1. Select at least one of the missionaries our church supports and pray for their relationship with God. I’m afraid, all to often, we assume too much in this area. We have placed all missionaries on a high pedestal marked “Super-Spiritual Saint.” It doesn’t occur to us that our missionaries have any need in regards to their walk with God. On behalf of your missionary, pray for his or her:

a. Feeding on God’s Word

b. Prayer life

c. Filling with the Holy Spirit

d. Maturity and growth in grace e. Victory over Satan and the flesh

2. Pray for your missionary’s physical and emotional life. Many missionaries live and work in difficult climates and where various diseases are prevalent. Pray for their health and safety. Also pray for deliverance from discouragement, loneliness and depression as they are in the thick of the spiritual battle.

3. Pray for your missionary’s family. Pray, if married, for the husband and wife’s relationship. Pray for the children—for their salvation and growth in the Lord. Pray that as a family, they will provide an excellent model for the people among where they serve.

4. Pray for your missionary’s ability to communicate. Communication is the key to everything a missionary does. We must communicate with our lives and lips. For many, they must adapt to a new culture and learn a foreign language. Many languages, if not all, are difficult to learn. And a superficial knowledge of a language makes it very difficult to communicate spiritual truth. But knowing a language is not enough. A missionary must adapt culturally and communicate the love of Christ with the people he is seeking to reach.

5. Pray for your missionary’s ministry. Here you want to support your missionary in what he is doing: witnessing, visiting, teaching, preaching, or whatever he does to serve the Lord. His letters posted on our Missions Bulletin Board in the church sanctuary will usually give you lots of ammunition for prayer. Pray for boldness, open doors and open hearts.

6. Pray for your missionary’s fellow workers. Most probably, your missionary is not working completely off on his own someplace. He is usually part of a team and he will likely be working closely with the believers in that country. Probably, more than any other place, this is where Satan often gets in and causes havoc.

7. Pray for your missionary’s country of service. Expand to include the whole country where your missionary is located. Pray for a climate of responsiveness to the gospel. I would highly recommend Operation World by Patrick Johnstone as the best guide available for praying for all the countries of the world.

So, how about it? Why not pick a missionary, write them, read their letters and get involved! Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1)

This is from www.new-life.net/mission4.htm

10 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Missionary (Adapted from a list which originally appeared in How are you doing? by missionary statesman Stewart Dinnen; Bromley: STL Books, 1984.)

1. Ignore Jesus’ request in John 4:35 that we take a long hard look at the fields. Seeing the needs can be depressing and very unsettling. It could lead to genuine missionary concern. (John 4:35 “Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”)

2. Focus your energy on a socially legitimate target. This could be a bigger salary, better qualifications, a job promotion, bigger home, better car, or providing for the future.

3. Get married as soon as possible, preferably to somebody who thinks the “Great Commission” is what your employer gives you after you make a big sale. After marriage, plunge right into the socially accepted norm of settling down, establishing a career and raising a family.

4. Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies can be disturbing. The situations they describe will distract you from settling in comfortably with the materialistic living style of your home country.

5. If you happen to think about unreached peoples, immediately focus on those countries where it’s impossible to openly do missionary work. Think only about North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and other closed countries. Forget the vast areas of our globe open to missionaries. Never, never listen to talk about “creative access” countries.

6. Dwell on your own past failures. It is unreasonable to expect you will ever be any better. Don’t study the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Peter or Mark (who were all drop-outs at one stage, but didn’t stay that way).

7. Always think of missionaries as talented, super-spiritual people up on lofty pedestals. Maintaining this image of a missionary will heighten your own sense of inadequacy. Knowing that God does not use ordinary people as missionaries will smother any guilt you may feel about refusing to even listen for a call from God.

8. Agree with the people who tell you that you are indispensable where you are. Listen when they tell you that your local church can’t do without you.

9. Worry incessantly about money.

10. If you still feel you must go, go out right away without any preparation or training. You’ll soon be home again and no one can blame you for not trying!

http://missionmindedlife.blogspot.com/

WHAT IS LEAVE AND FURLOUGH?
We define leave and Furlough time as time that is set aside for you to return to the US for the following reasons.
Leave and Furlough time is to be used for reporting on what the Lord is doing through your supporting
churches, raising any additional support, special projects, obtaining medical examinations and medical
treatment, securing needed supplies and equipment for your field of service, visiting family members, working
on Visa’s and special meeting that you may have been invited to attend. In other words it covers ANY
TIME that your leave your field of service and come to the US for ANY REASON.

What if the word got around that First Baptist Garland loves missions?  What if the word got around that we loved missionaries and treated them like royalty?  What if missionaries knew they would be encouraged by our words and prayers?  If ever there was a church with the reputation of being lovers of missions wouldn’t it be great if it was FBC Garland.

Let’s make it happen people.   Who is with me?!

1. Thumb
   Since your thumb is nearest to you, begin by praying for those missionaries closest to you. They are the easiest ones to remember. C.S. Lewis said that praying for those we love is a “sweet duty.”
2. Index or pointing finder
   Let your “pointing finger” remind you to pray for missionaries who teach, instruct, and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and evangelists. They need support and wisdom for pointing others in the right direction.
3. Middle finger
   Our tallest finger reminds us of our church leaders. We can never pray too much for them. Pray for those who supervise and direct missionary outreach.
4. Ring finger
   Surprisingly, the ring finger is our weakest finger (as any piano teacher will testify). This weak finger reminds us to pray for those missionaries who are discouraged, in trouble, or in pain.
5. Little finger
   Our little finger is the smallest finger of all, which is where we should place our individual wants and desires in relation to world evangelism needs. The Bible says, “The least shall be the greatest among you.” Your pinkie should remind you to pray for the people of the world who have the greatest need to find Jesus. Pray that they will open their eyes and see Him.