Churches Should Support Their Own Missionaries

Having been in ministry now for over 30 years, I feel like I’ve ‘seen it all.’ I’m so thankful for the way that God has sustained me in ministry for all these years… It’s been a true blessing. One of the things I’ve been keen to observe in these 30 years is the various ways that local churches partner with and helps missionaries who are a part of their local congregation. In this blog post, I’d like to encourage local church leaders to partner first with missionaries and ministry workers who are in their congregation in addition to those partnerships they may have with people internationally who are not a part of their local congregations.

As I’ve written about extensively in my books, being a faithful church leader is hard. The Biblical responsibilities of a Christian church leader are many and the qualifications are extensive. One of these responsibilities is to guide and shepherd their congregation toward an Acts 1:8 approach toward being witnesses of Christ in “Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” One of the approaches that these church leaders take is to partner together with ministry leaders and organizations throughout the world, offering these dear saints encouragement through prayer and financial support. Many of my international ministry friends are among these who so dearly cherish these support links, who for many of them are the only support that they receive. For them, raising support locally is always hard, and these Western partnerships allow their ministry to go forth to proclaim the Gospel to those in their home country. Let me state clearly that I heartily encourage these types of partnerships. These dear ministry leaders are always more effective in their home country than a Western missionary will be, given that they grew up in their context, know the local church well, are of the same nationality and know the same language as those they are trying to reach with the Gospel.

Unfortunately however, I have seen many times in my 30 years of experience in ministry that these types of partnerships are the only types of partnerships that Church leaders have in missions, which then neglects the para-church ministry leaders that are participants and members of their local church. I can speak from experience that there is almost nothing more deflating to these ministry workers than hearing from the pulpit all the exciting ministries the church is participating in internationally with people who do not attend their church, while simultaneously neglecting a partnership of some type with those in ministry and who attend that church.

Here’s 3 reasons I think local churches should create some space for partnerships with ministry leaders in their own churches:

1. It’s a great benefit to your church

As I talk to church leaders about this issue, I often advocate for a three-level approach. In addition to partnering with international organizations and partners who are ministering in their local area, I also strongly encourage church leaders to equally partner with congregation members who attend your church and are ministering in either a local or international context through a local organization, in addition to those who feel called to be missionaries overseas and are raised up through your church. Too often, these congregation members in ministry get overlooked but they can provide a wonderful addition to the ministry already being done by the church. Church leaders have a great opportunity as they partner for example with those who are called to minister and live internationally. The idea that ‘this person is one of us and we’re excited about how God is using this person’ is such a powerful example to the congregation of Acts 1:8 lived out in real time. In addition, a person in full-time ministry that attends your church and ministers locally or internationally through an organization is very accessible and can report weekly, if needed, about what God is doing in their ministry. This can be a real benefit to the congregation because they see that God does use people just like them to impact the world for Christ. During a period of my ministry career, for example, I was involved in rural Bible distribution events using Bibles printed in China. 3 or 4 times a year, the pastor would ask me to give a 10-minute report about what God was doing because of the partnership this church had forged with my ministry, and I had so many congregation members tell me what a wonderful encouragement it was to see God working through me, and it encouraged them to get involved in ministry as well.

One other benefit here to your local church: As you partner with those who are in your congregation, you’re also showing that your church values the sending and support of missionaries, both at home and abroad. Churches are where faithful missionaries are made!

2. It’s a wonderful encouragement to those in ministry

For those people who have been called into full-time ministry, one of the key challenges they face is finding enough people who want to partner with them in prayer and finances. Because this challenge is always ‘front of mind,’ to have their home church say to them ‘You’re one of us, and we want to join you in what God has called you to do,’ it’s such a wonderful encouragement! There are different levels of partnership here, from ‘We support what you do and will mention your ministry on a Sunday’ to ‘come share a few times a year’ to ‘We want to partner with you financially.’ For an elder of a church to say to someone in full-time ministry ‘I know this is a burden you live with, and I want to help carry that burden off you’ is such a powerful way for a church elder to be accomplishing their biblical responsibility of shepherding and overseeing that congregation member, and a powerful way to obey Paul’s admonition in Galatians 6 for us to be bearing “one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” One of the issues here that I occasionally deal with (and hear from many others that it’s an issue for them as well) that many church leaders may not know about is when I’m meeting with someone who is considering a monthly financial partnership with my ministry, they will often ask ‘How is your home church partnering with you?’ I believe their thought process here is ‘if your home church doesn’t partner with you, why should I? These are the people who know you best.’ To be able to say even ‘my church leadership loves my ministry and supports what I’m doing’ is a great help and provides a seal of pre-approval that is beneficial.

3. It’s Biblical

Finally, I do think the Bible speaks clearly about the need for local churches to partner with those in their congregations who are in full-time ministry. We know from 1 Corinthians 9:14 that “the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel,” which is hard to do when a local church doesn’t partner with those ministry workers in their congregations. There’s a trickle-down effect that takes place where if, for example, a local church supports a ministry worker at $500/mo, there will definitely be those in the congregation who will individually support that worker, because of the church’s ‘stamp of approval’ and because they hear from the ministry worker on Sundays from time to time. In even a medium-sized church, that may lead to another $2000/mo or more in addition to potential board members for that ministry. I have seen, by the way, churches who have told the ministry workers in their congregation, ‘You tell us what you need financially monthly, and we’ll take care of that for you.’ Talk about coming alongside a ministry worker in a Galatians 6:2 way!

In addition, we see throughout the New Testament that when the early church began sending people to proclaim the Gospel, the support of those back home and of local churches was crucial. In Acts 15, for example, as Paul and Barnabas were ministering in Antioch, they felt the need to go back to Jerusalem. Picking up in verse 3, “So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.” My other favorite example here is a wonderful passage we find in Romans 15. As we pick up the story, Paul had plans to travel to Spain for ministry. As he’s preparing, he’s writing to the church at Rome that “I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.” Paul knew that the Roman church’s partnership and support were crucial to the success of the mission. And for those who God has raised up within your congregation, you can support them well in their God-given calling. John writes about this in 3 John, “You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name… Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”

In my book Searching for a Biblical Church, I write that the biblical purpose of the local church is to glorify God by worshipping Him, by equipping His people for good works, by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to the whole world, and by making disciples through the baptizing and teaching of new believers. Local Church Elders and leaders, may I strongly encourage you to work out this type of three-level partnership plan in your missions planning to accomplish this purpose for your church. Yes, partner with international partners who so crucially need our support, but please don’t ignore those whom God has called from your congregation. I truly believe God has placed these dear brothers and sisters in Christ in your church and has brought them to you for a purpose. The incredible Acts 1:8 activity that can happen both as you partner with them and send them into the missions field, and the encouragement that can happen as these people you consider as ‘one of us’ come back and testify to some of what God is doing through your local congregation is such a blessed opportunity for your church.