Church Connections
Testimonial
Example of Pre-Field support by a local church
Pastor Tom Wright and Memorial Baptist Church, Columbus, Ohio, were an outstanding example of involvement with Tom and Nancy Wolf and children who now serve in South Africa! Here is how they helped as told by Tom Wolf.
- After Candidate Seminar, our church covered the cost for a survey trip.
- Once a month Pastor Wright and I set up a day to call churches for the purpose of scheduling meetings. Pastor initiated the phone call by introducing the prospective pastor to our ministry. He then gave me the phone to explain our ministry further and arrange a meeting if at all possible.
- Our church sent a representative (individual, couple or family) to accompany us to each presentation. Prior to our scheduled meeting, Pastor Wright sent the pastor a letter notifying them of our representative and their role in introducing our ministry. The representative from our church gave a brief word of testimony introducing our family and ministry, as well as the sending church’s involvement. These individuals and or families traveled at either their own or church’s expense. The intent behind this involvement was to:
- Show the church we were visiting how involved our sending church was in our ministry.
- Enabled the representative to return to our home church and give a brief testimony of their day of ministry with us, keeping our church informed.
- Provided first-hand experience to members of our church about pre-field ministry and increased their sensitivity to other missionaries visiting our home church.
- Provided help in setting up and taking down our equipment. They also provided care for our children if we were involved in a missions committee meeting, etc.
- Following the meeting, Pastor either sent a letter or made a call to thank the pastor and church we visited and also to receive feedback on our ministry. Pastor and I would talk about what happened in our ministry that weekend and also in the ministry of our home church. At the midweek prayer meeting an update was given to the church.
- Usually, once a month, our church prayed through a list of our supporting churches and churches considering our support needs. They also prayed for us regularly in other services.
- Financially, our church contributed 25% of our monthly support. They helped with any supplies we needed and our mailings. The church created an Emergency Fund in which they are building a sufficient balance to be used in case of a family emergency that would require an unplanned trip home from the field.
- Our church had “work evenings” where we prepared our prayer letter for mailing and made crafts and other materials for our ministries with children.