A special episode on communication for missionaries.

1. We don’t know how much support might come to us month-to-month, we don’t know if a partner will stop supporting, or a new one will start.
2. We have to buy vehicles or a house or travel, requiring lump sum cash amounts.
3. Typically, nobody helps plan our finances, we have no benefits, pension, insurance, or savings unless we arrange it ourselves.
4. Our personal finances are everybody’s business. Lots of people have an idea about how much you should be paid, and it depends on what they believe about missionaries. People wonder if you have too little or too much, but they will likely not ask.
5. Partners are not employers, they give because of generosity, not obligation. You can look to your employer for your wages but for missionaries, the cliche is ‘look to God’. An employee looks to God too but expects his employer to pay him at the end of the month. The missionary must look to his ability to communicate for his income. Where does the missionary go when he wants a raise? To his ability to communicate to potential partners.

1. Partners often feel that if you don’t communicate specifically to them, you haven’t communicated at all, in fact, they might get upset if they hear your news from someone else.  Watching you on TV isn’t good enough. Your newsletter has to begin with: “Dear Sally…”
2. The other side of the world is out of sight but it is your lifeline so don’t neglect your partners. Get to know them, their passions and their preferences.
3. Present your self, your vision, and plans. You are not a beggar, you are a leader, so communicate clearly with vision, facts, the story of one that represents your ministry.
4. Say “thank you” Immediately, knowledgeably, genuinely. Pray for your partners, declare blessing over their families and prosperity over their sources of income.
5. Be accountable: Answer questions that they might be thinking. Send clear creative reports: one or two pages of mostly pictures.
6. Use social media, email, mail, and visits.