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We write a monthly missionary prayer letter to send to churches, pastors, and others who have asked to receive our ministry updates.
While we’re now in the habit of sending prayer letters, writing our first several was challenging. We’ve learned a lot since sending our first one in 2019.
If you’re looking for tips on how to write a missionary prayer letter, keep reading. Whether you’re a seasoned missionary or just beginning deputation, we pray you’ll find encouragement and guidance.
And if you’re not a missionary, perhaps this post will help you understand what goes into writing a prayer letter.
But before we get into that, we need to make sure we’re on the same page. So, let’s define a missionary prayer letter.
What Is a Missionary Prayer Letter?
A missionary prayer letter is a piece of regular, written correspondence sent by missionaries to their supporters, prayer partners, and other interested parties.
It serves as a way for the missionaries to share updates on their ministry. It’ll typically include:
- Praises
- Challenges
- Prayer requests
- Updates
Some missionaries choose to include photos. You may also find links to online content where you can read more.
How to Write a Missionary Prayer Letter
Now that you better understand a missionary prayer letter, let’s explore some tips for writing one.
Please note: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan for writing a prayer letter. You will never find a perfect template or a magic formula to follow. Each missionary will have their own unique style and approach. The tips below are simply suggestions to help guide you in the process.
Be Authentic
Your supporters want to hear from you. They don’t want to receive a perfectly crafted letter that sounds like it was written by someone else (or even worse, by Artificial Intelligence…)
It’s important to be yourself in your prayer letters. Don’t be afraid to use contractions or to be a little less formal in your writing.
Sometimes, it helps to pretend you’re sitting down with one specific member of your prayer team with a cup of coffee (or tea) and giving them an update in person. This mental exercise can help you write in a more personal and authentic voice.
And while we’re on the subject of authenticity, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out the obvious:
Don’t lie in your prayer letters. Don’t try to impress your audience or exaggerate to make your updates more interesting.
Remember, these are a reflection of God’s work in your life and on the field, and lies don’t have any part in the work of God.
Share Updates
Your supporters want to know what you’ve been up to since your last letter so they can better pray for you and your ministry. Be sure to share both the highs and the lows — don’t disillusion your readers with a perfect picture of your ministry life.
Again, honesty is the best policy!
If you’re having trouble figuring out what to say, keeping a journal that regularly documents your life on the mission field can be helpful. Then, when the time comes to write a letter, you can read back through the last few weeks to help you remember what happened.
Be Concise
Do you know how many emails the average person receives in a day? It’s a big number, especially if you count the ones that automatically go to the Spam folder.
While your supporters want to hear from you and know what’s going on in your life, they don’t want to read a novel every time they receive a letter from you.
Be mindful of your audience, and keep your updates concise and to the point. We stick to two pages for almost all of our updates — though we have sent out a few that were even shorter.
Make It Skimmable
Gone are the days of long, blocky passages. Today’s readers want short, skimmable sections that they can quickly read at a glance.
To make that happen with your prayer letters, break up the text with headers. This can also help you write your letters more quickly since you’ll create a template you can reuse.
For example, our prayer letters always have the same sections:
- Greeting
- Insights
- Missionary Acres Update
- Tanner Family Update
- Praises
- Prayer Requests
The Praises and Prayer Requests are in a sidebar in our PDF version, though they’re just under the other content when viewed on a browser.
Experiment with different formats and sections to see what works best for you and your ministry.
Share Answered Prayers
If you ask your supporters to pray for a specific need, don’t leave them hanging! It’s important to provide updates on those things so your audience can rejoice with you over answered prayers.
Not only does this give you a chance to glorify God, but it also shows your team that their prayers make a difference and encourages them to keep praying for you.
Add Pics (If You Want)
Some of our monthly newsletters have a picture or two. Most don’t.
We used to live in rural eastern Washington and had metered, limited internet. Thus, we try to be mindful of how much space our emails take up in terms of “openability.”
But feel free to add a picture or two if you want. Just know that you don’t have to.
Be Consistent
We decided to send a monthly update — it helps narrow the scope of what we share and is frequent enough to keep our supporters engaged without overwhelming them with constant contact.
But if monthly feels too overwhelming, try sending a quarterly update instead. Just don’t wait too long — you need the prayers of your team to help you succeed on the field.
No matter how often you choose to send an update, be consistent. That way, your team can know when to expect a new letter. And then, if they don’t hear from you when they were expecting, they might even reach out to see if you’re OK.
Proofread
Once you write your letter, it’s best to let it sit for a day or two. That way, you can reread it with fresh eyes and look for any errors.
Here’s how we handle the editing process on our letters:
Typically, Bryan writes the initial draft. Then, I tighten it up and give it a structural edit.
We let it sit for a day or two, and then both proofread it. As part of this process, we run it through Grammarly and paste it into a Word document to run spellcheck.
Then we send a test email to ourself, so we can see how it looks from the reader’s perspective.
And yes, even after doing all this, some mistakes still slip through the cracks. We’re human. So don’t stress too much if you find a typo or something. Just try to do your best.
Consider Making A Printable Version
Some churches print out missionary prayer letters and hang them up for church members to easily read. What does your letter look like when printed?
At first, our letters looked pretty bad. The format wasn’t designed for print, so it took way too many pages and was awkward.
So Bryan started making an accompanying PDF in Adobe InDesign for each letter. Then, we upload the PDF to our website and add the link to the bottom of our email letter.
This way, churches (or individuals) can easily get a printable version if desired.
While this adds an extra step, we think it’s worth it. However, when you’re not yet in the habit of writing a regular prayer letter, it’s another step that could seem overwhelming. So you may want to wait a bit before jumping into this practice.
How to Send Missionary Prayer Letters
Writing the missionary prayer letter is a big part of the process, but you’re not done yet. You still need to send it to your supporters. We email ours to the vast majority of folks on our list.
Recommended Services
We know sending emails from your Gmail or Yahoo account is tempting. However, doing so makes them much more likely to land in your recipient’s junk folder.
You see, email providers try to cut down on Spam. And if it sees you sending a mass email from a personal account, you’ll probably get flagged.
So, set up a professional email address that uses your domain. (And if you don’t have a domain yet, you’ll want to buy one (we use and recommend Fast Comet for hosting! A personal website gives you a place to send people for more info.)
Once you have your email, sign up for an email management system. That is the service allowing you to collect an email list and communicate with the people on your list via email.
The two we recommend are MailerLite and ConvertKit.
Let’s look at each more closely:
MailerLite
This is the email management system we use for our Tanners 2 Missionary Acres newsletters. A few things we like:
- The free plan works for our needs
- There are loads of videos to help you navigate the system
- It has decent analytics
ConvertKit
This is the email management system Lisa uses for her freelance writing business. It’s got great features and wonderful customer service. We especially like how seamlessly the automation and segmenting works, but honestly — those aren’t things we use on our ministry account.
There’s also a free plan with this company.
Email Best Practices
Take time to become familiar with the Anti-Spam laws and ensure you are above reproach when it comes to your emails.
Here are a few tips:
- Only send your newsletters to people who have asked to receive it
- Don’t sell or share personal contact information
- Don’t spam your list — keep your correspondence on topic and related to your field of service
- Follow the rules for your email management company (they vary a bit from one company to another)
- Ensure you have your contact information at the bottom and a way for readers to unsubscribe (your email service provider should have a spot for you to easily update this information)
Print & Mail
You can also choose to print and mail your letter the old-fashioned way. We do this for a couple of people on our list who don’t have email accounts.
Occasionally we also send out special cards to all of our supporters – through snail mail. It’s definitely a more personalized form of communication in today’s digital world.
Repeat
Expect a few responses once your missionary prayer letter goes out. Read them and respond to them if possible. Pray for the people who are praying for you!
Then, when your next designated time comes up, repeat the process and send another email.
This time, it should go a bit faster, as you already have a template to work with. With both ConvertKit and MailerLite, you can copy a previous letter and update it. That’ll save you the work of trying to drag and drop each section into the right space.
Stay Connected With Your Missionary Prayer Letters
Continue sending out prayer letters regularly to update your team about life on the mission field (or on deputation, depending on where you are in your missionary journey.)
Feel free to tweak the process to make it work better for you. After all, no two missionaries are the same, so we don’t have to all do the same thing when it comes to reporting back.