13 Types of Missionary Newsletters We Should Stop Writing

Amy Walters • Jul 08, 2014

This week, missions writer Amy Walters of SEND International shares tips on improving the venerable and ubiquitous missionary newsletter.

I read a lot of missionary newsletters — about 100 every month.

As part of my job, newsletters are some of my main sources of stories and information. I also serve on my church’s missions committee. So between the two, I’ve seen newsletters from all over the world and from a variety of missions organizations.

Some of the newsletters I read are excellent. And some, well, not so much. Missionaries have incredible stories to share — they’re on the front lines of God’s amazing work around the world. But so often, the good stuff gets buried under a pile of newsletter blunders.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The key to a great missionary newsletter is balance and tone. Here are 13 common newsletter mistakes with examples from actual newsletters (with names changed, of course), followed by some tips for making your newsletter engaging.

1. The Banker

Nothing but support updates and requests for money. Oh, and maybe a story about visiting a church and asking for money. “It’s not too late to join our team!” Fundraising is itself a type of ministry , so tell us about how even that process is changing you, your family, and others more into the likeness of Christ.

2. The Cluster Bomb

No communication for months and then a sudden rush of updates. Often this happens when the missionary needs something, like more support or home service is coming. “At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we will give another report about how wonderful our time was on our recent trip!”

3. The Itinerary

Basically, a long list of activities and locations in paragraph form. The audience feels tired after reading it and bouncing from one place to the next. “We were able to combine visits to see Kim’s father in Pennsylvania, children and grandchildren in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Buffalo, New York, to meeting friends and attending a new career conference in Ocean City, New Jersey.”

These are important details, but don’t make them the focus. Break them out in a more appealing format like a sidebar or a graphic.

4. The Treasure Hunt

Mostly filled with cultural tidbits and mundane details. But buried somewhere deep inside, like in a sidebar or at the very end of a long letter, is a great ministry story. [After nine paragraphs about other things] “Praise God for a girl in my class who has now received assurance of salvation.”

5. The Novel

Anything longer than three pages. This usually happens because the missionary hasn’t written in months. “And one more thing…” The shorter your newsletter, the more of it people will actually read.

6. The Christmas Letter

Almost entirely made up of family updates, with little or nothing said about ministry. Added bonus: long description and pictures of a recent family vacation to an exotic location. “Another family invited us to join them at a nearby resort.”

7. The Cliff Hanger

A desperate call for prayer or help that is not followed up or resolved in your next missionary newsletter. “Ended up in hospital, trying to find what’s going on. Our life here is but a moment, so easy to take it for granted.” If you’ve asked your readers to pray for something, be sure to update them about it, even if it’s not the answer you expected or hoped for.

8. Generic

As boring as the title, either from lack of interesting details or mainly focusing on day-to-day stuff. So general that it could be cut and pasted into anyone’s newsletter and still apply. “While at home, I did a lot of cleaning, sorting and washing windows.” Your ministry may feel mundane at times, but God is still up to something in the midst of that. Try to put your finger on it.

9. The Shock and Awe

Too much going on, from too many different font styles, to too many colors and clip art and photos and graphs and sections. The eyes don’t know where to look first. Keep it simple and cohesive.

10. The Snooze and Blah

No pictures. No colors. No graphics. Just words. Your readers don’t expect you to be a graphic designer, but try to spice it up a little.

11. The Judge

A negative assessment of the host culture, either subtle or blatant. “Is it possible to be both different and wrong?” Sin shows itself in all cultures and it’s OK to point that out, as long as we don’t lose sight of the plank in our own eye.

12. The Gory Details

Goes into great detail about something incredibly gross or personal, like a recent surgery or explosive illness. Also could include pictures. “We could admire the iron in our toilet bowl.” Some of your readers — especially those who don’t know you well — will not know what to make of this.

13. The Bait and Switch

Teases you with the promise of a great story but instead gets sidetracked with related but unimportant details. “So we landed in [the city], got in a van and rode out to join the teen camp that was starting the next day. 10 days later, we took part in the English camp. The time at the camp definitely got us back into life here quickly.”

The problem here isn’t that they are telling us about this great camp, but that they actually aren’t telling us about it at all. Something fascinating probably happened between when you rode a van and when you returned to normal life, so focus on that.

Now, I understand that there are special situations where a newsletter like those above would be appropriate. But those should be the exception to the rule, not common practice.

If you found yourself on the list, never fear! There are a few, simple solutions to help you help your newsletters.

Know your audience. Think about what they want to read and what kind of knowledge they do or do not have about where you are serving. Think about what questions they have and answer them. Treat them as a partner in ministry.

Focus on ministry. Don’t just tell us what you do. Show us with a story. And keep ministry stories front and center — don’t bury them at the end of the newsletter.

Stay balanced. Support updates, family news and cultural tidbits are great when kept in balance. Don’t let them take over the entire newsletter.

Write regularly. Be consistent in sending out your newsletter. Regular, short updates are better than once a year, long updates.

Vent only to close friends. Everyone struggles sometimes. Your newsletter is not the right place to hash it out. Find some people you can talk to and pour your heart out to them. Then when it comes to your newsletter, you can still keep your supporters informed, but they don’t need to know all the details.

I know you have wonderful stories to tell, and I am anxious to read them. Hopefully, these suggestions will help your audience find, read and connect with those stories so they can engage more fully in your ministry.

Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024
TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024
Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.
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