A sending team is an invaluable aid to a local church’s missions ministry. This is most true when the sending team is comprised of people who have known and been committed to the missionary long before he/she left. Some churches ask Sunday School classes and small groups “adopt” missionaries, but often such classes and groups do not know the missionary well, and are not passionate about serving as senders.

The sending team, when led well, provides a proactive champion for a church’s missionary. It ensures a regular stream of prayer and care for the missionary, and a regular flow of communication back to the church. The presence of an effective sending team does not release the rest of the church from serving as senders. On the contrary, if the sending team is doing its job, it is finding creative ways to mobilize as many in the church as possible to take part in sending. As a result, another benefit to the church is the mobilization of more people to play their roles in missions through sending.