From Jeremy Taliaferro’s view on the missions field, something had changed. After serving as a missionary for more than 20 years in some of the toughest places on the globe, he began to see a growing need for additional training that could help prepare new missionaries for the field — and provide an additional layer of identifying those who may not be ready.
On May 13, Taliaferro and his wife, Susan, announced on Facebook the launch of Anchored International and their new role as its founders and CEOs.
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The Taliaferros’ vision for Anchored, which leans heavily on their missionary experience, is “to revolutionize missionary training by combining hands-on experience with deep spiritual formation,” adding, “From church planting to bushcraft skills, they’ve lived it all!”
Serving with the International Mission Board in remote areas of South America through leading the Xtreme team and refugee ministry in northern Uganda, the couple saw a growing number of new missionaries struggling with mental health issues — and some dealing with spiritual issues beyond acclimating to a new culture with a different language.
Mental health crisis
“It wasn’t cross-cultural struggles,” he added. “I often had missionaries who were questioning their salvation. I was like, ‘What the heck are you doing here if you haven’t worked through this?”
The COVID pandemic and the growing mental health crisis only seemed to complicate things, he noted. “The mental health crisis has had a huge impact on missions,” he said. “Most of them are dealing with depression and anxiety and haven’t found solutions for how to cope with those challenges. It’s kind of a perfect storm.”
Seeing the need and sensing God’s leading, the Taliaferro family left the field in October 2023. They wanted to help mentor and disciple potential missionaries in the U.S. before they made it to a missions organization’s orientation and training — and especially to the field.
Since leaving the field, Taliaferro has been serving as the Baptist Collegiate Ministries director at Weatherford College in Weatherford, Texas. He also has served as a church planting pastor at Harmony Fellowship, the couple’s home church when they were on the field.
All of this, Taliaferro believes, has helped prepare them to equip and train missionaries for the field.
Anchored International, which is planning to be based near St. Francisville, Louisiana, will focus specifically on providing an immersive three-month training program for future missionaries.
Right now, Taliaferro said the organization is working on securing land and is in communication with more than 20 missions organizations they’d like to work with — and partnerships are beginning to take root.
Team effort
Since its launch, Anchored also has announced those who will serve on their team.
Among the new team members, the group shared on May 19 that former International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin, who served as IMB president for 17 years before retiring, and his wife, Joy, had joined their leadership team as directors of strategic growth.
A pilot project with about 15 to 20 candidates is planned to begin in mid-September and run through most of December, wrapping up just before Christmas, Taliaferro noted.
The first month of the training will focus on evangelism and a lot of core issues that missionaries face. The second month will deal with discipleship, and the third month will focus on community cultivation.
The group is also looking to partner with retired missionaries, many of whom Taliaferro described as talented individuals “just sitting in the pews” being underutilized.
They are needed, he said, to volunteer as mentors for missionaries going through the program.
“I’ve gained a lot of empathy for this generation and the kind of things they are walking through, things that are thrown on them,” he said, noting missionaries are no longer spending a career on the field.
“You’re lucky if you get a missionary to stay 7–10 years,” Taliaferro said. “Our goal long-term is to have missionaries that are staying 30 or 40 years again.”
