Being the sending church of a mission partner is an enormous privilege.
The sending church is usually the home church of the mission partners being sent. This means the sending church will have walked through the whole process of becoming mission partners with them, and that mission partners will be as accountable to their sending church as they are to Crosslinks.
Sending a mission partner is a huge encouragement to the church family, though one that comes with the painful cost of being far away from dear Christian brothers and sisters. And, our experience is that often sending churches are more inspired in their local gospel witness when they’ve sent someone to do it in another country.
But being a sending church also comes with the responsibility of sustaining and growing a gospel partnership with mission partners. Sending churches commit financially to the mission partners for a set period of at least three years. But the responsibility is more than just financial – they also commit to praying for mission partners and their ministry, sharing in the highs and lows, encouraging them to keep going, welcoming them back on home visits and perhaps even visiting them in their host country.
Often there will be an assigned church family member to be the key link between mission partners, Crosslinks and the sending church. This person will encourage and champion the gospel partnership in different ways.
If you’d like more information on how to be a healthy sending church, contact Helen Burns, our Church Partnerships Coordinator, at hburns@crosslinks.org