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How
to be a blessing to your missionaries!
First I want to say that I am not writing this to ask for anyone to send us anything. If your church supports missionaries, your first obligation is to be a blessing to the missionaries that your church supports. If your church does not support missionaries, I encourage you to go to your pastor and ask your pastor for somes names of missionaries that you can be a blessing to.
I. Prayer The most important thing you can do for your missionary is to pray for them. Generally a missionary will send what is called a "prayer letter" every one to three months to their supporting churches. Some churches place the prayer letters on the wall under the missionaries picture so the church members can read them. In each "prayer letter" there is usually a short list of prayer requests. You can be a great blessing to that missionary by writing down those prayer requests and praying for them.
You can also be a blessing here by letting your missionary know that you are praying for them. Something as simple as sending a short email letting them know that you are praying for them could make all the difference. If you would rather send a card or a short note through the mail, please always try to include an email address where the missionary can reply to you or send their thanks if they so choose. Sending a thank-you note through the mail in the states takes a few minutes whereas sending one from a foreign country is a bit more complicated!
II. Faith Promise Another way to be a blessing to your missionaries is to be faithful in your faith promise giving. Not only will God bless you but your faithfulness will enable your missionaries to complete the work that they are sent to do. No missionary is going to complain to a pastor of a supporting church that their support is not being sent every month. But how long would you keep working if your boss kept changing your salary every month? Just the simple act of being faithful to your faith promise can make all the difference!
III. Practical ways to be a blessing A. Missionary Closet One easy way is for your church to have a missionary closet. A missionary closet is a small closet or room that a variety of gift items can be kept in so that when a missionary family comes to your church, they are able to go to the closet and pick out things they can use. It could be as simple as a metal cabinet closet, to as big as a large storage room.
Items that can be kept in the closet would be: Baby items: diapers, wipes, bottles, baby clothes, blankets, pacifiers, diaper cream, umbrella strollers, diaper bags. Kid items: children's books, small toys, kid's clothing, dress socks, underwear, belts, white shirts, coloring books, crayons, ties, school work books, backpacks, purses.
Things for Her: books on parenting or marriage, Christian novels, clothing, soaps and lotions, stationary, perfume, women's magazines (Better Homes and Gardens etc.), shampoo, conditioner. Things for Him: cologne, ties, belts, dress socks, men's magazines (Popular Science etc.), preaching tapes, sermon preparation books, tracts, Bibles. Misc.: stamps, envelopes, music tapes and cd's, portable tape player, oil and other car supplies, snow scraper, phone cards, gas cards, photo albums, scotch tape, glue, scissors, small stapler, small hole puncher, accordian files, rulers, markers, post-its, ink cartridge refill kits, batteries, umbrellas, snacks such as granola bars, raisens, etc.
All of the above would be appropriate for a missionary on deputation or furlough. Other items that you find on sale such as curtain fabric, bathroom decor, kitchen supplies, tupperware, and all other household items could also be added for a missionary getting ready to leave for the mission field. Usually everything a missionary has has to fit into their car so if a missionary does not want to take something it may because of space constraints.
When buying things to fill up your missionary closet, avoid the temptation to buy inexpensive items that you yourself would never use. A good rule of thumb is that when you are at the store buying something for yourself, if it is on sale, buy two and donate one to the missionary closet. If you would use that item, then your missionary family would probably use that item too!
B. Sending packages Another way to be a blessing to your missionaries is to send them small packages. Before sending anything be sure to check with the missionary if there are any things that are not allowed to be sent through the mail and where they would like to have the package sent. One year my father sent us a package that had some birthday chocolates in it. Two months later we received a call from the post office telling us that the package was going to have to be sent back to the states because we did not have an import license! Even though it would be nice to be able to send a "surprise" through the mail, it is best to check with the missionary first! When sending things it is good to put the value of the item as zero as well. UPS and FedEx will offer to insure the item but you need to estimate the worth of the item to do that. When the package then reaches customs, the missionary will be charged a tax for whatever you put as the value of the package. The tax for Mexico is 35%.... so if you put the value as $100, we would have to pay $35 to receive that item! Another word of caution is to be vague about what items you are sending. For most cases, "documents" or "gift" would be enough.
Items that could be sent: Music tapes, cd's, computer programs, books, tracts, preaching tapes, magazine subscriptions, small toys for children, small baby items, kids tapes like Patch the Pirate, cooking spices, kitchen utinsels not available where the missionary is (oven thermometer, kitchen timers), Christian videos (Bob Jones missionary or kids ones), Bible covers, Christian stickers and supplies for SS classes, flannelgraph or flashcard sets.
When sending a package, don't think that it has to be a lot or the missionary won't appreciate it. Just sending something small and simple lets the missionary family know that you care! Again,
if you find a good deal on something that you want for yourself, it
is most likely that a missionary family would love to have one too!
If you wouldn't buy it for yourself, the missionary probably wouldn't
buy it either!
C. Other ways to be a blessing: When a missionary family comes through your church, slip the wife some money for her to buy something for herself.
Offer to buy the school supplies/books for one or all of the missionary family kids for one year. Don't forget birthday's and anniveraries! Send a card or an email to let them know you are praying for and thinking about them. Give a special offering for the one celebrating.
Offer to handle all the mailing for the missionary. ONLY do this if you are organized and able to make the committment. Offer to pay the stamps for mailing prayer letters. Email the missionary or the missionary wife and share about your homelife and ask about hers! Friendships can be made so easily today via the internet!
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