How To Become A Missionary: What It Is and Career Path

What is a missionary and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Missionaries go into various international and local communities to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and promote the Christian faith. The duties of a missionary primarily revolve around sharing the gospel, which includes community building and development. Depending on their skill set, missionaries may organize health outreaches, build schools, teach and contribute to the development of the community in addition to teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can decide to be a long-term or short-term missionary. Long-term missionaries dedicate years of their lives to service and stay on in those communities to build families or with their families. On the other hand, short-term missionaries only stay for a while, possibly to establish churches or see to certain projects after which they go.

There is no specific level of education required, but depending on the organization you work with and the type of projects they are involved in, your skillset may be necessary. Because of issues with language barriers, people who are fluent in certain languages are always preferred. Beyond this, a love for the people and sharing the gospel is required. The average missionary is paid about $20,000 annually.

ScoreMissionaryUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,599

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 9.55%

Black or African American 8.42%

Hispanic or Latino 12.98%

Unknown 3.85%

White 64.68%

Gender

female 34.57%

male 65.43%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Key steps to become a missionary

Explore missionary education requirements

Most common missionary degrees

Bachelor's

52.0 %

High School Diploma

20.7 %

Associate

13.4 %

Start to develop specific missionary skills

Skills	Percentages
Spanish Language	21.46%
Community Outreach	10.82%
Ministry	8.43%
Bible Studies	7.03%
Public Speaking	5.09%

Research missionary duties and responsibilities

Train in cross-cultural evangelism and discipleship.
Assist Sunday school teacher -Teach class
Prepare PowerPoint slides for worship every week.
Coach small groups in language basics within a larger ESL classroom.

Prepare your missionary resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your missionary resume.

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