July 26, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Year: 2014

The Basketball Team on the Mission Field
Teaming, Team Leadership

The Basketball Team on the Mission Field

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Types of mission teamsIn our last post, we talked about the three main types of teams found in our mission organization. Now I would like to discuss each of these three types in more detail. Basketball teams work closely together and interact frequently with each other about their various ministries. Planning must be done as a team because most of the key ministries involve more than one person on the team, and each ministry role is interconnected with what other team members are doing. Biblical examples of this type of a team would be Jesus with his disciples and Paul with his missionary band of Silas, Timothy, Luke, and others at various times.   These ministry teams did ministry and life together, side-by-side experiencing both the joys and hardships of proclaiming the good news.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Teaming

Three Different Types of Mission Teams

This entry is part 2 of 7 in the series Types of mission teams Part two of a series on teaming.   Part one looked at the question of whether every group of missionaries can be called a team.   This post was written a few years ago by one of our senior missionaries. In missions, everyone wants to know if they will work on a team. SEND believes strongly that teams are a highly effective way to engage unreached people, but just as in sports, not all mission teams are alike.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Are We a Team?
Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash
Teaming, Team Leadership

Are We a Team?

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Types of mission teams Our mission organization and many other agencies are committed to teaming. Our mission’s policy manual says that we seek to place our personnel in areas where they can meet and minister with other Christian workers (missionaries and/or national workers) who are committed to a common purpose, goal and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. A desire to serve on a team The majority of our new missionaries want to serve on teams. Yes, many of them are assigned to isolated locations, but nevertheless they want to be working together with other missionaries. So it should come as no surprise that almost all missionaries talk about their “team”. Our staff meetings are called “team meetings” and our supervisors are called “team leaders”. Commonly, whenever more than one missionary family are located in the same city,… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Spiritual Formation, Training, Self-Feeding

How Do You Train Others to Feed Themselves?

This blog series has been sidelined as we have been out of town for most of the past 4 weeks. But I do not want to leave this topic of self-feeding without addressing the question of how we can equip others to become self-feeders. In my first post on this topic, I asked the question, “Who feeds the missionaries spiritually?” Despite the value of various member care initiatives, we cannot avoid the simple conclusion that our missionaries must learn to feed themselves. The second post looked at Biblical examples and Biblical support for the concept of self-feeding. It is not just an outgrowth of Western individualism. In the third post, we clarified what self-feeding actually entails, and talked about taking responsibility for one’s own spiritual nourishment, planning ahead and developing rhythms. Now as a missionary trainer, I realize that just writing about these concepts or even explaining them clearly in… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Spiritual Formation, Self-Feeding

What Does It Mean to Feed Yourself Spiritually?

What Does Self-Feeding Involve? In my first post on this topic, I asked the question, “Who feeds the missionaries spiritually?” My simple answer to that question:  “We expect our missionaries to feed themselves!”   Then in my second post, I looked at what the Bible has to say about self-feeding. We saw that there was all kinds of Biblical examples and Biblical support for individual believers taking the initiative to nourish their soul outside of what happens in the church meetings. Now I would like to define more clearly what I mean by self-feeding.   I think there are at least five critical elements: 1. Taking Responsibility. Self-feeding means we take personal responsibility for making sure we are regularly nourished on the Word.   If we feel spiritually under-nourished, we don’t assign primary blame to the church we are attending, but to ourselves.  Responsible people are self-disciplined. Paul reminds Titus that those who… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
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