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 14:26-28

At the conclusion of their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas & Company returned to their sending church in Antioch. This reminds us that biblically, missions are an extension of the local church, not the cavalier efforts of individualists. This us vital for the sake of both support and accountability.

The local church is responsible to send missionaries and to support them.

Missionary endeavors need support financially. While the living water is free, it costs money to get it to the thirsty people!
Missionary endeavors need support spiritually. Initially, the church, through prayer, must recognize the Lord’s calling on potential missionaries. The church must also support the missionaries in prayer in an ongoing manner.
Missionary endeavors need support emotionally. Emotionally? YES! Missionaries need encouragement which the local church provides via cards, emails, calls, and even care packages. Granted, this encouragement was not as easy in those days as it is today because communication is so much easier, so let us as a local church and especially in our Home Fellowships, encourage our missionaries as much as we are able.

A Footnote: Missionaries have a sending church and hopefully a number of supporting churches. Our church does not currently have any missionaries “sent” by us. Pray that as the Lord wills, that we will send missionaries as we have in the past. But we are blessed to “support” a number of missionary efforts. Let us be faithful to support them in every way we can.