I was privileged to receive my foundational missionary and theological training in the U.S. in the 1990s. My initial training was in Youth With a Mission, and then I went to study at Life Pacific Bible College, although I didn’t complete my studies there. I also sat under the teaching ministry of several excellent churches of the denominations Foursquare, Assemblies of God, and Calvary Chapel. In these contexts, I received much invaluable head and heart knowledge, mostly of Biblical studies, Theology, and church / missions history. While thankful for this, looking back today I perceive a lack of social science training in the models of ministry education I received. 

The social sciences include fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, and political science. As a missionary today, I feel that someone with this vocation could do very well to invest in these fields as a core aspect of cross-cultural Christian service. Interestingly, both the fields of anthropology and missiology have suffered in recent decades due to questions of the validity of outsider interference in indigenous cultures. Missionaries have consistently argued that such outsider interference in indigenous societies is inevitable. Whether religiously motivated or not, social science professionals can help the interaction of cultures to produce fruitful results versus harmful ones. 

When most people think of research, they likely conceptualize quantitative research, which is focused on measuring quantifiable data such as numbers, statistics, and trends. Much vital quantitative research has been done by missionaries to determine areas of need and opportunity in contexts varying from urban metropolises to remote villages. Less understood by most is qualitative research, which seeks to understand meaning through translation, description, and thematic analysis (Tisdell et al., 2025, p. 19). In quantitative research the primary instruments are non-human technological ones that do mathematical and statistical analysis. But in qualitative research the researcher is the primary instrument. The qualitative researcher’s focus is on participants of some social phenomena (Tisdell et al., p. 20-21). The goal is to discover and understand a human cultural phenomenon such as experiences and perspectives (Ellis & Hart, 2023, p. 1760). Qualitative research seeks to produce detailed descriptions of individuals’ experiences as they understand them, articulated in their own words (Chenail et al., 2011; Daniel 2019). 

In the 2010’s I began doing social science research in Brazil using data from local academic journals and scholarly publications. This was when I was doing my MA in Global Leadership at Fuller Seminary. But my approach to research at that time still focused entirely on texts rather than interactions with real people. During my doctoral studies which began three years ago, I have developed a passion for qualitative research. As a missionary, I have access to so many people with important experiences and perspectives that could benefit the church and missions efforts. People are often wary of sharing their experiences in fear of being exposed or misinterpreted in harmful ways. Most anthropologists extended field work consists of several months to a few years. But missionaries can develop rapport with communities through decades of engagement. In this way, missionaries can gain access to data unavailable to secular sociologists and anthropologists. 

Description is not the only way qualitative research can be used, it can also aim to prove theory or to give voice to marginalized communities. Qualitative research can be used to promote justice and denounce inequality. We live in a time where many missions organizations face a crisis of purpose due to pluralism and cultural relativism. Engaging in the social sciences is a way that Christian doing cross-cultural service can make significant contributions. Missionaries can raise awareness of the needs of underserved communities by investigating their experiences and perspectives. In a time where missions work is seen as a holdover from Western colonial exploitation, qualitative research is a way for Christians to demonstrate our love and respect for human cultures. Just as Jesus’ incarnation demonstrates God’s open attitude towards human culture, of all people missionaries should have the greatest intercultural curiosity. And just as Scripture commands us to love the Lord with all our minds, surely there are those who will be called to contribute significantly to social science research. If a missions culture emerges that values such endeavors, perhaps we will see a generation arise such as that of Daniel. I pray that servants of God will show themselves to increasingly be of exceptional excellence in intercultural research. Would that this be done to the glory of the Creator from whom all cultural creativity and value flows. 

References

Chenail, R. J., Duffy, M., St. George, S., & Wulff, D. (2011). Facilitating coherence across

qualitative research papers. The Qualitative Report, 16(1), 263. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1052

Daniel, B. K. (2019). Using the TACT framework to learn the principles of rigour in qualitative

research. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 17(3), 118

Ellis, J. L., & Hart, D. L. (2023). Strengthening the Choice for a Generic Qualitative Research Design. The Qualitative Repor, 28(6), 1760

Tisdell, E.J., Merriam, S.B. & Stuckey-Peyrot, H.L. (2025). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-1394266456.