May 16, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Success in ministry, Gospel, Storying

A Clear Proclamation of the Gospel

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series "Success for missionaries".Part 3 of a series on defining success for a missionary. Part 1 demonstrated that we, like Paul, can be confident in our ministry, despite all our detractors and critics. In Part 2, we talked about Paul’s need to once more prove his credibility as an apostle to the Corinthian church. By repeating the phrase “commend ourselves,” he points to some key criteria that he uses to demonstrate that God is pleased with his ministry. The first criterion that I want to highlight is found in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2. Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Success in ministry

Do We Really Need to Demonstrate Our Credibility?

This entry is part 2 of 7 in the series "Success for missionaries".Part 2 of a series on defining success for a missionary. Part 1 demonstrated that we, like Paul, can be confident in our ministry, despite all our detractors and critics.   We can be assured that God is pleased with our ministry. The Apostle Paul had a problem. His authority and credibility in the Corinthian church had been severely attacked and critics were dismissing the value of his ministry. He had been accused of deceiving people (2 Cor 4:2), of exploiting them (2 Cor 7:2), of being an impostor (2 Cor 6:8). Unless he could reestablish his credibility in this church, his ministry there was finished. More seriously, as this church turned their back on Paul, they were also turning their back on the Gospel that Paul had preached. The integrity of the church depended on Paul proving that… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Success in ministry, New Missionaries

How Do We Define Success as Missionaries?

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series "Success for missionaries".A question that we discuss at length during every Member Orientation is “How do you define success for yourself as a missionary?” As disciples of Christ, who have been called and sent out to make disciples of others, we can only consider ourselves successful if we believe that we have accomplished what our Master told us to do. Hearing the words “Well done, good and faithful servant” is our greatest hope and ultimate definition of success.   How should we live and serve today, so that we can be assured that we will hear those words when we stand before the Master and give account to Him? My first extended time of reflection about this question happened about 5 years ago. Our International Director stood with me in a cafeteria line at a LeaderLink training in Florida, and asked… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Training

Webinars for Missionaries Much More Accessible

Many of us in SEND have benefited from the webinars that have been offered on a regular basis by The Mission Exchange and CrossGlobal Link. For those unfamiliar with the vocabulary, a webinar is a short seminar (generally about an hour long) offered through the Internet.  Since missionaries are generally located thousands of kilometers from the typical places where mission training seminars, workshops and conferences are held, we have few opportunities for attending these training events.   Rarely do we have a chance to hear what missionaries and mission leaders from other organizations have learned, other than by reading a book or during our “furloughs”.  The Internet of course has changed all that, and webinars are one way where a subject matter expert can share his expertise with an audience spread across the globe. For those who are unfamiliar with The Mission Exchange and CrossGlobal Link, they were two different evangelical… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Books

Managing Your e-Books

In a previous blog, I talked about the switch I made a few years ago to digital books versus paper copies.   Back in 1987, when we left for the Philippines, we sent all our books in barrels to Manila. Ten years later, when we moved to Russia, we sent the books back to Canada in those same barrels, and took a much more limited number of books with us to Russia in our suitcases. We have now moved to Ukraine, and again some of my books have been sent back to stay in storage in Canada. It is just too expensive and difficult to haul my library every time we move to another country.   In that same blog, I talked about the Amazon Kindle as a means of both obtaining and reading English books when you are overseas, and in countries where few English resources are available.   Since then,… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
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