Caring for our Missionaries

by Margaret Anderson

Jonathan Montgomery recently transitioned from part-time to full-time status with BMA Missions as Director of Missionary Care. He had previously served as youth and children’s pastor at First Baptist Church of Taylor, for 11 years, and this month marks 15 years of service in full-time student ministry.

Originally from Springhill, La., Jonathan’s passion for missions started years ago as a VSM student. He then served as a VSM team leader, assisted in training other VSM leaders and has led several other short-term trips.

When the pandemic began in 2020, BMA Missions assembled a team to regularly check on every missionary during the early months. Jonathan served on this team, and for the last year, worked as Jerry Kidd’s assistant for missionary care.

When asked why missionary care is important, Jonathan replied, “The life of a missionary presents many unique challenges in preparing to go, serving on the field and transitioning back to the States after years of service.

“Missionary Care is designed to help our missionary servants during these stages of their service and to help them through each transition and whenever a crisis comes up. We hope to minister to the whole missionary — spiritual, physical, mental and emotional health of each individual — as well as the whole family.

“Missionary Care primarily offers encouragement and prayer support, but we also can connect our missionaries with counselors and coaches for additional support during tough times. We are here to serve our missionaries as they serve others.”

Jonathan and his wife, Mandy, have two sons, Max, 12 and Ben, 9. They are a “baseball family,” so most of their spare time is spent at the boys’ ballgames and practices. They also love to travel and have a goal of visiting all 50 states — in the last two years, they have traveled 10,000 miles and visited 42 states. They hope to attend a game at all the Major League Baseball parks. Jonathan also enjoys reading, especially historical books and biographies.

His start date at BMA Missions was May 1, but he has been “serving our missionaries as they serve others” for years. Join us in welcoming Jonathan to the Missions team.