Missionary Confidential

It’s back! After a year’s hiatus, “From the Missionary Blogosphere” re-emerges.

An executive director of a missions agency reveals his five mistakes in sending missionaries.

Are we “too dependent on the satisfaction of having done something for them over there?”

Thoughts on why the Missional Movement will fail.

A former MK reveals the lies that MKs believe.

What are poor kids learning from the rich kids who go on short-term missions?

This post means a lot to me at the moment, and I think Explanation #3′s paragraph is the answer to his question.

Furlough. Wow. Ugh.

I had a lot of trepidation about the demands of furlough. Some of them proved to be correct, others must have been myths, or churches are changing how they treat missionaries.

We learned a lot through the time, and for the few who seemed interested in what their church had been supporting for up to six years, I’m glad we got to speak.

If you remember from the last post on this subject, “Yet Sometimes God Closes the Door”, we spent our first few months catching up with family and friends. Still reeling from the circumstances that made us leave and also from reverse culture shock (by the way, it’s exactly as described), the time was much needed. A lot of prayer and waiting on God revealed that we were not going to return to that field or continue fundraising support for now. Despite the fact that this particular mission was over, we felt that we should still report/present to each supporting church, all of whom maintained support over most (in some cases, all) of the time we were in the field. In other words, not asking for more money, just letting you know what you paid for.

Considering the confusion this caused, I’m assuming this isn’t usually done in Missionary World.  » Read the rest of this entry «

The latest newsletter from The Body Builders talks about the importance of sending gifts to your supporters, not only to encourage better relationships with your financial partners but also to help maintain giving. I have to be honest; in our almost five years in the field, we never sent Christmas gifts. As much as we communicated and made sure to send letters, postcards and make phone calls to our supporters, we just couldn’t afford to buy and ship packages from our field. The cost was too high.

But not every missionary is in Western Europe. So I’m curious: do you give/send Christmas gifts to your supporters?

And here’s the link to the newsletter: ‘Tis the Season…For Giving!

I’m rethinking a lot about missions these days while back in the States. Much, much more to come, but a friend recently sent us this:

“Girls Night Out – Bunko With a Mission”! Mark your calendars for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at [church]. Prizes and raffling off gift baskets from [Local Restaurant], Starbucks, Lacome, Mary Kay, [Tutoring], Bath & Body, [Football Team tickets] and much more. Suggested donation $10. Feel free to invite a friend…Please R.S.V.P.

There are so many ways to fundraise, I know. But in the case of missions, what are we conveying to people? This isn’t very important to you, so I’ll have to bait you with prizes and useful, fun items you receive in return. We’re so desperate, we’ll try anything.  » Read the rest of this entry «

On the mission field you see a lot of things, hear a lot of things, feel a lot of things. But the hardest thing to overcome is the voices in your head.

You know what I’m talking about. They’re not audible (we’re not talking schizophrenia here), they don’t make logical sense, but they’re always there. Hanging on your every hang-up, weakness, and self-doubt, those voices know exactly how to get to you. And even though there’s no actual proof for 99% of it, you just feel that it’s so believable.

Oh, I had those voices before. Before I was a Christian, before I entered missions. I think—I know—a lot of people hear these voices, too. It’s just being human. But stepping onto Satan’s territory, the volume goes up. Way up. And the attacks are much more precise, delving deeper into your psyche than ever before. There they are, lurking at every turn, sometimes so out of the blue that it almost literally knocks the wind out of you. » Read the rest of this entry «