foreign mission
- noun
- /ˈfɔrɪn ˈmɪʃən/
:
misión religiosa
- We are both Mormons, and we both served foreign missions for our church at the same time: he in France and I in Brazil.
Examples
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To be sure, they provided the theological underpinnings for the possibility of foreign missions, but both must be understood as transitional figures.
Academic text (2003) -
During their time in Africa, the couple dedicated themselves to a foreign mission to help build schools and provide education.
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The mature Buck said little about foreign missions.
Academic text (2003) -
The engravings highlighted themes that would become staple images of foreign missions to Americans back home well into the next century.
Academic text (2003) -
The educational paternity of these finishing schools has a direct lineage to foreign missions.
Academic text (2003) -
Consider the specific circumstances beginning with Samuel J. Mills, Jr., the "father of American foreign missions," and culminating with the election of the first Board officers in September 1810.
Academic text (2003) -
Though she proceeded to answer her own question, "Is there a case for foreign missions?" with a yes, by the time she came to the end, the yes was so muffled by qualifiers that the audience seemed confused and speechless.
Academic text (2003) -
Many young adults choose to join a foreign mission to share their faith and assist communities in need.
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After many years of preparation, she was excited to embark on her first foreign mission to provide medical care in a rural area.
Synonyms
245
3.4
A place where people work to spread a religion or help others
A place in another country where religious workers live and help with education and health
A place in another country where church workers live to teach and help local people
How Active
245
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'foreign' (relating to another country) + 'mission' (an organized task or operation): a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a mission operating in another country. This adjectival + noun composition is regular in English and has clear cross-linguistic equivalents, so the expression is transparently compositional.
Etymology
The phrase foreign mission comes from the religious idea of sending people to another country to help and teach. A mission was a group sent 'to do religious work' and foreign means in another country, so a foreign mission is an organization of missionaries working abroad.