January 24, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Resilience

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
Does the spread of the gospel require a time of peace?
Hardship, Gospel, Resilience

Does the spread of the gospel require a time of peace?

Many of our readers know that my wife and I were missionaries based in Ukraine until shortly before the war broke out in that country. In another post, I have written about how I realized that we were in fact refugees. Since then, I have been praying daily for the war to end and for the restoration of peace in this country. Although a few expatriate missionaries remain in the country, most like us, have returned to their home countries or relocated to another country, often to work with Ukrainian refugees. We think it would be better for the work of missions if the country was free from the suffering, destruction and loss of life that war brings. If the war would only end, we could once more focus on the work of the kingdom. Before the war, my mission organization focused on equipping and sending Ukrainians out as cross-cultural… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Do we naturally look for shortcuts?
Photo by Veri Ivanova on Unsplash
Training, Assessment Tools, Resilience

Do we naturally look for shortcuts?

In my previous blog post, I reviewed a book that argues that there are no shortcuts in missions. Why was this book written? Because supposedly we like to find shortcuts! Those who study cultural differences tell us that Americans and Canadians have a strong short-term orientation. Americans have a reputation for their fast pace of life and desire for quick results. We see their desire for instant gratification in the prominence of American fast-food restaurants and the fact that the USA has the highest average national credit card debt in the world.1 See 30 Credit Card Debt Statistics – 2023 Update | Balancing Everything. So we should not be surprised that shortcuts to achieve mission results are a hot topic in our North American churches. At the same time, it is also not surprising that those who understand the American preference for quick results are cautioning us about adopting these… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
The kingdom of God – in clay pots
Resilience, Hardship

The kingdom of God – in clay pots

The weakness of the kingdom In the past couple of blog posts, I have talked about the weakness of the kingdom of God. By this I mean, the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed and inaugurated was a kingdom that was not impressive or powerful. Jesus came to an inconsequential Jewish backwater province as an itinerant preacher, without status, money or military might. He saw the need of the people, and sought to address it, but his kingdom was sorely understaffed. To the disappointment of his little band of followers, the movement he started did not expel the Roman conquerors. Instead, this humble king was arrested and executed as a criminal by these Romans. His poor, uneducated and apparently unreliable disciples, were deemed incapable of carrying on the vision of this upstart king. But Jesus’ kingdom proved to be remarkably resilient and defied all expectations. Crucifying the King did not destroy the… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
I am a refugee: reflections of a missionary leaving Ukraine
Photo by a colleague from the Ukraine-Poland border. February 26, 2022
Cross-Cultural Living, Hardship, Resilience

I am a refugee: reflections of a missionary leaving Ukraine

I am a missionary who is also a war refugee. I came to that realization a couple of days ago. My wife and I are Canadian citizens but residents of Ukraine. Or at least we were until about a month ago. We have our Ukraine temporary residency cards, recently renewed. Our home for the past 12 and a half years has been in the city of Kyiv. This has been the longest we have lived in any country or in any home since we got married and left for the Philippines almost 35 years ago. Now we are “back” in Canada. Because of the current war in Ukraine, we do not know for how long. In the past week, I have experienced many different and sometimes conflicting emotions. I am thankful to God that we were given sufficient warning and were able to leave Ukraine before the fighting began. But… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
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