Missionary Care

Enhance your church's mission and vision by strengthening the partnership between your church and Resonate Global Mission Missionaries by following these tips.

Staying Close through PRAYER

Resonate missionaries testify to the power of prayer in their lives and ministries. Become an effective prayer partner using these suggestions:

• Sign up for Prayer Points, a weekly email with prayer requests from Resonate missionaries.
• Publish and distribute missionary letters as soon as possible.
• Ask your pastor to remember your missionary's prayer requests in the congregational prayer and put urgent items on your church's prayer chain(s).
• Let your missionaries know that you read their letters and pray for the items mentioned.
• Ask your missionaries for timely prayer items and to share answers to prayer.
• Pray for things that missionaries may not always mention such as spiritual health, emotional health, family health, relationships with colleagues, national leaders, political stability.

Staying Close through COMMUNICATION

Effective two-way communication is essential for developing a partnership between your congregation and the missionaries you support. Here are some hints to help you:

• Find volunteers to regularly write or send emails to your missionaries. Ask your pastor to write also.
• Send your church bulletins to your missionaries.
• If your worship services are recorded, send the recordings to your missionaries.
• Include your missionaries in your church directory. If possible, include their field address, phone number, and email address. Send a copy of the directory to your missionaries.
• Prepare "care packages" for your missionaries at Christmas time.
• Encourage your Sunday school kids, GEMS, and Cadets to communicate with your missionaries' kids.
• Investigate the possibility of sending your pastor or members of the congregation to visit your missionary on the field.

Staying Close through SUPPORT

Missionary financial support comes to Resonate in a variety of ways:

• Ministry Shares: About 28% of gifts from churches comes by way of Ministry Shares. Every church that gives Ministry Shares is involved in Resonate's ministry.
• Gifts and Offerings: Many churches take special offerings for Resonate at Pentecost and/or as part of their Thanksgiving or Christmas offerings.
• Special Projects: These are often projects related to a missionary the church supports. You might challenge your Sunday school, youth group or adult education classes to undertake a special project.
• Missionary Support: Over 75% of CRCs support at least one Resonate missionary or project. The church makes an annual commitment and collects the gifts through Faith Promise, special offerings or church budgets.