December 12, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Month: February 2020

Disciple-making, Mission Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Training, Book Reviews

Book Review: Discipling in a Multicultural World

Ajith Fernando is the kind of person I want to listen to concerning Discipling in a Multicultural World. He is a thoughtful practitioner. The back cover describes the book: Rooted in over four decades of multicultural discipleship experience, Ajith Fernando offers biblical principles for discipling and presents examples showing how they apply to daily life and ministry. He addresses key cultural challenges, such as the value of honor and shame, honoring family commitments, and dealing with persecution, and helps us think realistically about the cost and commitment required for productive cross-cultural ministry. This practical guide to discipleship will help us help others grow into mature and godly followers of Christ.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to train indigenous workers?
Contextualization, Cross-Cultural Living, Training, Adult Education

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to train indigenous workers?

Why do we raise thousands of dollars of monthly support and move ourselves and our families to foreign cities? Why do we learn their languages and cultures, and seek to establish churches or disciple-making movements within those cultures? Because Christ tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. See Matthew 28:19-20. But here is the response we often get from those who have thought about the cost of human and financial resources in this effort: Wouldn’t it be cheaper and more effective to train and support indigenous believers to reach their own people? Why are expatriates needed? How should you and I respond to this pushback?… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Exploring Spiritual Formation: Burnout
Spiritual Formation, Stress Management, Spiritual Disciplines, Finishing Well

Exploring Spiritual Formation: Burnout

The Situation You love Jesus. You’ve dedicated your life to serving him. You’re loyal, diligent, and you work hard. It’s not unusual for you to check your email after hours, and you’re even willing to work on your day off, if necessary. Lately, it seems like it’s necessary a lot. You’ve been known to sacrifice for the good of the team, and you often give up time with family or friends to tend to others in need. You’re usually willing to take on extra projects. Sleep is a luxury. Exhaustion is a constant companion, and you can’t remember the last time you took a vacation that didn’t involve a visit with a supporter.… Read the whole post
Lynn Karidis1 min read
The importance of follow-up with churches
Church Planting, Follow-up

The importance of follow-up with churches

This entry is part 1 of 13 in the series Follow-up There doesn’t seem to be a lot of discussion on models of follow-up with churches once the church planter moves on. Church planters with denominational missions usually connect their new churches to some kind of organizational structure. This might be a national version of the denomination to which they belong. But non-denominational missions may not form any type of structure that would allow their church plants to relate to the founding organization or other churches. I have observed churches that were planted by one mission organization seeking help from another church planting organization. They did so because there was no structure that would connect them to other churches. It seems to me that some form of church-to-church relationship ought to be in place before the missionary moves on. Otherwise, these churches will feel abandoned when the missionary departs.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Can we put too much emphasis on healthy teams?
Teaming

Can we put too much emphasis on healthy teams?

Sometimes it seems as if most of my conversations with other missionaries are about teaming. To some extent that might be because I am facilitating two training courses for team leaders right now, and am preparing again to teach on teaming in our upcoming pre-field training. But the conversations go beyond interactions with my students. Missionaries tell me about their frustrations and joys with their previous and current teams. They share their dreams and desires for future teams. They compare their teams with teams of which they have heard in our areas. Particularly for our first-term missionaries, the quality of the teaming experience seems to be a major criterion for deciding where they will serve and whether they will continue to serve in a particular location. As mission leaders, we can easily come to the conclusion that forming and nurturing healthy teams should be one of our top priorities to… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
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