How to Care for New Missionaries on the Field

New missionaries heading to their field of service spend years in transition and planning to follow through on the calling they feel God has placed on their lives. Some go single, and some go with families. All those new missionaries have something in common: They can benefit from a church, a friend, family, or a pastor making sure they are cared for and encouraged as they seek to share the gospel among the nations. This article is for those of you wondering just how you can care for your missionary.

Check In

When your church sends new missionaries, they are adjusting to far more than language and culture. They are learning to navigate an entirely new life — finding schools for their kids, learning how to drive, locating the right supermarkets, and a hundred other things they once did on autopilot. Small, regular check-ins remind them they are not alone. These can be as small as a text or as big as a care package, but a personal favorite of our family is a handwritten letter that you can send with an international stamp. The Great Commission is accomplished by all of us, not just a faithful few. You and your church have the privilege of holding the rope for new missionaries as they navigate the field for the first time — including learning why they are there to begin with.

“Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” — Acts 15:36 (ESV)

Paul checked in on those who worked alongside him. It is good to see how those who have been sent out from your church are doing and remind them that the Lord’s calling to service isn’t always easy, but it is worth it.

Encourage Them

Do not expect a reply every time. Living every day in a place where you need your whole brain just to follow the simplest of interactions is exhausting. A small reminder that someone — or even an entire church — is praying for them consistently can completely change their perspective on a day. Do not assume that a delayed reply means your encouragement or prayer did not radically change their day.

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)

As a church body, we are directed to build one another up. Your missionary is not physically in their church building, but your words can still remind them of who they serve — today and forever.

Visit Them— Over Their Job

My family navigated a unique first year on the field. My wife had a baby. Within a month, I had an appendectomy, we made multiple ER visits, and then there was just life with three kids. Because of this, we had added layers to a year devoted to language learning. In the midst of all of this, our sending church told us, “Say when” — and they would send someone to help us. Not to help us learn Spanish. Not to help us learn the Core Missionary Task alongside our local church. They wanted to send someone to help us and care for us so that we could carry out the Core Missionary Task well.

That is the kind of visit that matters. Go to serve alongside them and care for them, not to inspect their work.

Pray for Them

Every Monday, I receive a text from an assistant at our church, and it is one of my favorite moments of the week. She asks for prayer requests for the week, and our church staff prays over them every week. To know that someone will ask, every week, what pieces of our life need prayer — that is beyond encouraging. Whether the request is deep, urgent, or routine, every single request is prayed for each week.

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…” — Colossians 4:2-4 (ESV)

“I’ll pray for you” is not just a throwaway phrase for your missionaries. It is the most helpful thing you can do. It is the foundation for any and all work your missionary embarks on. They may only give you a letter instead of a name for someone they are sharing the gospel with, but please pray fervently. Pray for their work, their walk with the Lord, their marriage, their kids. There is no part of their life that cannot be touched by your prayer.

Don’t Ask Them How Their “Mission Trip” Is Going

Remember: this is not a one-week commitment. It is their career choice — just as you have a career in the United States without a timeline, so do they. Your missionary may be in their country of service for four years or forty. Either way, they plant their lives there in the same way you have planted yours in your home. They are trying to make a home in a mix of cultures, and it helps to be reminded of the things that are normal.

“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” — Proverbs 18:13 (ESV)

Instead of basic questions, ask your missionary how they have learned to depend on God while on the field. Be specific. Be deep. Check in on their marriage and their kids. They may not have had much opportunity for someone to ask them real spiritual questions about themselves — so be that person.

Hold the Rope

It is helpful to remind your friends that so many things are the same no matter where you are. Parenting is parenting. Work is sometimes just work. But ultimately, it is encouraging to remind your missionary friend that someone is holding the rope as they engage with the lost around the world. The job of a missionary is to carry the gospel to those who have never heard it, disciple new believers, and combat spiritual warfare at every turn. Be the church body that holds the rope for your missionary as you take responsibility for serving them well. There are lots of articles like this one on holding the rope that can aid you as a church as you construct a firm foundation for sending missionaries.

My final encouragement is this: message your missionary today (through secure channels). Ask them personal questions such as how you can specifically care for their family and commit to praying for them on a regular basis.