Top 5 Practices of Joyful Senders
Financially supporting missionaries is an honor, but it’s not the only way to sustain those we send to the nations. Joyful sending goes beyond just giving money, extending to caring for missionaries as whole persons. Whether you’ve supported missionaries for decades or are just getting started, there’s something new for everyone in the following five practices.
1. Stay Informed
Humans have a deep desire to be known. We want others to ask us questions, listen to our answers, understand our wants, needs, and aspirations. Missionaries are no different. By our efforts we can ensure that our missionary friends, who joyfully sacrifice geographic proximity to loved ones, don’t end up losing relational closeness too. Reading newsletters and following social media profiles are great ways to stay informed without putting any extra burden on our missionary friends. An occasional call, email, or text may require more effort on both ends, but they also create a more personal and intentional interaction. Either way, make sure your missionaries know you know them—help them feel known.
Tip: Ask your missionary friend the best way to stay informed and honor their preferences—you want to bless, not burden.
2. Inform Regularly
Just as missionaries long to be known, so also they long to know. Living far from friends and family can be incredibly lonely. Short, regular communication with your missionary friends can help them feel supported. Tell them about your house projects, church’s ministry, and baby’s newest trick. Share about what you’re reading, listening to, and watching. Describe how you’re doing, what’s going well, where you need prayer. Don’t mind if your messages go unread. Send them to bless, not burden.
Tip: Regularly add the disclaimer “no need to reply” on your messages. Relieve them of the responsibility to respond without losing regular communication.
3. Share with Others
When was the last time you talked to one of your friends about the work your missionary is doing among the nations? Sharing about your missionary’s work can have several positive effects. Doing so can: encourage your friend as they hear stories about God’s faithfulness; alert your friend to the financial, material, or spiritual needs of your missionary; and fuel your own zeal for your missionary’s work, as their efforts become your passion. Insert your missionary into your next conversation with friends and see what happens—you might be surprised.
Tip: For truly zealous senders, consider hosting a Missions Night in your home—invite friends, share a meal, read an update, pray for the work.
4. Pray Habitually
Forming a prayer habit has less to do with willpower and more to do with trigger building. When, like ___ dogs, we associate a behavior with a specific trigger, the behavior becomes almost automatic. Consider building a trigger to help you pray for missionaries by using the habit stacking technique, where you combine something you do everyday (say, brushing your teeth or getting in the car) with a short prayer for the missionaries you know. Don’t try to be grandiose. Just build the habit. Your missionaries will thank you someday.
Tip: Rather than putting your missionary’s prayer magnet on the refrigerator where you never look at it, place it somewhere more interesting—like your bathroom mirror or car dashboard—so it’s encountered in combination with your habit trigger.
5. Give Surprises
Regular contributions for someone’s living expenses are a tremendous way to love a missionary family. But for those who can’t afford such frequent donations—or those who want to go above-and-beyond them—a surprise gift can often put fresh wind in a weary missionary’s sails. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Give $5 earmarked for a cup of coffee
Mail a book you recently enjoyed reading
Pay for them to stream a movie and purchase movie snacks
Send their favorite American treats
Tip: If you’re mailing a package, look into the destination country’s custom policies. Avoid sending forbidden items, and consider paying the customs fee so your missionary friend won’t have to.
Think Creatively
These five practices are just a launching pad for many creative ways we can serve missionaries well. As senders, we should take our roles just as seriously as goers do, dedicating ourselves to blessing the nations by blessing our friends on the field. Whether you adopt all these practices or none of them, we hope you’ll consider ways you can support your missionary friends beyond a monthly donation.