July 26, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Month: April 2015

Spiritual Formation, Self-Feeding, Spiritual Disciplines

Puritan Meditation: The Centerpiece of Spiritual Formation

In our pre-field training and on-field coaching of missionaries, we emphasize the critical importance of feeding yourself spiritually, or in other words, taking the initiative to regularly nurture your soul in a context where the busyness of ministry and stress of cross-cultural living can make it difficult to keep our hearts and minds set on things above (Col 3:1-2).   Feedback from our missionaries in training suggests that this emphasis is greatly appreciated and desperately needed.    One of those ways that we can feed ourselves spiritually is by learning the spiritual discipline of meditation.   In this area, we have few better teachers than the Puritans.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Training

Apps to Schedule Meetings Revisited

Today, I want to highlight a few useful apps that I use regularly in my leadership and ministry, coaching and training missionaries in 20+ different countries and multiple time zones.   The two teams I lead are both virtual teams, and the members of those teams are located in 6 different time zones.  Currently I am coaching five different individuals, and they are located in 4 different time zones.   Skype and GoToMeeting make connecting across time zones relatively easy, but before you can make the call, you have to arrange a time. Setting up one-on-one meetings across time zones can be a real challenge, both because of the complexity of trying to remember how many hours difference there is between our respective time zones, and because of the hassle of trying to find a time slot that fits both of our schedules. A few years ago, I recommended Tungle.me for online… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
New Missionaries

Stressed from Core to Cosmos: Article Review

“Ministry is a hazardous occupation! To be in ministry is a ‘high calling’ and a grave responsibility–and therein lie much of the stress and struggle which makes it so hazardous. Anyone who chooses a role in ministry across cultures compounds the hazards almost geometrically.” So begins an article by Lawrence and Lois Dodds entitled “Stressed from Core to Cosmos: Issues and Needs Arising from Cross-Cultural Ministry.” The Dodds were cross-cultural missionaries for many years before founding Heartstream Resources to provide care for people in cross-cultural ministry. This article addresses the familiar topic of struggles that missionaries face. The strength of the article is that it also provides suggestions for dealing successfully with those struggles.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
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