How to Pray for MissionariesSample

For Physical and Spiritual Health

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “It was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you” (Galatians 4:13). Cross-cultural missionaries often experience health crises—whether from different water and different microbes to spiritual warfare or stress. Strange illnesses are common among missionaries, and the Apostle Paul was no exception. He later wrote to the Philippian church that Epaphroditus, a short-term missionary sent from that church to assist Paul, became so sick that he almost died (Philippians 2:25-30). These illnesses were not the result of sin or a lack of faith. In fact, God used Paul’s illness to create an occasion for Paul to bring the gospel to Galatia!

While we should certainly pray that God, in his sovereignty and grace, would use physical ailments to show his power in the missionary’s weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9), we ought, in mercy and love, also pray the Apostle John’s wish for his friend Gaius, “... that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” This kind of multifaceted “shalom” from God is needed in missionary families - for their marriages and their children in both body and spirit.