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3 questions from a msy to me. help.

Discussion in 'Evangelism, Missions & Witnessing' started by MR._MESSY_AKA_GLA, Jul 9, 2008.

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  1. MR._MESSY_AKA_GLA

    MR._MESSY_AKA_GLA New Member

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    Hi everyone. I am a member but not a regular poster of comments.

    My wife and I support a missionary family, each month, who serve in the continent of Africa. They sent us a letter asking for our response to the following questions. "Your honest answers will help us to better communicate with you and also show us the areas we need to improve on..." The couple wrote to us with 3 questions.

    (1.) How can we improve our communication with you?

    (2.) What is one question you would like for us to answer during our presentation time when we return on furlough?

    (3.) How can we pray for you?

    After the questions, the missionaries ask us "If you would please send your responses back to our address below by August 15. We would greatly appreciate this."

    Please help me to respond. Without knowing the field, the country, the target people to evangelize...then what could be some reasonable comments or answers to this family that God is using.

    I feel at such a loss to respond properly to them. I don't know what to say to them. I know them from my local church. I have read their missionary letters and /or read their e-mails.

    Let me pray out loud. "Lord, You do know all about this family. You do care for them. You have used them to bring others to Yourself on their field. Father, please help me to reply as how to improve communication between them and us. Father, what is one question that my wife and I would like to answer during their presentation time when we return on furlough? May You bring glory to Yourself through the questions and the answers. Father, they are asking us "How can we pray for you?" That question seems humbling to me. Yet I know we are brothers and sisters in Christ who need each other. May our response be not just for this present time but to benefit us as lay people who want to please You and to influence others around us for this time and eternity. May this family become more effective in linking with their supporters here in the States.

    Thank you for reading. MR. MESSY...John 15:5
     
    #1 MR._MESSY_AKA_GLA, Jul 9, 2008
  2. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Well, I see that alas, no one has answered you. I'll try.

    First of all, it's hard to know what to say without knowing more details. Are you a pastor? The one in charge of missionary communication in your church? Personal friends of the missionaries? Is the letter to you personally or to the church?

    Have the missionaries been remiss in their communication? Have they been asked by the church to write more? This has happened to me. Oftentimes it is because the church has changed addresses or pastors without the missionaries knowing it. The missionary is trying to communicate but something is not working.

    Now to take a stab at the questions:
    (1) The missionaries should be sending out prayer letters at least four times a year, according to the guidelines of most mission boards. Beyond that, we try to answer every personal letter and e-mail. This is a must for the missionary. If the missionary wants to communicate further, with e-mail updates, etc., that is up to the missionary. However, it is possible for the missionary to communicate too much. Most pastors don't have time to do more than skim a weekly e-mail update unless they are close to the missionary.

    (2) A main question for the missionary to answer in my mind is what kind of evangelism do they do on their field, and how has the Lord blessed it. Remember when you ask this that if the missionary is on a "Gospel resistant" field (Muslim countries, most Asian countries, some European countries), they should not be judged by comparing their work to more fruitful fields.

    (3) I wouldn't expect the missionary to pray for you personally unless you are a personal friend or a supporting church pastor. We have about 50 supporting churches. It would be extremely difficult for us to pray for everyone we have met in our supporting churches, much less pray knowledgably.

    I hope this helps.

    God bless from Japan
     
    #2 John of Japan, Jul 14, 2008
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