The Packing List, Part two

Last post I put started my list of ten things to be sure to pack when you go on a short term trip.

Here are some more important Items to take with you on your trip

4. Three - Five Bible stories that you can tell in Basic English. Don’t underestimate the power of the Word. I think if you can find few short Bible stories that mean a lot to you then you will be ready for opportunities the Lord may give you to share how God has transformed your life. Idea: Practice telling these stories to your family or your small group before you coming. They will be quite impressed with your ability to do Bible storying.

5. Your story. I think it is important to be able to tell your personal story of how God changed your life? Can you do it 2 minutes or less? Idea: Use Basic English and cut out the big religious words. You will most likely be communicating to people who speak English as a second language or using a translator. Either way time is important and people understanding you is vital. I have found it might be a good idea to write this out first.

6. Some photos. People love to look at pictures. They are great conversation builders. Try not to show off your “ American stuff” but they love seeing your family, vacation shots, etc.. Idea: Put together a small photo album or put the pictures on your ipod. Think about ways you can communicate your story as you show pictures.

The Packing List

I have worked with a lot of volunteer teams in the last 8 years living overseas. Most of them do a tremendous job. As I think about these groups that do well I see several things in common for those who do well. I am going to break these up in three different post for your reading enjoyment. :)

They pray a lot before they come

and

They prepare a lot before they come

and

They seem to pack these things for the trip

Don’t forget to pack:

The Obvious

1. Your Bible – Trips can be a great time to hear from God. I know you will be experiencing some long days but try to make some time to read the scripture each day before you go out. I like to recommend people read the book of Acts while they are on a mission trip. Idea: I have heard of some people who give their bible to a person that they really connected with at the end of the week as a gift.

2. Your Journal – I think it is great to write something each day about your trip. What is God teaching you? What is He showing you about the people? How does this apply to the place where you live? Idea: Write down some specific actions points that you can do once you return home. Chances are there are many people groups who live around you in your own city.

3. You prayer supporters back home – You really need good prayer support when you come on these trips. My challenge to each group is to have at least 7 people committed to prayer for them each day. Ideas: I have seen people create a prayer calendar for each day that they are gone. I have seen people blog about that trip as they go and put prayer requests up. I have seen people create a google group for their prayer supporters which offers more security since it is password protected. The point is to enlist friends, family members and your church to prayer for you specifically for this time.

Short Term Mission Teams

Last week I talked about different types of partnerships.

so far I have written about:

• The Sending Church
• Prayer Advocates

But what about the Short Term Mission Teams? – People or Groups who come over for a one time project or event.

This would be what I would call a “one-off” project. Honestly in my overseas experience I have usually preferred longer term partnerships with churches BUT often a one time project can lead to a strategic partnership that turns into long term. I think it can be a matter of preference for the worker on the field as they put together their needs.

There are a lot of articles out there about the usefulness of short term teams. Do they serve a purpose other than expanding the worldview and heart for missions for the person or church coming over. While these are two awesome benefits for people who come over I think they can serve in some ways and do some things that we may not be able to do. I think they can compliment our strategy to see people come to Christ and for churches to be planted. It takes intentionality on the part of the missionary to put this into their strategy.

If we do not think ahead in how we can utilize volunteer teams then it can put us in the position of responding to a team who wants to come over with a certain purpose in mind. In other words, inserting them into our ministry whether it is strategic or not. We need to be thinking of ways to proactively work with churches who want to come and serve.

Another good aspect about a one time project is that it gives both the church and the worker the chance to see if the chemistry is good for a longer term ministry relationship. Something that is very important in my opinion.

What do you think?

Are short term teams beneficial?

If so, how have you seen it work effectively?

Coming Soon

I want to take minute to tell you about this conversation that will be happening soon. My good friend Robert Beckman is part of a network in Florida called ReproducingChurches.com

They are having the Live Sent 2009 Conversation in September and if you can make this I think it promises to be one of the best in 2009. Lots of interaction and dialog. Some of the conversations will be from Alan Hirsch and Neil Cole.



Live Sent 2009

Creating Missional Conversations for the Reproduction of Leaders and New Churches

Lakeland, Florida

September 17 & 18, Thursday 1pm-6pm and Friday 1pm-6pm.

Go to their website www.reproducingchurches.com to register

You will really like these guys and The Upstream Collective enjoys partnering with them.

Total Dependence

As a worker overseas I see us having several points of engagement with churches and believers throughout the world. I have talked about the Sending church lately. I want to move on to some other types of connecting.

Prayer Advocates – People who pray specifically for us and the work.

I think your prayer advocates can and should be from all over the world. I get email newsletters from several workers that have to print their prayer requests in three different languages. Pretty cool.

I think it is E.M. Bounds who says that “prayer is the work”.

We need people to pray for us personally and our work. I know that seems like an obvious statement but sometimes I need the reminder.

Looking back nearly 8 years ago I still vividly remember needing a reminder of this the third week on the field. Why it took three weeks I do not know but I still remember that I was on the bus going to language school in Madrid and I was overwhelmed by several thoughts. On one hand I could not believe we were finally here. Then it hit me that I did not know anyone here. I cannot speak the language. I could barely order a cup of coffee. The list could go on. But then it struck me that I had to have a total dependence on the Lord. I could not do this on my own.

I think it was then where I took seriously the need to have people pray for us on a regular basis. To pray for us personally, our language needs, our friends, ministry, etc..

I started seeing God open up doors for us in some unbelievable ways.

I am convinced it was not through my own abilities. It was from prayer.

For the Worker: How do you communicate your prayer needs to your friends, family, your church and others? Do you use social networking to create prayer advocacy? I am curious?

For the church: How are you praying for global missions? What does that look like for your church? Curious about that also.

As We Go,

Larry

The Sending Church: Ways missionaries can minister to thier Church

A couple of posts ago I talked about how the church can minister to the missionary. What about the other way. How can the missionary minister to the church?

Here’s my short list. I will say in advance I may have left something off so feel free to post comments to help this list be complete.

1. Offer to pray for them as you send out your monthly updates. My friend Paul Cox does every time he sends out a newsletter and he prays for them. He does a great job of this and taught me the importance of it. Check out his blog .

2. Make sure you try to connect with them on a regular basis. Just as I mentioned that it is good for the church to contact us on the field we need to do likewise. I should also add that we need to talk to them even when we do not need to ask them fro something. I can be guilty of talking / writing only when I need something. Oops.

3. Offer to speak at their church services when you are in the states BUT also I have found the small stuff is great. I love speaking to the small groups or gatherings. If you do get the opportunity to speak in the larger gathering then ask how long you have to communicate and stick to that time or even less. Do not be surprised in this day of multi media and a minute by minute program schedule that you may just get 2 – 3 minutes in the Sunday service gathering. How do you communicate your message in that amount of time ?

You can also do this while you are on the field from time to time. With the ability to do skype video / audio calls you can actually talk from you where you are at anytime.

4. When you are back home at the church serve along side them in their efforts of ministry. This goes back to the idea of instead of normally asking for stuff how about asking where you can serve them while on stateside? Maybe in an area totally unrelated to missions or maybe serving in a local mission effort. My wife and daughter taught Spanish classes for adults and this served as a great way to help Short Term teams be better prepared for their trips. I volunteered to be a substitute bible teacher for their small groups since my Spanish is not so good. smile.

5. Help them learn about your people group stateside. How can they minister to that people group stateside? I have found that inside my sending church there are simply some that have a passion for the people group I feel called to and others do not as much. I simply try to develop those who do have that desire to connect more and then I start developing that tribe of people. They are the ones that could have a desire to see how they can minister in their own community with a people group. They also may decide to host what we call reverse mission trips.

6. Make available some opportunities to have people from the church to come and see your area of ministry. Offer to have friends and / or groups in your church to come over and serve alongside of you. As you put together your strategy to reach people in your overseas setting and starting churches among them also consider ways that your sending church can be strategically involved with you. I find that the people from our sending church who have come over to serve for a week or so not only help us out in some tremendous ways but they also return to the states with an expanded worldview, heart for our people group and processing how this can look in their own community. win, win, win

7. Provide training and preparation for the groups the church may send to your area. If you do have a church that sends teams or groups over to work then make sure you do all you can to make the trip go smoothly in terms of logistics and meaningful in terms of ministry but this takes a lot of prayer, preparation and follow through.

There has to be more of these!
Please Share!

More on The Sending Church - Life on the field

A few posts ago I wrote about the “Sending Church”. I have some more thoughts that I want to put out there.

I believe the sending church can and should play a vital role in the spiritual and emotional life of the missionary by giving pastoral care and support even while on the field. The sending church should not assume that these needs are met while they are on the field. While many missionaries are from sending organizations and these organizations often have quality member care services I think the missionary’s sending church can also minister in some amazing ways even when they are 1000’s of miles a part. However, it takes effort to keep the relationship at that level. I believe consistent and meaningful contact with the missionary is vitally important.

Consistent and Meaningful Contact – I know many of us on the field try to write newsletters, blogs, emails, etc.. to let our prayer advocates know how to better pray for us and what are needs are. However, the church does not need to wait on the missionary to write their monthly newsletter in order to have conversation with them. It means so much to the missionary to just get a contact from the sending church even if it is just say “hello and that we are praying for you” or “how can we help you or your family?” “How are your children doing?” “What is the Lord teaching you right now? Etc…

How is this best done?

Is it better for a church to have a designated point person for contact and needs?

What if the sending church has no strategic involvement in the missionary? What should the church’s role be if this is the case?

Longevity - One problem that I hear from missionaries is that often that the longer one is on the field the less the contact from the local church. I would agree. We have been on the field since 2001. I can tell a difference over the years. Does it mean that they do not care? No! There are many variables including some on our end. I think the longer you are on the field the more intentional the worker has to become in cultivating those relationships.

When you are first sent out it is a new thing for the church and much excitement exists but what happens after 3, 5, 7, 10 years or more?

Obviously many missionaries choose to go with a mission sending organization. These organizations can help assist the local church but the local church should not simply hand over the missionary and feel like their job is done. The Great Commission was given to the church and not an organization. The sending church has great responsibility when they send someone out.

How are you doing with the ones “sent” from your church?

Next – my list on how we as missionaries can give back to our church!

Also - Check out www.edstetzer.com and the conversation today about our vision trip to Asia.