May 2023 Prayer Letter

Howard & Kathy Merrell, caring for those who are reaching. 

Dear Partners,

In an effort to stay on the road, Kathy and I recently cheated. We used two vehicles. We have been seeking to help a loved one whose spouse has a serious medical condition. Kathy has been going to this loved one’s house—three hours away—every four to six weeks to help out. I go sometimes. Last week we left after the morning service at Woodland Church, where I am interim, and drove there, me in the truck and Kathy in the car. She returned to Covington on Tuesday in order to teach in ladies’ group on Wednesday (two sessions) and teach her three piano students. Then she went from Covington to Rockhill SC to look after our youngest grandchild, Ava, while Tanisha was in Ghana helping to run a missions conference and Chad was in Louisiana speaking at a men’s retreat. Meanwhile, I left from the loved one’s home and traveled to LMUSA Head Quarters in New Jersey, to work on a project with Mike Branch, Global Ministries Director, and take part in the Board meeting. Kathy got back home Saturday afternoon. I arrived late that night. The next morning, we got to ride together, 😊, as we went back to Woodland.

We thank the Lord for good health. We are keeping busy.

Specifically in regard to our missions work, we continue to offer pastoral care to our missionaries. Some of you are very much involved in the missionary program of your church. Here are some numbers and facts that should be of interest to you.

·       A “big” sister mission, OMF, did research “. . . data from 11 missionary organizations . . . between 2016 and 2018, these organizations sent 1014 new missionaries to the field and saw 974 of their missionaries leave . . ..” (https://omf.org/us/missionaries-get-lonely-too-its-contributing-to-missionary-attrition/) That’s barely more than holding our own while the world grows exponentially.

·        “[I]t is estimated that 1 career missionary in 20 . . . leaves the mission field . . . every year. . .  71% leave for preventable reasons.” (“Research and Data on Missionary Attrition Worldwide,” here)

·       This preventable attrition is pronounced during the first term of missionary service.

Not to overload you with web addresses, but to demonstrate that this isn’t just coming from my gut, I’ll link one more article. BTW, my gut agrees. One of the leading reasons for leaving the field that this article presents is “lack of missionary care.” It would seem that this lack is most pronounced in small agencies, like LMUSA.

Here is a place where what we should do coincides with what is useful. Yes, we at LMUSA would like to address the missionary attrition issue, but, more so, we want to simply care for the missionaries who serve with us. They are people, bearers of the image of God, and they are servants of our Lord. They deserve to be treated as such.

It’s not rocket science:

·       We try to pray for our missionaries and let them know they are being prayed for.

·       We want each missionary to get a happy birthday/anniversary greeting, and we want each missionary child to receive a birthday gift.

·       We want to work with supporting churches to explore ways to leverage church-based missionary care.

·       LMUSA is small enough that I (HM) have a place at the table. My boss, Global Ministries Director, Mike Branch is totally behind efforts to provide better missionary care.

·       Likely some travel to places where missionaries do their work is in my/our future.

·       Mike Branch and I are working on our onboarding process. We want to work with missionary candidates in such a way that we maximize their opportunity for success. We want them to survive, but more, we want them to thrive.

It has been said that concerning the Great Commission the child of God can be either a goer, a sender, or a disobeyer. Somewhere between the goer and sender there is a place for the missionary-carer. We are trying to fit in that gap.

Personally, to you:

Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support. While Kathy and I don’t draw a salary, your support covers our ministry expenses.

Kathy and I have a fairly unique experience base when it comes to missions. I was pastor of a small church that had/has a substantial global impact. We were also missionaries in Palau and then Guam for about five years. We have also been guests in the homes of several missionary families around the world. We would love to use what God has entrusted to us in missionary conferences, and other opportunities to promote Great Commission ministry in general.

As part of the recent Board Meeting Steven and Gwen Anderson (seated) were received as missionaries with LMUSA. They are planning to serve with Kathy and Kevin Bruce, among the Awa in Ecuador.

 

We’ll be in Texas with our son, Chris, and his family for the next two weeks. We’ll still be on the grid, however, and, we’d love to hear from you.

By His Grace,

Howard and Kathy

covbchm@gmail.com