The Deputation Jumpstart for Vision Baptist Missionaries

 

Here are a few ideas that VBC may find useful as she begins to commission an army of missionaries. Deputation is a time of proving, a time of preparing, and a time of blessing for missionaries before they leave for the mission field. They must raise up a team of major donors in as little time as possible. Part of being a “world evangelism” church will be our ability to maximize a missionary’s deputation process. This means raising as much support as possible in as little time as possible with as much permanence as possible.

 

I.                   The Materials

A.     Prayer Card Design – Use Vision’s Peru contacts to get a sharp design done for the missionary. Maybe have a unique size or shape for all Vision Missionaries. Maybe larger than most prayer cards, with a prominent VBC logo. Maybe tie the theme of the card into the current Our Generation theme. Maybe let the prayer card be bigger, with more info than usual, making it a cross of a prayer card and a brochure.

B.      Use of Church Letterhead – Get church letterhead printed with the missionary’s name, tying him again to the VBC name. Any letter the missionary sends a church, or his prayer letter, screams that he both has his act together enough to be considered staff at a church like VBC and that VBC is behind him enough to let him use the letterhead.

C.     Pastor Recommendation CD – Instead of just a regular pastoral recommendation letter, make the missionary’s info packet jump out at a pastor by including a preaching CD. Track 1 is Pastor Gardner preaching a missions message. Track 2 is Pastor Gardner’s recommendation of the missionary and his ministry – his guarantee. Track 3 is the missionary preaching a short message and introducing himself and his family. Singing if they do that. Pastors don’t care a great deal about info packets. More would probably be interested in a preaching tape.

D.    Info Packet Assembly – After a church service, host a fellowship afterwards to help the missionary get ready for the deputation trail. Provide food and encourage members to stay later to help the missionary assemble several hundred information packets. Include recommendation CD, prayer letter, personal letter, prayer card, and return address label. Get them assembled and stamped, leaving them unsealed and unaddressed.

 

II.                The Scheduling

A.     The Phone Bank – two months before the missionary is scheduled to begin traveling, print up-to-date phone records of contact info for churches. VBC members are specially trained to call other churches as representatives of VBC and ask for opportunities for the missionary to present his ministry. Many churches will simply require that the missionary send info, but the members’ calling will eliminate much of the time the missionary normally spends seeking interested churches. This also shows scheduling churches that VBC is behind this missionary enough to push for his presence in other churches, something most missionaries could never achieve.

B.      The Pastoral Party – Expensive, but probably a worthwhile investment in a missionary’s ministry. VBC hosts a pastor’s fellowship featuring a hot meal, an afternoon on the golf course, good music, and guest preachers. Show fifty preachers a fantastic time. Make them happy, refreshed, and recharged. Then introduce the featured missionary. Let him introduce himself and preach for ten to fifteen minutes. The message has to be practiced, perfected, exciting, and funny. The kind of message you want preached in your church. All the pastors should be given extensive information about the missionary and his ministry. There should also be a table in the back where the pastor can schedule the missionary to come to his church. The missionary should also actively follow up on all the pastors that attend.

 

III.             The Identity

A.     The Staff Treatment – A missionary from VBC should be able to boast that he is just like a staff member of VBC. Maybe have him listed in all church literature as VBC’s “Zambian Representative.” He’s not supported, he’s on the payroll. Include him in major church meetings and decisions, preparing him for leadership on the field, and allowing him to talk to pastors more intelligently about the ministry.

B.      Visible VBC Identity – As soon as a missionary comes into a church, it should be obvious that he’s from Vision. His prayer cards should sport the logo boldly. Maybe the missionary could wear a pin on his suit identifying him as a Vision Staff Member. A sword pin, perhaps. Something people would comment on and ask about, giving the missionary opportunity to talk about his home church.

 

IV.             The Traveling

A.     Strategic Escorted Meetings – For local meetings, Wednesday night meetings, or critical meetings at key churches, consider sending a VBC staff member with the missionary to show the church’s support. Or maybe a Sunday school class or Training Center group would make it a class activity. This would promote the impression that VBC stands behind this missionary unreservedly.

B.      Prophet’s Chamber Bookings – When a missionary needs to spend the night in a certain area, it would be a help to him to be able to call his home church and ask them to schedule a night’s stay in a prophet’s chamber in the area. The church need only keep a running database of prophet’s chambers and make some phone calls to check for availability and to schedule their missionary.

C.     Gas and Restaurant Gift Cards – For a special Christmas or missions conference project (especially when packages are sent to missionaries already on the field), encourage church members to give cards to the missionary with a gift card for gas or food. This makes for an easier life on the road, eased expenses and added encouragement.

D.    The Screen Test – Help a missionary put together the ultimate presentation. Let the staff of Vision help him to work out all the kinks of his preaching and presentation. Have him practice in front of the VBC staff and in front of every VBC Sunday school class. The missionary must learn to sell his burden to pastors, deacons, Sunday school teachers and classes of every age. Make sure that his presentation is top-notch before he ever tries it out on the deputation trail.

 

V.                The Encouragement

A.     Deputation Assistant – Assign a church member, especially a student, the position of a missionary’s “deputation assistant.” The missionary can call on their assistant for help with office work, driving to meetings, preparing messages, studying the field, etc. The assistant should even accompany the missionary on his survey trip, if possible. This gives a VBC student the opportunity to experience deputation life firsthand while giving the missionary the chance to mentor and disciple a potential future missionary.

B.      Annual Retreat – Find an inexpensive site where VBC can withdraw for a weekend annually with their missionaries and staff. Camping, etc. Let Pastor Gardner and the staff mentor and encourage their missionaries. Focus on troubleshooting – find the missionary’s deputation hindrances and come up with new plans for streamlining the support-raising process.

C.     Missionary School – VBC should host the “Pastors School” of missions. Every year at the Our Generation Training Center, maybe the same week as the student leadership conference, give missionaries the opportunity to get some solid training for the field. Preaching and teaching from Pastor Gardner and the VBC staff. Workshops and lectures on strategic, critical missions thinking. Figure out some way to honor repeat attendees. Make it a point to brag about on a missionary’s information: “a two-time Missionaries School attendee.”