Support Missionaries?

I cam across this blog by John Piper, and I liked what it said.

Were you unable to send a Christmas present or care package to some missionaries you love this season? It’s okay. You can still bless a missionary this Christmas.

[Update: It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway—even though Christmas is past, these ideas can still encourage our friends overseas. Let's keep serving them all year long!]

Here are 13 post-office-free ideas to get you started, most of which you could do right now from your desk:

Pray specific Scripture for them and their ministry, and then email it to them.

Call or email their parents—Christmas might be just as lonely for the ones at home as the ones away.

Purchase phone minutes for an international calling card through an online service like OneSuite and email them the account number.

Donate frequent flier miles to them.

Purchase an iTunes gift card for them. Have it sent to you and email them the account number.

Commit to pray for them on a specific day of the week for a year.

Write a song or poem or story for them. Email them the text and a recording of you reading or singing it.

Get friends and family together to create a holiday video greeting for them using Google Video or YouTube. Include lots of people you know they miss.

Make a year-end gift through their missions board or agency.

Western Union—the fastest way to send money.

Call their local florist (not everyone is in the jungle these days) and have flowers delivered, or their local Pizza Hut and have pizza delivered—with corn and shrimp as toppings!

Donate to a charity that means a lot to them.

Make a monthly commitment to support them financially.

If you have your own ideas, respond to this post and let us know what they are. Maybe next year we can offer 50 suggestions, or 100.

(Remember to use discernment in written or video communication if your missionaries work in security-sensitive locations.)

And PLEASE hold me accoutable for supporting missionaries. I know how much it touches thier hearts.

PRAYER

IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!


Like I mentioned in my last blog I am reading a book written for and by student missionaries. The first chapter of this book speaks of prayer. God doesn’t call everyone to a foreign field, but ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN PRAY. God can and will use you to change the world. You can impact this world on your knees.

Missionaries are people who have said “yes” to God’s calling and obediently follow Him to difficult and sometimes dangerous places. God has really burdened me about praying for missionaries, especially this week. (Just 1 other way God has changed my life.) And please let me encourage you not just let your prayer be “god please be with the missionaries of this world” but pray for some specific things, like the following:

PRAY for missionaries to be to be humble and submissive in the Spirit of the Lord.

PRAY for missionaries to be consistent in spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and Bible Study. On the mission field it is so hard sometimes to make the time to sit down and have a personal Bible study.

PRAY for missionaries to live pure and holy lives in thought, action, and words.

PRAY for all of the missionaries who, for security reasons, can not tell anybody what country they are sharing the gospel with. Persecution is strong and not every country can shout the name of JESUS as freely as we can. They go through so much and know why, yet never give up. (it is some of these particular missionaries and situations who bring tears to my eyes.)

PRAY and thank Jesus for all of the missionaries who have said “yes” to God gave up everything and move their children to another country, just to share the Gospel of Christ Jesus. (Think about that for a few moments. That is a big thing! I can not find the words to say how much that means to me.)

PRAY for the people groups who have never known a missionary and pray that God will burden a missionary with that particular people group. (41% of this world is unreached and I pray this summer I get to see an unreached people group.)

PRAY for missionaries to be able to find all of the unreached people groups of this world. There are missionaries assigned just to specifically find the people groups that nobody knows exist. Most of these people groups (I know in South America) can not be reached by a vehicle; someone has to hike a trails and/or mountains for hours at a time so that they may hear the gospel.

As a missionary, we really and truly depend on God’s people to pray for us as we share some wonderful news with a lost and dying world. My absolute biggest fear concerning this trip is people not praying for me. We are so blessed to have a God who listens to our every word and we have a God we can go to anytime and anyplace. It is such a privilege for us to enter the throne room by praying for those specials servants of the Lord!