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Global Info
I Want to Do Missions...What Major Should I Choose?
The IMB’s Student Mobilization Team often receives phone
calls from students who have a call to missions asking what they
should major in for their undergraduate degree. Let’s look
issue at this from a couple of different angles …
- Just about any major you choose can be used on the mission field.
- That being said, there are also many countries around the world
where you cannot go as a missionary; so, if you have a marketable
secular undergraduate degree (i.e. nonreligious based) it may
provide you with what we call a “platform” to gain
entrance into one of those countries.
- Choose a major that matches your talents, interests, passions
and part of the world that interests you (if you have a preference
at this point). Having a “back-up plan” in case something
doesn’t work on the mission field is always a good idea,
so choose a major in which you would enjoy working on or off the
mission field.
- Many mission personnel serving overseas have degrees in areas
in which they are not currently working, but often their education
and expertise is put to use in various ways on the field other
than their main job description. The Lord may lead you to a major
that you can’t see how it could be used on the mission field,
but God is not wasteful in His economy. If He is leading you to
study a certain degree or to pursue certain experiences, He will
use all of that knowledge and experience to His glory in the future
if you allow Him to do so.
- If you are considering a career in missions, you’re probably
going to go to seminary and get a graduate degree or at least
several hours of graduate studies in theology. If this is the
case, we do not necessarily recommend that you have a Bible, religion
or missions undergraduate degree. If you do pursue religion as
your bachelor’s degree and then receive another religious
degree from seminary, your entire educational resume will be in
religious studies and that could limit you (and God) as to where
in the world you can serve. Restricted access countries do look
at the schools you attend and the degrees you receive before they
allow you to enter their country to work.
INTERNSHIPS
Internships are required for many undergraduate degrees and the
Student Mobilization Team is often able to set up projects on the
mission field to fulfill an internship requirement for your degree
program.
Consider spending a few weeks overseas completing your internship
and experiencing how your major can be used in missions. Internships
are set up through the Student Mobilization office on an individual
basis and are considered volunteer projects.
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