Missionary Support (7): After the Missionary Visit

As this series on missionary support concludes and before we consider what should be done after the missionary visit, let’s review where we’ve been:

The Doctrinal Side:

• Part 1: Deputation and the Bible
• Part 2: Inviting and Partnering with Missionaries
• Part 3: The Challenges and Benefits of Deputation

The Practical Side:

• Part 4: Scheduling a Missionary Visit
• Part 5: Preparing for a Missionary Visit
• Part 6: Hosting a Missionary Family

This final article offers some practical tips for maintaining your relationship with missionaries after they’ve visited your church. Topics include paying them, praying for them, and communicating with them.

How Should We Pay a Missionary Speaker?

Being a missionary can be hard. Perhaps you’ve heard the contradictory comments out there, either that “missionaries are beggars” or “they’re in it for the money.” I speak for most of us when I say: neither is remotely true!

Sure, when we visit a church to present the ministry, we expect compensation, and we might also ask for regular support—not because we’re beggars or greedy, but because this is our ministry, and we can’t travel to churches or stay on the field without it. The following are some compensation methods and considerations for paying missionaries.

Compensation Methods:

#1: Honorariums: Most churches budget a set amount to special speakers. Our experience over the past decade has been between $100-250 per service, though I’ve a warning to give for this in conjunction with the next method, love offerings.

#2: Love Offerings: I strongly suggest you collect love offerings at the end of a missionary’s service. Collecting them before the missionary has a chance to share the ministry robs the congregation of the chance to give cheerfully based on understanding and shared burdens.

A Warning: Most congregants giving love offerings expect their gift to be added to the church’s predetermined honorarium. Thus, if your honorarium is $100 and your people give $220 in love offerings, don’t give the missionary $220—give them $320. It’s honest, generous, and (most importantly) what your people already expect is happening unless your church policy clearly states otherwise.

#3: Travel Expenses: This is not always necessary but can be important for non-local missionaries. Gifts like housing, gas cards, or a little money for the road can really help them in their travels, as can connecting them to other churches in the area for more meetings.

Considerations:

#1: Full-time vs. Part-time Missionaries: Deputation is a bumpy road, and at some point, prospective missionaries must transition from regular employment with weekend missionary travels to full-time deputation and life on the road. Neither is easier, and both can result in 7-day workweeks. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions, like what are their immediate needs and what percentage they’ve raised thus far. Missionaries living off 20% support have more immediate needs than those with 80%.

#2: When and Where to Pay the Missionary: Some churches mail checks for visiting missionaries to the home office. The downside to this is that missionaries can’t immediately access it, might not see it for up to 2 months, and may have to pay administrative fees on it. Other churches pay the missionary directly. Most prefer this in cash or by check. It’s guaranteed not to get lost or forgotten, it can meet immediate needs and helps with budgeting, and it allows for them to write detailed thank-you letters.

How Should We Pray for a Missionary?

Most missionaries will provide a sign-up sheet for their e-mail prayer letters, private Facebook pages, or other means of ongoing communication. This is the single best way to keep updated on their prayer needs.

The Missionary’s Responsibility:

Providing clear, informative updates can be a huge time investment, but missionaries should do this at minimum quarterly, and at most bi-weekly. Anything less, they’re failing to communicate; anything more, they’re risking an abuse of the relationship. They should keep these updates short and include ministry and family news, but most importantly prayer requests and praises.

Your Responsibility:

If you’ve signed up for their updates, read them! If you’ve read them and prayed for the family, let them know! “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Rom 12:15) Response rates to missionary updates are incredibly low—like 5% or worse. While email replies aren’t the best indicator of how much prayer is happening, missionaries do get discouraged when so few among their readership let them know that their requests are heard and shared. “Brethren, pray for us” (1Thes 5:25) wasn’t Paul’s request only, but all of ours.

Some best methods for keeping missionaries in prayer:

• Keep a convenient stack of prayer cards and pray for one daily or at each mealtime.
• Read missionary updates in church and pray for them publicly.
• Pray through an update immediately upon receipt, so you don’t forget.
• (My personal favorite) Pray immediately by writing your prayer in reply to their email.

How Should We Communicate with a Missionary?

Missionaries might leave thank-you notes to the church or host family but then wait for communication from the church thereafter. Who’s responsible for the next steps and how are future connections handled?

Suggestion #1: No Matter What, Communicate!

While official communication about partnerships or next meetings should be left up to the church leadership, anyone can (and should) communicate with the missionary via e-mail and social media. Reply to updates, like and comment on posts, and keep up the engagement especially when they’re on the field—whether you support them financially or not. Honestly, we sometimes feel we have stronger prayer support from churches that don’t support us financially than from those that do, indicated simply by their levels of engagement. In the heat of the battle, we know which support matters most.

Suggestion #2: Be Careful What You Communicate

If financial partnership is a possibility, please don’t tell the missionary. We’ve heard it all: “We can probably support you” or “There’s a good chance you’ll be hearing from us.” Remember, this isn’t a job interview but a potential ministry partnership. It’s better to surprise the missionaries with good news than to get their hopes up before letting them down.

Suggestion #3: Be Prompt and Honest

Whether you decide to support the missionary or not, please let them know as soon as possible. One of the biggest pains of deputation is living week after week on hopes and maybes. Ambiguity is never fun, and even “announcing” the good news by setting up a direct deposit in the background isn’t good enough. Make the phone call or write the e-mail.

Suggestion #4: Encourage Long-term, Personal Communication

The church leadership should never be the only ones interacting with your missionaries. Create a missions committee, organize an adopt-a-missionary program, get the youth group involved. One of the coolest connections we had was a Senior-Ladies group who sent little packets of riddles and activities to our kids each month during our deputation years. Find ways to connect your people with the missionaries intentionally, personally, and prayerfully—it’s why they visited your church!

Conclusion

This series on “Missionary Support: A Practical Guide” is far from exhaustive, but I trust it’s been food for thought as you seek to partner with missionaries all over the world. As you mull over these ideas and move towards greater mission-mindedness, I pray God would be glorified, the missionaries would be encouraged, and the Gospel would be spread to the ends of the Earth.

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“Dr. David Abel” has served as a missionary in Asia since 2005. He presently serves as the Regional Director for Asia for a ministry that helps underground churches in Asia train and send missionaries to locations Western missionaries can’t easily go. This post first appeared on Rooted Thinking and is republished by permission.

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Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash