Yesterday, I was in a board of directors meeting for a mission organization that I love. One of the discussions we were having had to do with how we can be more effective at engaging the younger generations in mission service. How do we mobilize volunteer and student missionaries to commit themselves to long-term ministry? It seems to be the trend that the generation of missionaries who served 25 or more years with the same mission organization is going the way of the dodo bird and is being replaced by a generation that views mission commitment more in bite-sized portions of 1 - 5 years. Now, I tend to be among those who buck this and see this as just a bad thing, but today at Member Care Radio, a discussion was posted on this very topic that is very insightful. Here's a quote from Colin Buckland:
If I'm a man in my late 50's, early 60's and I've lost my job, I'm completely at sea. I don't know how to view the world, but the younger generation is saying, 'Well, we can't even do career like that anymore'. The effect is that those people think in shorter pieces. They look at life in a series of jumps and so a career, now, one would expect to go through something in the region of 13 changes in a lifetime, maybe more. I think it's getting this way more and more as the days go by. There's a massive change there.
I this is a topic that interests you, I recommend listening to the whole conversation. Go on over to Member Care Media now and check it out.
http://membercaremedia.com/267.html
I'm working with a missions organization in a place I love, doing things I love, but the organization itself is so messed up that no one can handle more than 5 or 6 years. I think that's something important to consider in this thought train. I'm looking for something I can devote my life to and spend the next 40 or 50 years doing, but I think those things are really hard to find.
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely that is another component to add to this discussion. Thanks, Allison!
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