July 27, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Training

Church Planting, Leadership, Adult Education, Coaching

How Can Christian Coaching Enhance My Church Planting Ministry?

Everybody seems to be talking about coaching lately, but what is it and more importantly how useful could it be in my ministry? Keith Webb of Creative Results Management defines coaching as, “An ongoing intentional conversation that empowers a person or group to fully live out God’s calling.” The focus of Christian coaching is on the coachee and helping them hear God’s voice in their lives and follow through in obedience. My own coaching journey began when I was coached by a friend and found the process quite helpful in my own life. The ongoing and intentional nature of our coaching relationship was just what I needed to gain clarity and make progress in a key area of my life. As a result, the next time the SEND U edition of the three-day Coaching Workshop was offered, I was one of the first in line to sign up. I too… Read the whole post
Ted2 mins read
Teaming, Training

Training to Increase Capacity

Earlier in the year, we featured a number of posts by Philip Jackson, a colleague of mine from Macedonia, on the parallels between running a marathon and the Christian life.   In that same vein, I would like to reflect on my own recent experience of training for a half marathon. This has been a huge learning experience for me. I have never been an athlete or competed in any individual athletic competitions since I was required to participate in kids races at Sunday school picnics in my childhood. I jogged in college and in the first years in the Philippines but never ran a single kilometer all those years in Far East Russia. Then about the time that we began serving with SEND U, I started again, simply for the sake of getting some exercise, running 5 km three times a week. That was hard enough, and even last summer,… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Training

The Importance – and Danger – of Language Fluency

From my journal this morning (using the SOAP method):   Scripture:  Genesis 11:6–7 (NIV) – The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” Observation:  Yahweh said that the people building the tower of Babel would be able to do anything they had planned if they were one people and spoke one language.    Given this unity based upon a common language, nothing they would plan would be impossible for them.  Without any language barriers, people are able to accomplish much more than if they speak various languages.    But this ability to accomplish their plans and build impressive structures is not something that God necessarily wants to encourage.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Spiritual Formation, Training

Practicing PRESENCE

Today’s blog post is an abbreviated version of a recent post authored by Dr. Evan Parks. What is behind our desire to develop, grow, and strive to be better? I believe our motivation for growth and change can either be righteous and God-honoring, or it can be based squarely on sin and rebellion against God. There is no end to the encouragement that we find in Scripture to grow. An excellent example is found in 2 Peter 1:5-8: For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a clear emphasis in this passage… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Church Planting, Missionary Roles, Training

Missionary Roles in Church Planting

Last week, I attended Multiplying Churches Globally, a training workshop for church planters hosted by EQUIP, the training arm of ReachGlobal. SEND missionaries have participated in and helped to lead some of the sessions over the past few years, and we encourage all church planters to attend the training during their first home service. One of our workshop facilitators was Jay Pinney, a church planter with Reach Global in Quebec. I was intrigued by his presentation on missionary roles in church multiplication, and particularly by his description of himself as a “botherer”, someone who disturbs the status quo by asking good questions and prompting lively discussions among local church leaders. I found a more sophisticated (not necessarily better) explanation of these different roles in a 2009 blog post by Jay Pinney, and Jay was kind enough to send me an updated version of this article to use on this blog.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
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