by David Armstrong

How can small churches motivate their people to missions?

As a leader of a small church, let me first recognize the very limited time a pastor or leader of a small church has to focus on any one thing. Pastors and leaders in small churches do everything from sweeping the floor to teaching the Word to settling petty arguments. And those things happen when they happen, not when you want them to happen.

So how in that busy, unpredictable setting does one motivate people to missions? My best response is — intentionally. It won’t happen by chance. Everything else will work to keep it at the bottom of the pile of good things to do.

As you start 2011, start by defining what two things you would like to see happen in your church in terms of mission emphasis. Make one of those goals educational in nature. Help them to better understand what God is doing around the world today. Help them understand what missions really is. Help them understand more clearly God’s heart of compassion. Help them visualize how they could be Jesus’ hands and feet in our really messed up world.

There are resources available to help you in this endeavor. You don’t have to be the expert, but not just anyone will do. Hand pick a missionary who has helped you better understand what God is doing around the world and have him speak. They need to be able to relate to your people and communicate in ways your people find interesting. (more…)

Originally posted to Ed Stetzer’s blog, the following article by Nathan James — co-pastor of Epoch Church in Little Rock, Arkansas — looks at various aspects of being a Transformational Small Church.

At times it may seem that small churches can do little for the kingdom because of limited resources. But in reality we are all called to reach the nations, and every church is empowered by the gospel to make a global impact, regardless of size. Nathan is here today to address that very issue.

Mobilizing People For Missions

God can transform your life and show you his heart for the nations if you allow him. I had one of those experiences not long ago when our church took its first international mission trip. I had the chance to lead a team of twelve to serve the Lord in Haiti on July 4th, 2010. I had been on an international trip before, but this was the church’s first. I want to point out something I was starkly reminded of: When you are willing to follow the Lord’s mandate to reach the nations, then it is as if God pulls back the curtains and gives you a wider kingdom perspective. The way you pray changes. When you pray, Our Lord, it has a whole new meaning. The way you worship in song changes. When you sing, “How Great is Our God,” your worldview broadens. The way you see those around you changes. When someone is hurting, you have a keener sense of compassion. Are you willing to allow the Lord to broaden your kingdom perspective? (more…)

by Peter Armstrong, M-DAT Executive Director

I always thought steady cams were cool. Now, I know they are! Last week Paul and I made one out of a mono pod, a 2.5 pound weight, and a weed trimmer handle. We rigged up the contraption in preparation for a trip I take at the end of April. I fly to Atlanta to do a test video shoot at Operation Mobilization. If all goes well, it will be the first organization headquarters tour for the website we are developing for aspiring missionaries — a very exciting milestone.

For good reasons, selecting a mission organization to go with from the hundreds out there can be a daunting task. We believe these headquarter tours will take the edge off of that experience. Viewers will catch the vision of the organization, hear what God is doing through them, meet key staff, learn about the mission candidate process, and hear why people who serve with the organization decided to join up.

How we will cram all of this into a three to five minute video clip is a mystery. That is why we are looking for gifted video editors to volunteer their skills. Six have already stepped forward. We need at least six more so we can spread out the work and publish new video clips more frequently. If you have video editing skills you would like to apply to the Great Commission please contact us.

My trip to Atlanta will get us ready for a rather unique mission trip we are assembling a team for — a week-long mission headquarter blitz in July. Each day we will visit a mission agency and shoot the raw video for the tour. We will also conduct interviews with missionaries who are home from the field. We will inquire about key moments in their journey to the mission field and get their responses to questions commonly asked by aspiring missionaries. At night we will review our footage and start editing. In the morning we will move onto another mission agency. I anticipate this will be a challenging and fruitful week. If you are a cameraman or video editor and want to get in on the action we want to hear from you.

The M-DAT staff devised this list late last year in order to guide students at Urbana, and elsewhere, in choosing short-term opportunities wisely.

• Why are you going? What is your motivation?

• What type of experience are you looking for (discipleship, cross-cultural exposure, ministry experience etc.)?

• Which level of cross-cultural experience is right for you?

• Fit: Do they have programs that match your interest and experience?

• Experience: Do they have experienced mature leaders onsite? Does their communication with you show signs of quality and professionalism?

• Preparedness: Have they thought things through (expect some flexibility but also thorough planning)? Do they have emergency management procedures in place?

• Comprehensive: Do they provide adequate training to prepare you? Do they help you process the trip with a debriefing?

• Dependable: Do they do what they say they do? What do people who went last time say? Do they practice the Standards of Excellence in Short Term Missions?

• Long-term plan: Does it fit into a broader long-term plan for the area you will be ministering in? How does it match up with local churches and career mission work in the area?

• Great Commission focus: How does what you will do help accomplish the Great Commission? Is there an evangelism or outreach element even if its mainly a construction trip?

For more on finding the right Mission trip, see ShortTermMissions.com.

by Peter Armstrong

Five years ago this December M-DAT launched ShortTermMissions.com. The website addressed the growing need for internet based resources offering practical assistance to people seeking to develop deep, lifelong mission involvement. It was specifically aimed at helping people take the step of serving on a one week to three year mission trip.

From the beginning our goal has been to build a quality website that met real needs, became widely used, and stood the test of time.

The “thank you” notes we receive from the people and agencies we serve confirm that we are meeting felt needs. One large agency shared with us that apart from word of mouth (every agency’s primary source of participants), ShortTermMissions.com was the best producer of new participants and groups.

The traffic and scope of the service steadily grows. We launched ShortTermMissions.com with 20 agencies and 200 trips. Today we help people connect with nearly 1,000 trips from 64 mission agencies! About 5,000 to 7,000 individuals visit the website every month, an ever-growing number.

And we’re still here! Five years is quite remarkable for a website. We’re thankful for God’s provision through churches and individuals to make ShortTermMissions.com a reality and keep the service available to tomorrow’s missionaries.