June 18, 2025

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Church Planting, Team Leadership

Training for Cross-Cultural Church Planters

In SEND U, we are very open to partnering with other organizations in providing training for our missionaries.   As the saying goes, “Why re-invent the wheel?”  One of the more profitable partnerships for SEND has been with ReachGlobal, the international mission arm of the Evangelical Free Church of America.   Through ReachGlobal’s training arm, EQUIP, SEND U has developed and facilitated an online training module for SEND team leaders.   A second edition of this training module is scheduled to begin on February 14, 2011.   Although the primary target of this training is for SEND team leaders, I am willing to enroll a few team leaders from other mission organizations. More information about this training module is available on the SEND U wiki. Contact me if you are interested in enrolling. Another opportunity for partnership in training comes in the area of training church planters.  Our SEND Directors’ Council recently asked SEND… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Resources

Webinars for Training Missionaries

Another training resource that is available to missionaries are webinars (interactive seminars offered over the Internet).These webinars allow a missionary to receive additional training from experts in a particular subject area without requiring the missionary to trave or experience a significant interruption in his ministry. The best source that I have found for webinars for cross-cultural missionaries is The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA). SEND International became an associate member of The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA), largely so that we could benefit from the learning initiatives provided by this network of mission agencies and denominations.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Resources

Wiki Resources for Missionaries

Last month I asked our SEND missionaries to fill out a simple survey about what roles they thought SEND U should play in our mission organization.  I used the analogy of a campus.  If SEND International was a university campus, what role or roles would SEND U fill on that campus?  Would we be like the classroom where missionaries would receive formal instruction and training from the “experts”?   Would we be more like the faculty offices where missionaries could meet with the “experts” to discuss their questions about what they are learning and doing?   Or should we think of ourselves more like an academic counselling department where you could get assistance if you are struggling to succeed?  All of those options were chosen by a significant percentage of our missionaries.   But the highest number of our missionaries said that one of the roles that SEND U should play is that… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Books, Resources

Free Books for the Kindle

As I travel and talk to missionaries, I see and hear that more and more of them have purchased the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, or are planning to do so in the near future.  With the significant reduction in price to under $140 for the Wi-Fi only version, the cost is no longer prohibitive.   Given the difficulty and expense of first of all shipping the books they own to their assigned field and then purchasing additional resource books in English while overseas, I am not surprised by this interest in the Kindle on the part of so many missionaries. See my blog post a few months ago. But this is only half the story!  Did you know that many books for the Amazon Kindle (electronic book reader) are available for free?  Publishers, including a number of Christian publishing houses, frequently allow e-books to be “purchased” at no cost for a … Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
Coaching

What is Coaching?

As I have been saying, an essential component of SEND U’s training is providing coaching for those who are seeking to grow and develop in their ministry skills and leadership. Based on our own personal experience with coaching, and our understanding of the needs of our missionaries, our International Director and I are convinced that personal coaching is critical to the success of our training programs. But what actually is coaching?  The word “coach” can conjure up in our minds an image of an angry, pot-bellied tyrant who yelled at you every time you touched the ball.   That is NOT what we are talking about. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”  Our SEND U website gives the following definition of Christian coaching: “Coaching is an ongoing conversation that empowers a… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
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