Investing In Missionary People

I know an African man who is doing incredible work for God in Mozambique, Africa. He is a church planter who is currently pastoring a small youth church in Beira, he lectures at a local Bible institute, he liaises with government officials on social justice issues, and he does a lot of work for Kidslink International, an Australian-based charity and missions organisation which works with children in developing nations.

This man, Jonas, was being supported by a local church in Victoria and I was saddened to hear recently that his funding has suddenly been terminated. This was not due to any error on his part, but simply because the church decided to “go another way”.

It got me thinking about the relationship between missionaries and the churches that support them. Do we actually support the person or the work that they do? What happens when a missionary takes a break or moves to another country or project? Very often their support (and all contact) is dropped, and often without any warning, as was the case for Jonas.

My sister and brother-in-law are actively involved in supporting overseas missionaries, but what I love about them is that they have taken the time to develop a two-way relationship with the people they support. They correspond regularly by email, not just about what is going on in the missionary’s life, but what is happening in their own family. Whenever the missionaries come home on furlough they have them over to their house for a meal so they can catch up. They send presents to their kid’s on their birthdays. But most amazingly, they maintain that contact with people even after they leave the mission field. Now that’s a dedicated relationship!

A relationship is dependent on what you invest into a person, not just a task. With true relationship churches would realise that people like Jonas depend on their financial support to live – they have families to feed, clothe, educate and shelter, just like we do. I completely understand that there are many reasons why a church would cease to support a missionary, but I would hope that they realise that missionaries are real people with real needs, who have given up their lives for God. They are doing a job that many of us would never have the courage to do, and they deserve our support, recognition, friendship and respect.