Project EdSend

Funding and Management of the Program

Executive Summary

The purpose of Project EdSend is to address the college loan repayment issue for new MK teachers just out of college. The issue is that many prospective MK teachers have college education monthly loan repayments that prohibits them from becoming MK teachers. EdSend is a program in which these monthly loan repayments will be assumed by third parties in exchange for the teacher going to the mission field to teach children of missionaries. Filling these vacancies would mean fewer missionaries would have to assume the role of teachers (leaving their own work undone) and fewer would have to leave the field.

Project EdSend connects the ministries of MK teachers with the ministries of individuals who are financially able to help - those key people who understand that their financial support will make a significant impact on the Kingdom's work.

Why Is There a Need for Project EdSend?

The number of MK teacher vacancies for all mission agencies, worldwide, at any given time is considerable. Some schools begin the year without a full teaching staff and some with unqualified teachers. Sometimes the need is so great that missionaries have to be pulled from their own specialized work to serve as teachers. Project EdSend exists to help prevent such scenarios.

One group of prospective teachers are those just out of college (other groups include retired, former, and practicing teachers). This prospective MK teacher just out of college takes a teaching job that pays a salary in order to begin paying off his/her college loan. All too often, after a few years these young teachers become immersed in the world around them and their passion to teach MK children fades. Too many of them never go to the mission field. Paying off college loans, then, is vital for getting MK teachers to the field.

The Critical Role of MK Teachers on the Mission Field

A Word From Mission Agency Administrators

Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, said, "We must invest heavily in our kids' education.... If we don't, just when our parents are most productive they will leave us to attend to their kids' schooling."

Bob Pittman, former Director of International Children's Education, Wycliffe Bible Translators, said, "Children's education is one of the top reasons missionaries leave the field. If children's education needs are not being met, families will leave the field. Does this mean that the work stops? In some places, yes. More often, however, there is someone else to take their place. So what is the problem? In Bible translation it takes six to ten years for a replacement to get from the pew to the next verse that needs translation, and the cost to the church [in the larger context] is around $250,000!" 

Bob Cresson, President, Wycliffe USA, said, "God led us to commit [in 2000] to the humanly impossible goal of Vision 2025 -- to see Bible translation in progress for every language group that needs it by the year 2025. . . . A new translation used to start every 18 days. . . . Since adopting Vision 2025 a new translation is started every five days. What will it take to see Vision 2025 accomplished? It will take more of God's people coming together in prayer, in giving, and in volunteering to serve as teachers, managers, information technology (IT) professionals and more." [bold added]

A Word From Missionaries on the Field

The mission administrators quoted above understand the critical need for MK teachers. So do missionaries on the front lines. They know first hand that teachers can be the determining factor in keeping them on the mission field. Here's what they say:

From Africa

". . .Many in the States have no idea what missionary families face when it comes to schooling their children. . . It has been said by well meaning [missionaries] that if their children cannot be educated either at home or in a nearby school, they would leave the mission field or never go in the first place. The encouraging news is that there are educators who have given their lives to follow Jesus onto the mission field to minister to a very special group. What is this group that in past decades may have been overlooked . . . ? Missionary Kids! . . . This group of educator missionaries has a special calling and their obedience to their calling has brought blessing and help to missionaries like us who labor in other ways."

From Africa

"Without this option [an MK boarding school staffed with MK teachers], we would have left the field three years ago and Mukinge Hospital would have been without a medical director at a very crucial turning point in the history of the hospital. Because we did have this option, we were able to see the hospital through its next transition stage."

From Papua New Guinea

"Teachers definitely make a difference in our lives! We are [Bible] translators and we could never make it in the village without our teachers. We have the best system in the world where the teachers prepare the lessons for [our kids while we're in the] village and they come up on the radio. If I had to plan the whole year myself, I would not have time for anything else. . . . We have a child with special needs. . . and we are so happy to have special education teachers here to oversee his load and help teachers adjust. I can't imagine life here without our excellent teachers. We probably would have burnt out a long time ago without them."

From Africa

"Besides providing each of our children a quality education, [MK teachers have] allowed us to be more involved in the local work on the mission hospital, maintenance, and village work. . . . We are thankful first and foremost for their godly influence on our children, for their willingness to invest their lives in being an example and then guiding and training them in the things of the Lord, while also giving a quality education."

From Africa

". . . I actually prayed and thought about this exact type of thing! MK Teacher Scholarship Fund! [EdSend] Wow! I would daydream. . .that if God would drop a million dollars in my lap, I would use it to help future missionaries pay off their student loans and get them to the field. It took us over seven years to pay off [my wife] Stacy's loans while I was an officer in the Army. While . . . in preparation to come to Rift Valley Academy (RVA), we knew that this burden that loomed above us had to be removed before we could go to Kenya with Africa Inland Mission."

A Word from an MK Teacher

Both mission agency administrators and missionaries understand the critical need for MK teachers. And MK teachers understand it, too. They recognize their key role in spreading the Word of God. Following is a story from an MK teacher:

"A couple of weekends ago a few of our staff members attended the Duruma New Testament dedication down on the coast [of Kenya]. Getting there required eight and a half hours in a bus on a bumpy road, followed by an overnight in Mombassa, a ferry ride in the morning, and another hour and a half bus ride. One teacher relayed the story:

" 'The dedication was long (six hours) and boring (not all of it was translated so I understood only half of it) but it was also exciting!' Not being able to understand half of the ceremony myself underscores the importance of Bible translation. Without the Bible in their own language the Duruma people have not been able to understand much of the Bible, and now they can! It was thrilling to watch the Bibles being carried into the dedication area. Women carried the boxes on their heads and men escorted them, waving fresh-cut tree limbs. The boxes were opened and we glimpsed the black-bound, red-paged Bibles before a prayer of dedication. Three passages of Scriptures were read in Duruma before the Bible was given to each of the 20 or so pastors of the region. It was incredible to witness and to think on each of those pastors receiving the Bible in their own language, to read and meditate on and to preach from. One final vivid memory I have is that bright red strip under so many arms as we passed people heading home. As we [MK teachers] provide a good education it frees parents to do the translation-related work they have been called to Africa to do, which helps people such as the Duruma have Scriptures in their own language. That's why I'm here!'"

The Problem: Too Few MK Teachers

Recruitment efforts for MK teachers is an ongoing effort. Despite all the efforts by many missionary organizations there are still many MK teacher openings around the world. The result: Too many MK schools have an inadequate number of teachers and those teachers who remain have to work harder. This is particularly true for some schools because of their location; some are almost always in a crisis situation with regard to teachers. Please see critical teachers.

Bob Creson, President of Wycliffe USA, said, "Maintaining sufficient numbers of teachers has always been a challenge but recently the need has become even greater because the number of missionaries and the number of 'sending countries' is increasing." Those increasing numbers of missionaries almost always bring children who need an education, and that means we need more MK teachers.

The Solution: Project EdSend

Project EdSend, a program to address college loan repayment for MK teachers, is modeled after the time-tested and successful MedSend program for health care missionaries. Essentially, Project EdSend applies a proven concept to a new population. Project EdSend works with prospective MK teachers who have not been able to complete the application process to become MK teachers because of the education loan repayment issue. Once this is assumed on a monthly basis by third parties, prospective teachers may complete the application process to become missionaries.

To learn more about the value of and need for teachers of missionary children please go to Video clips and books.

(MK teacher recruitment efforts by TIS include more target groups than teachers just out of college. These other target groups are not in need of Project EdSend.)

Project EdSend Needs You

You can play a key role in getting MK teachers to the mission field in a timely manner by partnering with Teachers In Service, Inc. and its Project EdSend. Your financial support for MK teachers will have a widespread impact on carrying out the Great Commission of Christ by contributing to keeping missionary families doing the job the Lord asked them to do. Mission agencies face a critical need for many MK teachers every year.

Explore your involvement in Project EdSend by contacting Thom Votaw, Ed.D., President, Teachers In Service, Inc., (575) 523-0886 (h), (575) 649-6296 (c), tvotaw@teachers-in-service.org, 8920 N. Valley Dr., Las Cruces, NM, 88007.

Teachers In Service, Inc. is a nonprofit organization under the IRS code of 501 (c) (3). TIS does not have any salaried individuals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1. Given the shortage of MK teachers, the turnover, and the problems in recruiting new teachers, the Word of God continues to go forth. Why should additional financial support be fed into a system that is already working and moving forward?

Answer: The system is not moving forward as well as it could if it had a sufficient number of MK teachers. According to the book, "Too Valuable to Lose," family issues and children's education are among the top reasons missionaries leave the field. Mission organizations consistently find that if children's education needs are not being met, families will leave the field. Does this mean that the work stops? In some places, yes.

Question 2. Will my financial support of an MK teacher affect the Kingdom and if so, how do you know this?

Answer: Unless we have a plan to reach the world with singles and retired folks, we have to meet the needs of the family. The biggest one is for children's education!

Question 3. Since the college loan repayment issue has been deemed important, why haven't the big mission organizations assumed that responsibility? Why has an unknown (Teachers In Service, Inc.) undertaken the job through Project EdSend that would logically fall under established, well known organizations?

Answer: One mission agency, Wycliffe Bible Translators, utilizes a portion of the proceeds from their Straub Foundation to assist a limited number of teachers with their college education loan repayment. Project EdSend, as a subset of Teachers In Service, Inc., works with all mission agencies and has the vision of a surplus of MK teachers, for all mission agencies, not just WBT.

Question 4. Since Wycliffe is using more and more nationals in the translation process [part of its Vision 2025] that would seem to indicate they would need fewer rather than more MK teachers from the U.S. Please explain.

Answer: While Wycliffe is using more nationals to do Bible translation, this does not mean we have fewer expatriates filling consultant and support roles. The fact is that we are getting more and more members from new sending countries, resulting in even larger children's education issues and financial challenges.

Question 5. Since more and more MK teachers are coming from other countries (e.g. Korea), it would seem like these other countries could or should be supplying more teachers and therefore we would not need more teachers from the U.S. Please explain.

Answer: These new sending countries are slow to understand their need to supply support workers such as teachers for their MKs. Korea has been sending missionaries for 20 some years yet only now are Korean churches beginning to see that MK teachers are real missionaries too. It will take a long time for these new sending countries to get on board with this.

Question 6. Why don't Christian colleges, especially those who have a strong missions orientation, make allowances for graduates who go to the mission field on the same basis that TIS is proposing through Project EdSend (loan repayment on a month by month basis)?

Answer: Good idea! Ask them.

Question 7. How many prospective MK teachers would actually take advantage of having their loans assumed by a third party?

Answer: Most of them.

Question 8. Is money the real issue or are prospective MK teachers turned down for other reasons? What percentage are turned down because their college loan repayment amount is too much?

Answer: Teachers are turned down for all sorts of reasons: if they are not Christians; if they have a problem with pornography; if they aren't good teachers. A significant percentage of teachers are turned down because their loan repayment is too much, though the exact number is unknown.

Question 9. Since a few mission organizations and MK schools pay teachers a modest salary -- some of which could be used for education loan repayment -- why don't other mission organizations solve their teacher shortage problem in the same way?

Answer: Because it doesn't solve the problem; it only moves the problem. In order to pay teachers, MK schools have to charge more tuition. This means missionary families have to raise more support. A number of families find it hard enough already to raise their support. If tuition is raised significantly we'll lose those missionaries who can't raise enough additional support.

Job description for an individual to pursue funding for Project EdSend

Job description for an individual to manage Project EdSend once funding is obtained.

If you would like to donate to Project EdSend, please contact us.