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Connecting Alliance Missions with People in the Pews
Posted by
Bob Fetherlin
,
28 January 2007
·
756 views
How do we connect Alliance missions with people in the pews of our US family of Alliance churches? Here are some of the many ways connections resulting in increased ownership, deeper relationships, and greater involvement by local churches can be made:
Short term teams
• Providing English language skills training courses of one to two weeks
• Sending computer technicians with donated computers to set them up and train local people how to use them
• Recruiting medical personnel to hold medical / dental clinics in a manner that elevates the local church in the community and leads to opportunities for the advance of the gospel
• Encouraging business professionals to go to a field to give seminars on effective business principles thereby making connections with business professionals in the overseas ministry context
• Deploying speakers, worship leaders and children's workers for field forums
• Finding coaches / sports teams to lead clinics with local youth, play against local teams, and interface in local schools in a manner that advances the kingdom
• Putting together vision trips of pastors and church leaders from US Alliance churches
Partnerships
• Building "webmaster" partnerships for fields, teams and individual missionaries working with them in establishing and maintaining quality websites
• Nurturing relationships with clusters of churches / individual churches / church leaders out of which natural opportunities to build partnerships follow
• Working together so that a local church can adopt a people group, a missionary family or a special project
Finances
• Funding the work of Alliance missions through the Great Commission Fund
• Having a financial planner visit the field to help missionaries with their personal finances, retirement planning, etc.
• Helping a field or cluster of fields do an annual audit of their books
• Taking responsibility to raise the funds for a specific approved special related to an overseas ministry project
Communications
• Having a videographer / video production person or team prepare video segments on field ministries for promoting the work
• Helping a missionary produce quality communication pieces enabling strong connections with that missionary's sending churches
Prayer
• Recruiting a prayer team to go to a field for specific, focused intercession
• Inviting a district or church or individual to exchange e-mailed prayer requests and answers to prayer with a missionary or a field thereby creating a two-way exchange of prayer support
Leadership Development
• Having gifted Bible teachers, seminary and Christian college professors, and others go to a field to teach on specific subjects and in response to specific needs
• Sending people who can help with short-term projects related to the work of C&MA-related Bible schools
• Connecting with an overseas, C&MA leader-in-training to provide encouragement and help, including some funds for tuition in a ministry training program
Why not explore how you and the people of your church can better connect with what God is doing through Alliance missions? Strong connections enable the "sent ones" overseas and the "senders" at home to live the call together in carrying out Christ's mission!
Short term teams
• Providing English language skills training courses of one to two weeks
• Sending computer technicians with donated computers to set them up and train local people how to use them
• Recruiting medical personnel to hold medical / dental clinics in a manner that elevates the local church in the community and leads to opportunities for the advance of the gospel
• Encouraging business professionals to go to a field to give seminars on effective business principles thereby making connections with business professionals in the overseas ministry context
• Deploying speakers, worship leaders and children's workers for field forums
• Finding coaches / sports teams to lead clinics with local youth, play against local teams, and interface in local schools in a manner that advances the kingdom
• Putting together vision trips of pastors and church leaders from US Alliance churches
Partnerships
• Building "webmaster" partnerships for fields, teams and individual missionaries working with them in establishing and maintaining quality websites
• Nurturing relationships with clusters of churches / individual churches / church leaders out of which natural opportunities to build partnerships follow
• Working together so that a local church can adopt a people group, a missionary family or a special project
Finances
• Funding the work of Alliance missions through the Great Commission Fund
• Having a financial planner visit the field to help missionaries with their personal finances, retirement planning, etc.
• Helping a field or cluster of fields do an annual audit of their books
• Taking responsibility to raise the funds for a specific approved special related to an overseas ministry project
Communications
• Having a videographer / video production person or team prepare video segments on field ministries for promoting the work
• Helping a missionary produce quality communication pieces enabling strong connections with that missionary's sending churches
Prayer
• Recruiting a prayer team to go to a field for specific, focused intercession
• Inviting a district or church or individual to exchange e-mailed prayer requests and answers to prayer with a missionary or a field thereby creating a two-way exchange of prayer support
Leadership Development
• Having gifted Bible teachers, seminary and Christian college professors, and others go to a field to teach on specific subjects and in response to specific needs
• Sending people who can help with short-term projects related to the work of C&MA-related Bible schools
• Connecting with an overseas, C&MA leader-in-training to provide encouragement and help, including some funds for tuition in a ministry training program
Why not explore how you and the people of your church can better connect with what God is doing through Alliance missions? Strong connections enable the "sent ones" overseas and the "senders" at home to live the call together in carrying out Christ's mission!
