Cultivating a Church/Missionary Relationship: Suresh G.

Missions work is not just about a group of people going overseas to heal spiritual wounds and provide fresh water! It’s about planting seeds of the Gospel, watering the plant, and reaping a harvest for the Kingdom of God by planting local churches across the globe. The local church is the epicentre of God’s work in the world, and planting local churches is the primary vehicle by which God extends the reach of His Kingdom into the dark places of lostness. 

With this in mind, missions work is no less than the global application of the command in Hebrews to meet together, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Missions strategy is devoted to considering how to stir up love and good works in the world by not neglecting to meet together. 

Catching the Wind of the Missional Culture 

In the consumer-centric culture, which has crept into the church, senior pastors and their staff are often under pressure to make the weekend services ‘attractive’ and centre all church activities around those services. In doing so, the local church’s missional engagement and intercessory prayer often get reduced, at best, to one of the many ministries. Conversely, when the church’s senior pastor, who is already well-rooted in Scripture and prayer, catches the wind of global missions through the Spirit of God, the church becomes an incubator for missions. Our sending church was already missional but ‘caught’ the global vision in a greater way when its senior pastor became the advocate for global missions. He started various missions-focused activities, including concerts of prayer, monthly meetings for people interested in going or sending, and weekly missions prayer meetings, ultimately infusing global missions into the other church activities (e.g., Sunday school, small groups, etc.) 

Some young adults either caught the vision or had their ‘go’ vision renewed. Others from the different churches heard about these missions-centred gatherings and became regular attendees. These gatherings became good networking places for those already in the field, those preparing to go, and those who were senders and supporters. 

Catching the Wind of the Missional Culture – Lessons Learned 

While one cannot predict when and in which direction the wind of His Spirit will blow, one can certainly raise the sails to ‘catch the wind.’ There are times God points His people and leads them to places where the wind is blowing. While one cannot predict such a sovereign act of God, it is critical to be ‘ready’ both to sense His guidance and raise the sails to catch the wind. The danger of reducing the human yearning, response, and obedience to a formula exists, but there is value in having individual and group-based spiritual rhythms help to raise the sails to catch the wind. 

A large vessel has multiple sails. Our sending church was also a ‘large vessel’ both in terms of attendees and regarding multiple ministries. For smooth, efficient sailing, not only must all sails be raised up, but they must also be aligned in a direction to catch the wind. 

In comparison to an anchored vessel, a moving vessel, even with a very slow pace, has a better chance of moving faster by catching the wind, unless it was moving in the wrong direction. So even before the senior pastor ‘caught’ the missions wind, the church was already ‘moving’ in reaching out to the people, though it was not always cross-cultural. 

Pre-departure, Equipping, and Support 

A common phrase in missionary circles is, “One does not become a missionary just by crossing national boundaries.” Implying, the equipping, supporting, and providing opportunities for local missional engagements must begin well before one becomes an official international worker (IW) – someone who leaves their country and moves across cultures. While the entire church cannot be involved in every step of the preparation process, both the leadership and a dedicated group(s) of people within the body need to be involved. However, tracking the key milestones along the pre-departure journey is generally the responsibility of Global Missions (GM, the “Mission Agency” of The Alliance Canada) or the parachurch mission agencies, in the case of those who are not going overseas with The Alliance Canada. Anytime more than one group of people is involved in a process, the opportunities for support from multifaceted perspectives are abundant. However, the absence of or poorly defined roles and responsibilities of the people involved from the local church and the mission agency diminishes such pre-departure support. It can also result in the inadequate development of key areas in the missionary candidate’s critical equipping stage. 

Both from the experience of ours and others alike, the consensus is local church leaders supported the pre-departure, equipping, and support processes. We were involved in the outreach and disciple-making ministries with good support from the church leadership. Both my spouse and I were part of women’s and men’s groups which helped us grow in character. Our active participation in prayer ministries supported our spiritual growth. We were also invited to join various leadership summits/conferences, which helped our pre-departure support journey. 

An important aspect of support is connecting with various groups within the sending church, especially when the church is large. Through missionary candidates’ own local church ministry engagements and through intentional connections and introductions, candidates made connections with various groups such as life groups (small groups), men’s and women’s fellowship, and young adult groups. Similarly, candidates’ children connected with Sunday school and youth group attendees. The idea was that these groups would continue to provide support (prayer and practical needs, etc.) to the missionary unit once they went overseas. In turn, the ongoing connection with the missionary unit/family would help support these groups to sustain their own missional focus. 

The local church’s Missions Committee, when there is one, plays a critical part in mobilizing support for the candidates. Like many others sent from our church, we had the privilege of getting to know members of this committee. They connected us with those small groups interested in ‘adopting’ a missionary unit. In addition, events were hosted where we, as missionary candidates, interacted with missionaries on home assignments. 

When a church leadership team comprises an Outreach/Missions Pastor, who often carries the leadership responsibilities of the church’s local and global missions engagements, all of the above connections and associated support have a better chance of becoming integrated. This pastor often introduces candidates to missions-minded people and key groups in the church. They also help to clear the way when candidates hit roadblocks either in communication or in building bridges with various support groups. 

Pre-departure Equipping and Support – Lessons Learned 

While we are lifelong learners, particular learning and preparation journeys are far more significant and critical than others. I believe the pre-departure equipping and support journey is one of those vital instances, as it impacts the candidates’ lives and those who will be receiving them in the field. Furthermore, except under exceptional circumstances (e.g., people changing their sending agencies), this journey is seldom repeated in an IW’s life. 

Like any important journey, this too calls for Scripture-based guidelines and Psalm 78:72 provides that basis, “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” However, even with supervision, active engagements in relevant ministries may not meet the requirements outlined in this passage. While we have come a long way regarding holistic and contextualized missionary development, this is one area that calls for ongoing adjustments as missional engagement contexts continue to change. 

The common prevailing paradigm in local churches is the local church giving and the IW receiving (or taking). Not only can this lead to the optics of unidirectional benefit, but it can also be seen as very transactional. Whereas, in the context of partnership, both the IW and the senders share the ‘five loaves and two fish’ God has given them with each other. However, the IW’s God-given ‘loaves and fish’ may look different than the ones given to each sender. Therefore, the candidates must align themselves to a partnership mindset and embrace the associated behaviours at the beginning of the pre-departure period. The local church leadership must provide guidance to adjust this mindset and behaviour so the partnership continues and even flourishes after the IW has left for the field. 

A pre-departure journey with clearly identified milestones for developmental areas associated with the character (heart) and the core competencies (hands) is as essential as a passport for the IW. For such a journey to be effective in crafting, implementation, and support, all three parties (the candidates, the local church leadership, and GM) must be actively involved. Furthermore, close involvement by the local church enables the continuance of its support to the worker on the field to be much more seamless. 

Onfield Support 

While transitions for IWs have always been a challenge, intentional equipping has helped navigate these uncertain and often stressful times. Pre-departure processes and events prepare the candidates for overseas placement, but generally, not a lot has been done to equip the local church senders for the transition to supporting the IWs who are no longer physically in their midst. Churches that have done better have kept their IWs at the forefront in their regular church activities. However, sending churches’ support and communication from the IWs are highly interconnected. 

For most IWs, the primary mode of communication has been regular newsletters (e.g., monthly or bi-weekly), generally sent as emails. Some go the extra mile by sending video updates or making individual voice calls and group calls to their supportive small groups. The common advice from veteran workers is that we must be prepared to spend twenty percent of our time intentionally communicating and nurturing relationships with the local church senders. As discussed earlier, we are also called to have a partnership mindset versus raising various kinds of support. The following key areas where support is extended by the local church to the IW have been examined through the lens of partnership. 

Prayer Partnership 

Our sending church’s greatest gift to us was the intercessory prayers offered on our behalf both at various regular church gatherings as well as upon urgent request. The Alliance Canada Men’s prayer had a significant amount of time allocated to pray through missions prayer requests on Wednesday mornings. The monthly prayer concerts, often led by the senior paster who had caught the wind of missions, focused even more on international ministries. The week-long annual Solemn Assembly, held at the beginning of each year, often set the tone for prayer emphasis for the rest of the year. 

While general newsletters are helpful, these prayer gatherings are better fuelled when the IWs’ feed them with specific updates or even join these gatherings using remote access technologies. Paul writes, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality” (Romans 12:12-13). The local church meets the need by fully sending and supporting an IW in prayer. They have focused hope as well as expectant and specific patience fuelled by prayer. 

Missions Event Partnership 

Our sending church traditionally had an annual week-long Missions Week. Over the years, as the commitment to missions increased, the Missions Week was extended to two weeks, often multiple IWs being brought in versus one IW unit being present throughout. Later the church leadership felt adding a separate week of a relatively low-key missions focus, separated by six months from the main Missions Week, was keeping the topic and engagement before the people in a far more effective way. Although such rhythms have changed (back to standard annual Missions Week) in the recent past for several reasons, the IWs have been blessed with more significant opportunities for engagement with the congregation in multiple settings, in addition to the traditional weekend service engagements. I was personally blessed by such events. For example, during one Missions Week, God confirmed my overseas missions assignment while having a meal with the visiting missionary. 

Intentional Communication 

We always looked forward to those calls when one of our supporters or a small group called or Skyped us during the pre-Zoom days. They provided us with updates on what was happening at the church, listened to what we were doing, and prayed with us. These calls became so special that our kids referred to some callers as uncles and aunts. 

Financial Partnership 

The sustained giving, both to the general missionary support funds and for specific missionary-led projects, are good indicators of the level of commitment of a local church’s support to its IWs. Just as those who have caught the wind of mission in their sails become either ‘goers’ or ‘senders’ of Global Missions, choosing to give also aligns one’s heart to God’s global cause (“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” Matthew 6:21). 

Our local church’s consistent encouragement and challenge to give towards both regular missionary operating expenses and project-based Global Missions needs, along with reporting and celebrating people’s responses to such appeals, and IWs reporting on how these funds were used for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom, have fuelled and sustained the giving of the people. As compelling as the cause of His Kingdom is, the senders’ partnership through giving is trending towards how well the sender connects with the IW―personally, purposefully, and engaging with them on the field. The level of partnership is elevated when a significant number of supporters visit the IW onsite and experience hands-on involvement while there. This can often be a mixed blessing, as some IW sites of deployment seldom provide opportunities for such engagements for a wide range of reasons outside the IW’s control. However, our church has promoted and facilitated prayer walks as hands-on activities in the IW’s local context. 

Onsite Visit Partnership: Sender Visiting the IW 

Within a year of arrival in our adopted country, our church sent a short-term ministry team led by the missions pastor. Both our children and we as adults reconnected significantly with people from our church. Though our context prevented the group from engaging in traditional hands-on cross-cultural outreach activities, we were blessed in the way they led us in worship songs, prayer walks around our neighbourhood, and attentive listening to and prayer for our stories and struggles. The church also sent work crews to other countries where they could engage in hands-on outreach work and other work projects such as renovating a building. While such visits are a blessing to both parties (visitors and hosts), the post-visit risks must be identified and supported. Our church has been good in having debriefing and other support sessions for our short-term visitors. While their contribution, even during their short visit, was a blessing to the IWs, the greater blessing was more vigorous advocacy of missions and missionary partnerships the returning local church members carried to the rest of the congregation. 

The local church has also supported IWs by sending a group of well-equipped people to support annual events, such as children’s camps, organized by IWs. Such visits call for ongoing time and other resource commitments, but they also strengthen the local church and IW partnership. Additionally, they provide the local church members with hands-on experience in running events with language and other cultural barriers; a good training ground to minister to immigrants in their own backyard. 

While all visits by the local church members are important, visits to the field by the senior/lead pastor and other pastoral staff members bring greater significance due to their influence over the spiritual and missional well-being of the local body. Our church has been very generous in time and resources in sending the pastors to various field events. Such visits have been great blessings to us from the sending local church and the other workers gathered in such events. In turn, the pastors have also caught a fresh wind of the missional spirit and renewed both their personal and local church’s commitment to global mission. 

Onsite Visit Partnership: IW Visiting/Returning to the Local Church (Home Assignment) 

The longer the IW is engaged overseas, the trip to Canada can become less of ‘returning home’ to strengthen their partnership and more of ‘visiting the local sending church.’ The turnover in pastoral staff and congregation members can further fuel this drift. This home assignment visit is another critical transition in the life of the IWs and the local church. It calls for adjustments so the partnership remains global missions centred while the IW continues to be the extended arm of the local church in fulfilling God’s purpose and their calling amidst a particular unreached people group. Unlike the first field deployment, these home assignment transitions are far more gradual and subtle. Nevertheless, the failure to adjust to it by both parties can adversely affect the partnership with IWs becoming more attached to the ‘facilitating agency’ (e.g., GM or the parachurch agency) and the local church considering the relationship as less of a partnership and more of an obligatory funding arrangement they have with the denomination. 

In our view, both the IWs and the local church leaders have taken intentional measures to remain closely connected even in the midst of leadership and congregational transitions. The church has provided visibility both to the returning IWs and their stories. The IWs, too, have done their part to re-enter the body life of the sending church by becoming worship team members, prayer partners, small group attendees, and speakers at various gatherings, etc. 

Though being invited into one’s home is becoming a less common practice compared to being invited for a meal at a restaurant, we have enjoyed times of fellowship at people’s homes. Regardless of the location, one cannot underestimate the power of such gatherings, whether at the coffee shop or someone’s backyard. Often God used these unplanned informal times to bring mutual encouragement for a closer walk with God (deeper life) and keep the missional flame burning for the people gathered. 

The tradition of meeting the practical needs of the IWs while they are in Canada has tremendously helped keep the partnership renewed. In addition, the local church has met some fundamental requirements such as housing and usage of a vehicle, often coordinated by the Missions Committee. 

Returning for Good (Back-to-Canada) Support 

We have had both planned (e.g., retirement or reassignment) and unplanned (e.g., sickness or personal reasons) returns of IWs from the field. Even when a return is planned, as it was in our case, the transition is quite challenging, and the details can be daunting. For ourselves, everything from airport pick-up to the provision of somewhere to stay until we moved to our own place was a huge load off our minds. 

The support for IWs during an unplanned return for good or a temporary return to deal with a crisis can be even more challenging than the planned ones. For the latter, the temptation for the local church leadership is to provide all the support the IW unit requires without proper accountability. Our local church has been quite proactive in providing the support needed for the IW to work through the crisis and related issues at hand, as well as providing accountability, ensuring the changes made are sustained and restoration to holistic health is achieved through God’s grace and His people.

Summary 

To not only survive but thrive in cross-cultural ministry, IWs need a strong support team, one providing finances, prayer, and care. To be good senders, the people of God have a critical role in this Great Commission task as missions is born out of healthy local churches. John writes, “…You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name …. Therefore, we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth” (3 John 6-8 NASB1). Who is he writing to? A specific audience. He is telling that audience, “Send them.” The church in the abstract cannot send just anybody. Every church is meant to send missionaries. 

The Apostle Paul writes to the Colossians, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3). They are on his mind because he is on their mind. They have a partnership-based relationship. In commending the Ephesian church, Paul says, “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:15- 16). He does the same with the Philippians, “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:8). 

The sending local church’s relationship with the international worker is the vital core of a healthy missions venture to fulfill the Great Commission. 

This is an excerpt from the book, On Mission Volume 4. Download your free copy today.