Who knew so much can happen from one location? From their ministry home in beautiful Geneva, Illinois, Jeff and Sherry Newman are impacting thousands of people around the world—right now and for the future. How do they do it? Through a unique support ministry called Safe Haven for Missionary Soul Care.

The Safe Haven concept was born in the heart of past BMM president Vernon Rosenau. Throughout his lifetime as an MK, missionary, and BMM administrator, Vernon saw firsthand the devastating consequences of missionary burnout and attrition. He was passionate about missionaries getting adequate rest as well as spiritual and emotional care. Jeff and Sherry likewise shared this burden. As a professor at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, Jeff developed and led the school’s biblical counseling program for nearly 20 years. As Jeff and Sherry poured themselves into students, those students launched into ministries and careers much better equipped to make an impact for Christ.

Missionaries’ unique challenges

During their years at FBBC, Jeff and Sherry also enjoyed numerous opportunities to build relationships with missionaries during their collegiate training years and through short-term trips to various mission fields. These opportunities gave Jeff and Sherry insight into missionaries’ unique stresses. Those serving in isolated locations lack fellowship. Others may experience interpersonal conflicts. And all face the inherent challenges of continual moves, workload burdens, and spiritual warfare. When Vernon Rosenau approached the Newmans about developing the Safe Haven ministry, Jeff and Sherry were excited by the ministry’s potential, and they joined BMM in 2020.

A place of safety

A haven is a place of protection, quietness, and peace. Through much prayer, the Newmans located an ideal home in the Chicago area (centrally located in the US for easier missionary access) where they have cultivated a tranquil place of peace. Equipped with a family-sized guest apartment, the home is a haven for missionaries to safely share their burdens and find help. The Newmans love hosting missionaries for counsel but also just for the joy of relationship building.

Ministry doesn’t take place only in the Newmans’ home. Jeff and Sherry have visited and trained missionaries and nationals in Brazil. They’ve also ministered to more than 200 Africa and Europe missionaries at BMM’s triennial Pause Conference for missionary refreshment.

Through online tools, Jeff and Sherry can travel even farther as they hold sessions with on-field missionaries. The morning may take them to Latin America, then back to North America, with a shift to Europe after lunch. Later in the day, our Asia missionaries (in a much later time zone) close out their sessions with Jeff and Sherry with a warm “good night,” while the Newmans wish them a good start to their day.

Tools for thriving

Jeff and Sherry also offer formal training. At BMM’s Family Conference and Candidate and Launch Seminars, the Newmans teach classes such as “Thriving on Deputation,” “Building Spiritual Resilience During Your First Term,” and “Strength in Solitude: Navigating Times of Loneliness in Our Service for the Lord.”

Jeff and Sherry’s training, background, and experience equip them for missionaries’ unique counseling needs, but their ministry does not usurp the role of missionaries’ pastors or churches. On the contrary, BMM has seen an increase in missionaries including their sending churches in the process of seeking and receiving help. In the overwhelm of problems, missionaries find that Safe Haven offers a secure first step for finding help. Pastors likewise benefit from the Newmans’ specialized training as these shepherds help their own missionaries.

A special group dear to the Newmans’ hearts is missionary kids, or MKs. Imagine being a child continually on the move during support raising, furloughs, and field relocations. In their formative, friendship-building years, MKs need special understanding and support. MKs, such as Tirzah Peterson, love it that Jeff and Sherry are praying for her. The Newmans encourage churches to pray for their missionaries’ children in language learning, making friends, traveling safety, and learning to enjoy new foods and cultural experiences.

A ministry that multiplies

In their multifaceted ministry, the Newmans seek daily wisdom to represent God well and to be a blessing to those they help. In the end, Jeff and Sherry’s highest joy is to be like Philemon, who refreshed the hearts of the saints (Philem. 1:7). And when missionary hearts are refreshed, only eternity can adequately tell how many thousands of lives will be impacted around the world.