The following guidelines apply primarily to correspondence with workers in countries which are closed or hostile to the Gospel. They would not necessarily apply when writing to all our missionaries. 1. Don't criticize the host country's government in any way. 2. Don't mention missions, missionary activity, evangelism, witnessing, giving out Bibles, the host country's church, support raising, etc. 3. Don't send missionary prayer letters, tracts, church bulletins, missionary magazines, Bibles, etc. 4. Don't send letters on church stationery or send support information into the host country. Any sermon tapes should be labeled only with the speaker's first and last name. Don't send packages with church labels. 5. Don't mention the worker's friends in the host country by name, or in any way identify people who might be interested in Christianity. 6. Limit your use of Christian language to talking about your own spiritual life. You can quote Scripture. Just remember that moderation is key. 7. Don't send bulk emails. 8. Only give out worker's email address or mailing address to those who have a copy of these guidelines. It might also be advisable to get permission from the worker first. 9. Please DO write our workers! A letter about what is going on in your life could make our worker's day! 10. These guidelines should be followed for ALL phone calls, emails, letters and packages. When writing our missionaries, remember that mail overseas costs a bit more and may take two to three weeks to arrive. Also keep in mind that our missionaries are generally overworked and extremely busy. Your purpose in writing should be to encourage them, not to gain a pen pal for yourself! If you want to send our missionaries a gift, a personal check is usually the easiest and best way to do this. Keep in mind the long time it may take for your check to clear, however. Missionaries can receive packages, but check first with the missionary to be sure that what you are sending will not cause problems with local customs regulations. A good idea may be to contact the missionary first to find out what the need. Mission organizations often have very specific needs for things which might be quite expensive to purchase on the field. You might be able to arrange a very useful gift for our missionaries by contacting them first. Christmas, holidays and birthdays provide great opportunities to express or love for our missionaries. There are lots of creative ways to send gifts and packages to our families overseas. Keep in mind that airmail packages can take two to six weeks but are more expensive to send. Surface mail is cheaper but can take much longer to arrive- from two to six months. If you send a package containing only books or magazines, the US Post Office provides a service called "M-Bag". This is by far the most cost effective way to send things, but you are limited to printed material only. Ask at your local post office for details. | 
