MissionFundraising.com/JimWaltersOnline.com

My family and I used to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) in Papua New Guinea (PNG, just north of Australia). We lived in-country for a total of six years. My role was as a missionary pilot. The role of WBT is to translate the New Testament (or more, if able) into the viable languages that have no written scriptures in their own langauge.

Whenever a Bible Translation Project reaches its “completion”, there is a large celebration by the people-group receiving the published scriptures. One item that many people in “sending nations” find peculiar is that the receiving people are asked to buy the scriptures that have just been translated into their language. “We’re talking about the scriptures here, and salvation…and, you’re a ‘missionary’. Why are you charging for the work of the ministry?”

Meanwhile, there is an interesting website called “Business as Mission Network“, and it promotes exactly what its title implies, “Using businesses as an opportunity for spreading the Gospel.” Some of their tenets are:

• Committed to The Local Church: The business supports partnership with the indigenous church in the community.
• Glorifying to God: The name of God is the ultimate object of praise, not the name of the business.

One of these opportunities is providing business loans to people in developing countries. To the chagrin of some, the lenders charge interest for their loans. But, there is an interesting dynamic when it comes to money and certain types of product, including “christian product”. This same dynamic also appears in PNG regarding translated New Testaments: “If it’s free, it must not have much value. It isn’t worth much, otherwise you wouldn’t be “giving” it to me.”

Hope International is a non-profit Christian-based organization which has the goal of alleviating poverty via holistic means, including providing the business loans mentioned above…and again, they charge interest. But listen to a question they sometimes receive: “Why do you charge interest to the poor? Why not just offer interest-free loans or grants?” In reply, a woman who has her own counseling business directed at the poor stated:

• “It actually makes a lot of sense why they charge interest.” She shared that when her practice first opened, decades ago, she provided free counsel to underprivileged women—single mothers, former inmates, etc. “They rarely showed up for our scheduled sessions. If they did show up, they kind of blew it off.” She went on to discuss why she now charges these at-risk clients. While she discounts her service significantly, she still charges a fee. The change, as she described it, has been remarkable. “Now these women value my services. They come on time, they are invested, and they soak up every minute of their sessions. It’s been a dramatic shift since I’ve started charging a fee.”

Just as “freedom isn’t ‘cheap’ just because it’s ‘free”, neither is the gospel, nor any other commodity of value. Providing “free” money is counter-intuitive; providing free Bibles sometimes “devalues” God’s message; providing free counseling requires no commitment to change…thus, we charge a fee!

Somebody once “tweeted” in Twitter and asked why this website, MissionFundraising.com, charges $12.77 for its eBooks that supposedly help missionaries and church planters spread the Word. The author of these books, Jim Walters, replies:

Technorati Tags: Business As Mission Network, church planting, gospel, Hope International, papua new guinea, wycliffe bible translators

Take a look at this short, 3-minute video. In the beginning you will see an airstrip, and an airplane landing on the airstrip. This is taken in Papua New Guinea, where I used to be a missionary pilot with Wycliffe Bible Translators. While this video may not necessarily be of me, I have literally and personally flown the plane shown, landed on the airstrip shown, and flown this gentleman and his family in and out of the village shown.

Bible Translation is a lengthy and very worth-while task. Many translators work on a language project for 15-20 years, just to provide the New Testament to a people group, so that they could read with their own eyes, and understand with their own heart, what God has to say to them.

Whatever your role in missions, whether evangelism, church planting, technical support, accounting, carpentry or plumbing, furthering the Gospel is the greatest and most significant task you could undertake here on earth.

There are many roles you could play in your short term mission trip, not all of which are directly linked to “sharing the message.” My family served in a support role for over 7 years while we worked in Haiti and Papua New Guinea. We supported and assisted those who were more directly involved in Bible Translation.

Take whatever skill you have, and use it. You can either directly or indirectly impact the Work. God “needs” and uses both.

Gary Skrobot

Technorati Tags: bible translation, jaars, maf, mission aviation, wycliffe bible translators

This is a reprint from CalebResources.org and MissionCatalyst, which can be found here.

MissionFundraising.com is dedicated to providing resources for short-term mission support, church planting support, and other nonprofit ministries. We hope you find this article useful.

Sorting It Out: Simple Questions for Debriefing Short-termers

Source: Marti Smith, Caleb Resources

As a mission mobilizer I’m both pleased and a bit worried at what Steve Moore calls “the punkification of missions.” You know: here’s a chord, here’s another chord, now form a band! Or here’s an idea, here’s an opportunity, form your own mission.

The more I think about it, it the more I see the value of keeping things simple and easy to pass on to others. Maybe those who have been doing this sort of thing a little longer should just try to share the chords they’ve learned along the way.

When it comes to short-term mission trips, one essential chord is debriefing. The debriefing process is often skipped, slighted, or squeezed. Even teams that meet weekly for months before the trip may confine debriefing to a Saturday morning with donuts, but no follow-up or accountability. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Anyone who is willing to listen can help debrief a short-termer or short-term team.

Asking the Basic Questions

If you have just one debriefing session, try this. On paper or in person, in a big group or one on one, ask your short-termers 3-6 basic questions:

- How was your trip?
- What was the best thing about it?
- What was the hardest part for you?
- What did God teach you?
- What are you going to do about it, and when?
- Share an answered prayer.

Taking the time to think through these questions and topics will help short-termers process what happened. Plus, they will be better able to give a meaningful answer when others ask the same questions. It pays to be prepared. A good goal: be able to effectively describe the experience in a sentence or two.

Add a few more sessions to your debriefing plan if you can, especially if you’re debriefing a whole team.

Remembering What God Has Done

Have each team member spend 20 minutes journaling:

“What have you seen God do for you on this trip? Think about the miracles, answers to prayer, and the ways God worked above and beyond your expectations. Don’t forget how he got you here, prepared you, and brought in your support.”

Ask team members to share their answers with the group so everyone can thank and glorify God for what he has done.

Working through the Hard Stuff

Many troubling things can come to the surface on a short-term mission trip. Short-termers may come face to face with their own weaknesses and failures. They may feel disappointed or disillusioned about their team or their hosts.

Try to provide a safe environment to discuss things that were difficult, especially if these struggles reinforce lies they may believe about themselves, the world, God, or other people. One-on-one “debriefing interviews,” conducted by someone who was not part of the team, can also help identify conflicts and relationship problems that still need resolution.

Locking in the Lessons

Use this handy worksheet to help short-termers identify and “lock in” the lessons they are learning and prepare to share them with others. It’s a simple, step-by-step process that any of us might find helpful for making sense of a potentially overwhelming experience.

Staying Connected

Chances are good that the ministry your short-termers were involved in did not begin and end with them. So take a long-term view and ask: “What are the ongoing needs and opportunities? How can you, your family, or your church continue to contribute or stay connected with this ministry?” If you spend time talking about next steps, make sure to include an invitation to stay connected with the field.

Other debriefing sessions might focus on reentry and reverse culture stress, team affirmation and prayer, mobilizing others, preparing a presentation, evaluating the program, or having short-termers write themselves letters to be mailed in six months.

>> Shorttermmissions.com has several articles on debriefing, including Coming Home: Debriefing Exercises to Help You Process Re-entry Shock, by Lisa Espinelli Chinn.

>> The STEM International online store has a great collection of resources about every aspect of short-term missions, including training and debriefing materials.

NOTE: Thanks to Jen, Gretchen, David, Eric, and Mark for help with this article.