Missions Month in Hermon (Part 1 of 2)

September in Hermon is set aside to emphasis Missions. In the past it used to just be Missions Sunday but as we have matured, it was decided that a month-long reminder about Missions would be good for our spiritual health. 

When we seek to ‘being disciples of Christ Jesus’, we will naturally move to the next phase of ‘making disciples of Christ Jesus’ and our Missions Ministry and Community Services Ministry are the platforms for us to be ‘making disciples’ as a faith community. Obeying the Great Commandment will always lead to the Great Commission. 

For us in Singapore, we are in a unique position with regards to missions and evangelism. Not only can we be the ‘Antioch of Asia’ and impact the world for Jesus, God is also sending the world to live and work amongst us. 

Every 5 years, a national missions survey is conducted to take the pulse of Missions in Singapore and may I share an article that summarises the report over 2 editorials. 

Pastor Daniel Tan 

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How is the Singapore Church faring in missions? 10 key findings from the National Missions Survey 2024 - by Gracia Lee // November 21, 20241 

What does Singapore's missions landscape look like? The National Missions Survey 2024 provides 10 insights. 

As the Singapore Church wraps up its second year of the Decade of Missions, a new study has provided a snapshot of how it is faring in both local and global missions.  On Saturday (November 16), the Singapore Centre of Global Missions released its eighth iteration of the National Missions Survey, which aims to put a finger on the pulse of Singapore’s missions landscape. 

The study, which was first released in 1988 and has been conducted every five years since 2009, aims to help the local Church compare key trends and identify areas for development as it fulfils the Great Commission. 

Conducted from June to October this year, the 2024 study comprised online surveys of close to 100 churches, representing nearly 100,000 believers, and in-person interviews and focus group discussions involving more than 30 church missions leaders. 

Here are 10 takeaways the study surfaced. 

#1: Most missions work is done in Southeast Asia 

While the Singapore Church is involved in global missions around the world, the majority of its involvement is concentrated in Southeast Asia, the study found. 

The churches that participated in the Church Missions Survey reported almost 750 overseas missions partnerships across 44 countries, while close to 240 missions workers who participated in the Missions Workforce Survey were serving in nearly 40 nations. 

Notably, more than 60% of these partnerships and workers were in Southeast Asia, with the top three countries with the largest Singapore missions presence (outside of Singapore) being the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. 

The Singapore missions presence globally, as well as in Southeast Asia. Photo from National Missions Survey 2024. 

Aside from Southeast Asia, the study also found a significant missions presence in East Asia (about 15% of total Singapore missions presence) and South Asia (about 7%). 

In studying work done among unreached people groups (UPGs), which the study defined as people groups without sufficient indigenous believers to share the Gospel, the study found that slightly more than half (54%) of churches were involved in reaching out to UPGs, an increase from 1 in 3 in 2019. 

Reflections from missions leaders - The Singapore Church’s involvement in Southeast Asia and East Asia is unsurprising as these regions are geographically, culturally and linguistically closer to home, said missions leaders who participated in the focus group discussions. 

“Missions workers in Central and West Asia attest to the immense need for Singaporeans in these highly unreached regions.” 

“However, missions workers in Central and West Asia attest to the immense need and vast opportunities for Singaporeans in these highly unreached regions,” they said. 

Secondly, while the proportion of churches involved with UPGs is an improvement from five years ago and seems encouraging, churches should take note of areas within a country without a viable Christian presence, they added.

Giving an example, they noted that the majority of Singapore missions work in Thailand happens in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai – regions where more than 5% of the population are Christians. Meanwhile, less attention is given to many other provinces with a Christian population of 0.1%. 

Finally, missions leaders said there is a need to adopt more socially and culturally sensitive missions approaches in countries like Thailand and Japan, where Christianity is still largely seen as a foreign religion. 

#2: There is a smaller proportion of missions workers among church members today compared to 2019 

In 2024, one missions worker was sent for every 109 church members. This is a decrease from 2019 (1 for every 53 members) and 2014 (1 for every 99 members). 

In breaking down the statistics by church size, the study found that the most “efficient” sending churches tended to be smaller: 

• Churches with fewer than 200 members: 1 worker per 37 members 

• Churches with between 200 and 499 members: 1 worker per 91 members 

• Churches with 500 to 999 members: 1 worker per 154 members 

• Churches with 1,000 to 1,999 members: 1 worker per 107 members 

• Churches with 2,000 members and above: 1 worker per 212 members 

All categories saw a decline in the rate of sending workers compared to 2019, except for churches with under 200 members (comparable to 2019) and churches with 2,000 members and above (increase from 1 worker per 241 members in 2019). 

Reflections from missions leaders - The decline in sending rates may have been partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many field workers to return to Singapore. Additionally, churches may not have fully ramped up missions engagement post-pandemic to raise up new workers, said missions leaders. 

Thus, more must be done to raise up a new generation of missions workers, they stressed. 

#3: More missions workers under 50 are professionals 

In analysing data provided by the 236 missions workers who participated in the Missions Workforce Survey, the study found that: 

• 43% are involved in traditional missions work, such as church-planting work, church-based ministries, or work in non-governmental organisations 

• 28% are involved in non-traditional missions work, such as tent-making, bi-vocational work, business-as-missions entrepreneurship, or non-residential missions work 

• 29% are missions agency staff in denominational missions agencies, international or local missions agencies 

Missions workers on the field are involved in a variety of ways. Photo from the National Missions Survey 2024. 

Researchers found that a sizeable proportion of workers are involved in missions through their vocational and professional expertise. This is especially true for the younger generation of missions workers. For example, more than 70% of bi-vocational missions workers and tentmakers are below the age of 50. 

The type of missions workers by age group. Workers aged 50 and above are most likely to be involved in non-residential missions work, while workers below the age of 50 are most likely to be bi-vocational missions workers or tentmakers. Photo from the National Missions Survey 2024. 

Apart from missions agency staff, about 1 in 3 of all Singapore missions workers are also involved in a mix of church-based and non-church-based work. 

Reflections from missions leaders - A good number of Singapore missions workers see missions “holistically and integrally”, they noted. 

“In the decades ahead, churches’ missions policies could allow for multi-prong engagement with an increasingly diverse world.” 

#4: As missions work diversifies, churches are innovating their missions financial policy 

Bi-vocational missions workers or tentmakers and missions agency staff were the least likely to be fully supported by their churches. Photo from the National Missions Survey 2024. 

From the focus group discussions, the study found that some churches have developed a “dynamic and multi-tiered financial missions policy” that can serve as a model for others. 

For example, researchers cited one way a church financially supported a missions worker involved in business-as-missions: The church provided funds for the worker during the early stages of establishing the business, and eventually removed support when the business became profitable. 

Reflections from missions leaders - Despite the changing face of missions, they acknowledged that maintaining financial support can be an ongoing challenge for all kinds of missions workers. 

Thus, regular reviews should be done to ensure a church is adequately supporting its missionaries well. 

Full National Missions Survey 2024 report at https://www.scgm.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/NMS2024_Report.pdf 

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Hermon’s geographical scope of missions is similar to that of the national survey (point #1) and with regards to Bi-vocational missionaries (point #4), let us be open that can includes those of us who travel for work often, those who take up an overseas posting and even students who go on an exchange program. Do look out for the subsequent 6 other key findings in next week’s Editorial. 

Ps Daniel Tan