TL;DR;
The Church of the Nazarene's "Care & Connection" emphasis makes possible individualized support and encouragement for the denomination's global missionaries.
The Church of the Nazarene has a "budget" system that supports around 500 missionaries serving around the globe. While such missionaries do not need to raise their individual support, each missionary or missionary familyis assigned to district NMI organizations, which, in turn, assign them to local churches in a called Links. In earlier days, what is now Care & Connection was called LINKS, which was an acronym for Loving, Interested Nazarenes Knowing and Sharing. That acronym only works in English. Now that the Nazarene "family" is so multi-lingual, the program has just become Care & Connection. The program emphasizes that there are ways for everyone to get involved in a ministry of encouraging and supporting missionaries in special ways.
If you don't know your assigned Care & Connecdtion missionaries or need contact information for them, get in touch with your district Nazarene Missions International president.
Find out when your adopted missionaries are due for a home assignment with a schedule of deputation services. If your church's adopted missionaries are going to be on home assignment soon, take advantage of that. Try to schedule them in your church and in others on your district that have also adopted them. Give them the royal treatment. Plan a family-style dinner and a time of celebration. If you can only have your Links missionary family on a weeknight, contact neighboring churches and plan a big multi-church reception.
Plan ahead. Discover your adopted missionaries' needs. Find out what they would like to take back to the mission field. Ask out about their special interests and hobbies. Be a Care and Connection promoter! [ when your church has a missionary speaker ]
Then you can have a wonderful time helping them celebrate: Showers, cards, flowers, and phone calls. Think of your Care & Connection missionaries as your church's pen pals.
What a special privilege you have! Let these veterans know they are appreciated and not forgotten! Write and introduce yourself, your church, and your locale. Send snapshots of your church, your pastor, and interesting happenings in your area. Team them up with senior citizens in your church as pen pals. When you send them cards and letters, include stamps inside for them to use when they mail the cards. Ask about their interests and hobbies. Ask about their music and reading tastes. Let them tell you (by tape or by mail) about the mission fields where they served. Send small gifts such as:
Anything you do will be appreciated, especially by older missionaries who are widowed or unable to get around much. Older missionaries will love hearing from the children in your church. Push your children or teens to adopt your retired missionaries as grandparents and remember them on special occasions.
Missionary Kids can be a real challenge and a lot of fun! Most teens would enjoy hearing from a church youth group. What teen wouldn't enjoy birthday party components arriving in the mail?
Need a selection of ideas from which to pick? Try these:
Of course, money is also a welcome gift. (If you are a Nazarene church, be sure to send cash gifts through the General Treasurer so you can get 10% credit) and to make sure it really gets to them rather than being stolen in the mail.
Church children's groups could also do a boxed-up birthday party for MKs in their church's Care & Connection missionary families. Have your children bring in small gifts that can be easily mailed: crayons, markers, pens, pencils, books, candy bars, gum, fruit drinks, balloons, stickers, stamp sets, and notepads. If you're doing a birthday party box, include cake and frosting mix, candles, napkins, and prizes. Remember to do the party box well in advance so that it will arrive in time. Home-made birthday cards will add a special touch.
Other things Care & Connection Missionary Kids might enjoy are:
What an opportunity for all-church fun and involvement! Shower them with homespun care and love:
Most of all, tell them you care by sending lots of cards and notes. Plan a "treat month" for your college MK. If it can be worked out, you might even invite them to your church for a weekend. If the school they're attending is close to you but far away from family members where they will spend summer and Christmas vacations, offer to host them for those brief breaks when they would not be going to a relative's home. In short, treat your Care & Connection MK college kid like you would want your child to be treated.
Missionaries are like you: they love to know they are loved! Learn their desires and interests. Show them that you care.
In 1921 -- which was only about two years after what is now NMI was born -- a "box work" program was begun. Box work was a way of encouraging local churches to send more than cash to missionaries. It meant actually boxing up personal and ministry stuff and sending those boxes overseas to missionaries.
Two years later -- in 1923 -- the General Budget (now World Evangelism Fund) came into being. At that point box work became a way of providing a personal touch with individual missionaries who began to be supported through a central budget.
That "boxwork" program developed LINKS and now into Care & Connectdion. It provides personal contact between local churches and missionaries serving elsewhere in the world.
-- Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
The Care & Connection emphasis connects Nazarene churches with their missionaries serving around the world. Through prayer, communication, and practical support, Care & Connection aims to develop relationships between missionaries and local Nazarene congregations. Churches participating in the Care & Connection emphasis provide encouragement, financial assistance, care packages, prayer, and other forms of support for missionaries as they fulfill their calling to cross-cultural ministry. Care & Connection supports missionary efforts worldwide by fostering a sense of connection and partnership.
