SENDING CHURCH - Baptist Bible Tribune

maintaining a missionary family on the field.The interaction with missionaries out ofour church has also raised the awareness of theneed for more missionaries around the world.I can think of no negatives when it comes tobeing a sending church for a missionary! It isand has been one of the greatest endeavors ofour church family!Lynn TurnbowGrace Baptist ChurchEarly, TXThe church really gets to know the missionaryfamily because of the extra time spent withus in between visits to other churches. I havenoticed that several of our members havedeveloped a strong relationship with themissionaries sent out from our church. Theyare always excited to hear they are coming andoften invite them to meals, etc. in their homeswhile they are here.There is a much better response to voicedneeds from “our” missionaries than there areto other requests for help. The church knows ithas a responsibility to help whenever possible.Some of our members have accompanied uson trips to Nicaragua and have been able tosee personally what their mission dollars canaccomplish in another country. These becomeespecially faithful and generous with theirmission giving.Mike MarcellusFirst Independent Baptist ChurchAustin, TXWe have six missionary families currentlyserving the Lord out of our church. We stronglybelieve that their ongoing interaction withothers in our church helps us cultivate moreindividuals, couples, and families to surrenderto the ministry. We believe this because weaverage two and a half people a year going toBible college to prepare for ministry.One young man just graduated from thegraduate school in Springfield and is on staff atHigh Street in Springfield. We already have twoothers at Boston Baptist College and we haveeight more that will head to Boston Baptist thisyear. We also have around 15 others who havesurrendered their lives to full-time service andwill go to Bible college somewhere in the nextthree to five years. We have seen 92 who havemade it all the way through the preparationprocess and are in or have served in ministry.It is a joint effort, and without the BBFI,the Mission Office, and those associated withit, and the opportunity to affiliate with them toassist in getting missionaries trained, approved,and sent, we would not be able to do this.Then for them to be able to come in and teachothers about missions and ministry is priceless.Rosalie Hooge, MexicoWhen my husband was very ill, my sendingpastor, Eddie Lyons, came to visit withMarv and had a very good, informativevisit. When Marv went to be with the Lord,Pastor Eddie was there again and wasa great help during a very difficult time.Since that time he has been accessible tohelp me make some important decisionsand has been a great help. I don’t knowwhat I would have done without hisemotional and spiritual support.Jonathan & Joanna Liggett, ItalyOur sending church has been behindus every step of the way and is alwayseager to meet our needs. Over thepast couple of months, we havebegun to raise our set-up costs. Oursending church was the first churchto be involved and gave above andbeyond what we were requesting!We are greatly encouraged andinvigorated by their willingness to dowhatever it takes to get us to the field.Bill & Barbara Neel, JapanOne of the greatest things I cansay for my sending church, whichis also my home church, is theirfaithfulness to these missionaries,their missionaries to Japan.Our sending church, CentralBaptist Church, Lewisville, TX, hasfaithfully, without missing a month,supported us for 48 years! Thereforewe praise God for a loving, gracious,and faithful sending church.David & Tonya Liles, PeruOur church sent a team of 45well-trained, well-preparedshort-termers to significantly aidin the local church and missionministry here. Additionally, theyhelped us with a home duringour last furlough. We receivecomments and prayer requestsfrom them on a pretty consistentbasis. They communicate thatthey truly care.It also reminds us of our responsibility to giveto missions. It affords us an opportunity to bea blessing with special gifts, etc. It gives us apositive spiritual element that we are involvedin world evangelism in a biblical way. It impactsour church overall in prayer, giving, caring, andgoing. Our mission trips have taken on a morepersonal and serious element. It brings thespiritual need of the world to us in a real way. Itincreased our mission giving by 15-20 percentand it has helped our mission involvement bothat home and around the world.Lewis McClendonVentura Baptist ChurchVentura, CAThe positive results for our missionaries ishaving a pastor and church that knows eachmember of the missionary family, knows wherethey minister, and knows the problems andchallenges the missionary family faces. Becausethe missionary has spent time at our church,and the sending church pastor and membershave visited our missionary on the field, thechurch is emotionally attached to “our”missionary. They feel each circumstance themissionary family goes through and weep withthem when they weep and rejoice with themwhen they rejoice. In our case, our missionary’sson married one of the girls who grew up inour church, and they have become another oneof our sent missionaries.On a pastoral level, our sent missionariesand I communicate regularly by email andphone. I am a sounding board and a place tovent when needed. Every struggle they haveis communicated to me so that I can pray andadvise. I recognize that the solution I give maynot apply, but the conversation we have canstill be helpful to our missionary.The positive result for our church is anadded awareness of every missionary wesupport. Because our members know themissionaries we send, they want to knowmore about our mission program and othermissionaries we support. Missionaries becomereal people just like them who need prayerand encouragement. Many people in ourchurch read missionary letters as a result ofknowing more about our mission program andmissionaries.September 2012 | Baptist Bible Tribune | 17