7 Creative Ways for Missionaries to Connect with Supporters

Anna Price • Aug 03, 2016

No missionary is sent out on their own; behind each one is a selfless group of churches and individuals who have mentored, prayed and given so the missionary could cross cultural barriers to share the gospel.

Because of the busy nature of ministry life, it can be hard for missionaries to connect with supporters while they serve on the field. Fortunately, with some creativity and a bit of technology, there are many ways you can stay connected with your supporters, even when you are thousands of miles away. Here are some favorites.

1. Display the Names and Faces of Your Support Team.

Look for unique ways to display the names and faces of your supporters where you can see them often.

Dave and Cheryl Jereb , TEAM missionaries in Zimbabwe , have pictures of each of their supporters in a photo album they often flip through. “Not only does it remind us to pray for them on a regular basis,” Cheryl says, “but on the days we struggle, [the album] reminds us we are not alone; we have a team behind us.”

If you can’t get pictures, writing names on a chalkboard or bulletin board can give you these reminders each time you see them.

2. Create a Facebook Group .

Due to privacy concerns, your personal Facebook page generally isn’t the best platform to discuss prayer requests or people in your ministry. A valuable alternative is to create a private Facebook group and invite supporters to join.

There, you can openly share heartfelt prayer requests and specific testimonies from your ministry. One TEAM worker in Mexico uses her Facebook group to galvanize prayer support before she interacts with the women she serves at a shelter. Afterward, she shares in real time how God is answering the prayers of her support team.

For more social media tips for missionaries, click here.

3. Pick up the phone!

If you’re able to while on the field, how special could it be to call one of your supporters and pray with them? This special touch can mean so much to beloved friends who miss hearing your voice regularly.

If it’s cost prohibitive to use an actual phone, Skype and Facebook Messenger both have great calling options available for free. The Jerebs use Facebook Messenger to call a few members of their support team each week. They aim to make phone contact with each supporter several times a year and report that these efforts have allowed them to maintain deep relationships with friends thousands of miles away.

4. Prioritize your newsletter and invite feedback.

We know, we know. The newsletter is often the last thing on your to-do list each month, but it is so important for connecting with the people who care about you and your ministry! Newsletters let your churches and supporters know what you are up to and how they can pray for you.

For inspiration, check out these posts on what to include in your newsletter and how to make it look great.

TIP: Encourage your supporters to write back. It can be discouraging when no one lets you know they’ve read your newsletter. To avoid this, try to think of creative ways to invite feedback from readers, such as asking a question each month (i.e. What are your plans for the summer? What is your favorite food at Thanksgiving? How can we pray for you this month?).

5. Invite your kids into the process.

Why not invite your kids (either your own or, if applicable and appropriate, even kids you work with in your ministry) to draw a picture or write a note to your supporters? Sending that along lets your supporters know the whole family and/or ministry is appreciative of what they are doing to serve the nations.

For more, read this post with actionable ways to involve your kids in missions.

6. Share a piece of your ministry area.

You have unique insight into a culture that might be unfamiliar to your supporters. Give greater context to your ministry by sharing cultural tidbits and artifacts with your partners.

One TEAM missionary to Spain likes to thank her supporters by going down to her local olive oil refinery and picking up bottles to take to North America for those who are praying for and supporting her ministry.

Another missionary lives in Forli, an area of Italy known for its pottery, and often buys handmade ceramic magnets to give to supporters.

Sharing a piece of your culture is a great way to thank your supporters, and can also serve as a reminder for them to pray for the work you are doing on the field.

7. Go old school.

Handwritten notes aren’t just for your grandmother! Taking the time to write out what a supporter means to you and your ministry can be a meaningful gesture for those who are standing behind you and your work.

The above ideas are just a few TEAM missionaries have used to connect with supporters, but there are many more. If you give to or pray for missionaries, what is a way your missionary has blessed you while they were overseas? If you are a missionary, what is one way you like to stay in touch with your supporters? Let us know in the comments below.

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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.