October 31, 2024
Share and share alike. Be generous toward others. We all have a part to play. Those in the field who go to battle need workers to guard the equipment. Missionary care is a guardianship of one of our most precious kingdom resources: our sent ones.
October 20, 2023
Denise Beck is executive director of Velvet Ashes, a support organization for women in missions. Josh Beck in July took over as executive director of Barnabas International, a group that provides resources and encouragement to missionaries globally. Donna Cole, global partners counselor at College Heights Christian Church, calls the Becks an “amazing servant couple.” . . .
October 24, 2020
When the pandemic suspended their short-term mission trips indefinitely, churches responded at home and abroad. Here are three alternatives they’ve discovered. By Justin Horey Just weeks into the new year, Riley Weaver sensed that 2020 might be an unprecedented year for his ministry. He didn’t have a premonition about the pandemic—quite the contrary. Early in the year, Weaver thought 2020 could be the first year on record that he didn’t have to cancel, postpone, or reschedule a single short-term mission trip. It was an exciting thought for Weaver, the global and local impact minister at Plainfield (Indiana) Christian Church. Plainfield
January 3, 2019
By Emily Drayne What happens when our missionaries come off the field? Someone enters the mission field to replace them, right? At least we hope that’s what happens. We’re seeing many veteran missionaries who are ready to retire, but they are having a harder-than-expected time finding someone to take over their work. Are fewer people interested in entering the ministry as full-time missionaries? We need to pass on the importance of missions to our churches, families, and students. Here are four approaches that can help. Highlight Your Missionaries Churches often fail to highlight their missionaries to the entire congregation
October 21, 2017
By Emily Drayne If asked, “Have you ever felt lonely?” most people would answer yes. Most people would also admit to sometimes missing their friends, family, and hometown. Now consider missionaries serving in foreign countries and imagine the loneliness they face. Velvet Ashes is reaching out to women on the mission field who are experiencing these types of feelings. Founded by Danielle Wheeler in 2013, Velvet Ashes is helping women from all over the world connect in a central location: online. The goal is to serve the women who have uprooted their lives and planted roots in new lands. The
November 25, 2013
By Carla Williams They were so vulnerable and wounded, barely able to look me in the eye. They”d gone into missions directly after college, bright with hope and the thrill of obedience. With sincere love and determination, they”d adopted an unreached people group. Thousands of dollars had been sacrificed for their language study and living expenses. And here they were, three years later, looking so lost and alone, feeling all the weight of their supposed failure. When many missionaries come off the field, churches and families don”t know what to say and the missionaries themselves don”t know how to move
August 31, 2013
Drs. Mike and Kari MacKenzie of Marble, Colorado, are the directors of Marble Retreat Center (www.marbleretreat.org) specializing in “pastor care” through intensive counseling for Christian leaders. By Paul Boatman What is “pastor care”? Mike: Pastor care is ministry that focuses on the spiritual, mental, emotional, and relational healthiness of Christian leaders. The ministry of Marble Retreat is to help bring healing, hope, and restoration to those in vocational Christian ministry. What led you to this ministry? Mike: We each had some influences before we were a couple. I was first sensitized by seeing some of my brother”s
January 26, 2011
By Teresa Schantz Williams I thought it would be awkward, like showing up at a wedding rehearsal when you”re not in the wedding party. Attend the National Missionary Convention? I had no credentials: I”m not a missionary or a forwarding agent, I don”t serve on a mission committee, and I”ve never been on a mission trip outside the United States. “You should come,” my sister insisted. “Going there just . . . changes you.” I didn”t ask what about me needed changing (I”m pretty sure she”d tell me). Instead, I went. On November 18, we drove from Missouri to Lexington,
December 7, 2008
By Mike Sweeney When I speak to people about the prospect of entering cross-cultural ministry, I often hear them say, “I would love to become a missionary””if only I didn”t need to raise my own support.” I understand. The prospect of going church-to-church marketing myself never appealed to me. But, looking back on the whole adventure from the opposite side, I wouldn”t trade the relationships that developed with our supporters for anything. For the 15 years we served as Bible translators in Papua New Guinea, we always knew there were people praying for us by name, people concerned that our
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