How to Pray for Missionary Kids

An excerpt from...

How to Pray for MKs

By Tracy Dubois, Support Staff
October-December 2013

Missionary kids lead exciting, unique, and sometimes scary lives. They need our prayers as they walk the missions journey beside their parents.

Sunday: Salvation
MKs are open targets for the devil and his schemes. Pray that MKs will have personal relationships with Christ and that they will grow in His grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18).

Monday: Friendships
Missions involves lots of traveling and moving around, which makes it hard for MKs to build lasting friendships. May the Lord provide godly friendships that last a lifetime (Proverbs 17:17).

Tuesday: Transitions
MKs must learn new languages and customs, and many attend boarding school and college miles away from their families. Pray that God will grant them strength and peace as they adjust to new surroundings (Philippians 4:13).

Wednesday: Ministry
We are all called to share Christ’s love with those in need. Ask the Lord to present MKs with open doors for ministry and to give them clear guidance as to the path He wants them to take (Isaiah 30:21).

Thursday: Joy
Living in a strange place and being away from family and friends can lead to loneliness and discouragement for MKs. Bring encouragement to their hearts as you pray that the Holy Spirit will fill them with His joy (John 15:11).

Friday: Identity
Many MKs struggle to know who they are and where they fit in. Are they American, Bolivian, Kenyan, Japanese, or something else? Pray that MKs will find their identity as sons and daughters of Christ and that He will be their strength and courage (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Saturday: Protection
The Lord is our shepherd and wants us to find rest and refuge in Him. Please pray Psalm 23 for a specific MK each Saturday. Simply replace the words my, I, and me with the MK’s name.

PRAY: Go towww.wgm.org/praycal for a daily list of WGM missionary kids to pray for. Make an impact on the life of an MK on your knees.

ACT: Click here todownload, print, and share this praying for missionary kids checklist with others.

Prayer Calendar: Dec. 15-21, 2013

Your missions prayer point for Dec. 15-21 inspired by The Call magazine:

Pray that missionary kids will find strength and stability in the Father.

Download a free printable to help you weekly pray for missionary kids here: http://www.wgm.org/page.aspx?pid=7727

Yard Sales for Missions

An excerpt from...

Yard Sales for Missions

A checklist for your missions event
By Shelly McCollum, Support Staff
October-December 2013

Do you use a checklist or Post-it® notes as reminders of tasks you do not want to forget? If you do, you will love this checklist idea for a yard sale for missions. We all have things around our house that we do not use anymore. Why not have a yard sale and donate the proceeds to your favorite cause or missionary?

Weeks leading up to the sale:

• Pick a cause or missionary who will benefit from your sale.
• Gather unused items and sort into categories.
• Price each piece using pre-priced tags or masking tape (my favorite).
  • Keep prices in even amounts and price nothing under 25 cents to make giving back change easier.
• Decide on a location and gather tables, benches, and clothes racks.
• Check on deadlines for placing advertisements in newspapers and online.

Week of sale:

• Begin set-up.
• Work on wording for advertisements. Include key items such as “children’s clothes, baby bed, household items, sofa, fishing equipment, toys.” Don’t forget to include starting and ending times. Including the phrase “Proceeds go to missions” also helps draw people. Some will even tell you to keep the change.
• Place the advertisement in the newspaper and any online venues. Talk about it on Facebook.
• Pick up change from the bank—quarters, dollars, fives.
• Line up helpers for the day. If you have large pieces of furniture, having someone who can help lift and carry furniture is a big help.

Day of sale:

• Put signs up on your street directing customers to your location.
• Assign jobs to helpers—cashier, bagger, someone to answer questions, someone to straighten up clothes and other areas.
• Be prepared to open on time.

After sale:

• Consider donating whatever is left over to charity. Some charities will pick up your donations for free.
• Send in your gift to your cause or missionary. Mission accomplished!

MORE: If you need help choosing your cause or missionary, visit www.wgm.org/causes or www.wgm.org/missionaries for inspiration.

ACT: Click here to download, print, and share this yard sale checklist with others.

Go Green for Good

An excerpt from...

Go Green for Good

Love Jesus AND the Planet!
By Rachel Elwood, Support Staff
October-December 2013

There are lots of reasons to “go green.” Here’s a new spin: let’s make eco-friendly choices in order to have more financial resources to give to missions.

Without question, many green practices will save money. But what do we do with the money we’ve saved? What if we used our energy savings and frugal measures as a way to have more money to give back to the Lord?

Here are a few things you can do to have more money to give to missions—and you’ll be doing your part to help the planet as well.

First, two practically no-brainer ideas:

• Set a goal of a week to refrain from spending money on nonessentials. Drive less. Use up items in your pantry and freezer instead of running to the store. Use your things longer before you replace them. Resist advertising that tells you your life will be fulfilled if you just buy this one thing for $39.99. (Trust me, it won’t.)
• Switch out your incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent. These bulbs come in a range of light shades besides office-glare bright. Because they use about 75 percent less energy, last up to 10 times longer, and emit less heat, one bulb will save you up to $80 over the life of the bulb.

These next items take a little more time and effort, but are very worthwhile:

• Change your car habits. Get your car tuned up. Make sure the tires are fully inflated. Combine errands around town and carpool to events and work. 
• Get your kids involved. Train them to turn off the water when they brush their teeth, turn off lights when they leave a room, and play outside instead of watching TV.
• Do an energy audit of your home. Think creatively about changes you can do to make your house more energy efficient. Get your furnace and air-conditioning checked out. 

Then, pick a missionary or a project to donate your saved “green” to! That $80 from changing your light bulbs will buy eight Bibles in Kenya, give school supplies to 11 kids in Uganda, or send six teens to youth camp in Peru.

MORE: Need more ideas? Check out www.wgm.org/catalog orwww.wgm.org/missionaries.

Prayer Calendar: Dec. 8-14, 2013

The Call prayer calendar offers us this missions prayer point for this week:

PRAISE God for the blessing of creation, and ask Him to help you care for this gift.

"Without question, many green practices will save money, but what do we do with the money we’ve saved? What if we used our energy savings and frugal measures as a way to have more money to give back to the Lord?" 

>>Read Go Green for Good for some mission minded ideas.

Returning Home

An excerpt from...

Returning Home

An outreach checklist from a packing missionary
By Carolyn Wade, Kenya
October-December 2013

Transitioning from one’s home country back to the field of service is a major process, and the checklists vary from one missionary to the next. Having just experienced this for the sixth time, here is our checklist for this eventful, exciting, essential experience!

1. Pray and Partner with Others in Prayer
   As missionaries, we can begin sensing the time frame and items needed for packing when we begin bathing this process in prayer. Sufficient time is required to pack, so it must be part of the initial homeland ministry assignment schedule.
   
   We share updates often on Facebook. Frequent updates help partners pray.
   
   PRAY: Take some time each day to pray for a WGM missionary and for the people’s lives they are touching. Commit to this prayer routine for at least a month.
   
2. Plan and Pack
   Listing what needs to be done and when provides much-needed organization. My husband, Ken, is the master organizer and packer. I make my own list of what I need to do before we pack, and then we build the master list together.
   
   I construct a packing list as Ken packs so we know what is in each piece of luggage in case a customs officer may request it.
   
   Carolyn’s Packing Tips: I find it helpful to wrap any liquid in paper towels secured with tape and placed in a reclosable bag. I also put gelatin and pudding in reclosable bags. One experience of having lemon pudding granules penetrating all the items in the box was a valuable learning experience.
   
   ACT: Do you know someone going through a time of transition? Create a plan today to babysit, take them a meal, mow their yard, etc. Do something that will help lift their burden.
   
3. Purchase
   The Holy Spirit will remind you about something you need that was not on the “items to purchase” list or to add an item you had not planned on. We praise God for this discernment.
   
   GIVE: Contact the missionary you prayed for in the Pray section and ask them what you can purchase for those they are ministering to.

And at the end of the trip, of course, there is jetlag, but returning to your beloved country of residence where you fulfill God’s calling on your life makes all the praying, planning, and packing worth it.

Prayer Calendar: December 1-7, 2013

Your missions prayer point this week from The Call:

PRAY that God will open your eyes to someone who needs to hear from Him today.