What it takes to
get in the field.
Meet the Jamesons—Matthew, Rachel, and their two children have responded to God’s call to bring the Gospel to one of the world’s most overlooked people groups:
…The Kucong of China & Vietnam (real people).
About the Kucong of China & Vietnam.
✅ The Kucong are an ethnic minority with little to no access to the Gospel.
✅ Over 800,000 Kucong people are spread across remote mountain regions of China & Vietnam.
✅ Many speak only their local dialect and practice animistic religions.
✅ Bible translation in their heart language is incomplete, and there are almost no known believers among them.
The Road to
the Field is Long
The Jamesons can’t do this alone. And their journey is not short… The estimated timeline: 5 - 7 years just to get established!
Before they even leave home…
Costs vary greatly depending on the destination and ministry activities, but the average missionary raises around $70,000 in annual commitments for a family of four.
This often looks like 12 - 18 months of emails, church visits, letters, traveling, meetings, and financial asks (often while balancing a full-time job).
During this time the average successful missionary:
Sends 400 Facebook messages
Sends 400 emails
Sends out 800 pieces of mail
Meets face-to-face with over 200 people
Has a team of 150 donors
The Hidden Cost of Sending
Sending a missionary family isn’t cheap—and it’s not just about airline tickets or housing.
Estimated “Get in the Field” Budget: $75,000–$120,000
Training & Certifications
Language School & Tutors
Visas & Immigration
Housing, furniture, vehicles
Media & Communication Tools
Estimated Monthly Support: $6,000–$8,000/month
Rent & Utilities
Healthcare & Insurance
Food & Supplies
Childcare & Education
Local Transportation
The Hidden Team Behind Them
Every missionary is backed by a village of supporters and professionals, often invisible to the outside world:
✅ Sending Organization
Mobilizer – guides the family through early decisions
Supervisor – oversees their growth & direction
HR Team – handles documentation and benefits
Director – connects vision to strategic goals
IT & Tech Support – ensures safe, secure communication
Marketing & Media – helps them share stories
Language Helpers & Tutors
✅ Support Team
50–100 individual givers, monthly donors, and prayer partners
Support Raising Coach
Mentors
Prayer partners
Pastor & Elders – provide spiritual oversight
Missions Committee – champions fundraising and logistics
Church Friends & Groups – moral and relational support
Once they reach the field…
It’s not uncommon for it to take up to 5 years for missionaries to get established in the field. If translation is required, it can take 5 more years to deliver a completed Bible. Why so long?
The Jamesons start by learning the national language, Vietnamese, so they can travel and function in the country. (Approx. 2 years)
Once they can speak Vietnamese, they begin learning the Kucong language to a level that allows them to eventually explain complex concepts like sin, redemption & savior. (Approx. 2 years)
Since the Kucong lack a formal written language, the Jamesons work with locals to develop a written alphabet. (Approx. 1 year)
Then Bible translation…
With an alphabet, the local church and the Jamesons begin teaching the Kucong how to read and write while the translation team gets to work.
Translators take the written language and begin producing larger and larger portions of scripture for the Kucong
This culminates with the delivery of the Bible in Kucong up to 10 years after the Jamesons arrived in Vietnam.
There is still much work to do following Bible translation, but providing the Word of God in the Kucongs’ heart language is a great start!
What Happens When Missionaries Burn Out? 📉
47% missionaries leave the field within the first 5 years. 71% leave for preventable reasons.
The reasons? Isolation, poor communication systems, fundraising fatigue, cultural stress, team conflict, or lack of visibility.
Each early exit represents:
❌ Years of preparation lost
❌ Hundreds of thousands of donor dollars spent
❌ Unfinished ministry
❌ Discouraged communities back home
❌ Unreached people still unreached
We help missionaries build strong villages
of support that keep them in the field.
450,000 missionaries…
We want to help
each one of them
engage their supporters
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How we build
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We turn missionaries into lean-mean-communication machines using modern tools and training.
No more boring newsletters (or worse, silence from the field). We help missionaries tell their story well, and make good on their promise to bring supporters along for the ride!
✅ Personal websites
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450,000 missionaries…
+80 million
active Christians in the US alone
= a powerful village
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You are the village… teachers, doctors, mechanics, business owners, homemakers & lawyers. If you follow Jesus, you’re a vital part of the village.
What is your part in the village?
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Check out these prayer resources from awesome ministries: Voice of the Martyrs, Pioneers, and Joshua Project.
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We don’t send missionaries, but we have some great friends who do! We recommend One Mission Society for short-term and long-term opportunities.
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