A Written Missions Handbook? Yes, you need one!

Congratulations, it is your first day on the job!  You are fresh into this career and you feel so passionate and excited that you ready to jump in.  Where do you start?  You look around and don’t see any projects going on or current agenda.  What is my next step?  Fear starts to set in.  Did I make a bad move?  This is the feeling that many volunteer leaders feel when joining a missions team where their training and preparation for the role was severely lacking.

Much of that confusion or feelings of lack of preparation can be prevented with a simple Handbook.  I know, you are saying “JR, this isn’t anything earth-shattering or new?”  I agree with you, however, it is the final step in creating your Decision Making Funnel.  First, come your Core Convictions and your Core Focus.  Then comes your Financial Support Metrics.  Then to cap it all off, a well rounded and thought out Handbook to hold the remainder of the needed documents or information is the final step.

 
There are many other commitments that a church or missions team has to make when it comes to their missions.  Will we financially support individuals going on a short term missions trip?  How will we care and encourage our missionaries that come to visit with on furlough?  How much pulpit time will missionaries have on their visit?  The list can go on and on.  Does your team desire to have your church family visit your missionaries regularly on the field?  What would that look like?  How about logistical questions that include the length of stay or cost?  All of that can be held in a handbook and used as needed when the time comes or the question is raised. 

Think of it this way.  You are the chairperson of the missions team at your church.  You have served faithfully for 17 years.  You have led your team to create a short term missions calendar as well as a regular serving opportunity in your local community.  You have prayed and worked like anyone with a passion to see more people come to know Jesus.  Now after 17 years, you wish to step down and allow someone else to lead.  How will they be successful in their role and continue the missional momentum that you created if they have no foundational material for stand upon? A well thought out Missions Handbook will allow you to pass the leadership baton to the next person coming to lead the team.  

On a related note, one of the questions I have received as a church coach is how do we go about finding and equipping new members to serve on the missions team.  The desire here is to have some sort of succession plan.  What does it look like to hand off the responsibilities to someone else coming onto the team?  Too many times I have met with new Missions Team Leaders and they are like a deer in headlights.  They accepted the volunteer position but were never equipped with the information as well as their next step.  Having a handbook, a quality well-informed handbook is a vital tool in order to make the biggest impact in your community and on the world.

A missions handbook is more than useless information that we only look at once a year.  It is a vital source of observations, requests and obligations that each church needs to faithfully spend time in fleshing out.  Once this is complete, you have found yourself a successful decision making funnel. 
If you do not have a handbook for your church or missions team, I’d love to help in any way possible.  If you have an existing handbook, please consider building its effectiveness by creating Core Convictions, Core Focus and Financial Support Metrics.