by: Karie Owens
“We got one!” “Honey, we got a package in the mail from…” My husband barely finished his sentence as I ran down the hallway of our home in Africa and intercepted the medium size box from his hands. “Shhh…, don’t tell the kids yet, I want to open this one!” It might have been selfish of me to keep a care package that just arrived from a ladies missions group from the states from my six young children, but I couldn’t help myself! I mischievously pulled my husband and the box into our room, shut and locked the door. Taking my husband’s keys, I sliced through the clear tape and began to empty the contents of the box into my lap. “Brownies,” I could just taste the smooth chocolate from the mere smell of the box! “Stickers for the kids, just perfect for their homeschool papers,” I thought. “Let me see,” laughed my husband as he skillfully reached for the box of goodies out of my clenched hands. “Well look here, a discipleship book, Scripture cards, and Kool-Aid packets!” My husband’s words were echoed by loud voices chirping outside the bedroom door. “Brownies, Kool-Aid, I want some,” shouted our children. As I saw tiny fingers reaching into my room from the bottom of the doorway, I knew it was time to let them in and “share” the rest of the box of goodies with them. I opened the door and all six of our excited children ran and sat on our bed to see what other treasures were inside. As my husband dispersed the rest of the surprises, my eyes were drawn to a card. The card had a collage of signatures of people I did not personally know, but it was as if each signature was a pledge of love, a promise of prayer, and loving push to press on serving our Saviour. With one last glance, my eyes were drawn to the bottom of the card where these verses were written:
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Someone had taken the time to allow our family to know we were not forgotten as we served as missionaries in Cameroon, Africa. This verse reminded me that there is not one thing that we do for the Lord that is in vain. No matter how small, no matter how “unseen” or “futile” our efforts may seem to us, God sees it all. Recently, when I was asked to speak to the ladies of the Hearts for Missions group at my home church, God laid this verse on my heart. Being on the receiving end as a missionary wife on a foreign field, God wanted me to articulate that their prayers and efforts were not in vain. As they collected items for each missionary box, as they signed each card, typed each email, as they uttered each prayer…they were abounding in the work of the Lord for their missionaries.
A second thought came to me…what if I could send a care package from the heart of a missionary to those who pray for them? What if I could bring a little part of the mission field back to those ladies to whom I was speaking? So, here are a few thoughts wrapped in love and experience from the mission field to you. May each portion equip you more thoroughly in how to pray and bless another missionary family.
1. Missionary families need very specific prayers!
Sometimes, I don’t pray like I should until I experience something, then I know how to pray for it! I want to be transparent so that you can truly understand the type of prayers missionaries need. Missionaries arrive on the field, win souls, baptize, disciple, plant churches and train nationals. That is what missionaries go to the field to do. Behind all the wonderful ministry opportunities and blessings is a regular family like the family you have. Missionary families are not superheroes. They are just ordinary people resting completely in God’s power to do something supernatural through them. You can pray specifically for your missionaries in the following areas:
Home and Health. Pray for the missionary wife as she may have extra responsibilities in educating the children, cooking and cleaning without modern conveniences, electricity, water or food they are used to. Pray that the atmosphere in the home remains fun and positive. Boxes and cards help with this because they take the focus off setbacks and discouragements. Pray that the family would remain in good physical health and get the required physical and mental rest they need to serve God effectively.
- Safety and Fear. Pray for the missionary family’s safety as some serve in areas where kidnappings, illnesses, armed robbery, political unrest, car accidents due to reckless driving and imprisonment for holding church services are ordinary. Pray for God’s protection and peace as fear does not come from God, but from the Devil. (For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7) Missionaries also struggle with the fear of being inadequate or not meeting up to man’s expectations for their ministry. Many missionary wives struggle with feeling that they are inadequate to care for the needs of their family on the foreign field. As the Bible says in Proverbs 29:25, The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
- Personal Spiritual Growth and Spiritual Walk. With the many extra demands and spiritual warfare that living on the mission field brings, it is even more important that the missionary makes walking with God through Bible reading and prayer a priority. Pray that the missionary grows spiritually and is replenished by God’s Word as he or she are “used up” to serve those they are sent to reach. Pray that God would increase the missionary’s faith. God’s ability to supply all their needs is abundant. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
- Marriage relationship. Pray for the missionary’s marriage relationship that it would remain sweet and pure. My husband and I served in a province where we were the only missionaries of like faith. We did not have another couple to leave the kids with for a date. We had to make an extra effort in getting a “popcorn date” in or something of the like after the kids went to bed. We loved getting candles, lotions, or our favorite cologne and perfume in boxes because they were scarce and we enjoyed them. Satan will try extra hard to drive a wedge between a husband and wife on the mission field to make their ministry less effective for the cause of Christ. We must pray that the Devil would flee and that God’s love would bind them together.
- Godly wisdom and priorities. Missionaries are constantly faced with the enormous spiritual and physical needs of those they are reaching who may feel overwhelmed. Most missionaries have such a heart for the lost that they simply want to do everything and help everybody at once. Only God can give wisdom and prioritize what needs done and when. Please pray that the missionary would seek God’s wisdom in all that they do. Maybe place this Scripture in a card: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,” James 1:5
- Complete yielding to the Holy Spirit. Pray that the missionary would be completely yielded to the Holy Spirit of God and His leading in their home and ministry. The missionary family is not serving alone; they have God right there with them. Pray that they will be sensitive to His leading.
- Protection from evil. Many missionaries experience demonic oppression especially where witchcraft is heavily practiced. This is not to frighten the reader, but to simply make it known that where God’s work is being accomplished people are getting saved and strongholds are being broken down by God’ power, the Devil wants to stop it! The oppression may be in the form of confusion or a spiritual heaviness. In Cameroon our family made it a practice to pray over each room at night and play Scripture and good godly music at all times; both at night and during the day. We would love it when someone would send us godly, wholesome music CDs as this was scarce on the mission field where we served. Please pray for the missionary as they are constantly under intense spiritual warfare.
2. The nationals of the country where the missionary family has gone to reach need specific prayers!
Pray for God’s wisdom as missionaries win souls and disciple nationals. Missionaries are always evaluating culture dynamics with biblical principle. Missionaries must teach a “Christ Culture” in any culture. This takes God’s wisdom and patience. We must constantly be reminded that behind every sin is a person God loves bound by that sin. Pray for the missionaries as they deal with sins of the culture that are unscriptural such as polygamy, prostitution, idolatry, false religions, witchcraft, wrath, strife, murder, drunkenness and the absence of regard for human life…just to name a few. All of these lead to broken lives and bondage. Pray for Christ to change a nation by working in the hearts of the individual first for salvation. Then, pray that Christ would work on the hearts of the people through the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to bring about changed lives for generations. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;” 2 Corinthians 10:4
3. Missionary families need spiritual encouragement!
I was always blessed when I received a letter or email that said someone was praying for a specific need I had or a struggle I was facing at the time. Sometimes missionaries can’t put all of their prayer requests in a prayer letter or even mention them due to the very nature of the need. Because missionaries live by faith and depend on financial and prayer support of others, they may fear that their prayer requests may sound too critical, negative or just plain unimportant to mention. However, I always thought it was amazing how God laid my unspoken prayer request on the heart of another believer halfway around the world. I would get emails of people praying for me and they would mention that need specifically. That increased my faith. Also, spiritual encouragement would come in the form of letters, small gifts, godly sermons, music and devotionals. Each prayer said, letter, email and gift you send to a missionary family is noticed and appreciated and reaps fruit for eternity.
When I was deathly ill and about to board a life-flight out of Cameroon, I laid in the African hospital looking at my husband and children. I said good-bye to them…not knowing if it would be the last time I would see them on this side of eternity. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was not having to face death, but was to leave my six children and husband in Cameroon, Africa. It was horrible not being there to take care of them as I lay for weeks in hospitals in Cameroon, France and Pittsburgh. Finally, I was able to see my family again. They had just flown into the Pittsburgh International Airport and came straight to the hospital to see me. As they ran into my hospital room, one of my children hugged me and said, “Mommy, we got this box in the mail. It had all our favorite candy and a toy for each of us. Mommy, we kept it with us the whole time you were sick. How did they know Mommy?”
How did “they” know? “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” Ephesians 3:20. God knows! God knows when that package will arrive that you are sending to your missionary. God knows when that note of encouragement will reach the ears, eyes and heart of a missionary. God knows how to answer each prayer that you will utter for that dear missionary family and the lost souls they are reaching. He is just waiting for us to ask!
Karie Owens
Wife of Church planter Nathan Owens