Can I be a Missionary if I am Divorced?

Divorce does not disqualify you from serving with SIM USA. But it is important that you have worked through your experience and are in a healthy place emotionally. At SIM USA, we want to ensure that applicants who have experienced divorce have had time to heal. 

Prospective workers must wait at least four years after the divorce is finalized before applying to serve with us. This timeline gives you space to process your experience and move forward in a healthy way.  

“We believe marriage is something that is very sacred, and so the ending of a marriage is a very significant thing. We want to make sure that there’s been time for healing, for growth, and for working through whatever circumstances were surrounding the divorce,” Deputy Director of Personnel Wendy A. said.  

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3  

Every person has a unique story and life experiences that have shaped them. Sharing those experiences honestly allows us to understand an applicant more fully and consider their circumstances with care. 

We ask that you be transparent with us from the beginning of the application process about divorce. It is an important part of your story that we want to understand.  

“We don’t see divorce as an automatic deterrent, but we do recognize that there’s a significant potential for impact on a person. So, we think it’s important to conduct a review and see where the applicant is with that,” Applicant Coordinator Team Lead Sarah M. said.  

Conversations about a past divorce happen early in the application process. Our Divorce Review Committee works with you to understand the circumstances of the divorce, and what your life has looked like since then. The committee is a small group of experienced SIM USA leaders. They will help discern your readiness to serve overseas. 

“All of these people have an incredible history of working in complex situations themselves, serving alongside our workers and their ministries, and responding to difficult situations. So, they bring a lot of life experience, ministry experience, and wisdom,” Sarah said.  

The review process begins with conversations between you and your coordinator. Then, you complete a written statement explaining your story and divorce.  

You will provide two references, one from a church leader and another from someone who knows you personally. These references provide additional insight into your journey since the divorce. This helps us discern readiness to serve cross-culturally. 

During the application process, you will also complete a psychological assessment. This gives you an opportunity to talk through your experiences with a psychologist. It helps identify any areas that may still need attention. The assessment also helps us understand how you are doing emotionally. It gives us insight into whether you are in a healthy place for the challenges of cross-cultural life. 

“We really desire our applicants, active workers, and people we’re ministering alongside, to experience the healing and restoration of the gospel,” Sarah said. “We all have things in our histories that we have to work through … Our heart is to work through those things early.” 

Experiencing divorce does not disqualify you from serving with SIM USA. However, some circumstances could prevent service or keep you from working in certain countries.  

Child custody arrangements are one example of a circumstance that may affect your ability to serve overseas. We consider whether you are legally able to move overseas with your children. We also want to understand how you would maintain a healthy relationship with your children if you lived in different countries. 

“We’re going to be looking at the whole picture of what their obligations are. Everyone has family obligations, no matter a person’s history. So, we look at those factors to make sure a placement would be viable, healthy, and realistic,” Sarah said.  

Divorce experience may also affect which country you can serve in. Some ministry locations may have specific cultural beliefs about divorce. At times, these beliefs can affect how a worker is received or which ministry roles they can to take on. 

However, divorce-related restrictions do not apply to every country. We will work with you to understand each location’s needs and help you find a place where you can serve well. 

“We want to honor our ministry leaders up front by being honest about divorce history. But then, once we determine that a worker is eligible for a placement, we want to honor the worker by not mentioning it again. They just move forward like any other applicant,” Sarah said. 

At SIM USA, we want to understand your circumstances, make sure your responsibilities can be managed well, and help you find a ministry location that fits you. 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

If you are interested in cross-cultural service and have experienced divorce, we would be glad to explore how you may be able to serve with SIM USA. 

“We serve a redeeming God, and none of us have perfect stories. We all have hard things in our past, whether they were our fault or somebody else’s fault. We all have difficult things we have walked through, and God uses those to grow us, teach us, and draw us closer to Him. God redeems those things,” Wendy said.  

Interested in serving with SIM USA? Connect with a mission coach and attend a Connect event to learn more.  

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 

Maggie Watts
Content Creator

I am a content creator with SIM USA. It is a joy to use writing and multimedia to glorify God and tell stories about how He is working around the world.