July 27, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Training

The Mentor’s Magnet
Photo by Daniel Watson from Pexels
Character, Lifelong Learning, Spiritual Formation, Mentoring

The Mentor’s Magnet

Editor’s note: A number of years ago, I received a CD of a dozen articles on the topic of mentoring. This collection was entitled “Mentoring Pillars” and were written by Jim Feiker. Jim and his wife Bev served with SEND International for 12 years (1988-2000) in a mentoring and training capacity. Jim passed away back in 2012, leaving behind scores of people whom he had mentored and coached. His legacy lives on in their ministries. But Jim, with editorial help from his wife, also wrote extensively about the art of mentoring. Cross-cultural workers realize that mentoring is vital in discipling new believers and in training church leaders. As an organization, we have also become increasingly aware of the need for older missionaries to mentor younger co-workers. Those of us from the Boomer generation will soon be passing on the baton of leadership to millennials and Generation Z. So, ore multiple … Read the whole post
Jim Feiker2 mins read
Do I need a mentor or a coach?
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
Coaching, Leadership Training, Mentoring, Lifelong Learning

Do I need a mentor or a coach?

In the last while, I have been thinking about how to strengthen our mentoring within SEND. In a recent analysis of leadership development within our organization, I noted that we needed more intentional mentoring of developing leaders by our current leaders. This is a gap in our current leadership development. Thinking about how to fill that gap has naturally led me to try to define mentoring. How is mentoring different from coaching? SEND U has already sought to create a coaching culture within the mission. More than 200 people in SEND have received some type of training in coaching. So, do we need both mentors and coaches? Defining coaching and mentoring A significant difficulty in answering this question is that the definition of coaching varies so much. For example, Lois Zachary and Lory Fischler in their mentoring fable, “Starting Strong” say, Coaching is more instructive, but mentoring is more of… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Preparing to Preach as a Missionary
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Church Planting, Training, Self-Feeding, Church, Preaching

Preparing to Preach as a Missionary

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Preparing to preach “Missionaries need to be ready to preach, pray, or die at a moment’s notice.” Or so I’ve heard all my life. Though this is often said jokingly, there is a ring of truth to it. In this new blog series, I am focusing on how to prepare a sermon. Missionaries often have opportunity to preach both in their home country and in their host country. Yet, many missionaries do not have formal training in preaching. In this post and four additional posts, I will share my perspective on preparing expository sermons gleaned from teaching homiletics (the art of preaching) at Alaska Bible College for 35 years. In this introductory post, I will define expository preaching, and focus on the preacher’s relationship with the Word and the audience. I will also list the topics for the next four… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Training, Book Reviews, Pre-field Training

Book Review: Relational Missionary Training

In 2006 Enoch Wan introduced his paradigm of “Relational Realism” in an article in the Occasional Bulletin of the Evangelical Missiological Society. This paradigm sees reality as defined by the vertical relationship with the Triune God and the horizontal relationships between created beings. In 2017, together with Mark Hedinger, he published the book, Relational Missionary Training: Theology, Theory, and Practice. Essentially, the book applies the relational realism model to the task of training missionaries. The book aims to provide a foundation for this paradigm. Therefore, the authors look at theological, educational and practical aspects of the model. Their purpose is to describe the paradigm and show how a training program could be developed along these lines. The authors also note that the book is written with missionary trainers in mind.1p.15 So, that makes me part of the target audience. The book contains four parts: Theology (Chapters 1-3)Theory (Chapters 4-5)Practice (Chapters… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Training

A Virtual Home Service

2020 pushed many of us to engage with technology in ways that felt uncomfortable. Video calls became the standard for meetings and schooling, and people connected in new and creative ways.  Home service was on our family’s horizon and we wondered, could we do a home service virtually as well? The challenge Home service is about connecting with our current donors and ministry partners and making others aware of what God is doing in our field and in our world.  Connecting online with 100 individual supporters and 20 churches seemed daunting. Furthermore, we started our home service needing $2000 in additional monthly faith promises. After trimming off some expenses, we brought it down to $1600. But this was still a huge amount, particularly if we would not be able to meet potential donors face-to-face. For full disclosure, we are sent from North America and we serve on a field in… Read the whole post
Jenny Baker2 mins read
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