When my Goer went overseas several years ago, I was immersed into a whole new subculture with an entirely different lingo. For the next couple of Ask the Experts posts, I will be listing some unfamiliar terms that you may have encountered in conversations with your child. Not only will learning this new lingo help you to be a better informed parent, it will get you a little more “street cred” on your next Skype session.

This list is an excerpt from my upcoming book, The Missionary Mama’s Survival Guide. Stay tuned for publication details!

Learning the Lingo—Part 1

Missionary/Goer/Cross-Cultural Worker: This is what your child is right now. He/she has chosen to go and live cross-culturally to take God’s message of reconciliation–his mission–to the world.

Stayer: This is you. They, the Goers, have gone away; you have stayed behind. That is the hard part of this whole adventure.

The Great Commission: The Great Commission, recorded in Matthew 28:18-20,  was spoken by Jesus to his disciples as he sent them out to make disciples in his name: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This commission is not only for the ancient disciples, it’s for us too! Our kids are fulfilling the Great Commission when they “Go.”

Proselytizing/Evangelism: While these words have similar meanings, they are not exactly the same.  Proselytizing has a more negative connotation. Proselytizing conjures up images of the Crusades, where mostly non-interested parties were talked at and forced to convert to the Christian faith. On the contrary, evangelism is a two-way conversation between your child and a new acquaintance.  In this conversation, your child will try to gain trust from this person by talking with them in hopes of sharing hope in Jesus in a loving way. Proselytizing is illegal in certain cultures, while evangelism is sometimes allowed. However, both of these things are frowned upon in some countries.

Creative Access Nation (formerly Closed or Limited Access): The terms “closed” and “limited” access have been used to describe countries where traditional missionary activity is illegal or banned. Most mission thinkers today now utilize the term “creative access nation” rather than use those terms. This more commonly applied term acknowledges that while there are countries that are closed to traditional missionary ministry, they are not really closed to the gospel. In creative access countries, our kids use their vocation (see this term below) to do CAM (Creative Access Missions) to serve God.

Visa/Visa Run: A visa is something your kids need in order to be in their country of mission. A visa must be applied for and then approved by the government. This is not always a simple process. Many Goers can’t list their true reason for wanting to be in the country, so they have to apply for a student visa (and then become a student!), a work visa (if they have a small business), or even a tourist visa. Tourist visas often have to be renewed at regular intervals (often 90 days) by leaving the country and coming back into it as a “tourist.” When your Goer has this type of visa, they have to go out of the country to an international border just so they can re-enter it as a tourist and reset their visa. We call that process a visa run. If you go to visit your child, you too, will need a tourist visa.  Most likely you will stay less than 90 days so no visa run for you.

Vocation: Vocation is the idea that each individual person has unique strengths and gifts with which they can contribute to the good of the world. Each of us has interests and passions that can propel us forward in service and creativity. When Christians faithfully complete the work God brings to them, they are fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives. Our vocations may take the forms of teacher, homemaker, healthcare worker, pastry chef, or grandkid-spoiler. Our kids call what they do their vocation, and they may achieve it by being a church planter, a student, a professional, a healthcare worker, or a translator.

Church Planter: What is this business called church planting? A church planter is a person who desires to see God’s Church flourish throughout the world. Our kids “plant” churches by introducing them to Jesus, inviting them to be part of a local body of believers, and then providing them with loving coaching and adequate instruction so that they might grow in the faith.

Student: We are all familiar with this term. It means “a person who goes to school.”  For our kids, it may mean “a person who goes to school even when they already have a degree (or two).” When trying to obtain a visa for residency in a creative access country, your child will need to declare their reason for being there. When outright proselytizing is forbidden in a place, our Goers have to be more creative in living out their vocations, so some of them go back to school. Some of them also become Teachers, which is a type of BAM (see below).

BAM: This onomatopoeia-like acronym stands for Business as Mission. “Business is a God-given vocation and institution in society, with the potential to bring multiple benefits to people, communities and nations. Business as Mission intentionally leverages this intrinsic power of business to address spiritual needs, hand in hand with social, economic and environmental needs.”1 BAM is sometimes referred to as Kingdom business, missional entrepreneurship, transformational business, or missional business. If your child checked “professional” on his/her visa, it’s most likely they are participating in BAM.

Translator: A translator is a person who translates one language into another.  Some of our kids will apply to be a translator and then work for a school, a camp, or a business, most often translating their host language into their (the missionary’s) native language, although the reverse happens as well (native language translated to host language).

Platform/Tentmaking: Platforms can be in the areas of medicine, education, or business, among others. These jobs allow government-approved access into places where missionaries may not enter. Another term that you may hear is Tentmaking. The term comes Acts 18:3 and describes how the apostle Paul supported himself by making tents while living and preaching in Corinth. Tentmaking missionaries do the same for their financial support abroad.

NGO: This stands for Non-Governmental Organization.  An NGO is a nonprofit organization that operates independently of any government, typically one whose purpose is to address a social or political issue. Sometimes our kids will classify their new “churches” as NGOs to comply with the government policy of registration.

Fellowship/Club/Gathering: When our kids lived in a culture with a government that was hostile towards Christians, they often held their church services in people’s homes or apartments. Since they didn’t want to be flagged by officials for participating in these weekly meetings, they refrained from calling them “churches.”  However, so they could communicate with others, they chose the word club. Other teams may call their meetings fellowships, or something humorous like the circus. When you are talking to them about this, purpose yourself to refer to their churches in this way.

Remember mom and dad, being in the know is the way to go. The more knowledge you can gather about your child’s new life, the more confident you will be in their—and your own—journey.

Watch for one more post on Learning the Lingo so you can impress your Goer with your new vocabulary!

1 Plummer, J. (2015, January 14). What is Business as Mission? – Business as Mission. Business as Mission. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://businessasmission.com/what-is-bam/