You can’t be in two places at the same time… or can you?

As a single missionary one of the things I miss most in Lesotho are my single girlfriends and their fellowship. I believe every missionary needs a support team who promises to pray, encourage and hold them accountable; and I have a group that has done this for me, but they have done so much more!

Shortly after I left for the mission field in 2010, these friends took the photo from my prayer card, enlarged it so it was life-sized and had it mounted on cardboard christening it “Flat Kim.” They kept this a secret from me during my first term, which in this day and age of social media was no small feat!

Kim with a group of friends. Can you spot her?

When I returned to the States nearly two years later, I was presented with a photo book filled with pictures of the things I had been doing with them: dinners out, beach days, pedicures, movies, singles retreats, church events, even the birth of a friend’s granddaughter. (I was in the delivery room while she was in labor!) They took “Flat Kim” to all of the places I would have gone had I not been in Lesotho, and they captured the memory of my being there not only in spirit but in two-dimensional form. I was blown away! The amount of planning and intentionality it took for my friends to make this happen… I felt overwhelmed by their love and support. They made an inscription on the book that said, “…you were always close in our hearts, even when thousands of miles away.”

Their promise to keep me close wasn’t a one-term commitment though; now that I’m serving my second term, they continue to post pictures of the places I’m going with them. In fact, last weekend I was in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean on the same day—a double-beach day! My favorite place to be is at the ocean, so I was doubly blessed. I have felt so loved by this group of ordinary women who love me in extraordinary ways.

How have you kept a missionary close to your heart? Take time to tell them!