{"id":31201,"date":"2022-09-10T15:20:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-principles-for-re-evaluating-your-missions-strategy\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:20:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:20:58","slug":"4-principles-for-re-evaluating-your-missions-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-principles-for-re-evaluating-your-missions-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Principles for Re-Evaluating Your Missions Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Joey Kyber photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Sara Beth Fentress<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the first summer in 20 years I haven\u2019t gone, or helped people to go, on short-term mission projects.<\/p>\n

Twenty years means I\u2019ve had multiple decades of evaluating, educating people on, and executing best practices in this arena.<\/p>\n

Twenty years means 7,300 days full of opportunities to both make many mistakes and play a small role in God\u2019s big story.<\/p>\n

Many leaders in the nonprofit sector debated the effectiveness and efficiency of short-term projects during this time.<\/p>\n

Regardless of your convictions and conclusions on the matter of whether \u201cto send or not to send,\u201d the coronavirus pandemic introduced us to new challenges, opportunities, and conversations surrounding short-term missions.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m the executive director of a nonprofit organization that endorses sending short-term volunteers with excellence.<\/p>\n

As an organization, we\u2019ve used this season and its new rhythms to assess and refine our short-term missions philosophy and strategy.<\/p>\n

As you meet with your church staff or missions committee, I pray these reminders and suggestions will serve your efforts as you evaluate the short-term missions philosophy and strategy of your church.<\/p>\n

1. Short-term volunteers aren’t essential workers<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

At 127 Worldwide, for example, we want to avoid being hailed as the heroes of the story. For too long, the western narrative of evangelical missions has centered on western Christians providing solutions to the world\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve reduced complex issues to quick fixes and downplayed the contributions of locals.<\/p>\n

We know, though, that God created all people in His image capable of contributing to human flourishing and that He\u2019s always at work restoring hope through the gospel.<\/p>\n

Therefore, American intervention cannot be the crux of His solution to the world\u2019s brokenness.<\/p>\n

Exposure to the work of indigenous partners creates educated advocates who can pray for, speak about, and engage with missions work and the local leaders we partner with in more meaningful ways.<\/p>\n

2. Partnership is key.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mutually edifying relationships with effective local ministry leaders are critical. Currently we at 127 have partnerships in Kenya, Uganda, and Guatemala\u2014relationships that began long before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Blood, sweat, and tears must be shed to build trust and communication that flow both ways. This kind of union doesn\u2019t happen overnight. Take some time to evaluate your church\u2019s partnerships.<\/p>\n

You may find it to be beneficial to partner with parachurch organizations who are working with trusted and effective national leaders serving their communities long term.<\/p>\n

As you\u2019re making decisions about future partnerships, consider choosing at least one indigenous partner. Local leaders know the language, cultural norms, and most pressing needs of their community.<\/p>\n

Cross-cultural partnerships are effective for engaging in mutually edifying relationships with other believers. Also, consider how you can improve trust and communication with partners you’ve already committed to stand beside.<\/p>\n

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See also  3 Practical Steps for Reaching the Mission Field in Your Neighborhood<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Do your church members know personal details of your partners and their families? Can you improve on sending packages, prayers, or words of encouragement? Do they feel like a vital part of your church family?<\/p>\n

Short-term missions\u2019 success depends on having credible, long-term ministry happening the other 51 weeks out of the year.<\/p>\n

3. Plans and resources must be evaluated. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once the partner relationships are secured, it’s important to evaluate (or create in some cases) your strategic plan.<\/p>\n

International short-term projects will hopefully be a part of this plan, but they shouldn\u2019t be the whole plan.<\/p>\n

Our team quickly realized that our ability to send international teams was going to be interrupted for a considerable amount of time due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

One result of our strategic planning was that we didn\u2019t have to create an entirely new strategy when we ran into a bump in the road. We redirected our time and energy toward what was available for us to do.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s available to you? Should you focus on local ministry needs during this time? Are you working to strengthen partnerships? Are there places you’ve been investing finances, but you have limited \u201cskin in the game\u201d otherwise?<\/p>\n

Can you improve on communication or feedback? What do current restraints free you up to do that you wouldn\u2019t have had time to do previously?<\/p>\n

4. Education and discipleship must be prioritized.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Are there holes in your current plan to disciple people? Have you wanted to switch some things up in the past, but been too busy doing the work to educate and disciple with excellence?<\/p>\n

Educating and discipling your people is<\/em> the work.<\/p>\n

Equipping your advocates with a foundation of gospel intentionality, the skills for healthy engagement, and a strong commitment to preserving human dignity creates transformed givers and people ready to care for the vulnerable with excellence.<\/p>\n

Could your church use the remaining shelter-in-place time to clarify your message and train people on it?<\/p>\n

When the skies are open, countries are welcoming Americans, and mandatory quarantines are a thing of the past, you\u2019ll be glad you took the time to invest in relationships and plans to make short-term projects a successful piece of your church\u2019s story in God\u2019s big story.<\/p>\n

SARA BETH FENTRESS (@sarabeth127)<\/strong> is the founder and executive director of 127 Worldwide, a non profit that helps Christians tangibly live out James 1:27.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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When Missions Shapes the Mission: You and Your Church Can Reach the World<\/h2>\n

David Horner<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joey Kyber photo – Unsplash By Sara Beth Fentress This is the first summer in 20 years I haven\u2019t gone, or helped people to go, on short-term mission projects. Twenty years means I\u2019ve had multiple decades of evaluating, educating people on, and executing best practices in this arena. Twenty years means 7,300 days full of … Continue reading “4 Principles for Re-Evaluating Your Missions Strategy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}