Indonesia (MNN)—Working in ministry is never without challenges: spiritual, cultural, financial, relational, and more. For ministry leaders serving in high-conflict areas, those pressures and difficulties increase exponentially. That’s why Patrick Anthony, of FMI, emphasizes making time for retreats with his leaders in Pakistan.
Pakistan is number 8 on Open Doors ranking of countries where Christians face the worst persecution. Anthony’s partners also face struggles with finances and rising costs of living, which sometimes make it hard to even put food on the table, as well as pressure to conform to the surrounding culture places not just on them, but on their spouses and children.
Anthony says his “aha” moment came when some of FMI’s US staff spent a couple of days on retreat outside of Pakistan with this team. A large portion of the time was spent interviewing leadership team members individually.
Mob attack in recent years (Photo courtesy of FMI)
“And I remember sitting there thinking, wow, this is so nice, because whenever we visit and we go in country, we have time to talk to all of our team members, of course, but we also have a very busy itinerary to follow, visits to make—and so we’re talking, but it’s also in between events. But for retreat, we had a dedicated time where we could ask, ‘How are you doing? Tell us, what are your challenges? What are you excited about?’ When it comes to missionary care, that’s needed to be able to know where our partners are, emotionally and vision wise, and helps us to see how we can better come alongside them.”
Team members personally reported the individual conversations were positive for them, helping to open discussion on different ideas, future goals, and where they feel the Lord’s leading them. It also gave the ministry leaders a chance to be vulnerable about what they’re truly facing. The ministry’s national director in Pakistan, for example, opened up about his daughter, who faces extreme pressure at her Muslim school, from fellow students and her teacher, to convert to Islam. However, this school may be one of the only opportunities for her to receive an education within the country.
“It’s one thing when a peer says something, pressures you, but when your teacher is coming down on you more than once, that puts a lot of pressure on a student,” notes Anthony. “I don’t know that I would have heard the story of our partner’s daughter’s situation in school if we didn’t have those multiple meetings. He didn’t share that right away.”
Anthony encourages those working in a fast-paced ministry, especially those with people serving around the world, to slow down ask their ministry leaders how they’re doing, what’s on their heart, and what’s burdening them.
“I think it starts personally. Before we ask someone else, it’s helpful to spend some time in prayer for our own reflections with the Lord, personally reviewing, ‘Okay, where am I at? How is my family at?’—talking to our spouse, talking to our families—and let that bleed over into the ministry. We need to care about that for ourselves, to then also care about that for someone else.”
Learn more about FMI’s work at forgottenmissionaries.org.
Header photo courtesy of Aaron Burden on Unsplash .
