by Andy Johnson

MRN Director of Missionary Care

If you are anything like me, you’ve already got a reading list longer than 2022 will allow. As I sit to write, I actually have 14 inches of reading material waiting for me on my bedside table (if anyone’s counting – which I evidently am).

That being said, we wanted to kick off 2022 with a few ideas for you if you’d like to take a deeper dive in learning about missionary care.

The greatest resources for learning how to better serve missionaries are (get ready for it…) missionaries. Just as there is no substitute for tasting a food where it’s made or experiencing a culture firsthand, you cannot serve missionaries well without getting to know them. Stay in contact with them. Invite them over to your home when they are stateside (or take them out to dinner if that’s more convenient for them). Ask lots of questions and listen to them every chance you get. You do not have to have been a missionary to care for them, but you do need to get to know them.

If you’re looking for a quick read, I’ll point you to Missions by Andy Johnson (no, not me – a different Andy Johnson). It’s an excellent, easily-digestible introduction to church sponsored missions. The chapter ‘Sending and Supporting Well’ is particularly relevant to our conversation today. Plus, Andy Johnsons are worth supporting.

If you are into the classics, I have to recommend Neal Pirolo’s Serving as Senders. While some of his examples might be a bit dated (not many missionaries need you to burn CD’s of Christian music these days), his practical, biblically-based exploration of all the different ways churches can support missionaries sets the standard. In part because of trailblazing authors like Mr. Pirolo, there are a variety of other quality resources for churches available today including Well Sent (Beirn), Missions Abandoned (Jit and Jennings), and Pipeline (Wilson).

If you have a heart for Third Culture Kids (what we used to call Missionary Kids), congratulations! You’ve chosen well, because TCKs are some pretty remarkable people (I know – I have three of them in my home). The classic (but regularly updated) resource on understanding TCKs is Third Culture Kids – Growing up Among Worlds, a book that has impacted – and saved! – many lives. An easier read crammed full of practical ideas for serving TCKs is Ulrika Ernvik’s Third Culture Kids – a Gift to Care For, with the added bonus that the author periodically offers online training for understanding and serving TCKs.

Along those lines, if you are wired more to enjoy taking online classes, I have to recommend Harry Hoffman’s material. He has of late been compiling what he’s learned in a lifetime of service to missionaries into affordable training materials. Global Trellisand The Upstream Collective also offer a lot of great material, some of which is free and some of which is less so. Additionally, missionarycare.com is a great storehouse of writing on the topic.

Finally, at the risk of seeming self-serving, we at MRN would love to serve you. We have a number of resources available to you for free on our website. We also regularly travel to churches to provide a Missionary Care Workshop event tailored to suit your needs. Getting to serve missionaries and the churches that send in this way is an honor, and something that we always look forward to doing. You can reach us by replying to this email or through our website.

We are excited about what’s coming up in future Messenger articles. In this year, we plan to walk you through the Missionary Life Cycle; talk in depth about TCKs; explore challenges like anxiety, trauma, and burnout for missionaries; and wrap up with a discussion about soul care. We’re excited about 2022, and we’re glad to be on this journey of missionary care with you!

NOTE: A click on any book link will open a listing linked to MRN’s Amazon Smiles account. A purchase using this link will result in a small donation from Amazon to MRN.