August 15, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Tanks and Training for Missions
Books, Hardship, Training, Book Reviews, Pre-field Training

Tanks and Training for Missions

God can transform the most painful experiences of our childhood into preparation to bless others.  Joseph told his brothers many years after they sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20). I just finished listening to a similar story. In The Tank Man’s Son: A Memoir, Mark Bouman shares his gut-wrenching account of pain and misery, while growing up in rural Michigan. He was the son of an abusive man who owned a tank and ran a gun range near his home where military weapons of various kinds were regularly (and illegally) fired. His memories are terrifying – and at times comical – but always highly unusual. As a young boy, he suffered shrapnel wounds while helping his dad with the shooting range.  He found a huge tree root… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Doctrinal Statement, Holy Spirit

Meditations on the Holy Spirit

John Owen begins his work on the Holy Spirit: “When God planned the great work of saving sinners, he provided two gifts. He gave his son and he gave his Spirit. In fact each Person of the Trinity was involved in this great work of salvation. The love, grace and wisdom of the Father planned it; the love, grace and humility of the Son purchased it; and the love, grace and power of the Holy Spirit enabled sinners to believe and receive it,” (The Holy Spirit, abridged by R.J.K. Law, Banner of Truth, 1998, p 1) We continue to look at how our doctrinal statement holds our thinking, emotions and will, and our actions. SEND statement says that we believe “In God the Holy Spirit, who convicts the world of sin, regenerates, indwells, and empowers the believer.“… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Meditations on the Work of Christ
Christ, Doctrinal Statement

Meditations on the Work of Christ

As we continue in our meditations on the SEND Doctrinal Statement we are taking our second look at the third section: “We believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son, the world’s only Savior; in His pre-incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial, and bodily resurrection, and in His personal, visible return to earth;” In a previous post we looked at  the person of Christ, in this post we will meditate on the work of Christ. How does our belief in Christ’s “sinless life, vicarious death, burial, and bodily resurrection, and in His personal, visible return to earth” hold our thoughts, affections and will, and actions?… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Meditation on the Person of Christ
Christ, Doctrinal Statement

Meditation on the Person of Christ

As we continue in our meditations on the SEND Doctrinal Statement we come to the third section: “We believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son, the world’s only Savior; in His pre-incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial, and bodily resurrection, and in His personal, visible return to earth;” I am dividing this into two posts; this one focusing on the person of Christ and a second post on the work of Christ. The person of Christ is described in our statement as God the Son, the world’s only savior, pre-existent before the incarnation, and virgin born.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Meditations on the Doctrine of the Trinity
Doctrinal Statement

Meditations on the Doctrine of the Trinity

As we work our way through the SEND International Statement of Faith, we come to the triune nature of God. The doctrine of the Trinity distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. The second point in SEND International’s Statement of Faith says that we believe “that there is only one true God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” The central question of this series is: how does the statement of faith hold us? 1. How does this statement hold our thinking? Millard J. Erickson writes, “A powerful evangelistic and missionary implication is involved in this doctrine” (Erickson, Making Sense of the Trinity, Baker, 2000, 77). While we are walking in the foothills of mystery, there is no Christianity and no salvation apart from the doctrine of the Trinity. Religious systems which do not affirm the Trinity are false in their statements about God. The doctrine of the… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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