I just wanted to point out that there is a new category on my blog. When I returned from Africa I wrote a little guide about how to warm up your missionary by sending them things to encourage them. The booklet is called ‘Curried Missionary’ and there is a whole category for it now in my sidebar. Feel free to use the information there for encouraging your missionaries or in your church.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

“Although this is another subject altogether and is normally directed to your missionary, there are things you can do to lessen the trauma they will encounter upon re-entry.

• Well before they come home, ask what some of their home needs might be.Tell them the things you may be able to organize and help them on their “Re-entry”. Check to be sure they are comfortable with these things.
• You may be need to suggest a church to worship at.
• While they are still overseas keep them abreast of changes in fashions, city expansions, changes in laws and any new lingo used.
• PLAN to ease their assimilation back into the “home scene”.

Ø Prepare meals for when the first arrive.

Ø Go shopping with them to ease their shock of the enormous number of items available (as they perceive it). This applies more to the long termers but be aware that even short termers can be overwhelmed at the difference in cultural norms.

Ø They would really appreciate you taking them to a restaurant and it is there you can spend time listening to them and try to pick up on their heart needs.

Ø You may try and arrange accommodation for them. In this case ask around your church/churches for what may available.

• Spend time with them to make them feel wanted. They may be happy for you to just drop in from time to time to see how they are going. (Old friends change etc.)
• There may also be a need for someone who can debrief/council them on issues they may struggle with. For this try to contact their mission society for help or your pastor.

These are some of the more important things that need to be considered but they are by no means are all that could be done.

NB Understand that culture shock IS very real and has the capacity to set your missionary back a long way. If no help and encouragement is given it often leads to more permanent problems.“

A few posts back I put up a poll about this series I’ve been doing for a while now. The results so far are that four people have voted and three out of four have no idea what Curried Missionary is. So, here it is, this is Curried Missionary and below are the links to all the other parts of the series.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Pic: My mum Estelle with my nephew in PNG

“A Note On Spiritual Warfare

If you are planning on encouraging a missionary then you are making a choice to be a part of their spiritual battle. As soon as a missionary starts to prepare to go to the overseas or home mission field, Satan begins his attack. By encouraging missionaries we are fighting as part of the Lord’s army against this constant battle. It doesn’t matter if you decide to only post parcels or letters or whether you start a prayer meeting or distribute prayer letters, you are part of the battle!

As part of this battle it is vital that we put on the Lord’s armour as Ephesians 6:10-18 discusses and not take these verses lightly. The spreading of the message of Salvation begins with your support and encouragement and this is what the devil hates the most. He is the master of discouragement and will do his utmost to make a missionary return to their home country for the wrong reasons. So, before you start to take part in this missionary encouragement ministry you will need to put on God’s armour. The reason is clearly set out in verse 12;

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers f this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

Prepare yourself daily for this battle by making sure that your personal devotional and prayer life is on track and make sure that you are fully aware of its reality.

Missionaries encounter spiritual warfare in their everyday lives openly. They are often more aware of it’s reality whereas in the western world it ’seems’ to be more subtle and hidden. It is vital that we understand fully the reasons why a missionary can become discouraged so that we can be most useful in this encouragement ministry.”

I’m nearing the end of my posts for this series, just two or three more after this and I would have shared the whole booklet with you.

This time I’m focussing on the age old prayer meeting. Do these even exist anymore? For the last two years I ran a youth prayer meeting specifically about missions in our home called YPFM (Youth Praying For Mission).

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

Pic: My Dad, Trevor Burns working in the Tribal Resource Centre with some local tribal Christians.

A once a month prayer meeting specifically for missionaries can be very encouraging to them. As a person living overseas or in an isolated or difficult situation it’s comforting to know that there are people at home keeping you in prayer regularly. Perhaps your church has several missionaries and so this would be one practical way of making sure that you are praying for them all regularly. Meeting together helps us to keep account with each other and is really helpful when you find it difficult to pray regulary on your own. Even meeting with one other person is a good way of keeping a promise to pray for a missionary.

These meetings need not be just for older people but for young adults too. Remember, missionaries have children and teenagers with requests as well.

It is important that at these prayer meetings there is some sort of system to ensure that you cover all the needs and praise points sent to you by your missionary. Prayer is both necessary and effective for a missionary to stay on the field.

James 5:16b “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

A wonderful book that gives many good ideas and hints on effective prayer meetings and personal prayer practice is ‘What Happens When Women Pray’ by Evelyn Christensen. Even though the title suggests this books is mainly for women, prayer is for everyone and this book is applicable to men, women and children alike.”

It’s time for another insallment of Curried Missionary (How to encourage your missionary). Having finished the section called ‘Straight From the Horses Mouth’ (see part’s 9-12) I am now moving on to some deeper areas of spiritual encouragement including what to do with prayer letters, prayer meetings and spiritual warfare. In this section we’re looking at prayer letters.

Photo: Kris and Shelley Riggs, Southern Baptist Missionaries in Niger, West Africa

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

“Spiritual Encouragement

What Do You Do With Prayer Letters?

It is true that some missionaries are better at writing informative, interesting prayer/news letters than others but nevertheless it is important that we put them to good use. What is the point of a prayer/news letter? To let those at home know what the missionary is doing and has been doing and to ask for prayer, giving specific prayer or praise points.

It is very important that a prayer/news letter is used the way it is intended, that you take the prayer points seriously and actually pray for them. Knowing that you are being prayed for is one of the most encouraging things. If you are the contact within your church for your missionary, the responsibility falls on your shoulders to get up and share (or put the points in the church bulletin) these prayer points with the congregation. These are active things we can do with prayer letters but there is more.

A prayer letter will hold for you a vast amount of information that are like little hints of what it is like for your missionary in their environment. From a prayer letter you should be able to tell the environment they are living in, the climate, the amount of contact with national people etc… Get used to ‘reading between the lines’ of a prayer letter. Be sensitive to the underlying needs of your missionary and not only pray for them in these areas but act upon them practically as well (refer to the section on practical encouragement).

When a new prayer letter arrives it is up to you whether or not you file away the previous one or throw it away but if you show an active interest in your missionary, a prayer letter should become like a new chapter to a book, something to look forward to.

PS. Paul is really our best example when it comes to prayer letters.”

This is Part 12 of my booklet on encouraging missionaries entitled ‘Curried Missionary’. The other 11 parts can be found here:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

This is the last part of ‘Straight From the Horses’ Mouth’, a list of quotes from missionary friends on the most encouraging thing they’ve ever been sent or done for them.
Pic: Trevor Burns and PNG guy Steve working on a laptop together

“When we were in Ethiopia, one family sent their old Beano comics to Philip every once in a while. HE AND MANY OTHERS HAD A WONDERFUL TIME WITH THEM!”

~ D & J Brown, English former missionary to Ethiopia.

“On the note of discouragement – when you send out 160 newsletters (at great expense from your support) and only 2 or 3 acknowledge receiving them.”

~ T & E Burns, Aussie missionaries in PNG.

“The latest praise music CD’s, MONETARY GIFTS THAT ESPECIALLY HELPED ME AS A FEMALE IN A MUSLIM COUNTRY E.G.; MONEY SO THAT I COULD JOIN A HOTEL POOL CLUB AND GO SWIMMING IN THE HOT SUMMER.. Funny children’s books, Christian books…”

~ J James, Aussie former missionary in Pakistan, the Philippines and Seychelles.

“We have a few friends back home that we know if we ever need anything at all that we can ask them for help whether it be prayer needs to needed items that we can’t get up this way. Their help in these ways has been so encouraging to us.”

~ S & C Henley, Aussie missionaries in PNG.

“Four years ago, we received a letter from someone on the missions committee from our church, saying that for mission’s emphasis month, they had decided to focus on one missionary per Sunday. For us, they decided to phone us and talk to us during a church service…at the same time, they asked that we send slides to the church so that while we talked, they could watch the slides. It was wonderful. WE FELT SO SPECIAL.”

This is part 11 of my booklet Curried Missionary, how to spice up your missionaries’ life. In this section we continue to see more quotes that are Straight From The Horse’s Mouth (quotes from missionaries about how we can best encourage them). There are a lot of them so I’ve put two pages worth in one here

Pic left: My Dad, Trevor Burns in PNG (bottom right in photo)
Pic below: My Mum, Estelle Burns in PNG