It’s very important, when missionaries we support come home (temporarily or longterm), that they feel their home church really cares about how they are, and how things have been.
Obviously we aren’t their line managers; what we want to do is provide a caring context to hear about and review together their experience, and of course to help us understand it better too. Here are some questions I have used (and I’ve found they can be helpful for other people coming to an end of a particular ministry too). It can be quite encouraging for the missionary that the debrief is well thought out with a definite list of questions; then again, obviously these aren’t to be used legalistically! So questions I’ve used have included:
1. What were the joys and encouragement you have felt this last year?
2. What do you feel you have achieved this last year?
3. What were the frustrations?
or the difficult issues?
4. What has caused you to feel particularly tired this year?
5. Do you have any unresolved relational issues or tensions?
6. How have your quiet times been (what did you study?), and how has your spiritual life been this year?
7. What do you feel you have learnt?
how are you different because of this year?
8. What do you want to build on in your own life a result of this year?
9. What do you hope the agency you work with will build on from your work this year? How will you make them aware of this? (This and perhaps the following are most relevant if people are finishing)
10. Are there resources or input that you felt would have been helpful that you didn’t have? how will you make the agency aware of this?
11. What are your plans/goals for the next season?
If you don’t go back, what might God be pointing you towards?
12. How can we pray for you now?
(PS If you found this useful, Mike Frisby’s excellent book Reaching the Nations is full of resources of this kind for churches’ involvement in world mission.)
