Effective, Continuous Training • Pray for wisdom for agency leaders in preparing workers for the long race. • Pray for stamina of cross-cultural workers. Going the Distance : Missionary Retention Why emphasize going the distance? • Field Effectiveness – period of 8-17 years of service is most fruitful. 1 • Unity in Community – turnover challenges team cohesiveness. • Stewardship of sending investment. • 94.1% of cross-cultural field staff retained annually by agencies in Western countries. 2 • 96.9% of cross-cultural field staff retained annually by agencies in the majority world. 2 How far? U.S. agencies, 10 year retention rate 3 How to Go the Distance Selection Stretching • More selection steps leads to higher retention rate (health screening, character references, ministry experience, church endorsement, etc.). • 4 or fewer selection procedures = 10% agency annual attrition. • 5 or more selection procedures = 5% agency annual attrition. 4 • The amount and quality of training correlates positively with retention according to both agency leaders 5 and field staff. 6 • Pre-field orientation has less connection with retention than either on-field orientation or continuing training and development opportunities. 7 Support & Care Success Factors • Supportive home church 8 • Sense of financial provision 9 • Investment in member care 10 • Scaled services supporting 5 0 or more cross-cultural staff 11 Wide variations in retention based on agencies “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” Romans 10:15 Missionary retention among cross-cultural workers is a marathon not a sprint. 78% high-retention (> 1/3 of all agencies) low-retention 38% Finishing the Race www.MissionaryInsurance.info www.goodneighborinsurance.com Brought to you by our co-sponsors: All the info you need to keep your family safe, and keep your work affordable. Because insurance doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to be good. www.missiographics.com To find more infographics from GMI visit Sources: www.missiographics.com/missionaryretention-infographic.htm