PREVENTABLE ATTRITION: how is your ministry partnership combating it?

Several major missionary studies over the past 30 years have stated that 71% of returning missionaries annually do so for PREVENTABLE reasons. This is called preventable attrition for career missionaries. Those reasons include lack of financial support, lack of organizational support, personal concerns, inadequate pre-field training, poor cultural adaptation, loss of vision/drive, team conflict and disagreement with the agency. (source: Mission Frontiers, Nations Outreach)

I began researching missionary attrition after a conversation with a potential financial partner who was unsure about supporting someone who is not "boots on the ground". As one of those "boots on the ground" for 20 years, I admit I needed to remind myself of the importance of my current role. The rhetorical question in my mind was, "If the need is boots on the ground, what is the biggest need for those boots on the ground to not return prematurely?" Do we just send more people into the field, or can we also provide support that helps keep those missionaries on the front lines for longer, healthier, and, hopefully, fruitful ministries?

When I was developing Season 3 of the Campus Outreach StaffCast, I asked a CO Network Director what he thought the staff needed to hear the most. His answer was immediate: "They need encouragement that is specific to what they are doing. They need encouragement from those who have been through what they are facing and who encourage them to rely on God, to persevere when it's tough, and rejoice when it's fruitful."

I am glad to say that the goal of our staff-focused podcast series is exactly that—"a podcast produced by CO Staff for CO Staff."

Beyond that, I enjoy the direct and indirect ways that I work alongside staff on campuses around the globe on projects like publishing a Home Ministry Assignment Guide, developing Latin American resource staff on the field, and highlighting impact each year through our CO SERVE Annual Report. 

I am confident that your ministry partnership is impacting staff across the CO regions so they can impact the next generation of leaders around the globe. Thank you for investing in this ministry with us. 

Please be encouraged by watching this one-minute video testimony from the Director of our Cape Town, South Africa team about the StaffCast. 

James Broadaway - Cape Town, South Africa.