And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples. Acts 14:21-28
The goal of New Testament missionary enterprises is planting churches, not merely calling individuals to salvation. Only those who have a solid understanding of New Testament ecclesiology are in a position to establish churches and appoint church leadership. Freelance missionary enterprises that are disconnected from the church will not, and cannot, establish that of which they are not a part. While on the field, unless in a region of the world in which there is no opportunity for Christian fellowship, missionaries should seek to be in fellowship in a church. If there is no church, missionaries should participate in a house church, even if it is no bigger than their own family.
The missionaries returned to their home-sending church to report on the work they had done. This reporting on the fruitfulness of the ministry is important for two reasons:
First, it is a means of determining the effectiveness of a missionary. This is important in deciding whether or not the missionary should be sent on another term.
Second, hearing from missionaries encourages the senders that, though they are not all “goers,” they have an important stake in the work as “senders.”
The missionaries stayed in their home church for a “long time.” This points out the following:
The missionaries recognized the sending church as their base of operations.
The missionaries needed to be ministered to by the members of their home church after serving selflessly for a period of time on the field.
The missionaries needed to minister in their home church so that the senders would know them well and be ready and willing to support them when they were ready to be sent out again.
I pray that sharing these observations from Acts about missions will make you more keenly aware that as members of a local church that supports missionaries, we all have a stake in the missions enterprise.