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Tips for Writing Prayer Letters
Everyone likes to read good missionary prayer letters. No one likes to write them. Why? Because, like all other good writing, they require creative thinking and planning, and this is very difficult for all of us. Yet the potential results of good prayer letters are so tremendous for the future of missionary work that we dare not miss the opportunities we have. The information in [your] letter can be added to the reservoir of missionary material which will inspire and challenge both present and future generations. It can make its contribution to the total impression of missionary work.
Your letters must win and keep attention. Two basic factors are involved: appearance and content. Appearance is important for only one reason: to gain attention for the content. If your letter does not look interesting, it simply will not be read except by a few favored friends who know you very well. However, it must not only look interesting, it must be interesting.
An interesting, attractive layout will get the reader started. From then on, you must hold him with the interest and significance of what you are saying. Good design and good copy must walk hand in hand. One is never a substitute for the other.
Plan in advance. A good letter is rarely achieved by sitting in front of a typewriter and writing the first things that come to your mind.
Think first, second, and always of your reader. Choose a somewhat typical reader-maybe an auto mechanic in Keokuk, Iowa-and write every line with him in mind. Thinking of your reader will help you realize how important identification and details are. Don’t assume that your reader remembers your previous letters. Be sure that everything can be understood without reference to previous letters. Remember that it will be read by an individual in the privacy of his own home. You are not addressing a “congregation,” but you are writing a letter to a person.
Have one major thing to say in each letter. Decide first what one idea you want to share with your readers in this letter. Think it through before you begin to write. Lack of basic unity is probably the biggest fault of the average missionary letter.
Unity through subject matter. This simply means that you limit yourself to one subject and treat it with some completeness. Don’t worry about the subject being too deep or too hard for your reader to understand providing you supply him with the background and facts he needs in order to understand it. Far more letters err on the side of being shallow and superficial than on the side of being too deep for the reader.
What kind of subjects can you treat?
the religious fears of your people and what they mean to your work
the problems of raising a family in a foreign culture
the growth of nationalism in your area and its effect on the work of the church
a case history of a man or woman and his or her growth in the Lord
steps and heartaches involved in planting a local church in a pagan culture
if you are in a specialized work (education, medicine, agriculture, radio, literature, etc.), how that work contributes to the growth of the church
typical problems faced by converts in your area the history of missionary work in your area
The list could go on and on.
Unity through theme. Use of a theme gives one dominant idea through which a number of separate ideas can be brought together. Don’t depend on feeling or intuition for this. Keep your readers in touch with your family and its progress, but don’t let your family dominate your letters. Show the threats of communism, Romanism, nationalism, or Islam in your area, but don’t make all your letters historical or sociological treatises. Assume for your purposes that your letters are the only contact your reader has with missions. Is he getting a fairly comprehensive, well balanced picture of what missionary work is its plans, disappointments, victories, future possibilities?
Be generous with your use of stories about your people. We want to see them as people with the same feelings and sorrows and joys which we experience. Only then are we truly compelled to pray for them. Often missionaries fail to see the essential drama around them. In telling of a happening, give strong emphasis to sensory perceptions to how things looked, sounded, tasted, felt, and smelled. This makes it possible for the reader to enter more fully Into the actual experience.
Make use of humor when possible. Missionary work is difficult, but it is not grim. Yet many letters leave that feeling with the reader. Funny stories about the people with whom you work are fine. But even better are the stories of funny things which happen to you, which make you the butt of the joke instead of the national. Your life is full of such things language errors, misunderstanding with the culture in which you live, etc. When the reader sees that you are able to laugh at yourself, he’ll like you better. The deeper his feeling for you, the more natural it becomes for him to pray for you.
Treat nationals with respect and sympathy in your letters. One missionary said he never wrote anything in his letters that he wouldn’t be willing to have his nationals read.
Translate all terminology which may not be understood by all your readers. In many foreign countries, distance is measured in kilometers instead of miles. But the average American has no idea how far 50 kilometers is. There are many other terms which constantly appear in missionary letters-all such terms either should be explained or a substitution made.
Identify people and places. Steer clear of vague generalities such as “Pray for a very real need we face at present,” or “I’m much stronger after my long illness.” Such statements are maddening to the reader. Either tell us more or don’t tell us at all. This sort of thing makes the reader feel left out as though you must be writing to someone other than him someone who knows the answers to “what need?” and what illness?”
Use dialogue whenever possible. Few things spark up a letter (or any written material) as well as a few lines of good dialogue.
Don’t use pious phraseology in the effort to “sound like a missionary.” Use the kind of language which comes naturally to you.
Aim for simple, uncluttered sentences. The subject predicate order is still the easiest to read and understand. Any sentence which is more than 30 words should have a second look to see if it can’t be cut or divided into two sentences. Some missionaries write a whole paragraph of several lines with only one sentence. Short paragraphs are usually easier to read than long paragraphs. They also make a letter look more interesting.
Don’t send the first draft of your letter. Professional writers usually rewrite two or more times. After your first draft is finished, lay it aside for a day. Then pick it up and imagine that you are that mechanic in Keokuk and read it through his eyes. You’ll see the places which are not clear, which give a wrong impression, etc. You’ll also be able to recognize irrelevant material.
Steer clear of rambling accounts. An appalling number of letters seem composed primarily of “last week we had a meeting in village ‘A’ with 20 people there; then we drove home and got a night’s sleep and the next day we visited the schools around village ‘B’ and that night we had a meeting in village ‘C’.” And on and on and on. Don’t let your letters sound like a condensation of your diary.
Give an honest picture of your work. Don’t try to give glowing pictures of work which doesn’t really glow. Write of victories and progress whenever you can, but don’t hesitate to show the other side of the coin too: the discouragements, the hard problems, and defeats.
Don’t write sermons, not even short ones.
You don’t need a salutation (“Dear One Who Prays,” etc.) but if you feel more comfortable with one, use it.
The first sentence in your letter is the most important. It sets the tone, the mood, and the pace of what is to follow. Work hard on that opening sentence.
Don’t try to ease into your letter with such things as “It’s been a long time since I’ve written you, but. . . .” Start right in with the main idea.
Begin with an anecdote or story which sets the pace for the rest of the letter.
Begin with a startling statement which will jar the reader into attention.
Begin with a summary statement of the subject you plan to use.
There are many other ways to open a letter, but whatever opening you choose, be sure it properly reflects the subject and mood of what is to follow.
When the letter is finished, just stop. Many letters give the feeling that the writer is groping for a graceful way to close. As a result, the letter just “runs down.”
Ten Commandments of Simple Writing
Keep words, sentences and paragraphs short. Sentences should vary in structure and length.
Prefer simple to the complex. If there is a simpler way to express a thought, use it.
Use familiar words.
Avoid unnecessary words-cut and eliminate as if you were the editor.
Put action into verbs. Avoid passive verbs.
Write like you talk.
Tie in with your reader’s experience. Proceed from the known to the unknown.
Use terms your reader can picture. Avoid abstract terms.
Have variety. Develop your own personal style.
Write to express-not to impress.
Africa Inland Mission and
On-Field Media and individual missionaries
