In the joy of seeing new faces appointed to missionary service in an International Mission Board (IMB) commissioning service, one might overlook the sense of loss the missionary’s stateside family can feel. Even those Christian parents who are thrilled to see their children follow God’s calling may experience mixed emotions knowing their children will be far away from them.
“Those parents left behind often go through an actual grief process,” said Laurelle Stoudenmire, co-founder of the Alabama chapter of Missionary Parents Fellowship (MPF). “So many times the first prayer request you hear from new missionaries is ‘Please pray for my parents. They just don’t understand why we’re doing this.’”
Stoudenmire and her husband, Allen, who are members of Thomasville Baptist Church, can understand what these parents are going through. Their daughter and son-in-law, Judy and Steve Anderson, serve in the Philippines along with their four children.
At their children’s 1999 commissioning service in Louisville, Ky., the Stoudenmires were inspired and comforted by Kentucky’s MPF.
In January 2000, Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) executive director Beverly Miller asked the Stoudenmires to begin a similar fellowship in Alabama with WMU’s support, Mrs. Stoudenmire said.
“Having children overseas, we knew the Lord was leading us to do this,” she said, noting the fellowship meets twice a year. She also pointed out that MPF also reaches out to grandparents and siblings.
Along with MPF’s two meetings each year, members correspond frequently and a dinner for family members only is held before each commissioning service, Miller said. “Parents and family members of appointees come to that very significant celebration with mixed feelings and varied backgrounds,” she said. “They have many questions. The great strength is the fellowship around the table as experienced missionary parents share experiences and give advice and encouragement to new missionary parents,” Miller said. “As they share stories about their own children and about how they interact by e-mail with their grandchildren, it creates a warm atmosphere.
“It provides informal prayer partnerships among people who really understand each other,” she explained. “With all the focus on the missionaries, sometimes the real needs and mixed feelings of the families are overlooked. This group knows how to provide this support for them,” she said, noting the dinners are hosted by both the MPF and the IMB.
MPF’s support ministry along with the IMB member care group are two ways the missionaries’ families’ needs are being met, Miller said. Currently there are about 200 members in Alabama’s MPF, she noted.
The most recent dinner meeting was held before the Jan. 22 appointment service at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills.
While not all states currently have a chapter of MPF, interest is growing, Miller said. There is no national organization, but for the first time the spring meeting this year will be a combined meeting of all states that have a MPF. The meeting will be held in Clinton, Miss., April 19–20.
For more information about MPF, contact Alabama MPF president Allen Stoudenmire at allenandlaurellestoudenmire@yahoo.com or Pat Hall at Alabama WMU at phall@alsbom.org or 1-800-264-1225.
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