Author: mcnadmin

10 Ways to Support a Missionary on Furlough

Posted on by mcnadmin

To both the people with whom missionaries serve on the field and family and friends in the US, the idea of “going on furlough” can sound like a several week vacation. But missionaries will tell you that furlough (while wonderful in many ways) is far from a relaxing vacation. Between travel, living out of a suitcase, support raising, organizational training, and squeezing in once-a-year visits with family and friends, furlough often leaves missionaries more tired than when they left the field. 

So how can you and your church support missionaries during this busy, tiring season?

  1. Invite a missionary to your church and make arrangements for their visit.
    • If you have a missionary who regularly visits, reach out to them prior to their furlough and help schedule a date that works for them and for your congregation.
    • Consider setting up various ways for them to connect with the church – an announcement in worship, a Bible study hour, a children’s message, a table in the narthex, a visit to a youth group or LWML group, etc.
  2. Provide a meal when the missionary visits your church.
    • Arrange for them to eat with a few church leaders or supporters after services on Sunday, invite them to your home for a meal, host a meal at church, or give a gift card to a local restaurant.
  3. Provide a place to stay while visiting your church.
  4. Offer a vehicle to use while on furlough or offer rides as needed.
  5. Ask about items a missionary may need to borrow during furlough. Winter clothes? A pack-n-play? Car seats? An old phone that can take a temporary SIM card to give them a US phone number while they are here?
  6. Offer babysitting. Can you help with children while parents are doing a presentation or meeting with donors? Can you help sit with a family in church? Or maybe you can even offer babysitting to give parents a date night in the midst of furlough busyness!
  7. Ask about items to send back with them onto the field.
    • Postage costs are often prohibitive and some locations don’t have reliable mail service; however, many mission partners have specific needs on the field that they plan luggage space for carrying back with them.
    • Ask if you can donate books, Christian craft materials, comfort foods, or another ministry related item for them to take back to the field.
  8. Host an event. Help missionaries share their story and connect with supporters through a gathering like a tea time, dessert night, potluck, or some other event outside of Sunday morning. 
  9. Help them connect to new supporters. Do you know others with a heart for missions and the desire and means to support intentional Gospel proclamation? Do you know groups that give offerings to support ministries? Making the connection between a missionary and a new supporter, group, or church is a wonderful way to bless them during furlough.
  10. Ask good questions. Asking questions and listening is perhaps one of the most encouraging ways to support a missionary on furlough. You don’t have to know a lot about their country or context. They don’t mind if you ask “silly questions.” 🙂 It just matters that you ask and want to know the answers. Ask about their ministry. Ask about cultural differences. Ask about the greatest joys and struggles of the last year. Ask about how you can support and encourage them. Ask how you can pray for them – and stop and pray right then and there!

Why Go Overseas?

Posted on by mcnadmin

There are people everywhere (including your neighborhood or campus) who need to know the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ. So why does Mission of Christ Network focus on going overseas? 

The percentage of the population that is Christian (according to Pew Research) in … 

  • United States 62% 
  • Taiwan 7% 
  • Hong Kong 20% 
  • Cambodia 1% 
  • Japan 1%
  • Senegal 5%

While more one in two people in the United States is a Christian (meaning almost everyone knows someone who could tell them about Jesus!), this is not the case around the world.

Students growing up in Chiayi, Taiwan (a rural county which has more Buddhist and Daoist gods than people), may not know a Christian who could tell them about Jesus. But more than 2,000 students attend Concordia Middle School which is known for their academics and excellent English program. Here students get to hear the Gospel every day from both foreign and Taiwanese teachers.

Children in the Fish Island community in Kampot, Cambodia come from primarily Buddhist and Muslim families; however, their parents send them to Stronghold Cambodia for free and nutritious meals, English and computer classes, and a safe place to play. Here children experience the love of Jesus from both Cambodian Pastor Jesse and his wife, Naomi, and from American missionaries. And at Stronghold they hear the Gospel in both English and their native Khmer.

Senegal is almost 95% Muslim, but teachers at Dakar Academy get to share the Gospel daily with students from more than 50 different countries. Not only is the school a Christian light in their community, but the education they provide for students supports non-profit and Gospel work in many different West African countries by allowing families to live and serve there while their children receive an English-language, American-style education.

In every location where we serve, Mission of Christ Network partners with locals to effectively share the Gospel in that context. The Great Commission is an urgent call given to believers to go and tell others from every nation and people group about Jesus Christ.

Could God be calling you to intentionally proclaim the Gospel in a place where few people know Him?

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9

Dear Fellow Parent

Posted on by mcnadmin


Dear Fellow Parent,

Maybe your son or daughter has been talking with you about a desire to serve with Mission of Christ Network in some overseas position. Right now, you may be thinking, “I’m not sure about that.” Your mind might be swirling with thoughts such as – 

“They spent all that money on college for this?”

“If they decide to come back after a few years, what kind of job will they be able to get?”

“Is this really safe?” 

“It seems wrong to have to fundraise for your living!” 

These are legitimate questions, and you are not wrong for asking them! As parents we feel God has given us the opportunity and the responsibility to guide our children. We have prayed for them and supported them, and for the most part we know them really well. We see their strengths and weaknesses, and we know their temperament and their heart. Given all this, it makes sense that we want to talk with our children about their decisions, especially one that is as big as moving to another country. 

My husband and I have three children and two of them have served, and are serving, with Mission of Christ Network. Our daughter was in Asia for five and a half years, and our son is in his sixth year in Costa Rica. We have always been a family that supported missions and taught our children to pray for missionaries. We read stories about missionaries and we also talked about how we are ALL missionaries as God calls each Christian to tell others about Him. (See Greg Finke’s book Joining Jesus on His Mission.) Yet when each of our children made it clear that they felt called to another country to do mission work, we had some of the same questions I listed above. Additionally, we wondered things such as “how will you meet someone to marry someday?” and if you do “how will you support a family on funds you have to raise?” 

We have said goodbye (for nine or ten months at a time) to our children heading overseas a total of twelve times now. And as hard as it is – for many reasons – to have your child(ren) living in another country, there are SO many more positive reasons to rejoice in it. I would like to humbly share what my husband and I have experienced and invite you to pray about how God would have you respond to your children’s desire and call on their heart. 

As parents we have learned many things from having our children in missions, and we have been privy to the many ways mission service has changed, grown, and benefited our children. Initially, I do want to say that none of this is really about us or our children. It is about our amazing God who calls, equips, and strengthens His servants. I think we can all agree that as Christian parents, our deepest desire is that our children would remain in their faith in Christ Jesus for their lifetime. Since we know that the Holy Spirit worked faith in their hearts and Jesus has their names engraved upon His palm (Isaiah 49:16), we can trust that Christ will watch over our children and never leave them no matter where they live and serve (Psalm 139:9-10). No matter the safety issues of the country God calls them to, He has our children in the palm of His hand. 

A great blessing of having missionary children is that God opens their eyes and our eyes, as their parents, to what He is doing around the world. My husband and I knew next to nothing about the Church in Asia (I will use church with a capital C meaning not one particular denomination but God’s whole church in all of its global diversity). Suddenly your heart and mind are opened to a much broader view of what God is doing. You learn about other cultures and other parts of the world, and you get to hear about how God is already at work in these places. You have a front row seat to those “God stories” of provision, protection, and faith worked in the hearts of people who were not believers. As parents you also get the opportunity to travel and visit these places and meet the people your children have been serving. I can attest to this being a life-changing experience. 

Your children learn how to depend completely on the Lord as they navigate living in a new culture, depending on God’s provision for their needs, and trusting Him to work faith in the people they serve and live with. This place of dependence on Christ is what God wants for all of us, and it will be a wonderful gift for your child’s whole life (Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 121:1-2; John 15:5; Matthew 6:34). Serving as a missionary prepares your child to be a lifelong servant in Christ’s church. Even when they feel called to live in the United States again, they will always see how God is working to call all to salvation (1 Timothy 2:4). They will be able to share their love of missions with their local congregation, which will influence others to be aware of each Christian’s call to live for Christ. 

Skills such as traveling globally, becoming fluent in another language, and being able to explain Scripture and God’s plan of salvation to people who do not yet believe will serve your children for the rest of their lives. What job will they get when they come back? Or who will they marry? These answers are not written down anywhere, but God knows and He DOES provide, often in ways we never expected. 

God may be calling your child to serve with Him in a faraway place, but He may also be calling you to step out in faith and trust Him with your child. Please pray that God will help you to respond in faith. Romans 10:14-15 tells us that people need to hear about Christ, and that the feet of those who share the Gospel are beautiful! You can be a part of this sharing by giving your child your blessing to go forth and share. Your support and your PRAYERS will help God’s Word to go forth, and we know this never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). 

In Jesus,

    Ruth Barz

How Do I Tell Others About Jesus?

Posted on by mcnadmin

I know I believe in Christ, but how do I tell others? I’m not sure I have the words in English, much less another language! 

We often worry about having the right words to convince others to believe in Jesus, but the Holy Spirit is the one who brings people to faith through law and Gospel. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). We are simply vessels whom the Holy Spirit uses to tell others about His salvation. This is why MCN’s tagline is Intentional Gospel Proclamation (not explanation). We can’t explain someone into faith, but we can proclaim the Word that God promises won’t return empty (Isaiah 55:11)!

The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word as a means to bring people to faith. 

John 20:31 says, “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Spending time in the Bible will help build confidence in using its words to tell others about Christ. God’s Word speaks powerfully to all cultures, and you may even find yourself learning more about the Bible and seeing aspects of God’s character and work in the world in a new light as you read Scripture with people from a different language and culture.

There is power in the stories of the Bible – even as read from a children’s Bible! 

Much of the Bible is made up of narratives (not theological statements), and sharing these stories is powerful! (Did you know Luther’s Small Catechism is full of narrative suggestions for exploring each of the main points it teaches about?) Oftentimes children’s Bibles provide clear, easy Bible stories with pictures that are great for crossing language barriers and introducing the faith to those who are new to reading God’s Word. Lutheran Heritage Foundation even provides children’s Bibles in many of the languages where our Mission Partners serve!

As the Apostle Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

Share God’s Word and the Good News of salvation with freedom and joy knowing God is the one who creates and grows faith!