Communicating with your Missionary

"Communicating support is caring and expressing it; caring is communication"

1. Email and Fax.

These are two of the fastest, and yet cost effective methods of communication. The more you communicate, the more you get to know the missionary (heart-level knowledge!) and hence the better the support you can provide. However, meaningful/heart-level communication can be demanding on your time. Therefore, it is recommended that communication be a shared responsibility among the members of a 'missionary sending team'.

If your team decided to communicate with the missionary on a weekly basis, assign a different person (or married couple) for each week of the month. This person (or married couple) will take the responsibility to communicate with the missionary during that week and, upon hearing back from the missionary, circulate the message to all members of the sending team. In this way, no one is overloaded and yet, over time, every member of the sending team gets to communicate personally with the missionary as well.

2. Telephone

May not be used as regularly as an email or fax, but even just once can be a really special treat. "Surprise the missionary with a phone call on special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc." At other times, who knows, the Holy Spirit may lead you to call at a needy time in your missionary's life.

3. "Snail" Mail

Don't forget this method of communication; it is still valuable! In addition to personal letters and cards for special occasions, the following may also be sent via "snail" mail:

• Audiotape Letters
• Photos and Videotapes
• "Care" Package

4. Personal Visits

These are, of course, the ultimate in communication! Just as apostle Paul longed to see his support team, and thanked them when they sent a representative to minister to his needs (Philippians 4:15-18), your missionary may long to see representatives from the sending team, church or fellowship.

"On your next business or vacation overseas, make a point to visit [your missionary]! Take your next family vacation overseas!"

"Even if you or one from your fellowship cannot make a visit, if you know of someone going to your [missionary's] location or nearby, you can encourage that traveler to visit your missionary, to hand-carry a message or package of love and concern."

5. A Cautionary Note!

It is encouraging for any missionary to get personal mail. Often it is a highlight of the day. However, extra caution must be taken when writing to a missionary in a 'closed' country; please write as if your letter will be read by government officials who do not desire Christian workers in their country!

Praying for Your Missionary

Strong prayer support is vitally important to your missionary. Whether you use the following guide or specific prayer requests from your missionary, please pray regularly. And, no matter how many times you may fail in your daily commitment, you can start again today.

• Day One - Relationship with God
  Too often we assume that missionaries don't struggle like we do in their relationship with God. But this is the missionary's primary need. Pray that your missionary will love and study God's Word, have a stronger prayer life, be filled with the Holy Spirit, be maturing spiritually, and make progress over personal sin.
• Day Two - Physical and Emotional Needs
  Satan often discourages us through our physical and emotional lives. Many missionaries live in difficult climates filled with diseases. Pray for good health.
• Day Three - Family Relationships
  Pray for family relationships - husband/wife, parent/children. Pray for the children, their salvation and spiritual growth, their health and education. Pray too that their family life will provide an excellent model for local Christians and the unsaved. And pray against the temptations that destroy families. If your missionary is single, pray that God will meet his or her needs in this area. Pray for strong, healthy friendships and for contentment in singleness.
• Day Four - Ability to Communicate
  In world evangelization, communication is the name of the game. Your missionary is in ministry to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether your missionary is communicating with his life or lips, he or she must be understood. Learning a new language and adapting to a new culture are frustrating, difficult, and essential to good communication. Languages are difficult to master; even an elementary knowledge of a language takes years of study and practice.
• Day Five - Effective Ministry
  Sometimes you can forget why your missionary is overseas, and why you are praying for him or her. Remember to pray for what your missionary is actually doing: witnessing, visiting, teaching, preaching, counseling, nursing - and pray for the people he is ministering to. Prayer letters will teach you how to specifically pray for these things. But include requests for boldness, open doors, open hearts and excellence in effort. Most of all, ask the Holy Spirit to empower your missionary for productivity. (John 15:16)
• Day Six - Team Relationships
  Your missionary is probably not completely on his or her own. Normally, missionaries team up with other missionaries, local believers, pastors and evangelists. Unfortunately, this mix of personalities designed to strengthen the ministry can sometimes be used of Satan to weaken it. Poor team relationships can spoil the work. Pray for all the fellow workers your missionary mentions in his or her letters. Pray that they appreciate and sharpen one another in good healthy ways.
• Day Seven - Country of Service
  Expand your praying to include the entire country where your missionary is located. The political situation, the government and its leaders, visas, freedom to preach the gospel - all of these are important factors in world evangelization. You can also pray that the whole country will open up in responsiveness to the gospel.

Missionary Sending Items

• They are about team effort, and not just about Individual effort!
  "Sending is a team effort focused on a jointly held task"
• They are not about giving money or providing a ride to the airport for departing missionaries. Rather, they are about knowing and caring for the missionaries!
  "More basic than giving is the care of ... missionaries by truly knowing them"
• They are active, rather than passive, participants with specific missionaries
  "Active participants do not wait to be reminded"
• They are involved daily, as opposed to occasionally
  "Vigorous sending usually demands a daily involvement"
• "Missionary work is cross-cultural, but active sending can be counter-cultural"
  "... they [missionary sending teams] will be caught up in a war that many of their friends and relatives do not or will not acknowledge. Their hearts yearn for people they have never seen ... They speak often of distant peoples. They relish extended times of prayer. Theirs is a joyous detachment and yet an earnest involvement in the affairs of the world."