한국 선교 단체의 국제화 현황과 과제

Abstract

The shift of the gravity in the global church is evident not only in the demographic changes of the Christian population but also in the number of missionaries sent by the Majority World. In this changing mission context, one significant development has taken place in the missionary community. It is the internationalization of the mission organizations of the Majority World. As many international mission organizations were once nation-based organizations, retaining their national, cultural, and linguistic distinctives among their personnel, some indigenous Majority World mission organizations have disembarked from the journey of internationalizing their membership. This study has attempted to investigate the status and tasks of the internationalization of Korean mission organizations. For this purpose, I used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. First,a telephone survey was conducted to find out how many organizations had tapped into the internationalizing process. Secondly, I looked at two case studies of Paul Mission International and Global Partners. Based on these, I have found the following characteristics: 1) Leaders initiated internationalization, 2) There were mixed feelings on internationalization, 3) They seemingly lacked communication on internationalization, 4) There was a vision but not concrete and comprehensive plans. 5) Their internationalization began with what they were familiar with, and 6) There were tasks to handle for effective internationalization. I, then, further discussed the tasks for these organizations in regards to the following: 1) members' full understanding and support for internationalization, 2) developing a concrete and comprehensive plan for internationalization, and 3)developing policies on the organizational language and culture