Neal Pirolo has been a constant voice for good member care. He recently saw an item in Brigada and, he told us this past week, it started a string of thoughts that led him to write, “Thousands of words and hundreds of seminars, symposiums and surveys have erupted over the past several decades regarding missionary/member care. And, I am sure, they have all added to the awareness of and the necessity for a group of people partnering with the missionary in the task to which God has called the team. The multi-leveled and multi-diverse nature of missionary care has produced graphs and charts to show the complexity of need and sources of help to meet those needs. One such resource is a book first published in 1991, with a twenty-year Update in 2011. Serving As Senders Today speaks to the level of missionary care that Paul, the Apostle refers to as his “Partners in the Gospel.” People from the church at Philippi were meeting the needs of Paul in six distinct areas. By their actions, they showed that they “owned” his ministry. He was their field representative. But they took personal charge of their part in his ministry. Those missionaries who have developed their “Partnership Team” attest to the fact that these relationships and the commitments made (and kept) by the team have sustained them through years on field ministry and when they are on home assignment. This resource is available from Emmaus Road International.

http://www.eri.org

(Thanks for all you do, Neal!)