What to Say? Part Two

On my last post I noted some examples from scripture about conversations that seemed to have happened between the worker and the church.

• Telling stories of the work
• To let the church know how the workers are doing
• Encouragement to the worker
• To give encouragement to the church
• Received them in joy and honor
• To give praise for what God had done

The church and missionary should have an on-going relationship. If the worker is sent through a mission organization all three entities need to know how to relate to one another regarding the work. The church should never simply hand over the missionary to the sending agency and feel like their work is done.

The church needs to stay connected with the worker even after they are on the field and even if they are part of a mission organization. The mission organization cannot take the place of their church. The Great Commission was given to the church. The workers need the on-going prayer, care, nurture, strategic involvement and accountability from the church.

So if there is regular communication between the worker and his / her church then it is quite natural for the worker to report as he returns home. You would not believe how often I hear those who say they rarely hear from their home church unless they (the worker) initiate the conversation.

Another caution that I want to address is that since it takes money to live on the field then often the missionary lives in a tension between reporting about their work and raising support for their work. If the only time the church hears from their missionaries is during a point of financial need then that message can get old to the church.  It also can put the missionary in a position of needing to have some thing spectacular to report on. Quite frankly this can hard if you are serving in a new area, a non-harvest area or if you serve in more of a “support” role. We sometimes tend to elevate certain types of workers above others.

So..

What do you say to your church if you have

5 min?

10 min?

30 min?

What do you say if you have one hour in a Small Group Setting?

What do you say if you have put together a Special Event such as a concert, dinner, art exhibit?

What is your story?

What do you think they need to hear?

What do you think they want to hear?

Next week we will look at “How do you say it?”

As always would love to hear your thoughts on this.