The most important component of missionary care
Required, enriched, continuous…
That’s how Roni Pruitt summarized member care of the future after attending 2016 Mission Nexus conference.
Yesterday we talked about those three aspects.
Today I’d like to add one more:
Networked
There are literally hundreds of mission agencies just in the United States.
(My guess would be there are thousands throughout the world.)
And sending churches?
Tens of thousands.
The concept of missionary care is beginning to get some traction.
More and more senders are concerned about the well-being of sent ones.
But we are hampered on many fronts.
Silos are springing up everywhere.
People reinventing the wheel because they don’t realize other wheels exist.
There is no excuse for that in today’s world.
(Unless, of course, we’re concerned about who’s logo is on the silo.)
The greatest untapped resource for missionary care is the body of Christ.
The whole body.
Not just a sending agency…
or a sending church…
or a missions committee.
The entire composite of Spirit-enabled individuals…
who have been gifted by God…
to make a vital contribution…
to the mission of God.
Our best efforts individually will never be adequate to eradicate unnecessary attrition.
Only holy synergy will suffice.
The continuous, enriched care that will be required as we move forward cannot and will not be attained by people or organizations operating on their own.
We must be networked.
We must share with each other:
- Our best information
- Our best practices
- Our best people
We must ponder how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.
We need to egg each other on and hold each other accountable.
Only then will see the powerful potential that God built into the body of Christ when he designed it,
when the Holy Spirit placed each member where he deemed fit.
The time has come.
Let’s create the future…
a future of networked care.