1. There has never been a significant cross cultural (CC) AFAM mission effort numerically, but there have been numerous outstanding individual missionaries.
2. Racism
   1. Some evangelical schools and missions have refused admittance to AFAM applicants for various reasons (prejudices of missionaries, colonial government opposition, Blacks found not to be more disease-resistant).
   2. Racism has had a strong impact upon the low numbers, both directly and indirectly (lower sense of feeling able to achieve).
   3. SQ30 (Survey Question # 30), perception of US racism above average, m= 3.44 (average response 3.44 out of a possible 5)--discourages the attempt to minister to other ethnic groups. Why not stay and help AFAMs? BUT perceived racism around the world is not clearly a factor (SQ 32--mean of 2.72 of 5.0 on the Likert Scale).

SQ#1, Self-reported reasons for under-representation: Largest category: Inadequate Missions Education in AFAM Church

Theory of Survival/Security

1. Theory of Survival/Security: explains the phenomena
2. Giving is low, especially to non-AFAMs
3. Avoidance of unfamiliar, strange and intimidating environments

2. A theological focus upon suffering and survival hinders CC missions, SQ 16--62% agreed, only 16% disagreed (mean= 3.65). Correlates strongly with other questions.

3. Twenty-nine percent of ALL AFAM missionaries (N=102) have been criticized for serving those not AFAM (SQ 17), and 32% of the 94 who responded to this question.
4. It takes an estimated 12 months longer (median) for AFAMs to raise support than for Whites (SQ 10B).
5. A very strong correlation exists between SQ 21 A (have served in a White mission) and SQ 19 (% of support from AFAMs), the percentage of support received from the AFAM community: r=-.43 [correlation coefficient] (N=67, p=.000 [probability of happening by chance is zero]). As participation increases in a White mission organization, the percentage of AFAM support dramatically decreases.

AFAM Worldview

1. Under 50 worldview (SQ 4): Responses unmistakably cluster around attaining the American Dream. An AFAM inward focus, together with a parochial worldview, are nearly as powerful themes. Most of the other responses have to do with a relative indifference to the Great Commission. These categories are a succinct and manageable statement, mirroring the answers of question one, of the main reasons for the lack of AFAM CC missionaries. Of 106 responses (more than one answer allowed), 38% cited materialism, 28% cited an AFAM inward focus, 8% each for parochialism and an "unspiritual" worldview and 10% noted no difference in worldview.
2. SQ 18 states that AFAMs are more comfortable going to the AFAM than to the White community when seeking funds. Fifty-two percent did not feel more comfortable going to the Black community than to the White, while only twenty-six percent did, consistent with George Foster's "Image of the Limited Good" concept that going outside the community for funds is more acceptable than taking funds from the community. The younger AFAM missionary, up to age fifty, feels considerably more comfortable going to the White community for funds.

1. SQ 19. The median percentage of income from Blacks is 50 percent (N=91, s=38, mean=51). However, fifty-five percent of responses (50 people of the total of 91 respondents) have an average percentage of 19% coming from the Black community.

AFAM Church

1. There appears to be an intentional, rather than inadvertent, disinterest in non-AFAM missions.

2. GIVING: The AFAM Church has more money than most White churches of similar size, according to a Barna Research poll (1997, "African-American Churches in the U.S.").

   1. SQ28 While one person mentioned that an AFAM church with funds in hand would be more likely to give, significantly, no one mentioned that the AFAM church did not have money to give. The issue does not center on money, or the lack of money, but upon predisposition and consequent motivation. The statement, "The lack of a global mission vision of AFAM pastors seriously hinders AFAM CC mission involvement," was answered by 101 persons. A lopsided eighty-four percent of respondents (N=101) agreed, with sixty-four percent strongly agreeing. Only nine percent disagreed.
   2. SQ 6 (factors which motivate AFAM churches to support CC missions): The most important reason for giving is that the AFAM CC missionary has a personal relationship with the local AFAM church. The mean is 13.1 months of extra time to raise support, compared with White missionaries, in the estimate of the 36 responding AFAM missionaries. One reason is probably that it takes longer to develop such relationships with many AFAM churches, or to initiate relationships with White churches.
   3. Ethnocentricity: The next largest sub-category in SQ 6 is that of racial affinity--the missionary serves those who are Black (nine responses) or is AFAM (six responses), or serves AFAMs (four).
   4. SQ 28: The perception of the most likely candidate to receive financial support is an AFAM raised in the church, who gives a strong visual presentation, is supported by the pastor and who is going with a trusted agency to an African nation (particularly one experiencing disaster).

3. SQ 38 ("An emphasis in the AFAM church upon God's provision conveys the idea that God is our Servant. . .") This question correlates strongly with 4 other questions describing the AFAM church, (materialism- SQ 31, spiritual coldness-SQ 39, theology of survival-SQ 16, neglect of global mission doctrine-SQ 37), all of which are like spokes in a wheel, with the local church at the hub.
4. SQ 24 An amazing ninety-two percent of the population either agreed strongly (seventy-seven percent) or agreed (fifteen percent) that a "major solution to the under-representation of AFAM CC missionaries is to expose AFAM local churches to CC missions." Very little age differentiation occurred. The mean was 4.62 of 5.0 (N=100).
5. SQ 37 Eighty-one percent agreed (fifty-seven percent strongly) that AFAM churches do indeed neglect the doctrine of missions. The average response was a very high 4.23 (N=99). The local AFAM church is focused on home.
6. SQ 31 Enough historical evidence was cited in chapter two to expect a strong affirmation of materialism in the AFAM church. Nearly sixty-six percent of respondents agreed that materialism is a strong factor in the AFAM church in not supporting AFAM CC missionaries (thirty-three percent strongly), compared with twenty-four percent who disagreed (eight percent strongly). The median for this response was a high 3.67 (N=99).

AFAM denominational missions

Giving of major AFAM denominations for CC missions is extremely low

1. Giving in major Black denominations has declined drastically in several instances, adjusted for Inflation (see table in pdf form).

2. As age increases, so does the approval rating for major AFAM denominational mission agencies, but overall, sixty-three percent of AFAM respondents disagree strongly (thirty-four percent) or disagree (twenty-nine percent) that AFAM denominational mission agencies do a good job.

White denominational missions

1. SQ 21b Seventy-three percent were either comfortable (thirty-five percent), or "very comfortable" (thirty-seven percent) working within a White mission. Only ten percent were in the uncomfortable range. In fact, the percentages of satisfaction increases in direct proportion to age increase in almost every age range.
2. Forty-four percent disagreed with SQ 29: "White mission organizations are racist to the point of not wanting to accept AFAM candidates," nineteen percent strongly (the mean is 2.68, N=97). The correlation between age and SQ 29 is a rock-solid=.457 (N=88, p=.000). As age increases, so does the perception of racism. But none in the 20-29 age range perceived racism. This should encourage White missions. With increasing age, all three questions dealing with possible racism in White missions show that mistrust increases with age (SQ 15, 29, 33), but young recruits are open.
3. A total of seventy-one respondents to SQ 21a have served, or currently serve in predominately White missions when they completed the survey, which is seventy-two percent of those responding to this question (N=98).

AFAM Pastors

1. AFAM pastors have a self-reported smaller salary than White counterparts (Barna 1997).
2. SQ 8B. (If a person motivated the AFAM missionary--who was it?) The Pastor influenced only 11% of missionaries. Given the central importance of the AFAM pastor in the church, this is an anomaly, but given the inward focus of the AFAM church, and the power of the Black pastor, this supports the survival/security theory. Of all the 102 missionaries, only 6% were motivated by their pastor. Only 5% of the 102 were motivated by the local church or a church member. The AFAM church could be considered a disincentive to global missions. Therefore, a strategy to awaken the AFAM church must focus upon awakening her pastors.
3. SQ 28 The statement, "The lack of a global mission vision of AFAM pastors seriously hinders AFAM CC mission involvement," was answered by 101 persons. A lopsided eighty-four percent of respondents (N=101) agreed, with sixty-four percent strongly agreeing. Only nine percent disagreed. Such a consensus of AFAM opinion is weighty. The actual mean is 4.37 of 5.0 (N=101) No surprise emerges from the strong correlation between SQ 28 and SQ 37, indicating that if the pastor does not teach missions, that doctrine will be neglected in the church. The correlation is r=.48 (N=99, p= .000).

Older AFAM Missionaries

1. The older the CC missionary, the more likely it is that the missionary will instead be serving within the AFAM community (SQ 3).
2. SQ 41 In general, the older the missionary, the more secure has been the family of origin. Consequently, younger recruits may have a weaker sense of self-efficacy than 30 years ago. The breakdown of the family probably hurts the sense of self-efficacy of potential recruits.

The AFAM Missionary

1. A very strong correlation exists between security of the home and the level of education attained (SQ-L).
2. 89% of 99 respondents indicated having either a college or grad school education, so recruiters would best focus on the college level for recruiting (SQ-L). None in the population up through the 30-39 age level had only a Bible school background.
3. Risk perception among AFAMs in general is an extremely daunting obstacle to CC missions, according to these missionaries. Survival is taken with extreme seriousness (SQ 36, mean of 3.98--78% agreement [42% strongly] vs. 13% disagree [8% strongly] that the AFAM perception of risk is a reason for so few CC missionaries). THIS IS A WATERSHED ISSUE. Very few responses were in the middle (mean=3.98).
4. Risk perception by missionaries themselves is less than 2.5, but after service was slightly greater (2.7), due to the 30-39 age range. Missionaries in the 20-29 category were very realistic (SQ 22A & B).
5. Sixty of 70 answering SQ 10A, if Blacks took longer to raise support than Whites, answering "yes," or 86%. The percentage increased with age (1^st two categories identical). Thirty-six persons ventured to answer how much longer in months it took for an AFAM to raise support than for Whites. The average is 13.1 months (SQ 10B).
6. Africa is the preferred destination of missionaries, SQ 8-A.
7. This was a thoroughly evangelical group--100 of 102 affirm that Christ is the only way to salvation.

RECRUITMENT IDEAS

1. Recruitment of AFAMs needs to be approached as sensitively as any other ministry to a different ethnic group would be.
2. Recruiters would be wise to consider both the level of security in the family-of-origin and GPA in recruitment (SQ-L). The average GPA was 3.19 in a 4.0 system, so the missionaries were the better students.
3. Sixty percent of the missionaries received a "call" to ministry while their pastor preached expository messages, but this decreased with age. However, not one single significant correlation exists between having a pastor who preached expository messages and another Likert-style closed-ended question.
4. Forty-one percent of all respondents said that a short term trip motivated them to go into missions, and 83% of those who were 20-29! The younger the person, the more likely they were to be motivated by a trip. The 40-49 age range group was strongly motivated by a trip, and is an excellent target population, according to this research.
5. Role models are extremely important, especially among the 20-29 age range. ALL of the 6 in the 20-29 age range, and 75% of the 16 in the 30-39 age range, and 50% of the 14 in the 40-49 age range indicated that a person was the motivation for CC missions. Personal relationships seem to be less important as age increases. Those not motivated either by a missionary or mission trip most often sensed a call from God (SQ 8-C).
6. SQ 8B indicates that either a missionary or a "significant other" (teacher, church member or friend) will motivate an AFAM into missions. Missionaries motivated 46% of the 56 who responded to this question (N=56), and "significant others" motivated 50%. The trust factor is apparently extremely important, but a stranger who is a CC missionary has the greatest single impact. Virtually half of those influenced by a person--were influenced by a missionary (SQ 8B-2). This most influential person is greatly important for recruitment.
7. A call of God was the reason for their going into missions according to 24% (N=24) of the total and 57% of those responding to the question. God is calling, but either He is calling an infinitesimally small number of AFAMs, or there are many who are disobedient or who are actively discouraged.
8. Questions SQ 14, 16, 17, 34, 38, taken together, are a good indication of a mission candidates ethnocentricity, as a basis for discussion after an interview protocol. God as servant (SQ 38) is positively and significantly correlated to SQ 34, ethnocentricity, and to the perception of the AFAM church neglecting teaching global mission.
9. To the statement: "AFAMs will go more readily to a more-Westernized people (e.g. to a Kenya) than to less-Westernized people (e.g. to a Pakistan-SQ34)," 57% responded in agreement --54% of ALL missionaries--(twenty-six percent strongly), and only 15% in disagreement (5% strongly--mean=3.64, N=96). While recognizing the preeminent place of the Lord of the harvest (Luke 10:2, NIV), this tendency (to go to Westernized peoples) might nevertheless inform recruitment efforts by offering opportunities in countries such as those in Africa and South America.
10. SQ 33. This question is: "A major reason for the lack of AFAM CC missionaries is the failure of white missions to aggressively recruit AFAM candidates." Sixty-five percent agree (thirty percent strongly), and a mere fourteen percent disagree (seven percent strongly). The mean is 3.74 (N=98, s=1.17).

Table 36. SQ 5 A. General recruitment suggestion categories.

Table 37. SQ 5 B. General recruitment--mission education sub-category.

Table 39. SQ 11 A. Main categories of advice to White recruiters.

SQ9 Table 42. What missionaries would do first to remedy the problem. Of the missionaries surveyed, sixty-eight percent would focus primarily upon the AFAM church to remedy the problem. Forty-eight percent of all responses, and seventy percent within this AFAM church category, specifically mention some form of missions education as the place to begin, excluding Bible teaching in general.