Do All Missionaries Need Health Insurance?
God is able to heal. I am certain of that! I’ve experienced miraculous healing in my own life again and again. I’ve prayed for others and seen them healed, some instantly, and some over a period of time. Many missionaries believe in God’s miraculous power. Knowing that, do we, as field workers need health insurance? It can certainly put a significant strain on our already stretched budgets.
Some mission agencies require health insurance. It’s either paid for by the agency or a necessary part of the missionary’s budget they must raise. Faith missions, like YWAM for instance, normally do not require their staff to have health insurance. Is that right or wrong?
Our First Few Years
When my husband and I first went to the field, we were in our early twenties. Our support was very low, and our budget bare-bones. It didn’t include health insurance. We trusted God for protection and provision. He was faithful.
Later, we were able to include this item in our budget. When life-threatening hepatitis and other illness hit us, we were extremely grateful we’d made the decision to invest in insurance.
Do Indians Need it?
Years later, the question arose again. We trained and sent out Indian cross-cultural missionaries to other Asian countries. Should they be required to have health insurance?
They were going to a place in East Asia. Many of the missionaries they would work with were Westerners. The vast majority of these workers had health insurance. When sickness or accidents happened, they went to the best hospitals in town. Was that the same standard that should be required of Indian, African or Latino missionaries going to those nations?
The Indians we were sending, had never had health insurance in their own nation. They had never gone to the best hospitals. The countries they were going to generally had better health care facilities than they did back home.
As Indian missionaries, if we required them to have insurance, were we giving them “Saul’s armor to wear”? If we required them to raise the finances needed for international health insurance, was that too heavy a burden?
David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
1 Sam. 17:39 NIV.
My heart was torn about this issue. I puzzled over what should be done.
Their budgets were already high. The money they needed for travel, visas, and study in the nations they were going to was significant. It was already more per month than national pastors of large churches in India earned! Trying to help them be sent out by the Indian church was hard enough, with the budgets such as they were. I desperately didn’t want them to feel they could only go if Westerners supported them!
Yet, I didn’t want to see them suffer and struggle on the field. If they got sick or had an accident, I wanted them to get the help they needed. It was a tough decision.
Some Principles About Health Insurance
1) Having Health Insurance Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Need Faith for Miracles
Most health insurance plans do not provide full coverage. You still need to see healing and miraculous provision, even if you purchase health insurance. On the mission field, sickness is common. Malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, hepatitis and many other illnesses are easy to contract. Working and living with local people and in foreign environments, they are common. The enemy often attacks Christian workers in areas of health. You can expect to struggle with health issues in the mission field.
What we also should anticipate is that God will show His glory to us in those times. Whether you end up with health insurance or not, be prepared to ask God for miracles! Also, be prepared to struggle and sometimes suffer on the field.
2) It’s an Individual Choice
As stated above, some agencies pay their staff salaries and provide insurance. This article is written more for faith missions like Campus Crusade (Cru), Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and Operation Mobilization (OM).
We can allow individuals to prayerfully choose for themselves whether or not to invest in health insurance. When they do that, they take responsibility for their own lives and decisions. This is almost always better than making a rule for them.
As a leader, you can counsel and encourage them in a particular direction. If you mandate insurance, though, you may need to help pick up the cost as well. This could create an unhealthy dependency. Be cautious about going in this direction. Dialogue with your staff about this. Encourage them to ask God what He is saying to them about health insurance and needs.
3) Be Careful Not to Require Things that Aren’t Normally Required in a Person’s Home Country
One size doesn’t fit all. If your mission is international, and people are coming from many different countries to work with you, be careful. Global South missionaries have different needs. They have different desires and ways of thinking about health issues.
They may be used to going to government hospitals and waiting in longer lines than a Western missionary finds tolerable. This is okay, especially in the beginning as they are starting out. They may also have a greater understanding of faith and the miraculous. Many will have experienced this in their lives more than their Americans or Europeans colleagues. Don’t rob them of their faith stance by requiring something beyond what they are comfortable with.
For some, believing God for the money for health insurance is harder than believing for a healing miracle. For others, raising funds is easier. Allow for that variety of experience and strengths to function together.
4) If You Don’t Have Health Insurance, Budget and Save For Medical Expenses
Be responsible for your health needs either way. You may decide to not have health insurance. In that case, be diligent to budget and save money. Be ready for the time when you need to go to the dentist, are hospitalized a few days, or end up in a car accident.
Don’t expect that your missionary friends and colleagues will pick up those bills. Often, local health insurance in the country you work in can also be purchased cheaply. This is another cheaper option as compared to international health insurance.
5) Look Into All the Options
Other options are sometimes available. Things like Missionary Upholder’s Trust (MUT), programs like (Love Your Neighbor) are worth considering. These insurance programs are a bit different. Each month you pay into a group fund. Then, if someone has health expenses, the group fund covers it as well as an additional charge to all the members.
Research and learn about all the various options available to you. Then, prayerfully make a wise choice about what is right for you and your family right now. Your circumstances may change in the future.
Any Ideas to Share?
When I was evacuated from a hardship country and flown for medical care to Thailand, I was so grateful we had insurance to pay for that. It was a huge blessing! Looking back though, I know that if we’d not had that in place, God would still have taken care of us.
Remember, our trust is never in health insurance. It is in God. He is our provider and healer. Whether through insurance or other means, we can be sure that He will lovingly care for us.
What inexpensive options for missionary insurance are you aware of? I’d love to hear about them, or your thoughts on this in the comments below. Or, feel free to start a discussion on this in the Missionary Life Facebook group. In the meantime, stay healthy!