Pastor Powell's Column

March 2011

Sending and Ending

We have two topics to reflect on this March, the month of our Global Outreach Festival: Sending and Ending.

Senders
Consider the scientist who descends in a deep sea diving sphere, totally dependent on the crew that manages the oxygen lines on the surface ship. He counts on them to pay careful attention to their job, not to be distracted by a poker game. Consider the pilot who counts on the vigilance of air traffic controllers. Consider Tom Brady who depends on the Patriot offensive line.

The star gets the attention. But without the support of a team, he’s dead in the water. He’s history. He’s toast.

Our outreach in world missions is not just about missionaries. It’s also about senders. Without the team that “holds the rope,” our missionaries are in trouble.

Sending is not merely raising some money, waving goodbye at the airport, then forgetting about the missionary for the next three years. “Out of sight, out of mind” can be all too common, but way too tragic.

Missionaries need prayer support. Contending with language and cultural barriers, loneliness, spiritual attacks, health and financial challenges, family responsibilities in a new and sometimes unfriendly environment—the multi-faceted challenge of missionary work is utterly dependent on God’s power—and on faithful prayer partners who will lay hold of that power through intercession.

There are more tangible supports. Correspondence. Care packages. Birthday cards. Visits by short term teams. Research projects. Housing and vehicle arrangements during the months of home assignment (“furlough”). Perhaps the most important supports are a listening ear and a caring heart. Besides the support of a sending church, any missionary is truly blessed who has a sending team (3 to 10 people) who truly care about a missionary and who stay committed across the years to his work. (Read Neal Pirolo’s book Serving as Senders for more insight.)

Enders
Do you want to finish your earthly years running well to the end? A whole new movement of “Finishers” is reshaping our ideas of missionary work. We are accustomed to the idea of sending out the young person as a new missionary. But the ranks of new missionaries are more and more being filled by second career people, early retirees, and retirees.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Those with the wisdom and the experience of years have so much to offer. In addition, as it gets harder to live on a retirement income in the U.S., it’s amazing how far that income will stretch in some other countries. Even early retirement incomes can cover much of a missionary’s needs in certain settings.

If you believe this kind of meaningful ministry might be a part of your future plans, check out www.finishers.org. The Finishers Project is not a sending agency, but “a service to help adult Christians discover short-term, part-time, or second-career ministry opportunities.” Of course, our own church GO-Team can help you consider opportunities in central Asia, east Asia, the Middle East, or Africa.