In This Issue: The Power of Thanks
- FEATURE – The Power of Thanks
- SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION – Twitter for Mobilizers?
- EVENTS – Calling All Kiwis
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!
Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.
FEATURE – Expressions of Gratitude
Source: Shane Bennett & Missions Catalyst Readers
One of the best things we can do with our time (at least strategic nuggets of it) is to thank other people. Thank them for their time, their contribution, who they are, and what they mean to us. If bless means “to make happy,” we can seriously bless someone by sincerely thanking them.
The apostle Paul was great at this. He was always thanking God for the things he saw in people.
Just a few weeks ago, I experienced thanks in a powerful way. I had spent an unusual and very cool week in Mongolia training a group of South Koreans. We had a great time, worked hard, battled the language barrier, and learned a lot.
At the end of the week, they hosted a little party with me as the special guest. There was a cake with candles, a special song, a wonderful PowerPoint, and an amazing prayer time. I don’t know what was prayed (it was mostly in Korean), but I had the sense that the heavens were shaking, angels were taking note, and God was indeed blessing me. And to top it off, they gave me a Mongolian cashmere sweater!
I don’t know how closely this group represents all South Korean believers, but I’ve got to say, these guys knew how to say thank you. It was “thank you” taken to the level of art.
I suspect cultures that are older and place higher value on honor and tradition may have more skill in expressing gratitude than more informal cultures, like mine, do. (As an American, I can imagine a brother tossing off a quick “thanks” to someone who had just given him a heart-lung transplant or a daughter’s hand in marriage!) Because gratitude matters, I want to do better at this.
Here are eight quick tips from Mission Catalyst readers and others which may jump start your gratitude motor.
1. Fifty ways to thank a partner.
(If that title causes you to idly hum a chart-topping 1976 Paul Simon song, stop and repent for your wild youth!)
Ken Williams offers a fantastic list of ways to express gratitude to people who join us in ministry. If you only have four minutes for this Practical Mobilization article, use the minutes you have left to read Ken’s list, pick one or two, and execute them.
I like number 19: Send them a video of your lives and work. Here’s a baby-step effort at that.
2. Merhaba, bedankt, and terima kasih.
Neal Pirolo, author of the iconic Serving as Senders, offers these two tips:
“Often the gift is so overwhelming that it seems like such simple words are not enough. But I have discovered that keeping it simple – foregoing the feeling of needing to gush – works!”
“My wife and I travel a lot, and train others in cross-cultural ministry. We make it a firm discipline to learn one expression in every language: Thank you! It can be said a hundred times a day.”
3. Don’t tell ’em they’re great. Tell ’em they made you feel great.
Chuck and Sylvia relate some tactical thanks-giving advice: Focus on how you experienced the thing for which you’re giving thanks. The ‘thankee’ cannot argue with that! The thanks will be received. Avoid expressing judgments about the person: Telling someone how good she is will very likely to create an internal review of how she’s really bad, and the thanks will not be received.
4. The wisdom of ancient paths.
Jenny passed along a challenging example of thanking ministry partners. (Alert: Guilt, shame, and accusation may knock on your door as you read this. You know where to tell them to go.)
“Last spring I was blessed to attend a Women of the Harvest conference in Croatia. I was amazed to meet a woman who had been on the field for over 15 years and 80% of her financial partners were the same people who originally sent her to the field. Do you know why? She sends a hand-written thank-you note every month to each giver. I know how time-consuming this is, but she clearly communicates her gratefulness for their giving that allows her and her family to do ministry in the place God has called them. I was inspired.”
5. The convenience and coolness of new paths.
If you can’t really imagine finding a stamp and trekking to the post office, maybe an online company that will spit out a real world post card might be of value to you. I like HazelMail, mainly for the logo. (I’m an easy mark for cute branding.)
6. Set aside time to thank your tribe.
Marti sent this suggestion: “Do you serve on a ministry team with other believers? Cultivate a culture of trust, confidence, and appreciation by scheduling periodic times of group affirmation. Pick one person to focus on first, and invite everyone in the group to share how they see God at work in and through that person and how they are blessed to serve with them. (Avoid awkward silences by giving the group advance warning that this is going to happen, and/or time to prepare!)
“Affirmation sessions may seem artificial, but they really work. I always come away encouraged, and find that hearing what others in the group have to say about my teammates helps me appreciate them more, too.”
7. Try thank-you Thursday.
It helps me build a habit if I regularly schedule the activity I want to ingrain. To boost my thanks quotient, I’m going to institute a Thank-you Thursday post on my blog. This will be an avenue to thank God for a few of the good gifts he’s given, acknowledge people I appreciate, and generally get the gratitude juices flowing. You may want to enlist your Facebook status, send an email of appreciation, or simply make a point of saying thanks to your spouse/child/housemate/boss/employee or a random person on the street: “It’s Thank-you Thursday and I appreciate you!”
8. Nothing says thank you like… bacon?
Finally, in searching for great ways to say thank you, I came across this nugget: “Wrap a note around a favorite food of the person you are thanking. Maybe they have a favorite candy bar, love trail mix, or have a weakness for chocolate-chip cookies. Whatever it may be, a quick thank-you note attached to their food is a great way to show your appreciation.” Actually, for someone whose favorite food is bacon, you may want to skip this idea.
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SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION – Twitter for Mobilizers?
Source: Shane Bennett
What are we going to do with Twitter? Some people say it’s becoming the key method of communication, while others (some Luddites, some not) say it’s a passing fad. I don’t know. I have a spotty record of predicting the future of tech (my early of adoption of Macintosh notwithstanding!). Even so, I want to use every tool in the cabinet to help connect people who love Jesus with people haven’t met him.
So, two things:
1. Please send me info about people to follow who are using Twitter for mission mobilization. I’ll compile the list and share it with the group.
2. I’m planning to tweet twice a day for the next month: Once with something of mobilization importance (that’s subjective) and once of broader interest (again, subjective).
>> Follow Shane Bennett on Twitter.
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EVENTS – Calling All Kiwis
Source: New Zealand Missions Interlink
Missions Interlink, the New Zealand network for cross-cultural mission, is sponsoring two upcoming events. Their site also provides a gateway to the country’s mission agencies, resources, and opportunities.
August 1 – “Envision” National Missions Conference (Tuaranga, New Zealand). Come for an action-packed day with three keynote speakers, a selection of country reports, electives, mission agency exhibits, and an opportunity to meet like-minded Christians.
October 27 to November 1 – Missionary Enrichment Retreat (Turangi, New Zealand). Retreats, held twice a year, provide opportunities for missionaries to reflect on their experience, evaluate how they have coped, and equip themselves for the future.
>> See the Missions Catalyst events calendar for additional missions conferences, missionary retreats, and more.
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