One of the ways Webster defines niche is “a specialized market”

I think there are 100′s of what I call mission niches. These are specialized ministries that are a vital part of missions.

We tend to think of people involved in missions as being on the front lines or in support roles. I know that seems black and white but it is what I hear a lot. Are you involved in strategy or support? Both are equally  important.  If you serve in a support role you are not “less important” than someone who is in a hard to get to place working with hard to connect with people.

When is the last time you read about a support role in missions?  Not as many stories are written about support roles in missions. Not as glamorous? A worker in a support role once shared with that me they were told to be sure and talk about “the real work” when giving the mission talk at church. They wanted to hear “front line” stories. Another person was having a conversations with a mission intern  at their home church regarding this intern’s potential future service overseas. As the missionary talked about what their role was, this intern piped up and said. ” I do not believe I am being called into ‘baby missions’ “.

These are some unfortunate extremes to the problem. But if you ever have served in a support role you probably can relate to this at some level. If this is not the case with you, then you have a great group of people who have a good understanding of the kingdom. Count yourself blessed!

I have run into some pretty cool people who have a unique niche in the mission world. I want you to meet some of them this year. Stay tuned for our first one who is involved in a mission niche where they maintain and repair airplanes for missionaries.  I hope you will be able to see the hearts of the people involved and understand that God calls all of us to play different parts.

What about you? If you’ve ever served as a vocational missionary, how were the people in support roles a blessing to the work God was doing in your area?

I always learn a lot when I am involved in this interaction. Two quick thoughts that stick out to me as I listen to their stories.

These guys really desire partners that will be willing to commit to the long haul. They have seen more success when churches send teams to work along side of them over and over again.  Most workers do not desire a  one-off type trip. They want sustaining partnerships.

The second thought  is that the North American church should seek to find ways to engage the same people group here.  I believe the Great Commission is both here and there.  Thanks to globalization many of the people groups throughout the world live here in North America. What an awesome opportunity.  Read this post about what we call “reverse mission trips”. If you are engaging a people group 5000 miles away why not seek ways to do the same here?

We are headed to this part of the world next year. Please check out www.jetset.theupstreamcollective.org

Let us know if you can come along.

Three times this past week I was reminded of my time in Turkey this Spring.

First I read this excellent interview from Ed Stetzer and a worker in that part of the world. You should take time to read it.

Secondly, I  talked with two of the pastors that went with us on the trip and just looked at some next steps for their church. We revisited some of the fun times we had during the week. By the way we are doing several trips next year. If you have an interested in going with The Upstream Collective on one of our trips please shoot an email to info@theupstreamcollective.org. If you have an interest in opportunities there feel free to send an email as well.

Finally,  I was able to do some teaching this weekend from the book of Philippians. One of my favorite books of the bible. As I was studying the passages and getting more of the context I had to read the section just before Paul arrived in Philippi.  In Acts 16 he was in what is now modern day Turkey and in and around some of the places we toured.

Definitely one of those places I am having a hard time getting off of my mind and out of my heart. I hope that never changes. I hope I am reminded everyday to pray for them and seek out opportunities.

We will be releasing some blog posts and videos today on www.edstetzer.com and www.theupstreamcollective.org. I hope you will take a look at these short clips to get a sense of our trip.

I wanted to write a short thought this morning about something from scripture that hit me. I am reading a lot these days from the epistles of Paul and the book of Acts since we were traveling where the action was happening.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples. Acts 19:1

I think I have always admired Paul’s missionary efforts. We read about Paul preaching the gospel. We read about him discipling the disciples. We think about his travels. Believe me that in itself takes effort in that part of the world. It was hard enough in a bus. I could not imagine what it would be like in his day. We read his letters challenging the congregations. We see him interact with his sending church at Antioch. We watch him as he starts new churches.

Another aspect that I think is important about his work was the way he encouraged workers and believers in those churches.

He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece. Acts 20:2

This is so vital for the worker and the new believer.  I have heard there could be as few as 3000 Christ followers in Turkey. If that number is correct it is staggering.

Do you think workers  could feel isolated?  Do you think that praying with them and speaking words of encouragement can lift their spirits and help them in their journey? I would say definitely.

I believe we need to encourage workers no matter whether it is where we call home or 5000 miles away when we have opportunities. I know it can make a difference.

I If had one  “do over” in my church planting ministry career it would be for the new churches that I have been a part of to become globally oriented from day one. I feel I was far too concerned about putting on a good church service and not making reproducing disciples that had a heart for the world.  When we started The Upstream Collective almost three years ago one of our goals was  to influence the mission conversation amongst these younger churches. We want to help these  new churches to think and act as a missionary.  God has given us some great opportunities to equip these churches with some basic missionary skills that will actually be helpful as they plant churches here or abroad. We want these churches to think and act as a missionary. We want to see these churches become sending churches like we find in Acts 13 that send people all over the world.

I feel at times  churches can become content with simply outsourcing missions.  As a pastor friend of mine says: mission organizations often want them to pray, pay and get out of the way.”  I think that day is over. I believe there has been an awakening in the church today where mission can no longer be outsourced but be an integral part of the church. It is great  to be  just a little part of that conversation.

Yesterday we launched our first ebook at www.themissionbook.com I hope you will read it. The chapters are short but very applicable to mission. Even more importantly we hope you will consider writing a chapter. It is a book that is not yet finished. It is missing your voice and your story.

It could be to their church, pastor, small group, friend or family member.

I wanted them to write some thoughts on what they would like to communicate to those who prayed for them.

One Skybridge member wrote this. You can read it here.

I am a big fan of the church of Antioch. Paul and Barnabas were sent from that church. You can read about it in Acts 13. In Acts 14 Luke tells us that when they completed their journey the church was assembled so that they could they could report all they have done. It is so important that we proactively communicate to those who send us.

What would your letter say?
Would it be a letter of thanks?
Would you challenge them to be more active in  your ministry overseas?
Would you tell them how much you need their support, prayers and partnership?
Would you tell them about some of the things God is doing in your ministry overseas?

Take some time this month to write that letter. Find creative ways to communicate to your sending church the stories from your life overseas.

We did a modified content analysis of this research and found some obvious common themes.

I share this short post today to highlight one common theme:

The character of the missionary.

I found this to be important amongst churches as they partner with someone on the field. If they are going to invest time and valuable resources in the work then they want to work with someone they can trust. Someone they can believe in.

“They want the worker to be faithful, have integrity and to be humble.”

“To be Christ- centered”.

“They want the worker to be honest- both about the realities of his/her life and ministry (the ups and downs, good and bad) and how the local church can better support the missionary and be more focused (again, the ups and downs, good and bad)”.

They believe that the worker should have a  teachable spirit. They like to see them “willing to learn from the local body while at the same time teaching and encouraging them to live on mission”.

Another one wrote this: “It is important that missionaries be real, honest and transparent with their partner churches. This may not be possible with every church but it must be a priority with a missionaries’ sending church”.

In regards to the relationship one wrote that “authenticity is important in regards to the assumptions/expectations we both bring in the partnership”.

In conclusion I would say if you are a worker on the field then you should take time and effort in letting your partners get to know you. Show them your heart. Show them your successes and talk about your failures.

Over the years I have observed quite a bit on the field. I have had some successes and I have certainly made my share of mistakes along the way in leading teams. In this series of posts I want to share some thoughts for team leaders.

One of the most empowering things we can do with new team members or even the seasoned veteran is to create an environment on our teams where they can dream about possibilities without the fear of hearing negativity or pessimism. I often hear younger workers express how they share their dreams with their team leaders only to hear :

“That will never work here”.

“We tried something similar back in 2005 and that just does not fly here”.

“You just need to stay focused on the work you have in front of you now”.

“We do not have the money for that”.

I know you cannot try every idea and some of them may not work but are there ways you can communicate as a team that will celebrate creativity and encourage dreaming and risking.  The idea may flop or the idea may be a huge success. I do know we need fresh ideas constantly on the mission field.  Often ideas build on one another. If you are a team leader you need to let your team members dream.

Why not take a little time at each meeting to just possibility think? We can get so caught up in the administrative and logistical aspects involved in team and living overseas that we spend a large amount of our time talking about those things instead of dreaming.

I pray

I observe

I connect

The second part of our strategy is vital. Here is a little about our context.

The work we are praying to start is in a nearby village. There is no known evangelical church in this village but there are believers who live there that travel to other villages or cities for church. The project organizers started putting together times where those interested can simply come to  pray and share about how God is moving in this village.  We talk about what we are learning from our prayer walk time and sharing how we see God moving.  Our third meeting was this past week and we had a number of people come with quite a few new attendees. These people are from several different churches all with a desire to see God work there. I believe that the unity of believers is an important factor in this context. I believe it is simply a very good thing when people from various churches and organizations come together to pray. Sure there will be differences in theology and even in methodology but that should not keep us from praying together. Unity can be powerful.

Here are a few short descriptions of what several churches look for in an overseas partner.

Faithful

Vision caster

Integrity

Humble

Right chemistry with their church

Catalytic

Risk taker

Good communicator

Disciple- maker

Communicates regularly with the church

Stay tuned for part two coming soon.