Here we are – already in October of 2020. What a year! Everyone has stories of unusual experiences and challenges we have faced this year. I just have a few things to share with you in this email.

Check out the September Virtual Meeting online at this link.

Watch the Wednesday missions afternoon at this link and see some of the great testimonies from around the world. It was a blessing to hear and see these reports.

I wanted to share some updated information regarding some of the awards we give to missionaries for various ministry milestones. We will no longer be giving out pins to those who reach 30 years of service. The person(s) who made the pins over the last few decades no longer makes them. Therefore, we went with another type of award – a crystal award that is very elegant. In 2015, we began awarding certificates to missionaries who reach 5, 10, 15, 20, 35, and 45 years of service. Instead of a certificate, we award something a little more special for those who reach 30 and 50 years of service — the new crystal award and a beautiful gemstone globe respectively. On the 25^th and 40^th anniversary, I write the sending church and encourage them to do something to celebrate those milestones with their missionary. I think you will like the new 30-year award.

I received word from Pastor Tracy Roby of Overland Park Baptist Church in the Kansas City area that they just remodeled their missions room/apartment. It is like an efficiency apartment with a bedroom and in the main area there is a sofa that folds out into a bed. There is a small fridge, a sink and access to the church laundry room. They don’t get a lot of traffic in it, so it is often available. Pastor Roby says it is a nice, free of charge place to stay if someone is in the area.

Recently, I reminded our staff to regularly check their spam or junk folder for emails. I check mine every day and often I find an email from a missionary or pastor in it. Lately I have spoken with several who have not seen my emails and guess what? They were in their spam folder. One pastor this week told me he found my email sent nine days ago among 647 emails in his spam folder. You don’t want to miss out on some important information that we might be sending out. So, this is just a friendly reminder.

We are entering into an interesting two to three months. The divisive US election is at hand. Many are predicting there will be a contested outcome with weeks or months of disputing. You read and hear reports of COVID-19 cases declining and then read in some place there is a “second wave.” “Hot zones” seem to move to different places around the world. Travel is still uncertain in many places. You might be required to have negative test results before traveling between the States and the field and then be required to quarantine when you get there. Regional differences in COVID-19 responses, both in the USA and internationally, seem to worsen fears about how best to re-open. The US stock market is reaching record levels again. How is that happening? Urban areas are experiencing negative migration for the first time in decades. Global immigration and refugee streams have been reduced to a trickle. Globalization itself has wilted in the face of a robust, new nationalism in unexpected places.

We are no longer at the start of this pandemic marathon nor can we see the finish line. We are in the fuzzy, hard strain found in the middle of long journeys. People are tired emotionally. We cannot see the road beyond the next horizon, and right now we are in hill country. We could break over the hill to a whole new scene, or we may encounter more of the same the rest of this year and into the next.

Do you know what it takes to endure these tough times? It requires intimacy with Jesus as a high daily priority. This road leads to Emmaus, and we have a traveling companion. Now, more than ever, I pray that we as missionary leaders are listening, learning and letting Jesus open our eyes to the opportunities in front of us. People are looking to us for assurance and the best way for us to give them that is to live a life that reflects “just a closer walk with Thee.” Let’s not give in or give up, but let’s keep going — knowing Jesus promised to be with us every step of the way.

I admire how you are “sticking with it” – whether stuck in the States or stuck on the field. You are doing all you can to keep ministering and bringing people to Jesus. Now, more than in a long time, people are searching for answers. And, we have the answer in us. May we shine the Light of Jesus every step of the way.

Each of us at the Mission Office pray for you and are here to help you as we can. It is a joy to know we stand with some of God’s great servants on the front lines of world missions. Keep your chin up and eyes on the Lord!

Your friend,

Jon Konnerup