Missionaries are sent out to proclaim the message of Christ and care for the world, but who cares for the missionary?
What happens, for example, when a missionary loses a child? Or, who helps the missionary recover from an unhealthy team dynamic? What if there was a moral failure, or they were sexually harassed by the people they were ministering to? What if they saw such an abundance of fruit from their ministry that they worked themselves out of a job? These are all very real situations that missionaries live through and sometimes, they can be very wounding and hard to navigate.
David and Heidi Onken work for Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and help give direction to a program Cru has developed for situations just like those listed above. Every year, their team welcomes around 50 missionaries from all over the world for a 10-month program where they walk alongside missionaries who need healing and/or direction for anything from post-traumatic stress disorder to transitioning back to living in America after having been gone 30 years.
David and Heidi have served with Cru for over 15 years, most of which were in France. They have five kids and live in Orlando, Florida where Cru is headquartered – though they are currently in France. They would love your prayers and to share more with you about their ministry.
