November 11, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Character, Hardship

Character Development in the Life of a Missionary

  SEND U is very much concerned about the development of both character and skills.  We can impart knowledge and provide ministry skill training through seminars and various types of technology, but real character formation is only possible as we humbly submit to the work of the Spirit of God in our lives.   We have a growing list of resources under “Spiritual formation” on the SEND U wiki.   But we recognize that at best, we can only seek to supplement what God is already doing in your lives through His Word and the life experiences He gives you.   … Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Character, Team Leadership

Another Edition of Online Training for Team Leaders Completed

Online module completed.   This week, I finished reading the last assignments and forum posts in the online Team Leader Orientation module I had been facilitating in February and March.   The second edition of this course is now history, and I am very pleased to see that 12 more team or area leaders have completed all the assignments and have “graduated” from this 5-week course.   During those five weeks, each of the course participants identified their key areas of responsibility as a team leader, and what outcomes they desired to achieve in each of those key result areas by God’s grace.  They sought to describe how they would know whether they had achieved these outcomes.  These different components were assembled in an outcome-based job description for themselves, which they then submitted to their classmates for comments and critique.   The job descriptions were very well done, and I know several of the… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Book Reviews

Creating Margin in Your Life

Many missionaries and particularly mission leaders complain about overload.   Too many emails!   The technological conveniences of email, Skype and Facebook have kept us much more closely connected to our supporting constituencies and loved ones back home than the missionaries of the past.   But they also have greatly added to the onslaught of information that floods our lives and puts pressure on the time available for ministry in our host cultures.   Often time set aside for personal development and training is the first to be sacrificed. Missionary life was much different in our first term of service.  No, I didn’t arrive on the mission field on a boat.  But my career as a missionary (I was single back then) began before the era of the Internet, or at least the Internet as we know it today.  Back in the early 90’s, we had no telephone in our home in the Philippines,… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Training

Women to Women Ministry Training

Well over half of the members of our mission are women.  Increasingly as a mission, we are recognizing the priority of providing training specifically designed for them and the ministry challenges they face. Although the majority of the women that join SEND have received excellent biblical and ministry training prior to their acceptance, many of our women have not had the opportunity to fully exercise their gifts and utilize their training when they arrive on their chosen field of service.   Instead, they have chosen to prioritize their children’s nurture and educational needs in those first years on the mission field.  When their children no longer need as much time from Mom, a refresher in training is needed (as for all of us who have graduated from seminary or Bible college in a previous decade).… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Disciple-making, Spiritual Formation, Book Reviews, Self-Feeding

Feeding Yourself and Discipling Others

A book I want to highlight this week is The Divine Mentor: Growing Your Faith as You Sit as the Feet of the Saviour by Wayne Cordeiro. One of our senior missionaries who is well-known for his commitment to discipling young men recommended it to me. He said that he hands it out frequently to those whom he is discipling.   About the same time, I received the book as a Christmas gift. Over the Christmas holidays, I finished it.  It is a very easy read, with lots of illustrations from Cordeiros’ pastoral ministry. Essentially the book talks about the importance of and a method for a regular devotional study of Scripture.  Pretty basic stuff for a missionary, right?  Well, this missionary found that the simple journalling method (S.O.A.P) taught in the book was what I needed to move from journalling once in a while to recording on a daily basis… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
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