I want to be an effective missionary, I think every missionary wants to be effective. It is all about pleasing Jesus! I started a series a few weeks ago on how to be an effective missionary, this post continues that series. I think it is important that a missionary includes his whole family in the ministry. This can be a controversial statement, but I believe they are missionaries too! If God calls a man to be a missionary, his whole family goes with him to the mission field. He should bring his family along with him. People disagree with this, but I want to make my case.

We started the Faith Baptist Church in Lanús, Argentina. I am the founding pastor of the church, but I did not do it alone. Leslie and our girls all have served from the very beginning! They passed out flyers and invitations, they set up and took down chairs, they cleaned bathrooms, swept floors, talked with visitors, and did anything else possible in the services. Leslie has spent countless hours serving in the church. She has stayed at the door welcoming people in, she has cooked countless desserts and other foods for special fellowships, she has lead in the ladies ministry, even when there really wasn’t one, she has spent hours sitting across a table from other ladies in discipleship and counseling, and done so much more that no one will ever know about. I am not a lone missionary, I am part of a missionary team, I serve alongside my wife, and our four beautiful daughters. I don’t know if they will be missionaries when they become adults, but as for now, they are.

Some have pushed back and said that the man is the missionary, that the woman or children are not missionaries. If that is so, then the wife and children our missionaries through the God’s calling on the man’s life.

Someone might say, “But if a man is a Sunday School teacher, that doesn’t make the whole family Sunday School teachers. But that isn’t the same thing. When a missionary leaves for the field, his wife and children go with him. The children engage in a new culture, they start learning a new language, and they help start the churches that the missionary starts. They are doing the work of the missionary, they are living the life of a missionary, therefore they are missionaries! That doesn’t mean that they should be held to a different standard or be under some type of extra pressure, that is taking it too far. It is an honor to be a missionary, and they should know that God has led them as a family, in other words, they are not just along for the ride.

This mentality, that the family has been led by God as missionaries under the leadership of the husband/father, will effect every part of the missionary’s life. Deputation is not something that “dad” just does, it is something the whole family is a part of. Learning a language is a challenging process that brings with it all kinds of emotions. Add on top of that learning and adjusting to a new culture and you have a recipe for discouragement and loneliness. But the missionary family gets to go through it together! That means that when one feels discouraged, or is having a bad day, the others can come alongside him/her and lift him/her up.

I have not done everything right. I have made plenty of mistakes and I have paid a lot of “stupid tax” on the mission field. There is one thing I have done that has been a difference maker, since day one I have led my family to understand that we are in this together! We serve Jesus as a family. We are missionaries and it is an honor to serve Him where He has led us! Because of this, our daughters love Argentina! They love the culture, they love the people, they love the food, they love the church we have planted! Leslie and I love it all too! It might be that our girls grow up and move back to the states and serve Jesus faithfully in their local church (which would make us very happy), or it maybe that God continue to lead them in ministry in a foreign context, but either way, for now they are missionaries in my book, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

There is no better team on earth than your family whom God gave you! Serve Jesus as a family, help them understand that they are missionaries too, and that what they are doing honors Jesus. Missionary friend, bring your family along with you in each part of the missionary journey, if God has called you, He has called them to be with you, serve Jesus as a missionary family.

Levi’s Banquet, Winter Baptisms, and a Ladies Fellowship

Levi’s Banquet is an annual event at Faith Baptist Church. We usually have it in March, but this year we had it in July. Special invitations were made and passed out, the church rallied around this special event to invite people to meet Jesus with a clear and thorough presentation of the Gospel. We had several visitors at the service. Please be praying for more people to be saved through the evangelistic outreach of Faith Baptist Church. We also had three new converts baptized in July, it was cold, but each was eager to take this first step as a new believer. The ladies of the church had a ladies fellowship and baby shower. Ayelen, one of the young ladies from the church, taught a Bible lesson. It was a great blessing! Ayelen and her husband Brian have been helping the Stephen Underwood family with the new church they recently planted in Ezeiza. Pray for the Underwood family as they advance the Gospel!

Our furlough continues, and we have meetings to present the work in Texas, Mississippi, Delaware, West Virginia, and Ohio. We miss Argentina, but we are grateful for each opportunity to share all that God is doing in the ministry He has given us!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, Ivy, and Isla Henry

Prayer Requests

• Pray for our furlough meetings this month.
• Pray for Matías as he pastors Faith Baptist Church.
• Pray for the special couples fellowship this month at Faith. 
• Pray for the evangelistic outreach of Faith. 

We are in a marriage retreat this week. My pastor is the keynote speaker. We haven’t been in a marriage retreat since 2015, and we are grateful for this opportunity. I am so thankful for Leslie, we have been married for 18 years now, and it gets better everyday! Leslie is my best friend, my co-laborer in ministry, the mother of our daughters, and really the best person I know! This marriage retreat is an opportunity for us to grow closer together. My pastor has taught in marriage retreats for years and we know that each session is going to be a blessing!

Serving Together, 

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, Ivy, and Isla Henry

This post is the next installment on the topic of an effective missionary. An effective missionary has specific characteristics, characteristics that I want to have in my life. We have learned about a few, and today we continue with perhaps the most obvious characteristic of an effective missionary. Pleasing Jesus is his number one goal.

Becoming a missionary takes time and there are several stages before the missionary family ever plants a church. A family serves in their local church. God works in them and in time they share with the pastor their desire to go to the mission field. As the pastor and the family share this news with the church, the church family recognizes what God has done and they rejoice! From there, the family starts deputation. This time can last anywhere from 2 – 3 years, some may be on deputation for even longer. After traveling to different churches around the country (or at least around their region), God raises their support and they leave everything to go to the mission field, but that is not the end. The missionary family then sets up a house, and begins language school and cultural acquisition. This “parenthesis stage” should take around 2 years. The missionary family then may take a 3 month furlough before beginning their first term (this is recommended). Finally, the missionary family starts a church (which begins a whole new set of stages). Through all of this, an effective missionary must keep his priorities in line, and number one should be to please Jesus no matter the stage.

We started Faith Baptist Church in Lanús, Buenos Aires, Argentina. We have a theme for the church, “Todo se trata de Jesús”, it means “Everything is about Jesus” or “It is all about Jesus”. Everything we do should be to glorify Jesus. If that is our motive, everything else will fall in line. I want to see the church grow, I want to plant other churches, I want to see people saved. The important question is “Why?” If the answer is to be well known among my Baptist friends, or to please the churches that support us, or even to make my home church proud, then I have failed. I want to be an effective missionary and to to do so, I must make pleasing Jesus as my number one goal!

God spoke to Israel through many prophets. Some saw “great success” from the human perspective. Jonah went to Nineveh, and saw the whole city turn to God! Others did not see such results. Isaiah volunteered to be sent by God in Isaiah 6, and when he asked God how long he would prophesy, God told Him until they are judged (Isaiah 6:11-12). In other words, they were not going to repent. Jeremiah faithfully prophesied God’s message of judgement to a rebellious people while other “false prophets” preached a message of peace, Jeremiah prophesied that message until the city was burned! These men had one priority, to please God, and they did so!

I want to do everything I can to please Jesus, I want it to be my top priority, and I think you do too. Let’s make pleasing Jesus our number one goal! This is perhaps the most important characteristic of an effective missionary!