Jan
06
2010
10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary
In an effort to learn how we can best encourage missionaries, I emailed some and asked how they would most like to be served and encouraged. This list is drawn from their responses, including many direct quotes.
1. Pray for them and let them know that you are doing so frequently.
“One of the most encouraging/inspiring things we receive from people is a quick note via email to say that they are 'thinking' of us.”
2. Send “real mail.”
“Send a small care package. Some little fun food items that we can’t get where we serve is a good idea.”
“One idea is to send a special package before an American holiday (like Thanksgiving) filled with things that we can use to decorate for that holiday.”
“Send us a birthday card. This doesn’t have to be some long handwritten note, just a little card – maybe even printed at home.”
“Real mail is always special. Really, the thing with real mail is more than just getting some nice stuff from home (which is nice), but it seems a more tangible reminder that the people I love and miss love and miss me too and are thinking of me.”
3. Pray for the people the missionaries serve and not only for the missionaries and their families.
4. Recruit others to pray for the missionary’s area of service (city, people group, etc.) or for the missionaries themselves.
“This can be an amazing thing to have a person or group of people actively supporting the work that we are doing overseas – becoming an advocate for our city/work. It really encourages us to know that there are people going to bat for us and raising more prayer support for the work.”
“Become an arm of our work in the United States. Some ideas include handling our newsletter distribution, website hosting (i.e., hosting a virtual website for the city), logistical arrangements, or short term team orientation.”
5. Go visit them with the purpose of serving and encouraging them in their work.
“Have a group of your people come to minister to us as we are seeking to pour out our lives to others. This could be hosting a small retreat in country for our team or something similar, or coming to prayer walk the city we live in.”
6. Send them updates and pictures of you and your family (by mail or email).
“It would especially be nice to receive end of the year updates or Christmas card pics. We want to stay connected to you! We love hearing from friends and family and enjoy keeping up to date on what’s happening in your life!”
“If you have a friend overseas, stay in touch with them. Don't let cautions about being careful with spiritual language keep you from talking about the day to day "un-spiritual" things you would talk about if you met up for lunch one day. Sometimes the least spiritual emails are the most helpful, because somehow I feel less distant when friends talk to me like they always did before I left. Share updates on family, school, work, life, sports—whatever it is that you used to talk about with them.”
7. Ask questions about their work.
“Ask not only how we are doing, but ask about our work and try to learn all you can about the people or city where we are serving.”
“I know that this has been said, but truly CARING about the work is the best way to encourage us.”
8. Continue to be a Christian friend and continue to minister to them.
“Don't stop being the church to us when we leave. Whenever security allows, spiritual conversations are good for our hearts. Missionaries struggle with the same sinful attitudes that plague Christians everywhere. Leaving home to live among unreached peoples, may be a step of faith in the process of sanctification, but it is not a step that roots out all sin. It is likely to lead to and expose all kinds of previously unnoticed and unexpected sin. Having friends that know me, are patient with me, and expect me to be the same struggling sinner I was when I left helps me stay humble when tempted toward arrogance, and hopeful when tempted toward despair.”
“Even for us with strong member care, it is helpful to receive pastoral care from the stateside church’s pastor who many times will know the missionary personally and have the history with them to be able to invest and mentor them and their family and marriage.”
“Ask us those hard questions. Do a little pastoral counseling with us.”
“Please don’t elevate us onto some false pedestal. We are normal people too who have been forgiven much and for some reason God called to live and minister overseas.”
9. Support them financially.
“Finding out if we have any specific needs and meeting those needs is great.”
10. Seek to encourage them when they are on stateside assignment.
“Let us talk to you and your congregations, and small groups. We want to share what God has been doing and would love the opportunity to talk about it, raise awareness and hopefully gain more prayer support.”
“Invite us out to lunch or dinner. Nothing fancy is needed. Remember we’ve just been in places where we may not have been able to even enjoy a little Mexican food.”
No missionary mentioned this to me in emails, but I know it is a blessing when someone shares their summer home or cabin for a missionary family to get away and relax for a few days.
“Let us know about any good books that are must reads. Tell us about any good resources that may benefit our personal growth or ministry work: things like conferences, training for ministry/leadership, and so forth.”
32 Comments
Numbers 3, 4 and 7 are ABSOLUTELY right on! We (and others in our area) have been surprised over the years how little specific interest there is in our work. Maybe people don't even know what to ask... but it sure is nice to talk about the work. If you're not sure how to start a conversation, here are some basic questions:
"So what did you do today?"
"So are there some people that I can pray for these days?"
"what are some of your challenges?"
"What is one nice thing and one difficult thing about serving where you live?"
[...] Read the whole thing. [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary – The Gospel Coalition Blog. [...]
[...] various missionaries and asked them how they might be encouraged. He compiled their answers into 10 Ways to Encourage Missionaries. Might I add that this list is not just for foreign missionaries, but those serving in the US as [...]
[...] What I have included is just the ten items listed. There is, however, more to this article and I would invite you to check it out by clicking on the link for The Gospel Coalition. [...]
I'm a missionary in Peru, and we have really appreciated #6, especially during the Christmas holidays. Many families take Christmas pics and send them out as cards. We love feeling connecting to our partners by actually seeing them in living color.
[...] http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/01/06/10-ways-to-encourage-a-missionary/ [...]
Thanks Mark, it's a blessing to know that someone's thinking about our needs. All the comments are good, but I especially like your own addition about the summer home or cabin. Home assignments include the run around of visiting churches and relatives, all of which is good but sometimes we need some down time. Most of us can't afford a few days in a cabin on the lake or at some other similar get-away but would love to have them. I'll also second the comment about books under #10. Thank God for the internet and many good Christian sites, but it doesn't substitute for stimulating conversation on spiritual issues with like-minded brothers and sisters. Recommendations on good reads and the availabiity of books helps fill some of the void, but it's expensive to ship books. The alternative is electronic books, but looking at a screen becomes tiresome and there's nothing like having the book in your own hands.
[...] And let’s wrap this up with a topic I’ve been thinking more about lately: missionaries. Over at his blog, David Doran has a great thought on Human Sympathy vs. Missionary Compassion. And back at the Gospel Coalition, there’s an article on 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary. [...]
[...] since most pastors probably double as their church’s mission coordinator Matt Rogers provides “10 Ways To Encourage A Missionary” at The Gospel Coalition. Rogers arrived at this list through direct contact with missionaries and [...]
[...] Below you’ll find his list, but I’d encourage you to read his whole post here and encourage a missionary in at least one [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary My friend Carrie posted 10 ways to encourage a missionary, as a shorter version of the annotated list found at The Gospel Coalition’s blog. [...]
[...] a Missionary Jump to Comments Found this post via The Gospel Coalition. I agree [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary [...]
[...] Read the entire post. [...]
I don't think it will give a trackback, but I posted this link to the Facebook fan page for American Missionary Fellowship, which I administer. Our missionaries serve in the United States, so they are aways "on stateside assignment," but most of your tips apply to them, anyway! Thanks for posting.
[...] Rogers recently posted an article on The Gospel Coalition Blog with a list of 10 ways to encourage missionaries based on responses he [...]
Great article - although I had a good laugh at #10 - given we are missionaries in Mexico!
[...] Rogers recently posted an article on The Gospel Coalition Blog with a list of 10 ways to encourage missionaries based on responses he [...]
[...] Click here to read the 10 ways with details. That is where I got these points. [...]
As a full-time missionary in Western Europe, I agree with all the points, but especially number 6. We have communicated constantly with our family and supporters through various mediums (email, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and our own blog) so people feel they are "caught up" with our current situation, yet we never hear anything from 99% of them.
[...] 10 ways to encourage someone sharing the good news of Jesus in a different culture I was in two minds as to whether or not to post a link to this. [...]
[...] Ways To Encourage A Missionary 25 01 2010 The Gospel Coalition have a great article on how to encourage a [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary – if you know some Christians who are spending long stretches overseas, this may be helpful. [...]
[...] http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/01/06/10-ways-to-encourage-a-missionary/ [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary [...]
[...] Rogers recently posted an article on The Gospel Coalition Blog with a list of 10 ways to encourage missionaries based on responses he [...]
[...] http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/01/06/10-ways-to-encourage-a-missionary/ [...]
Thanks for this helpful article, Mark. My church here in Houston, Texas is putting together a manual on Missional Praying, specificly for our church. In it, I encouraged people to connect with our missionaries, and would like to post your article, if possible, so they can specificly know better how to do this. Is it ok to use this in our manual? I want to honor any copyright wishes you might have. Thank you, Stephen Watts
[...] recently read an article by Mark Rogers on The Gospel Coalition blog. He emailed several missionaries to find practical [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary~Speaks for itself. [...]
[...] 10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary, HT to Kim. [...]