They concentrate on praying for their missionaries and for the people they are serving in a variety of ways, including special prayer meetings for them and the people groups. They help missionaries to reenter the culture when they return, honoring them and ministering to the whole family, including the children. They encourage congregational children to become friends with missionary kids and, when they go elsewhere, to communicate with them. The church maintains a conference fund, a hospitality fund, and a general discretionary fund to help take care of the above matters. Central emphasizes understanding the missionary experience as a basis for prayer, communication, and other forms of support.
Missionaries have to be prayed for knowledgeably, consistently, intimately, and scripturally.
They need prayer for their relationship with God, their physical and emotional health, their relationships with other missionaries, their country of service, family matters, the effectiveness of their ministry, and physical and spiritual welfare. There are some things here for us to apply. Larry Beckler reads Beyond Our Walls and periodically sends me suggestions and notes of encouragement. I especially wanted to meet him. Beckler and Hackett talked about Ralph Winter, as did Harold Kurtz in his address and others at the conference.