Imagine leaving your friends and family to live in another country. Feeling the call of God on your life, you pack up all that you know and venture out for the great unknown… unknown people, unknown grocery stores, unknown culture, unknown language, unknown streets. Living on mission for God is a test of faith. Following God can be one of the greatest adventures of life, yet it can also be a lonely time and a time of questioning. What can we do to help these missionaries who are in a situation like this? How can we be supporting missionary families to help them be successful on the mission field?
Below you will find some of things that we have found helpful as people were supporting us as a missionary family. We lived in Zambia, Africa, as missionaries with Family Legacy Missions International (www.familylegacy.com) for seven years. Even though we have recently returned to live in the States full time, we still are missionaries and travel back and forth to Zambia. Our team of supporters have blessed us over and over, and we hope that you will use these ideas to support the missionary families in your life.
1. Pray for them
One of the most important ways of supporting missionary families is by praying for them. Everyone in every situation (no matter their financial position) is able to pray for their missionaries — lifting them up to God each day. You may know their requests well, or you may be unfamiliar with their situation. Either way, you can use my list (find it here) to pray specifically for your missionaries in ways that will truly bless them. Our battle is not against flesh and blood according to Ephesians, so we must fight against the enemy spiritually with our prayer. Let your missionaries know that you are praying for them regularly… they will love to hear this!
2. Communicate with them
Missionaries love to hear from friends and family back home. When they hear from friends, it confirms to them that they are loved and are prayed for — and not forgotten. They love knowing what friends are doing and giving a nice note with personal information from their lives is sweet. Some missionaries are able to get care packages from home. Sending a few tastes from their home country or something for the whole family to enjoy (like a game) will be such a joy to the missionaries. On one occasion, our children actually ran around the house screaming when they received Oreos! Pure delight!
Missionaries also enjoying hearing from friends any time of the year but especially on the holidays. Those times can be very lonely, so it is nice to hear from loved ones. I remember running down the hallway one time to share an email with Danny from friends from our sending church over Thanksgiving. It was fun to get news from home and read it together, hearing what our sending church was doing to celebrate the holiday. It meant so much to have a personal note with encouragement from the Scriptures in it.
3. Give regularly
Most of the missionaries I know rely on the generosity of friends, families, and churches to support them financially each month. This pays for their living expenses and travel each month. Many missionaries feel the pressure of living by faith, praying that people would generously give to help them. Some missionaries will have to get another job to support their family, which takes away from family time and ministry time. Intentionally investing to partner with missionaries is one of the biggest financial blessings you can do. Would you be willing to invest in your missionary friends by giving whatever you can to their ministry each month, each quarter, or each year? Even small gifts would be a huge encouragement to them by supporting this missionary family!
4. Bless their children
As parents we like to say YES to our children — to buy new clothes, shoes, a toy, a game, candy, etc. But for missionary families it can be hard to justify those purchases when they are a support-raised family. Gifting money or an item to missionary kids can be a huge blessing to them — no matter the size. We have had friends send gift cards or cash to our kids. They were able to spend those in whatever way they wanted. Some of our kids saved it while others bought junk food, but we didn’t care. Our kids loved the opportunity to use this money in a fun way, and it blessed them and made them feel seen by supporters as an individual and not just the family as a whole.
5. Respond to their updates
Missionaries commit to regularly communicating with their team of supporters. We have pledged to sending out a monthly newsletter on the last day of each month. (If you want our updates, send me an email at lightnersinafrica@gmail.com or comment below.) Even though missionaries assume that their letters are read, some people never respond to them. “Are they even being read?” Writing back to a missionary shows them that you support what they are doing, and you are interested in their lives and ministry. It blesses their hearts and helps them to realize that the time put into the newsletter that month was worth it.
6. Give special gifts, especially when they are on furlough
One time when we were on furlough visiting supporters, we had dear friends give us an envelope. In it was a gift for our children with a note asking us not to use this money for needs but to use it for something fun! What a blessing this was and so considerate! With all of the travel that we had and all of the items and restaurants we had to say NO to, it was nice to surprise the whole family with something special! It was a treat. We didn’t have to feel guilty about using the monthly support that came in. We were using the money in a way that was intended. It blessed us.
Other friends have asked for the names of store or restaurants that our children liked, and they bought them a gift card of their very own! There were smiles for days as the children planned when they were going and what they were going to buy! It made furlough a little less stressful when the children were able to have something to look forward to.
7. Ask them what they need.
It can be hard for missionaries to be vulnerable to let their supporters know what they need. Some (like Hudson Taylor) vowed to only let God know what he needed, and then he watched the Lord provide for him over and over again, often in miraculous ways. The missionaries that you know probably have needs that they are praying for or projects that they would love to have funded. Ask them what they need. Ask them about the vision for the ministry and how you can support that.
One time as we were getting ready to head back to the US for furlough, friends asked what our needs were. We had been praying about how to travel to see our supporters without a vehicle and the enormous cost of renting a van for the eight of us for several months. These friends offered to cover the cost of the whole vehicle! We were blown away of the goodness of God’s people. Other missionary friends we know have had a vehicle gifted or loaned to them for their furlough. What a gift! Ask your missionaries about their needs and be ready to be used by God to meet that need.
In Conclusion
If you are looking for ways to support missionary families that you know and love, start by praying for them and considering which other of these ideas you can begin putting into practice. From our personal experience, I can attest that these things have all been a blessing in our lives. How will YOU support the missionaries in your lives?
Would you share how you support your missionary friends by writing to us in the comments below?
Interested in learning more about our community?
Read about the Top Eight Characteristics of a Biblically Minded Family, here!
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