Have you ever had the opportunity to ask your sent missionaries how you as a sending church can support them? When we joined BMM in 2022, we and our church, Chisago Lakes Baptist Church (Chisago City, Minnesota), embarked on a partnership journey together for the sake of the gospel to the nations. We are learning and growing in this partnership together, being unified together for the sake of Christ’s name.

Our sending church has rallied behind us to send us to the mission field. Through their rallying, we have learned what encourages us as their missionaries. Here are three ways your church’s sent missionaries want you to support them.

1. Continue to Build Your Missionary Relationships.

The missionary life can be lonely work—from deputation to serving on the field. Missionaries feel the loss of relationships they were accustomed to at home. Continue building those friendships with your missionaries when they are gone.

One of the best ways to do that is through communication. Communicate regularly and often with your sent missionaries. Praise the Lord that we live in an era where communicating with missionaries has never been easier! You are a member of the local Body of Christ that tethers your missionaries back home. Strengthen that tethering line. They will be encouraged that you care. Build relationships that can withstand the weight of the world’s time zones.

Our church family follows our lives. They make sure we know that we are both prayed and cared for. When we are home, we get invitations to share meals together. We receive almost weekly texts or emails asking how our Sunday deputation visits went and how we are doing. God has used our church as a source of counsel, affirmation, and encouragement through some of our most discouraging times. Our church has “owned us” as their missionaries.

2. Work in Ongoing Partnership with the Mission Agency.

Baptist Mid-Missions exists to advance the building of Christ’s church in partnership with Baptist churches. Every single BMM staff member will tell you they serve Christ by serving their missionaries and the churches that send them. But for a mission agency to serve missionaries and churches well, they must know each other.

Sending churches: keep the partnership with the mission agency strong. A good mission agency will serve your local church as your missionaries’ sending authority, but they will offer helpful resources and support to assist you in specific ways.

Our pastors and deacons have kept ongoing conversations with BMM throughout our pre-field ministry. Our church leadership has fervently sought to understand pre-field ministry, to learn how missionary finances work, to know what to expect during support raising, and to learn how to counsel and lead us well from a missionary’s perspective. It is astounding how encouraging it is to hear both our church staff and BMM staff refer to each other on a personal, first-name basis. It shows that we are being taken care of on both fronts through this gospel partnership.

3. Shepherd the Missionary Like You Would Any Church Member.

Pastors, this last one is for you. Missionaries still need shepherding, even when they live apart from the flock. They want you to weep with them in seasons of hardship and to rejoice with them in seasons of joy. They want a relationship with you (admittedly, they make this challenging for you when they may live 14 hours ahead of you!). Consider: when was the last time you personally talked to your sent missionaries? They want you involved in the Lord’s work!

While on deputation, we are away from our sending church most Sundays, and that absence will only become greater once we get to Japan. Yet our pastors have extended the hand of friendship and their heart of shepherding to us time and time again. They regularly call or text us to check in when they know we are away. Our lead pastor guided us (and our church) through our field change when the Lord redirected our steps. Although we are rarely with the flock, we are shepherded. Praise God for pastors who shepherd their missionaries well.

These three support methods are certainly not exhaustive. Every missionary family and every sending church is wired uniquely. However, it is our hope that this list rejuvenates your partnership with your sent missionaries, or perhaps it will help create new partnerships in the years to come as the Lord allows!