How can churches support missionaries?

So I do read the comments here, even if I don't always respond to them. And if there are good and interesting questions I do try to answer them. (Gervase, I am not ignoring your question about doctrine; I have half an answer in my head, and I'll post it in a bit, but it's a good and interesting question so I want to spend some more time thinking about it.)

One of the questions was about how supporters can help missionaries overcome the work guilt I wrote about previously. Well, I'm aware there's a danger in generalizing too much from my own experience; I'm just one guy who happens to be workaholic, and I don't mean in any way to say that all my contemporaries are. (There do seem to be a lot of them, though.)

But anyway, it got me thinking about how supporters can support missionaries. What do we guys on the field want from our partners back home? Well, again, I don't want to generalize too much from my own experience, (so please note that any passages written in the first-person-plural are so written for stylistic reasons) so I can give you a few things which I would really appreciate from churches and individual supporters.

This is not meant to be a list of demands or a cry for help, either. I'm actually doing pretty well at the moment. But the question was asked, albeit in a slightly different form, and it got me thinking. I've put down as much as I can think of because any supporter who does at least one of these things is doing a good and appreciated job, and I want to include as many people as possible.

Prayer. That has to be number one. Now remember who's writing this. You know that I'm not normally some super-spiritual "we can nothing without the supporting hand of God" type. We can do loads of stuff without the supporting hand of God, as many millions of people prove every day. But prayer is the fuel of the mission engine. Without it, the car might move, but only if we're pushing it hard. I have experienced the difference it makes to my life and my work when people are praying; I have felt supported and comforted even though I only found out afterwards that people were praying for me. I've experienced that, and I really don't want to do without it.
Communication. When I go back to visit my church in August (oh yeah, I'm coming to the UK for a bit in August. Should probably have said. We're not necessarily great at communication either.) I'll probably know about half or a third of the number of people I knew there when I left. I'm aware of this and prepared for it, so it's not going to hit me that hard. But still the blow can be softened by hearing a bit more of what's going on in church. What's the teaching on at the moment? What challenges are you facing, and what new stuff are you doing? Are there any projects starting? What's going on? Who's getting dedicated/married/buried? If you've got a weekly newsletter in electronic format, send it to your missionaries. Here's why: I came back from Bible college once to a service to find that my church had a new vicar. That was a surprise. Don't do that. (To be fair, he's been one of the best communicators with and encouragers of missionaries in the church.)
Challenge. Most of us are providing the teaching in our churches. If we get off track, our church gets off track. So we need some contradictory and thought-provoking stuff thrown at us to keep us real. And hey, expecting us to get our own spiritual nourishment from our sermon preparation is all well and good, but it's nice to hear stuff from outside the echo-chamber once in a while. Has there been a really good and gritty sermon in church recently? Send us a copy of it. Have you read anything that impacted your spiritual life? Tell us about it. Do you think we're talking a load of rubbish on our blogs? Say so. :)
Encouragement. Out of sight can mean out of mind; we know this, and so it's not a huge problem. But that's precisely why just the occasional note every so often to let us know that we're still remembered and we haven't dropped off the radar is a huge, huge encouragement. Replying to the prayer letters we send is a good one, even if it's just a few words, it stops us thinking we're talking into a vacuum.
Participation. In these days of Skype and high-speed Internet access, I can "virtually" turn up at your events. You don't actually need to make a big thing of me being there. I did a couple of Skype interviews with my church groups recently, but actually one of the nicest bits was just sitting there and listening to the service like everyone else. Give me an AV feed and I'll be happy. It helps with the whole catching-up thing I mentioned above, and it keeps that connection between us going.
Places to stay. I know this is the biggest issue for me when I return to the UK. My mother is in Wales but my church is in Oxford. I was renting a flat there but now I'm not renting one any more so when I visit I have to rely on the kindness of friends and church members. It's actually pretty stressful having to approach people and impose on them for however long. Organising hospitality for me when I visit is one of the most practical and powerful ways you can show that you care. Nothing amazing, just a bed for the night; but someone on location is much better placed to ask around and find people who can offer than trying to do it from five thousand miles away, and it takes all the stress out of it.
Care packages. I'm in two minds about this one. I love my life here in Japan, and I'm happy living like a Japanese. But I hope that even those who are into radical contextualization would be prepared to turn a blind eye to the odd jar of Marmite or Fray Bentos pie every six months or so, and of course it's the thought that counts more than the pie. Oh man, the pie... (Kudos to my pastorate for their gravy-and-stuffing drop around Christmas time.)
Briefing and debriefing. When we come back to our home countries, or set off again, we're going to be in a whirl. Maybe those missionaries in troubled countries are going to have seen some disturbing stuff - now mostly the mission agencies will help them deal with that or put them in touch with professionals who can - but everyone will come back to reverse culture shock, disorientation and above all change. And as Marjory Foyle puts it, you can have stress without change but you can't have change without stress. Getting us in for a debriefing will (a) help us adjust to what's changed so we can expect it, and (b) show us that you are prepared to invest some time and organisation into helping us. (b) is probably more important than (a), when it comes down to it. Similarly for briefings when we go again. Having some sensible questions prepared to talk through with us can help identify any areas where you can help us more or we can help you more. (Oh yes, that reminds me: this isn't a one-way thing, and it actually helps maintain that connection between us if it's not one-way. If there is anything we can do to help serve you better, we want to know about it.)
Money. It would be a bit insane to pretend that this isn't a consideration but honestly, it's got to appear at the bottom of the list because it's often the least of our problems. We can tighten up our belts and our budgets, we can borrow from the field or pitch in with other missionaries, but we can't magically create a connection with our supporters from out of nowhere. I would honestly much rather be supported a church which couldn't offer me much money but which loved me than one which gave me all the cash I needed and just left me to get on with it.
I'll add more ideas as I think of them, but again, this is (a) just personal opinion, and (b) not a wishlist but a set of ideas. Don't stress about doing them all. Just feel good if you're doing one of them. :)

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