The Most Important Way to Prepare for Missions
By a member of SEND’s Diaspora| North America
team
“I would like to pray for the food now!” I said as loudly as I could.
It was the mealtime of our annual Thanksgiving gathering with ESL students and families and it was not off to a great start. For the second time, I was almost shouting at the microphone, and just like the first—it had little to no effect on the children. The kids on my left were running wild and basically playing dodgeball in the cafeteria. The young children on my right were arguing loudly over who could or couldn’t put pretend food into the pretend kitchen oven.
I decided to just go ahead and launch into a short prayer of thanks for the food and for God to bless our time together. After the meal, I stood up to try again. This time, I was about to give a Thanksgiving talk, and I wanted to share why we celebrated Thanksgiving Day. I also wanted to encourage everyone that we need to be thankful for God’s blessings.
But the same thing happened as I tried to pray! The noise went on unabated, and it even intensified. A clothes basket full of Duplo pieces was lifted, dumped, and loudly sorted through by a four-year-old just five feet away from where I was standing! I tried to forge ahead but quickly realized that competing with the kids by yelling louder wasn’t the way to go. I abbreviated the talk I had planned, thanked everyone for coming, and went back to visiting people at their tables.
It was not all chaos, though. During dinner time, we were able to visit guests table by table and share with them one by one. Even though my “abbreviated talk” was a bust, and the night did not go as planned, we tried to adjust and make the best of it.
When the guests left, we tried to process what happened as we cleaned up. In the two weeks leading up to this event, we had shared Bible stories at the beginning of our ESL classes, both in English and in the student’s local language. We do this to make it easy for a number of the students who were still at beginner English level. Since the responses to the Bible stories were very positive, we had hoped for a similar response to the Thanksgiving talk. But the opposite had happened, at least from our perspective, and I think one of the reasons was spiritual opposition.
We dedicated considerable time to preparing but we spent little time on the most crucial aspect.
We spent a lot of time cooking and cleaning and setting up for the Thanksgiving party, but I don’t think we spent enough time praying for the event. I know I could have prayed more than I did. It is important to remember that there is always a spiritual battle going on for the lives of those who don’t know Christ. Sometimes it is more obvious than others—but it is always going on. We need to be prepared to pray for spiritual encounters.
The more people involved in an event, the more prayer warriors we need to enlist to support us. I now know that, before our next gathering, we will be seeking more prayer partners to lift us up. We will also consider having a separate children’s program organized as well!
Additional Posts
Choosing a Missions Organization: Why SEND International Stands Out “Why should I be a missionary through SEND International?” Jenna, a new missionary in Eastern Europe, shared with us what she appreciates about working with SEND. The highlights for her are: - Devotion to prayer - Diligence in communication - Commitment to development - Intentionality in accountability Prayer “Back in September of 2022, the Lord reconnected me with SEND after I had met them a year prior at the Moody Bible Institute. However, before he would sign me up for anything, my Missions Coach encouraged me to pray. He said something to the effect of, "I know that you've been praying on your own for a long time. But as the Church, we are not called to walk alone. So, you and I won't talk for about a month unless you have questions. I want you to go pray with 5 or 6 others from your church about where God is calling you." That October, more than 10 friends prayed with me and we saw God answer as He directed me to Romania. From February 2024 to November 2025, I had the pleasure of being a part of team meetings in Romania with my SEND colleagues. Our meetings were four hours long, two for prayer and two for business. This has been the minimum for our team. There are also prayer meetings with the local churches we partner with, among smaller groups within our team, of course prayer with many of you across the pond, including those at our US office. The organization was built, has been sustained, and continues to run on prayer. This is my favorite thing about SEND. Communication As I mentioned above, we have a two hour block for business / ministry details in each of our meetings. This provides consistency across our team which works alongside three different churches and in a variety of ministries. It also helps us to communicate about the need for change or growth, alongside what is working well. In addition, my team director also meets with each of us, allowing us to communicate needs, considerations, and prayer requests. I've also enjoyed getting to work with SEND workers outside of my immediate region . We receive emails with the minutes from the Europe leadership team, Friday communications from our international director, and information regarding projects that affect our work among the unreached. In December of 2024, our international director at the time wrote a note to my parents for the first Christmas that I was gone. If nothing else had convinced my mom yet, this did. He took the time to care for me, but also to care well for the parents that were sending me (What it meant to my dad and mom for him to do this well has been one of the greatest ways I've been supported.). I also have some pretty wonderful regional directors. These people have prayed alongside us (while also serving in their own countries of service), they have taken time to come visit and encourage our team, and they have also taken the time to encourage the people in our churches. Development SEND has provided much in the area of development and care (spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally). At our regional conference (every three years), there have been medical check ups available, counseling options, and time for connecting with others on the field with similar experience. At our conference last October, I connected with a missionary who served overseas for many years, and is now serving on the administrative side of SEND. She has met with me since then for mentorship and has also invested much of her time recently in preparing a retreat for the singles across Europe. Accountability Over the years I have read and heard amazing stories of how God has worked through missionaries. God has done great things and great things He is still doing! However, people who have committed their lives to the Lord in this way are not “super Christians”. We are still humans with the same struggle against flesh that others have . A major challenge is in being isolated -- living in areas with little to no presence of other believers to sharpen them can cause many difficulties. SEND has been a great resource in this area too. Through my team, I have an accountability partner that I meet with monthly. When my regional director came to visit, he and his wife spent a day with me and asked intentional questions about how I lead, handle conflict, and how I am growing in general as a Christian. In addition, my teammates share their wisdom with me on a regular basis. These things and more have assured me that SEND International is a highly valuable organization and I'm excited to partner with them in service to, for, and with our great God! Interested in being sent by SEND?
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