The Nazarene Missions International team of the Argentina Central District took advantage of the missionary care emphasis in the month of May to launch a digital awareness campaign on the integral care of the missionary.

The initiative aimed to bring prayer and encouragement to missionaries serving around the world. The team contacts the missionaries to ask how they can pray for them and help meet some needs.

“We take two weeks in the year where we emphasize them,” said Carina Contreras, district NMI president. “We send them the messages that the churches or people send us individually.”

The idea is to give greater visibility to Nazarene missionaries. The churches and missionaries share their birthdays and other personal milestones. This has helped local churches stay connected and encourage the missionaries by communicating and praying with them regularly and taking up offerings to support their work, among other things.

These gestures continue to make a considerable impact on both churches and missionaries. The missionaries have expressed gratitude and in some cases are surprised that a church would show this much care towards them. Using social media has helped make these connections successful, allowing many churches that did not know the missionaries to have the opportunity to do so. 

“We need to learn to take care, not just impose our hands and send, not just receive on tours, ask for results, and nothing else,” said Romina Miño, national NMI coordinator for Argentina. “It is imperative to be available to attend and accompany the workers and their families as soon as the Lord calls them (pre-field), during their service (in the field), which includes crisis situations, and also when they return (post-field).”

--Church of the Nazarene South America