401K - to withdraw or not to withdraw

[Kevin Robertson]

I know this is somewhat off-topic, maybe there is a bigger pockets money forum that I just couldn’t quite locate?

The primary question I have for the community is, “ should I withdraw from my fully vested 401k early?”

I’m 27 and my wife and I’s goal is to be career missionaries outside of the U.S. as soon as financially possible. The primary reason we are not yet is due to a decently large amount of student debt we acquired in undergraduate (30K remaining). We want to be debt free as quickly as possible but also want to be wise with our money. 

My employer matches 100% on 401k contributions up to 3% of salary and the 50% on the next 2%. This is fully vested from day 1 and also transferable. 

As I see it my options are:

1. Contribute full 3-5% and transfer to mission agency when we get onto our career placing (agency we are going with pays salary and could roll into an IRA)

2. Contribute 3-5% with employer matching contributions, take penalties and use the lump sum to pay off remaining student debt when the numbers balance. Expediting becoming debt free and getting to career sooner. (This is what I want to do but I also think it might be unwise and shortsighted, talk me out of this if I need to be is basically what I’m asking.)

3. Don’t contribute and invest the money directly in something else (home, student debt directly, index funds) open to suggestions here!