Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
Acts 13:3-4

The Local Church’s Role in Supporting Those Missionaries They Support

There is a difference between being a sending church and being a supporting church. Most missionaries receive financial support from a number of sources, both individuals and supporting churches. In addition to providing financial support, supporting churches pray and write letters, keeping the relationship with the missionary in the field alive.

How we at GBC “support” the missionaries we support.

We provide monthly financial assistance, and most years we are able to send additional “bonus” financial support at the end of the year due to the generous giving of our church family.

Our missionaries send us greetings by mail and sometimes in short videos. We share and pray for them in most Thursday evening worship services as the mail and videos come in. (This is another reason to attend Thursday evening worship!)

Our Home Fellowships each have one or two missionaries they specifically pray for and write to. Some of the Home Fellowships also send additional financial assistance on their own.

We highlight a different one of our missionaries each week in our Sunday bulletin and they are prayed for during the Sunday Service each week.

Our missionaries are listed on the prayer guide used for each Sunday’s Pre-service prayer meeting. Flags representing the countries in which our missionaries serve hang in our sanctuary reminding us to pray for them.

There is always a bulletin board in the church lobby, giving an overview of the missionaries we support, along with cards our folks can use to send greetings. (The church office will mail these cards when put in one of the offering boxes.)

We at Grace Bible Church have been a sending church. We do not currently have any missionaries who are sent from GBC, but we continue to be a supporting church for eight missionaries and/or missions ministries. May we always be an active missions-minded church!