment Challenges—
Visas/long-term deployment
Cost of staying in the field
Lack of data on UPGs
Lack of specific research
Lack of communication
Tendency toward duplication
Working in multicultural teams
Matching ethnicity of worker with suitable ethnic group
Getting worker to be significant trusted person among his adopted peoople
Too small teams, not enough gifts to pool together
Lack of good receiving partnerships to help with logistics, adaptation
Lack of viable platforms
Demand for quick results
Connecting with nationals

Member Care Challenges—
Perception workers are super-spiritual, don’t succumb
Uncaring evaluation teams
MK education for non-English-speaking children
Emotional, physical protection for singles
Younger Western generation wants too much care
Care-givers as second-class people
Churches with poor sending structures
Lack of member care
Cost of member care
Member care workers with no long-term field experience
Readjusting to home
Same-culture member care workers