April 29, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Author: Ken Guenther

Director of SEND U
Coffee, Conversation, and the Great Commission: Volunteering with Embassy
Evangelism

Coffee, Conversation, and the Great Commission: Volunteering with Embassy

From Support Ministry to Sharing Faith Online For the past 3 years, I have been a part-time volunteer with Embassy. Embassy is a digital media ministry of the Crescent Project. This ministry seeks to give laypeople with a heart for Muslims a way of building friendships and sharing their faith with the unreached. Although I have been in full-time ministry for almost 40 years, I joined Embassy as a way of becoming more involved in direct evangelism. So much of my SEND work is about providing services to missionaries. I thoroughly enjoy what I do. But like Nathan in our previous blog post, I sensed a gap between who I said I was and what I did on a daily basis. I am a missionary committed to fulfilling the Great Commission. Therefore, I wanted to more regularly interact with those who were not yet followers of Jesus. I wanted to… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther10 mins read
Beyond the Missionary To-Do List: Finding True Rest in Sabbath
Cross-Cultural Living, Missionary Roles

Beyond the Missionary To-Do List: Finding True Rest in Sabbath

As missionaries, we pour our hearts and souls into the work God has called us to. We navigate new cultures, build relationships, share the Gospel, plant churches, train leaders, and manage countless practical tasks. It’s demanding, rewarding, and, quite often, overwhelming. Indeed, if someone asked, “What will be your biggest disappointment and frustration on the field?” many of us might honestly answer: What I haven’t accomplished – what is still left undone. The sheer volume of need and opportunity can feel like a relentless tide, always threatening to pull us under. Consequently, we constantly face the pressure of the unfinished task list. It takes real courage, as counsellor Geoff Whiteman once noted in the context of work-life balance, to simply walk away from what is yet undone. This is precisely where the ancient, yet perpetually relevant, practice of Sabbath comes in. Sabbath isn’t just about stopping work; rather, it equips… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther13 mins read
Work-Life Balance
Resilience, Cross-Cultural Living

Work-Life Balance

This past year, I have been reading about work-life balance. I have been looking for resources that would help our workers in cross-cultural contexts. Over the past few years, I have heard many of them tell me that work-life balance is a huge issue for them. So in 2024, I sought to both understand the problem more fully and look for ways to equip our missionaries to better deal with this challenge. The following is a summary of some of the things that we have learned. The Myth of Work-Life Balance I quickly learned that many authors question whether a work-life balance is even possible. Our May 2024 edition of our monthly newsletter, the SEND U Training Tracks explored the concept of work-life balance and questioned whether it is a myth. Pursuing balance can actually create additional stress and anxiety. The 7-Slice Method In this newsletter, I introduced David McNeff’s book, The… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther5 mins read
Prayer

Connecting Well with Ministry Partners through Prayvine

Editor’s note: Over the past year, I have been sending out our prayer requests using a new website called Prayvine. Prayvine is a free and secure service for mission workers. It’s goal is to both increase the number of people who pray and also increase the number of people who let the missionary know that they are praying for them. I now regularly receive emails from more than 10% of my mailing list saying that they are praying for me. Many of them include personal comments. Recently, I received an email from Prayvine, listing some comments from Prayvine users about what they learned about using the service over the past year. This email can also found on the Prayvine blog. The founder and creator of PrayVine, Ian Hsu, has graciously give permission to repost it on our SEND U blog. As we embark on a new year of partnership with… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther6 mins read
Recalling what you have read
Books, Learning Attitude

Recalling what you have read

Like many of you, I read a lot of books each year. Last year, I finished 63 and I should be pretty close to that number by the end of 2023. But reading a lot of books is not the same as being “well-read”. According to Collins Dictionary, “a well-read person has read a lot of books and has learned a lot from them.” How much have I learned – and how much of the learning can I recall? I frequently find myself trying to recall a book I have read on the topic we are currently discussing. Maybe someone is asking me for a book I would recommend. Or I am trying to find additional information about a topic that I am teaching. Or maybe I am just trying to support a position that I am arguing for, and I remember an idea from a book that I read… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther10 mins read
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