Go Then (eBook)

A Manual for Short-Term Outreaches

Dr Nico Mulder (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
209 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-1-0691718-0-1 (ISBN)

Infos

This book contains the nitty gritty of planning and executing a Short-Term Outreach mission trip.

Finer detail is in this book, like: what to pack, what admin to do, how and with what to train the outreach members/participants, how to raise funds, how to publicise the outreach, all the data to get from the hosts, inter culture sensitivity, biblestudy, group format, and much much more.

The author executed and accompanied many outreaches in different countries over the world. He also mobilised people for World Evangelism and used outreaches as one of the instruments to do that. He is still busy in his retirement to accompany and train outreach groups.

Textauszug

WHAT IS A

3

SHORT-TERM OUTREACH?

 

A short-term outreach is a personal engagement through word and deed of a group of people (whether individuals or teams) for a short period of time, who are looking for the opportunity to experience a different culture as a team or individual and to interact with these people on a personal level to make the Gospel available in a way different from full-time missionaries. The goal is to assist existing ministries in the mission field in a specific manner for a predetermined period.

 

Outreaches of this nature are time-bound. Short-term outreaches are outreaches that are not longer than three months and are not shorter than two weeks, but always in consultation with the host congregation. For the purposes of this manual, the focus is primarily on outreaches that are no longer than three months, hereby there is no denying that longer outreaches are not short-term outreaches.

 

Dixon defines short-term as:

 

“… anything shorter than a full-time career missionary"

(R Dixon, Short Term Missionary Outreach Manual, 1996, p2)

 

Team building, team bonding, and teamwork are inseparable elements of a short-term outreach and presuppose a group of individuals who are grouped together and work well together and achieve synergy.

 

These types of outreaches have specific tasks in mind, they do not do what they would like to do, but usually tap into existing ministries of the host congregation and serve the hosts by making a meaningful and encouraging contribution to the ministry of the hosts and/or host congregation. This service involves word and deed testimony.

 

Short-term outreaches are part of a process. It's no program or a hit-and-run method but fits in with serving the hosts in the outreach country.

 

Personal interaction with people from the outreach country means that the outreach members exploit opportunities to live, work, worship the Lord and share lives with the people of the outreach country (host country).

 

These outreaches have life-changing results on both the host congregation as well as the outreach team members. The life change brings about that outreach members have a growing awareness of the responsibility regarding the need for the availability of the Gospel in the world. Because of their own relationship with the Lord, the outreach members commit to the spiritual, physical, and emotional health of the outreach country's people (or unreached groups).

 

Short-term outreach is one of the best methods to mobilise the church of Christ for world evangelism.

 

The church of Christ is served by outreach. Through short-term outreach, the love of Christ is taken from one part of the church of Christ to another part of it.

 

3.1      Types of Short-Term Outreach

 

3.1.1      Special Service Personnel (outreaches that have an impact on an individual)

A special need that exists in the outreach country is catered for.

3.1.2      Organisation-based outreach (outreaches that impact a few individuals)

An individual or group of individuals goes to a specific country or territory under the direction of a sending organisation or church and performs a special/specific task under the direction of the host congregation.

3.1.3      Congregation-based outreach (outreaches that impact an entire congregation)

The congregation chooses the location, time, leader, team, and takes full responsibility for the outreach team.

* The congregation chooses the workplace

* The Congregation Provides Leaders

* The participants come from the same congregation

* The outreach interprets the congregation's outreach strategy

 

Personally, I believe that short-term outreach should be congregation-based, as it is the calling of the church, with which sending organisations can be helpful.

 

3.2 Personalisation of evangelism

 

The goal is to get each member of the church personally involved in outreach work according to their gifts and talents so that the whole church, the heart of God to the world, will make their own.

 

3.2.1      Results of personalisation

* God is glorified by obedience (John 17:4; Ephesians 2:10)

* Believers and those who hear the Gospel are blessed. (James 1:12)

* A world vision is developed (Luke 24:27,32)

* More people's hearts are in world evangelism (Mat 6:21)

* More often, unreached ones are reached.

 

3.2.2      Benefits of Personalisation

* Identification with the missionary/mission field is promoted, among other things, through knowledge gained, more understanding and awareness of the need for the Gospel.

* Ministry of the congregation is extended to the mission field through the outreach team members.

* Interest in outreach work in the world is being increased.

* Parishioners are more often involved in outreach work.

 

3.2.3      Mode of personalisation

Personalisation of outreach work can be done in four ways:

1.      An annual missionary conference in the congregation.

2.      Continuous prayer for the world.

3.      Financial support of outreach team members/missionaries.

4.      Short-term outreach.

 

Each participant's involvement in a short-term outreach contributes to its personalisation. The asset of congregation-based short-term outreach is that the entire congregation experiences personalisation of outreach work. It also provides an opportunity for the senders and participants to obey the command of Jesus Christ to distribute disciples everywhere.

 

3.3      Purpose of Short-Term Outreach

 

• To help spread the Gospel. The human being is achieved in his totality, in other words, a holistic approach is followed. People who are reached out to must be taught not only to serve alone, but also to convey the Gospel at the right time and manner with the necessary sensitivity. For this, a very prudent approach is required.
• To expose outreach members to the need for the Gospel in the world.
• To meet the needs of the host congregation and/or missionary, which probably could not be reached by other means.

"The outreach team does what the missionary 'on the ground' needs and wants."

(R Dixon, Short Term Missionary Outreach Manual, 1996, p 3)

• To promote service delivery. The host congregation and/or missionary is served by the outreach members.
• To meet the needs and needs of the local churches by serving them. Rev. Deon Loots is of the opinion that the purpose of outreach should as far as possible only concentrate on practical service delivery:

"... I am of the opinion that practical service delivery is the most effective way in which the gospel can be communicated cross-culturally in the short term."

(D Loots, Short-Term Outreach to Middle Africa, 1994, p 1)

“… We will have to shift our emphasis from going out to preach and teach to going out to serve and learn from others."

(D Loots, Short-Term Outreach to Middle Africa, p 6)

• To encourage and strengthen local churches and their leaders.
• To bring about embodiment of outreach work in the lives of outreach members, but also at the sending organisation.
• To make members more aware of their responsibility to the need for the Gospel in the world.
• To demonstrate how God can use ordinary members.
• To mobilise local congregations into personal involvement.
• To motivate outreach members to longer-term outreach through short-term outreach.
• To "cultivate" missionaries in this way. Through short-term outreach, the outreach member is given a worldview and an understanding of where the Lord wants to use him/her.
• To go and serve missionaries from local...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 29.10.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
• Schlagworte: Evangelism • inter cultural outreach • Language acquisition • missions • Outreach • short-term missions • Short-term outreach
• ISBN-10: 1-0691718-0-8 / 1069171808
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0691718-0-1 / 9781069171801