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HOME » FOR MISSIONARIES » WHAT I WISH EVERY MISSIONARY KNEW Some observations and suggestions from an old time missions supporter and missionary, to my missionary friends on the field and new missionary candidates who are going to the foreign field for the first time. Consider the following. I wish every missionary knew ... really knew! The importance of a team, that a real support team is essential, not just financial "supporters" but prayer supporters. Go after gaining prayer warriors first and your financial support will surely follow. Every missionary when he leaves this country for a foreign field, leaves as a soldier headed for war and he needs to know and be convinced that he has a dedicated enemy. The missionary's agenda is to establish a beachhead in enemy territory. I remember leaving the United States for Korea and war. I remember as I arrived on the front line how naive I was about the enemy I couldn't see. I had been taught and trained for war, yet I wasn't aware of the reality of war. It was a few days later and our first fire fight that taught me that I had a dedicated enemy and that the enemy's bullets and mortars wounded and killed. And that I was the target! I learned how important it was to have our air cover and artillery from the rear backing us up. It's not much different on the mission field. Every missionary needs to understand how necessary it is to have real effective prayer support. Prayer, like artillery, can demoralize and immobilize the enemy. Every missionary needs to have his team working with him as he faces the enemy. Only a fool would face the enemy alone. It's a team effort. I wish every missionary knew ... How important communicating is! Continuing with the war analogy, communication is essential to winning the battle. Forward of the front lines soldiers were risking their lives by laying out phone communication lines. Forward observers were strategically placed; they were the communicators. Communication is that essential to winning. We all like letters, right? I have seen missionaries in the bush, as I stepped from the plane greeting me briefly and then quickly getting to their first priority, the mail bag. I remember wrapping mail around a large green banana tying it tight and throwing the banana mail out the window of our little Cessna 185 to the missionary compound located below in a remote part of the jungle. The Indians followed the banana mail package down, picked it up and delivered the mail to the missionary couple; they waved and we continued on. Mail was that important. Missionaries on the field need to be reminded that their supporters back home want to hear how their man is doing on the field, the front line. They want mail too! It's a two way street. After all, they are each a part of the missionaries team that make it possible for their missionary to remain in effective ministry. Your family may be first but remember your supporters are part of your extended family. Treat them as family. I wish every missionary knew ... What to write? What to communicate to the folks back home. Oh how missionaries struggle with this. Surprise! I'll share a little secret here. It's one important word: Ministry. The folks back home want to hear about the ministry, your ministry and how the ministry is going, who and what you affect as a missionary. Personalize this. They are interested in knowing why you are there and what you're doing in the way of ministry. Yes it's nice to tell them how you are doing and interesting little things about your lifestyle and even things about your family, BUT the important thing is the ministry. If you are at the point where family is all you can find to write about, you might consider coming home where your family is because your ministry seems to have pretty well taken second place to family. It's no secret, people write about what their interested in. I receive a lot of letters from missionaries from a variety of missions and fields overseas. I'm receiving more and more letters in which the missionaries don't even mention their ministry which leads me to believe that they may be losing their vision or in fact no longer have a viable ministry. Your back home partners are asking, "How are we doing as a team?" ... and they deserve a regular ministry answer. I wish every missionary knew ... When you lose supporters through neglect, you seldom get them back! When you lose a church you seldom get it back. There is no excuse for losing a supporter by neglecting to communicate and thank him for being a faithful part of your team. When a supporter's giving stops for two or three months, communicate immediately your thanks and appreciation for his past support. Ask him to continue to pray for you. Don't just let it go. Don't drop a person from your prayer letter list unless they asked to be dropped. Sure stamps cost a lot but at what price comes prayer? On several occasions I have received support from people who hadn't corresponded with me for more than two years. I didn't know but all that time they were praying for me and reading with interest our prayer letters and suddenly became able to support us financially. Their support paid many times the cost of all my stamps sent to unknown readers. Point: Make your letters worth reading. I wish every missionary knew ... About this NO-NO! Please don't write a long overdue letter to your supporters starting off with " I'm sorry I haven't written for such a long time, BUT ... Remember the word "BUT" is a delete word, "BUT" always deletes all the words preceding it. If you want to hear how your letter really sounds to your team members back home, start with the excuse that follows your "BUT." Your long overdue and very general letter often translates to your partners and supporters that you aren't that concerned with them and teamwork. It may even translate that you haven't been doing much in the way of ministry. While this may not be true, it could translate that way. In most cases, there is no real reason for a long overdue letter. The fact is that you had other priorities. Good question: How would you like your supporters to stop praying for you and stop their giving for long silent periods of time and then write you a general letter saying that they were sorry BUT they have been really busy and enclose a check for ten dollars? How would you read that one? How would that translate to you? You count on us as supporters and we want to count on you as our missionary ... our investment. I wish every missionary knew ... That they should read their letters before sending them out. Read your letters as your supporter would read them and then change your letter accordingly. I wish every missionary knew ... That their supporters are essential, yes, an essential team and deserved to be treated that way. High priority! Steer clear of the obviously overdone shortcuts because it makes your partners feel they are not worthy of your time. General mailings are O.K. on occasion for general news but not worth much more. Personalize! Your supporters ... your active team…should always receive a short personalized note, better yet a handwritten line or two on the bottom of the general letter. Even a hand written "Hi Joe and Mildred!" is better than nothing. That personalizes the whole letter! First class letters starting off with your name and a few personal comments then swinging into a general letter is pretty well obvious and a little overdone, it's not the best way to go. When your supporter gets a first class stamped letter from you starting with Dear Folks or Friend or Brothers, etc. without even a first name, that's bad. Even worse, a general group letter thanking them all for "their support this month." Worse yet a letter beginning with "Dear" and a fill- in-the- blank with your name written in. What do letters like that communicate to your supporter or church back home? Think about it. Letters like this often communicate to your team back home that you are too busy or too efficient and don't want to waste your precious time actually writing them. Hard words, but read your letters over as a supporter back home and it may surprise you as to the impression you give. Fact, your supporters back home are probably just as busy as you and yet they are willing to give and pray ... treat them right. Treat them as an equal and essential part of your team. Indeed you may be in the front line but your team has the heavy artillery. I might add that artillery in warfare is no better than their communication from the front line. I wish every missionary knew ... That the best financially supported missionaries are also the best at communicating their ministries to their partners at home. I've seen very few exceptions. I wish every missionary knew ... That appreciation and thankfulness is a Christian virtue. Hopefully this comes through in your letters. Promptly and humbly thank your supporters and let them know they are an important part of your work. Even a necessary part of your work. I wish every missionary knew ... That it isn't a skill in writing that makes the greatest prayer letter but rather an ability to communicate an honest heartfelt excitement of your ministry. You can write a ton of letters and still miss the mark. Let's face a fact here; you can't share what you don't have. In most cases, this is the key; write short and write more often! You might elaborate on one important ministry story that you saw or experienced this month. People like stories more than statistics. They love first person stories. Weave your story into your ministry or your ministry into your story making sure that ministry is the core of your letter. I might add that those who write long letters tend to be those who don't write often and when they do you are in for an epistle. I wish every missionary knew ... The importance of diversifying. Fact: Your prayer and financial base is your most important asset next to God! Nurture it and enlarge it. Always be increasing your personal support base! It seems most missionaries think only of churches when they consider support, consequently churches are being constantly targeted by would be missionaries, and churches are hard to get into for that very reason. The would be missionary gets discouraged knocking on unsympathetic doors. (So did Jesus in the book of Revelation.) Answer to the dilemma? Diversify! Lots of faithful little givers are often better than several faithful big givers. Why? You guessed it! More prayer power! Go after people, individuals. Go after Bible study groups. Go after friends. In the long run individuals end up more dependable in prayer and finance than churches (with some exceptions of course). Carry your enthusiasm with you! Spread your enthusiasm with the people with whom you come in contact and ask them if they would like to receive your news letter. (Of course, make sure that it's worth receiving.) Then ask for their address and in a short time send them a personal thank you simply for their interest in you and your ministry. Make a writing contact, make a new friend. Next time you write a general letter, a good letter, include them in your mailing with a short personal handwritten note or sentence. Again, your prayer and financial base is your most important asset next to God! You can't have too much prayer and you can't have too much financial support, if you receive more money than you need, a rare problem, simply do what I do, give it to others who may be needy. Attract, enlarge and maintain your support team as a high priority. Give your team the attention and time they deserve for they are enabling you to have a successful ministry! I wish every missionary knew ... My opinion: The number one reason for most personal problems on the field is indeed an ill informed and weak team behind you. Problems on the field like poor health, low income, ministry pressures, burn-out, children problems, co-worker conflicts, etc, are often the result of a weak and ill informed team of prayer warriors. When you see problems coming, the first question to ask, Is my team aware? Are they praying? The second question to ask, Have we been doing our part in regularly communicating and energizing our team? Worse case scenario; because of lack of regular communication about your ministry your team back home has gradually lost interest in you and your ministry and you have simply become a monthly obligation? Believe me you will feel this on the field! Unfortunately, that scenario is all too common. By the way, how long will "this kind of monthly obligation" last? I wish every missionary knew ... That today we have technology on our side! It's so much easier to communicate now than it was fifty years ago. Years ago a hand written letter may have taken from two weeks to months to get to a supporter. Years ago a late letter or even a lost letter was understandable BUT today a late letter isn't acceptable. I wish every missionary knew ... That you have two groups of supporters. Those who have access to computers and those who don't. Those still into snail mail and those who are into e-mail. Cyber people and paper people. Many of your faithful old timers are still paper people. Be sure you don't miss some of your faithful supporters in going e-mail. Most of us that have made that cyber switch to e-mail prefer communicating by e-mail. I feel that e-mail is almost as effective as snail mail if it is presented properly. E-mail is simple, fast and inexpensive. BUT, make your e-mail letters just as personal as possible. "Personal" is the word here. I wish every missionary knew ... How we love you and admire your commitment to taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. In your busy schedule please carve out time to communicate with us!

HOME » FOR MISSIONARIES » WHAT I WISH EVERY MISSIONARY KNEW

Some observations and suggestions from an old time missions supporter and missionary, to my missionary friends on the field and new missionary candidates who are going to the foreign field for the first time. Consider the following.

I wish every missionary knew ... really knew!

The importance of a team, that a real support team is essential, not just financial "supporters" but prayer supporters. Go after gaining prayer warriors first and your financial support will surely follow. Every missionary when he leaves this country for a foreign field, leaves as a soldier headed for war and he needs to know and be convinced that he has a dedicated enemy.

The missionary's agenda is to establish a beachhead in enemy territory. I remember leaving the United States for Korea and war. I remember as I arrived on the front line how naive I was about the enemy I couldn't see. I had been taught and trained for war, yet I wasn't aware of the reality of war. It was a few days later and our first fire fight that taught me that I had a dedicated enemy and that the enemy's bullets and mortars wounded and killed. And that I was the target! I learned how important it was to have our air cover and artillery from the rear backing us up.

It's not much different on the mission field. Every missionary needs to understand how necessary it is to have real effective prayer support. Prayer, like artillery, can demoralize and immobilize the enemy. Every missionary needs to have his team working with him as he faces the enemy. Only a fool would face the enemy alone. It's a team effort.