IMB Seeks to Engage New Generation of Missionaries Through Hands On Initiative

by Lydia DeGozo

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--In an effort to raise up a new generation of career missionaries, the International Mission Board is launching “Hands On” projects in January 2008 to give 18 to 29-year-olds experience in the nitty-gritty of overseas missions.

Hands On is designed for young adults considering a long-term missions commitment; particularly college students who are willing to forgo a semester of study in order to experience missionary life abroad. There are 60 openings for Hands On volunteers for spring 2008 and a need for 100 volunteers for fall 2008. Applications for spring 2008 are due Oct. 20, 2007.

The Hands On initiative will immerse young adults in a culture and language for four to five months so they can share the love of Jesus. Volunteers will work in both rural and urban areas with projects ranging from inner-city evangelism to auto repair.

Sub-Saharan Africa will be the pilot location for 2008. The program will expand to other parts of the world by 2009, said Chad Stillwell, a coordinator for the Hands On projects.

“I think Hands On is recognition of the need we have to mentor a younger generation in missions,” Stillwell said. “This is so we’ll have career missionaries for the future, but also people who are active in local churches and have a heart for what God’s doing around the world.”

The individual cost for a 2008 Hands On volunteer to travel to Africa and live in his or her assigned country for a semester will be $2,600, plus passport and immunization fees.

Although the full cost per person is $7,000, the International Mission Board is subsidizing the difference to make the endeavor more affordable for young adults, Stillwell said.

“We wanted to remove a barrier for the participant,” he said. “Our goal is that they will decide to enter the journeyman (two-year overseas missionary) process and might feel God’s call to career missions by being part of an experience that’s longer than a couple of weeks or even two months in the summer.

“Sometimes (the real experience of) daily missionary life can be avoided while on a week- or month-long trip,” Stillwell said, “(but) this is a chance to be immersed in it.”

For more info on Hands On visit www.hands-on-africa.com or call 804-219-1434.