Project EdSend
(Please note: Project EdSend is not operational but it is indeed part of the reconstructed TIS.
First we need to locate a Business Manager and four directors and then pursue Project EdSend.)
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 prohibit 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, the result being the spreading the Word of God in a more effective way. 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, is considerable. Some schools begin the year without a full teaching staff, and some with unqualified teachers. And 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.
Mission agency recruiters note that a significant number of students enrolled in schools of education on Christian campuses express an interest in serving as MK teachers, yet only a small percentage actually do so.
The reasons? There are several but one big one is that mission agencies have debt limits and many teachers’ college loans exceed this limit. Time after time, college loans get in the way of new teachers going to the mission field.
The typical prospective MK teacher graduates from college, takes a teaching job, and spends several years paying off college loans. 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 Creson, 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.” [emphasis added]
The College Loan Repayment Issue
The concept of addressing the college loan issue that enables missionaries to go to the field is not new. MedSend was begun in 1995 to assist health care missionaries get to the field by assumption of their college loans on a monthly basis by third parties. In recent years the cost of a college education has risen dramatically; this has had a significant negative impact on prospective teachers of missionary children. In too many cases, paying off college loans prevents them from going to the mission field.
Wycliffe Bible Translators utilizes a portion of an endowment from the Straub Foundation to assist a limited number of new MK teachers with their college loans. This model has been very successful in helping Wycliffe’s MK teachers get to the field, who otherwise may never have gone.
The Problem: More Needs to be Done
The Straub Foundation is an excellent financial resource for assisting a limited number of MK teachers to go overseas. However, it is limited to members of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Following is a letter from an MK teacher, who is an MK herself and now serves as a teacher with a different mission agency, Africa Inland Mission (AIM):
“With my background as an MK, I believe God has uniquely called me and equipped me to teach MKs and aid them in their transition to their passport countries. And yet, how do I pay for college loans? Currently I receive only 60% of the financial support I need to cover basic day-to-day expenses at RVA. My meager financial support prevents me from paying back school loans. I’m confident that the mission field is where God wants me to be, but my financial situation could force me to leave RVA and my ministry. What am I to do? My heart is in Africa with kids who are growing up as I did: missionary children. I want to provide a quality education for them, and to show them the beauty of their heritage and how to use it for the glory of God. Lack of money is the only obstacle keeping me from fulfilling God’s purpose for my life. In the past I have seen Him overpower similar obstacles in mighty and unique ways. I’m looking to Him now to do just that. While I wait and watch what He will do, I will continue to serve and strive for excellence in His sight.”
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 and the Straub Foundation for a limited number of MK teachers with Wycliffe. (Essentially, Project EdSend applies proven concepts 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 debt issues, one of which is their college loan repayment. Once this is assumed on a monthly basis by third parties and other debt issues are resolved (e.g. credit card, car payment) prospective teachers may complete the application process to become missionaries.
Project EdSend Needs YOU