Office of Missions
How a local church can be a blessing to its missionaries
The Office of Missions exists to promote missions to students at BJU and to serve missionaries around the world. We want to help churches maximize their ministry to missionaries.
These suggestions and tips, from more than 30 veteran missionaries, give practical ways that a local church can minister to their friends on the mission field. Gleaned from hundreds of years of collective experience, these suggestions have proven to be a blessing to many.
Though these suggestions are meant to be helpful, they cannot replace the best source for information: asking a missionary directly. Once specific needs are determined, appointing a "helps coordinator" from the congregation may be beneficial.
Physical Helps
- Send a work team to aid in construction projects.
- Send individuals or families for smaller projects.
- Send Christmas gifts for missionary children.
- Send care packages with personal notes attached. (Keep in mind, however, that in some cases missionaries may have to pay duty on items received from abroad. That box of goodies valued at $10 could cost your missionary $50 to open!)
Financial Helps
- Begin, or increase, regular support.
- Donate to a deputee's "outfit and passage" fund. (Deputees generally face many expenses relative to becoming established on their new field.)
- Seek to adjust existing support for inflation as well as for changing financial needs (for example, additional children or children in college).
- Consider designating a vehicle for a missionary to use while on furlough.
- Provide housing for several days beyond the time that the missionary is scheduled to be with your church.
- Send new or used homeschool materials for the education of the missionary's children.
Encouragement Helps
- Send regular email updates about the church from the pastor or other church officer. (It is especially important for a new pastor to write to the missionaries to tell them about himself and his family.)
- Encourage the pastor and his wife to visit the missionary on his field.
- Send greeting cards with personal comments or notes.
- Send bits of news about your church or community to the missionaries, but let them know that they need not reply each time.
Spiritual Helps
- Pray! Ask for current prayer requests, both personal and ministry oriented. Periodically check with the missionary to see how the Lord is answering your prayers. Feel free to share some of your requests with him too.
- Help build the missionary's library. Find out which commentaries he would like, and ship them to him. This will enrich his study as well as benefit the missionary's local assembly.
- Purchase a subscription to a Christian magazine or theological journal and have it sent to the missionary.
- Occasionally send sermon tapes from your pastor or visiting preachers. (Keep in mind that if every church sends letters, emails, and sermon tapes each week, the missionary will have no time to minister!)
- Send tapes and CD's of quality Christian music.
- Pay for the missionary to attend a Bible conference or other spiritually refreshing meeting.
Miscellaneous helps
- Maintain a missionary closet or pantry to provide practical material needs like food, clothing, maintenance supplies for the car, or tools that can be used on the field. (Be sure to do this in a way that shows honor to your missionaries by stocking only quality items.)
- Provide items that a deputee would need to get started (projector, display, prayer cards, brochure).
- Put together care packages for missionary children away at college.
- Purchase special equipment (such as a sound system, overhead projector, copy machine, or computers) for the missionary's ministry.
The Office of Missions is committed to providing the very best training possible for the next generation of missionaries. We also desire to be helpful to local churches as they seek to serve their missionaries. If we can assist in any way, please email us at missions@bju.edu, or call us at 864.242.5100, Ext. 8045.