Missionary

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term for missionary, seongyosa (宣敎師), means "one who spreads a teaching widely." It refers to a person whom a church or mission organization sends to another region or culture to proclaim the gospel. The English word "missionary" derives from a Latin word meaning "to send." The term usually denotes those who work overseas, but people serving in specialized domestic fields such as the military, hospitals, and rural farming and fishing communities are sometimes called "home missionaries." Their work is not limited to evangelism and church planting; it extends to education, medical care, relief, and Bible translation.

Biblical and Historical Background

The church commonly cites the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 (the command to make disciples of all nations) and Acts 1:8 as the basis for missions. Acts 13:1-3 describes the church at Antioch fasting and praying, then laying hands on Barnabas and Saul (Paul) and sending them out. This passage is regarded as a model for the church's sending of missionaries.

Korean Protestantism began through the work of foreign missionaries. In 1866 Robert Jermain Thomas was killed on the Taedong River, and in 1885 the Presbyterian Horace Underwood and the Methodist Henry Appenzeller arrived at Incheon. In 1907 the Independent Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Korea sent Yi Ki-poong, one of the first ministers it had ordained, to Jeju. This is regarded as the first instance of the Korean church sending out a missionary of its own.

Practice in the Korean Church

Korea has changed from a country that received missionaries into one that sends large numbers of them. According to figures from the Korea World Missions Association (KWMA), the number of Korean long-term missionaries serving abroad is reported to exceed 20,000.

Sending practices vary by denomination.

• Presbyterian: Missionaries are generally sent through the mission bodies of a presbytery or the General Assembly. The Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong) operates the Global Mission Society (GMS), and the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) maintains a General Assembly Department of World Mission.
• Methodist: The Korean Methodist Church is reported to oversee its missionaries through the Mission Bureau of its headquarters.
• Interdenominational mission organizations: Organizations such as Korea Campus Crusade for Christ and Youth With A Mission (YWAM) train and send missionaries independently of the denominations.

Some bodies recognize only those ordained as pastors as missionaries. Others also send "professional missionaries," such as medical workers and teachers, as well as lay missionaries. Local congregations hold commissioning services, send monthly financial support, and uphold missionaries in prayer. A distinction is sometimes made between "sent missionaries," whom a church has sent out directly, and "partner missionaries," whom it supports only in part. Missionaries are distinguished from participants in short-term missions, which last from a few weeks to a few months.

Retirement provision for missionaries and their relationship with local churches are ongoing topics of discussion within the Korean church. Since the 2007 hostage crisis in Afghanistan, debate has also continued over work in dangerous regions and over mission methods.