A good article and a generally accurate one too. But for further thought, don’t forget that there are different kinds of people who become missionaries. Missionary A may be someone who grew up, went to college, and lived in the same town their whole life; their parents, friends, and extended family live in their home town; they may have attended only 1 or 2 churches in their life time. Meanwhile, Missionary B may be an MK or Army brat who has never lived anywhere for more than 4 years at a time. And there will be missionaries on a spectrum between those 2 extremes. There will be some missionary couples where the husband is an A and the wife is a B (or vice versa). Different kinds of people may need different kinds of help and encouragement, but they will all need some kind of encouragement or they will crash. One can be a great missionary coming from anywhere on that spectrum, but churches need to be aware and considerate of their missionaries’ emotional needs. And they need to know how to encourage and support their missionaries in many ways, not just monetarily. Sent some short notes or small care packages occasionally. Make a phone call or skype. Don’t make it so the only time you contact your missionaries is when you need to talk about money or bad news. Once in a while, talk about something other than ministry work or family illnesses. That’s just my 2 cents, and I will now yield the soap box to someone else.
Discussion
NewA generally accurate article
A good article and a generally accurate one too. But for further thought, don’t forget that there are different kinds of people who become missionaries.
Missionary A may be someone who grew up, went to college, and lived in the same town their whole life; their parents, friends, and extended family live in their home town; they may have attended only 1 or 2 churches in their life time. Meanwhile, Missionary B may be an MK or Army brat who has never lived anywhere for more than 4 years at a time. And there will be missionaries on a spectrum between those 2 extremes. There will be some missionary couples where the husband is an A and the wife is a B (or vice versa). Different kinds of people may need different kinds of help and encouragement, but they will all need some kind of encouragement or they will crash.
One can be a great missionary coming from anywhere on that spectrum, but churches need to be aware and considerate of their missionaries’ emotional needs. And they need to know how to encourage and support their missionaries in many ways, not just monetarily.
Sent some short notes or small care packages occasionally. Make a phone call or skype. Don’t make it so the only time you contact your missionaries is when you need to talk about money or bad news. Once in a while, talk about something other than ministry work or family illnesses.
That’s just my 2 cents, and I will now yield the soap box to someone else.
-APW
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