Meet an Agency: Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC)

We heart this new, ongoing series–a virtual trip to the coffee shop with organizations to help you go there, serve Him, and love them even better.

(For more thoughts about why you might join an agency–and a handful of reasons you might not–make sure to check out He Said/She Said/You Say? “Should I go overseas with an organization?”, both the pros and the cons.)

Today, we’re grabbing a peppermint mocha with Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC International). They long to see Jesus known, loved and worshiped by the unreached peoples of the world. And they’ve got some interesting distinctives.

Pull up a chair.

TELL US WHAT YOUR AGENCY SPECIALIZES IN. WHAT is WEC PASSIONATE ABOUT?

WEC’s passion is to see Christ known, loved and worshiped by the unreached peoples of the world, and to see churches planted and growing among them.

Because of this, we’re also passionate about mobilizing people for missions from all over the world.

We are committed to finding new, creative and culturally-relevant ways of doing missions and of sharing with the unreached both in their home countries and wherever they have been displaced by political and social unrest.

Sometimes this means traveling across the globe; sometimes it means going across the street.

HOW LONG HAs WEC BEEN AROUND, AND HOW LARGE ARE YOU GUYS? IN WHAT COUNTRIES ARE YOUR GLOBAL WORKERS LOCATED?

WEC was founded by C. T. Studd in 1913.

We are a multi-cultural, interdenominational mission of over 1,890 workers from 58 countries serving in approximately 90 countries (on six continents), training and sending out long-term, mid-term and short-term workers from 20 centers around the world. We also serve displaced people from additional countries.

So it follows that many areas of ministry have grown out of WEC and are a vital part of our church-planting work:

• Operation World, whose passion is to speed the work of world evangelization through prayer, and who published what is widely regarded as the definitive volume of prayer information about the world;
• Rainbows of Hope, whose passion is to transform “children in crisis to children in Christ,” ministering to vulnerable children in more than 90 countries;
• Betel, whose mission is to bring long-term freedom and restoration to lives broken by drug and alcohol abuse, ministering in over 100 urban areas in 24 nations;
• Neighbors Worldwide, who are reaching “the world on our doorstep,” the unreached people who are displaced and now living in Western countries;
• Arts Release, a collective of creative arts specialists who enjoy expressing God’s love through various art forms which help local believers around the world (especially the least reached) to better understand, worship and share God;
• International Mission Mobilization, whose passion is to share the gospel “From Everywhere to Everywhere,” mobilizing missionaries within the majority world to fulfill the Great Commandment of worldwide evangelization;
• Missionary Training Colleges (MTCs), cross-cultural schools that are dedicated to training and equipping students both theologically and practically to serve God in cross-cultural situations. Our MTCs are: Cornerstone (Netherlands); Eastwest (New Zealand); Latino Americano (Brazil), and Worldview (Australia).     

TELL US ONE STORY THAT EXCITES YOU FROM WHAT WEC IS DOING.

WEC founder C. T. Studd said, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

The continuing story of WECers sacrificing deeply to reach the lost and of God using those sacrifices for good is really inspiring!

THE DAVIS FAMILY’S STORY

The Davis* family suffered the tragic loss of their toddler in an accident while serving overseas. After coming home to bury their child, they decided they must return to the people their hearts longed to reach.

There they held a Christian memorial service for their child, which their neighbors from another religion attended. Witnessing this family’s suffering, the people were more open to the gospel. And some have now become followers of Jesus!

While still grieving their deep loss, the family rejoices that God is using their sacrifice to bring freedom to others.

EVAN’S STORY

Evan* is a young man who works among one of the least reached people groups in the world, one well-known for violence.

When warned that his life would be at risk, he said, “It doesn’t matter if I die. I already know Jesus. But I have to go, because they don’t know Him!”

God is blessing Evan’s work, and he rejoices that many in this people group are now followers of Jesus. Some are even going out as missionaries to their neighbors!

KAITLYN’S STORY

Kaitlyn* took a short-term trip to work among Syrian refugee women and children. One of the women Kaitlyn served told her she must be crazy to leave her comfortable home and come to such a harsh place.

The woman implored, “Please send more crazy people!”

We pray for more people who are crazy about Jesus and about the lost to join us soon, so we can continue to be His hands and heart to the world!

WEC’s Organizational culture in five words. Go.

• Christ-centered.
• Prayerful.
• Diverse.
• Sacrificial.
• Innovative.

What’s distinctive about WEC?

Multicultural Teams

Our missionaries come from five continents and 58 countries. For nearly half of us, English is not our first language. Diversity enlarges our teams’ worldviews and reduces the danger of imposing our home cultures on the churches we plant.

Living Simply

WECers accept that obeying Jesus’ call to missions means following Him on a journey that includes sacrificing earthly treasures that don’t last to pursue heavenly ones that do.

No Financial Appeals

God has led us to adopt a financial policy that gives visible evidence to His worthiness of our trust. We seek His kingdom first, communicate with others about what God is doing in our lives and ministry, and trust Him to provide what He already knows we need, without us making appeals for funds.

Member Care

We are intentional about helping our workers to stay healthy, resilient and effective in the demanding situations of life and ministry.

You can learn more about these and other distinctives of WEC here.

Let’s talk brass tacks. Tell us about WEC’s application and training process.

WEC is an international organization, and each branch varies somewhat in the application and training process.

1. The process for long-term missions through WEC USA begins with filling out this contact form on-line or emailing our First Response Team at contact.us@wec-usa.org
2. A member of our mobilization team contacts the inquirer.
3. If we determine individuals are ready to begin the two-part application process, we’ll walk through it with them.
4. Once this process is completed and WEC and the individuals agree that we are a good ministry fit, they will enter a 13-week candidate orientation, which includes
   • taking classes on many topics related to WEC, missions, cross-cultural preparation, etc.
   • working alongside of WEC staff in various roles
   • completing one week of ministry
   • participating in prayer meetings and events on campus, etc.
5. At the end of the orientation, candidates will receive a formal invitation to join WEC, followed by a graduation ceremony we call The Right Hand of Fellowship (Galatians 2:9 NIV).

Short-term workers (those going out anywhere from one week on teams to up to two years as individuals) complete a similar application process and attend a five-day, eight-day, or one-month orientation, depending on the length of their trip.

What kind of global workers is WEC looking for? Feel free to paint us a word picture. 

We are looking for people from a wide variety of backgrounds and skill sets whose core passion is loving Christ, who are passionate about sharing Christ, who make prayer integral to everything they do, and who are willing to live out the Four Pillars of WEC:

• Faith
• Holiness
• Sacrifice
• Fellowship

WECers should also be able to remain flexible in our changing world, while not compromising the truth. As we are called to be “all things to all people so that by all possible means [we] might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22b NIV), we seek to invest time in understanding people’s lives, cultures and needs and how best to reach them, instead of stubbornly sticking to “how things have always been done.”

What characteristics cause you concern in an applicant?

Serving cross-culturally and in multicultural teams can be very stressful.

So we tell candidates, “If you don’t deal with your stuff while you are here, you will have to deal with it on the field.”

We would be concerned about applicants who:

• are not able to identify areas of weakness they struggle with, or who had recent moral issues they have not dealt with
• are “Lone Rangers”, those who don’t have a sending church or prayer partners.
• have no overseas experience, or who have never lived away from home or held a steady job. We would suggest such applicants take a short-term trip before considering long-term service.

We recommend couples be married for at least one year before applying to serve long-term.

Tell us anything we missed that you’d like to mention about WEC.

Our WEC USA branch located in Philadelphia needs you! We are seeking behind-the-scenes workers to help equip and support our workers around the world.

There are both long-term positions and short-term volunteer positions available. Each position involves trusting God for financial support, just as our overseas/international missionaries do. We are specifically looking for people to serve in the following positions:

• Mobilizers/Recruiters; Short-Term Department Workers
• Member Care Counselors
• Digital Media Creators and Designers
• Kitchen Assistants; Childcare Workers
• Missionary Kid Department Workers
• Accommodations Assistants
• Maintenance Workers
• Accountants
• Finance Office Workers
• IT Specialists
• Receptionist/Administrative Assistant

Interested? Fill out this contact form online or email our First Response Team at contact.us@wec-usa.org.

What advice would you give to someone considering going overseas?

• Make prayer your first priority, seeking God’s will and empowering for your life and ministry.
• Have a core team of prayer partners committed to praying for you and your ministry.
• Take Bible classes, and dig deep into His Word.
• Have an experienced missionary mentor you.
• Faithfully serve in your home church and local community.
• Take a short-term trip. (These trips are available through WEC.)
• Gather as much information as possible about missions and the people/country you hope to reach.
• Get training in whatever area you would like to serve in.
• Have a skill that can lead to a job in the country where you will serve.

*not their real names

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AND DON’T MISS…

• • “Reaching the Unreached = Danger” and More Missions Myths Debunked
  • Your Career, Globally: What Could I Do with a Business Degree in Overseas Missions?
  • Unreached People Group Focus: Japanese
  • Unreached People Group Focus: Han Chinese, Xiang people
  • The Generation Who Can: Reaching the Unreached with News They Can’t Live Without