Missions Catalyst 7.10.13 – Practical Mobilization

7In This Issue: Seven Steps to an Excellent Mission Trip Report

  • Think about it.
  • You need less time than you think.
  • Center on God.
  • Connect with personal stories.
  • Provide tangible takeaways.
  • Make the tech excellent.
  • Allay fear at the outset.
  • Three bonus steps
  • Conclusion
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!

Find many more of Shane’s Practical Mobilization articles on our website, including these two favorites:

Seven Steps to an Excellent Mission Trip Report

By Shane Bennett

What has the greatest potential to impact the future of the Church in the U.S. and beyond? A global prayer movement? Nope. A renewed emphasis on the Bible? Uh uh. A radical re-commitment to Anabaptist orthopraxy? Well maybe, but that’s not what I’m thinking. Nothing has the potential to kill a church or unleash the kingdom of God there like a short-term mission report!

OK, that’s over the top, but delivered winsomely, a good report can release resources, volunteers, and mounds of good will. A bad report can shut off the flow of Niagara Falls! No one wants to have to confess, “Yes, First Church used to be mighty in missions until I reported on my mission trip to Mexico. Apparently at the next deacons meeting, they whited out ‘missions’ and penciled in “‘new carpet.'”

So what can we do? Of course, if you don’t give a report, you can’t really mess it up! But you also miss the serious potential of involving others in your experience. Here are seven steps to giving an excellent report, one that will make people glad they showed up to hear you and maybe even want to go with you next time.

1. Think about it.

You might think this would go without saying, but not in my case! I regularly forget to plan ahead for a solid report to a team’s sending church. And like you, I’ve sat through far too many reports from both teams and individuals which were apparently being thought up on the spot. If you’re with me on planning ahead, keep these things in mind:

a. Design the right activities for the right venue.

A video or photos set to a favorite song will pair well with one or two brief testimonies. If you’re spending an evening with a small group and have the whole time, longer stories with questions and answers can be really effective.

b. Consider who will talk and who will not.

I’ll concede there might be some ethereal benefit to everyone sharing what’s on their heart. But my pragmatic side says choose the right people to talk. This does not mean choose the cutest or most articulate, but it does imply some prayer and thought. Team members have different skills. Just because someone can’t speak well in front of the church doesn’t mean they lack value. But it does mean they can’t speak well in front of the church.

c. Make sure you how much time is allotted for your report.

Discuss with the pastor, leader, matriarch of the Women’s Missionary Union, or whoever your host may be. Out of consideration to the rest of us who may someday give a report or have to sit through yours, please honor the time constraints. Years of relational cultivation can be mowed down in the 30 seconds it takes to ask, “Can I have just five more minutes to share this story God has placed on my heart?”

And while we’re on the subject of time…

2. You need less time than you think.

You’ve heard it before: It’s better to leave people wanting more, rather than talk so long they want to stick needles in their eyes. (At least I think that’s how the saying goes!) Five minutes used well, with opportunities for follow up, is sufficient. I think it may also be a sweet spot, time-wise, for pastors. Better yet, ask for seven minutes and only use five!

3. Center on God.

Remember that you stepped into what God was already doing, and even though you came home, he’s still at work in your host city. It’s almost always best to talk about what you saw God up to there and what you sense him doing in your own life.

This will save you from the cardinal sin of mission trip reporting: scolding the people you’re reporting to. Unless God has clearly wrapped Elijah’s mantle around your shoulders, let the Holy Spirit do the convicting. Christians in most churches have had their fair share and more of young bucks, fresh from eight whole days in another country, telling them how they don’t really put the Gospel into action.

Talk up God; don’t talk down your church. (Feel free to tweet that!)

4. Connect with personal stories.

Most of us resonate with stories, and it’s hard to argue with “This happened to me.” If you share stories in which you goof up a bit but God works things out to his benefit anyway, all the better. In fact, since you’re likely not a pro, take advantage of your amateur status to invite other amateurs to identify with you.

In the process of telling your story, take care not to extrapolate your anecdote to a broad principle it can’t support. Siddiq declining your offer of tea doesn’t mean “Muslims prefer coffee.” In fact, we do well to exercise extreme caution in our evaluation of the people we interact with in a cross-cultural context. Chances are good that we don’t really understand most of what we see. Share what happened, but hesitate to interpret it.

5. Provide tangible takeaways.

Extend the connection by passing out a well-designed card that says thank you, shows a great shot of your team or your host people, and gives some pointers for further prayer. Provide a point of connection and maybe the dates of future trips your church will be taking. Some people will keep this, and the Holy Spirit will use it to encourage them to take further action, even to sign up to go on the next trip.

In addition to a card or other reminder, give one clear action step. Invite people to pray, sign up for your newsletter, learn more about your host city, or go with you next year. Some people in the audience will be eager to respond. Give them a way to do that.

6. Make the tech excellent.

Excellent Tech 101: Make sure whoever speaks is adequately amplified. Do a mic check! Train the speaker to use the mic well, then make sure they do. Though many people are reluctant or embarrassed to use a microphone, do it anyway. Deaf Aunt Lou will thank you!

Given the tech that many of us carry around in our pockets, don’t settle for less than really good. Choose great photos; delete low-quality ones. Even better is a one-minute video put together in the host city. It’s pretty cool when someone from there says on screen, “We’re glad your people were here.”

7. Allay fear at the outset.

Many people in church get nervous when an amateur gets the microphone. “Who knows how long or bad this is going to be?” Allay fears by laying out the parameters: “I have three minutes” or “I’ll make two comments and show you a four-minute video.”

Another way to help people feel confident from the start is to have your pastor or some other trusted person interview you and the team. This keeps them in charge and helps the rest of everyone think, “Okay, this is going to be alright.” Then your excellent, brief, relevant, and encouraging report simply blows them away!

Three bonus steps

Up your odds of success by considering these three steps:

8. Avoid jargon and foreign words.  

Unless you’re teaching someone a specific phrase, don’t use words that less than 90% of your crowd knows. If you’re teaching a phrase, make sure it’s relevant. “Hello” in Arabic or Mandarin: Yes. The name of an obscure healing herb in the Amazon: Maybe not.

9. Express gratitude if your audience prayed or gave money.

Heck, express gratitude that they’re listening to you. You can hardly go wrong with a heartfelt thank you.

10. Finally, don’t talk poorly of the people you visited or their religion.

Take great care not to mock them. While you’re at it, don’t say “them” more than once.

Conclusion

Well, readers, what do you think? Disagree with anything on this list? What would you add to it? Please comment below with your embarrassing story or lesson learned, or a link to your excellent video or presentation tool.

If it would help, I’d be happy to think through your report plan with you. Just send me an email.

In the meantime, please forward this to short-term trippers you know and to churches who have teams out this summer. People you’ll never know will thank you!

 

Shane Bennett writes and speaks for a great organization called Frontiers. Lately he’s wondering about how Muslim immigrants in Europe might fully experience God’s blessing.

He’s also working with some buds to leverage a $49 a month smart phone plan to raise a ton of money for cross-cultural workers. Email him for info on the plan or the vision.

 

 

2 thoughts on “Missions Catalyst 7.10.13 – Practical Mobilization”

  1. Shane,
    Great pointers! I hammer into my short-termers to share stories of impact, not activity. I don’t want to hear your itinerary and all the projects you did, I want to hear one or two stories of how God used you to impact someone else or how God impacted you. Impact not activity.

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