Post-Trip PowerPoint Script

Slide 1

This slide is meant to be on-screen as people arrive for the presentation, you as the presenter get introduced, and you share you opening remarks: thanks for the opportunity to share MOST Ministries with this group, etc.

Key points include:

MOST is an acronym that stands for “Mission Opportunities Short Term.” We facilitate interested and committed Christians from all over the United States who are looking for opportunities to live out their faith through a short-term mission experience.

Slide 2

Go over our Mission Statement, explaining this is the bases for, and the reason, we do what we do. Our Goal is to Impact the World for Jesus Christ.

In addition, finally, we value our partnerships with the various national Lutheran churches who are sister churches to our LCMS. Just as with LCMS World Missions, we seek to be the “best friend” we can be to the Lutheran Church of Guatemala, the Lutheran Church of Nicaragua, the Lutheran Church of Russia, and all of the other national Lutheran churches around the world. And in those countries like China, for instance, where, for political reasons, there isn’t or can’t be a national Lutheran Church, we work closely as partners in ministry with Lutheran ministry organizations in these countries. Again, our goal is to “empower the Found in reaching the Lost,” using every opportunity given our short-term teams to share the love of Jesus in word and deed.

Slide 3

MOST Ministries is an independent 501C3 non-profit mission society. Although we are closely aligned as partners with LCMS World Missions, Districts and local congregations, we are an independent mission society with our own Board of Directors, our own strategic plan, our own staff, and our own operational plans for fulfilling the specific ministry the Lord has entrusted to our care – namely, Impacting the world for Jesus Christ using short-term mission teams to share the love of Jesus in very powerful and meaningful ways. In addition, as an independent 501C3, we have our own legal standing with the government so that all gifts to MOST Ministries can be claimed as a charitable contribution for tax purposes.

We are a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which gives us special standing with our church body. We have been officially recognized by the LCMS as an organization fully aligned with

LCMS doctrine, mission and purpose. We are seen as a valued ministry partner by our church body.

MOST Ministries is a Covenant Member of the U.S. Standards of Excellence for Short Term Missions. This means we adhere to the following standards and have been reviewed and approved by three peer organizations:

1)God-Centeredness An excellent short-term mission seeks first God’s glory and His kingdom, and is expressed through our:

a)Purpose—Centering on God’s glory and His ends throughout our entire short-term mission (STM) process

b)Lives—Sound biblical doctrine, persistent prayer and godliness in all our thoughts, words and deeds

c)Methods—Wise, biblical and culturally appropriate methods which bear spiritual fruit

2)Empowering Partnerships An excellent short-term mission establishes healthy, interdependent, on-going relationships between sending and receiving partners, and is expressed by:

a)Primary focus on intended receptors

b)Plans which benefit all participants

c)Mutual trust and accountability

3)Mutual Design An excellent short-term mission collaboratively plans each specific outreach for the benefit of all participants, and is expressed by:

a)On-field methods and activities aligned to long-term strategies of the partnership

b)Goer-guests' ability to implement their part of the plan

c)Host receivers' ability to implement their part of the plan

4)Comprehensive Administration An excellent short-term mission exhibits integrity through reliable set-up and thorough administration for all participants, and is expressed by:

a)Truthfulness in promotion, finances and reporting results

b)Appropriate risk management

c)Quality program delivery and support logistics

5)Qualified Leadership An excellent short-term mission screens, trains and develops capable leadership for all participants, and is expressed by:

a)Character—Spiritually mature servant leadership

b)Skills—Prepared, competent, organized and accountable leadership

c)Values—Empowering and equipping leadership

6)Appropriate Training An excellent short-term mission prepares and equips all participants for the mutually designed outreach, and is expressed by:

a)Biblical, appropriate and timely training

b)On-going training and equipping (pre-field, on-field, post-field)

c)Qualified trainers

7)Thorough Follow-up An excellent short-term mission assures debriefing and appropriate follow-up for all participants, and is expressed by:

a)Comprehensive debriefing (pre-field, on-field, post-field)

b)On-field reentry preparation

c)Post-field follow-up and evaluation

MOST Ministries began in 1989 when Gayle Sommerfeld and her husband, Don, led a construction team of fourteen people to Haiti to rebuild a church. Out of that experience a vision was born – to use short-term mission teams as a way to get lay people directly involved in missions, using their gifts to support missionaries and national pastors in accomplishing their ministry goals. After several more teams to Haiti, MOST Ministries was born in 1992. In the past 23 years, MOST Ministries has sent out more than 300 teams to some 40 countries around the world. Over 4000 team members have served on these teams and over 148,000 people throughout the world have been touched by the ministry of these teams.

One of our core values as MOST Ministries is that we’re field driven. Our goal is to help our ministry partners achieve their strategic ministry goals. Therefore, our own vision, goals, tasks and values are derived from the strategic ministry goals of our partners – whether those partners be LCMS World Missions, LCMS World Missions Regional Directors and missionaries, national Lutheran churches and national pastors, or Districts, congregations and individuals here in the States. We see ourselves as servants who link Districts, congregations and individuals here in the States to LCMS World Missions, Regional Directors, Missionaries, national Lutheran churches and national pastors.

Slide 4

MOST Ministries has five Core Values that permeate everything we do as a ministry.

First, we are Gospel centered. MOST Ministries has its foundation in our relationship with Jesus Christas Lord and Savior and our adherence to the Scriptures as God’s Word for our life. Every team we send to the field has some kind of evangelism and witnessing component. From our perspective, as important as it is to love people with the love of Jesus in our actions, we must also tell them about Jesus with our words.

Our secondCore Value is being Field-Driven. Regional Directors, missionaries, and national churches first identify their strategic ministry goals. Then they identify those goals for which they would like help from MOST Ministries. Thenwe work with our missionaries and the national churches to define the project, structure and recruit a team, arrange the logistics, and facilitate the team pre-field, on the field, and post-field after they’re home.

Our third Core Value is Empowering Relationships. We are committed to facilitating our teams in a way that does not create dependency on the part of the people we serve. We are very careful to ensure that the projects we send teams to do are their projects, not ours. The ministry goals are their ministry goals, not ours. The long-term responsibility for the ministry is theirs, not ours. We are called to serve and equip through empowering relationships.

Our fourth Core Value is Servanthood. Jesus said, “I have come, not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.” Jesus has called us to the very same kind of servant lifestyle. We are committed to loving people with the love of Jesus humbly and with all our heart. We recognize that the projects our teams are asked to work on are really the projects of the missionaries and the national churches we serve. They know their needs better than we do. They know their cultural context better than we do. Our job is to come alongside them and to serve them to the best of our ability, helping them accomplish their ministry goals in a way that respects them and honors Jesus.

Finally, our fifth Core Value is excellence. We are committed to excellence in every aspect of our ministry: within the office, recruiting and organizing teams, getting teams ready for their mission experience pre-field, facilitating the team’s mission experience on the field, and managing the team’s reentry back home after their mission experience. One example of this commitment to excellence is our commitment to team member safety. We monitor on a daily basis what is happening around the world, especially in those places where we are sending teams. And if we need to cancel a team due to safety and security concerns, as happened in 2005 with a Venezuela team, we will do so. We will then look for another opportunity to use those team members in a more safe and secure location. All of our team leaders are very well-trained. They are first aid and CPR certified; they have been trained in crisis management protocols – including what to do, God forbid, if a team member should die on the field; they have nursing protocols for something like 25 of the most common illnesses that can occur during a mission trip; they have 24/7 access to a physician licensed in international medicine. We work hard to arrange safe and secure travel logistics for every team – but team leaders are trained and empowered to make changes on the field, if there are any safety or security concerns. This is something we take very seriously!

Slide 5

MOST Ministries provides Goer and Sender opportunities to people throughout the US and Canada.

“Goers” are the people who actually GO on the mission trip. Teams usually consist of 10-15 team members but can be as small as 4 and as large as 20. MOST sends teams all around the world and now also does domestic mission trips, serving people within our own US borders. 2012 Domestic trips include Louisiana, Alaska, Texas and Michigan.

“Senders” are people who make missions possible by supporting the “Goers” by volunteering stateside to prepare mission supplies, giving financial support and prayer support to Goers. MOST Ministries has Sender activities for groups and individuals.

Slide 6

Types of teams

Congregation/Organization Teams: Consist of teams that usually have at least 10 members from the same group – church, school, university, district, LWML zone…etc.- who have the desire and commitment to serve on a short-term mission together. These teams have the potential to touch uncountable numbers of people, including the nationals whom they will serve, their own group membership and their local community. Most members of congregational / organizational teams have said that one of the most powerful aspects of their mission experience was the blessings that occurred from and within their own congregations.

Individual Teams: Consist of individuals, couples, and families from all over the United States who are brought together to serve. Anyone can join one of these teams. No experience or professional skills are necessary. Individuals with a variety of gifts and interests are needed on each team, with the link being a strong commitment to Christ, and a servant’s heart.

Slide 7

We provide over 20 projects for short-term mission teams. To date, we have sent teams to work on the projects listed on the slide.

Presenter: instead of reading through the list, choose 1-3 projects to highlight by sharing a story of a personal experience you had while on that type of project. That is much more effective and interesting than describing the work of the project.

This list is ever-expanding and changing, again, because we are field driven. As our missionaries and the national churches identify other projects they want our help with, we will work to meet those new needs.

Slide 8

Team Process -

MOST Ministries has relationships with missionaries and national churches all over the world and works with these partners to identify how a short term mission team can help them fulfill their ministry goals. The MOST Ministries Team Administrator works closely with groups and individuals to match the gifts, skills, interests, dynamics of a team and their availability with requested projects from the field.

The Team Liaison is a team member who serves as the liaison between MOST Ministries and our team leader. They are the main point of contact with team members. They are responsible for facilitating the preparation of the team outside of the training meeting with the team leader. They are the ones who manage and oversee the completion of forms, the sending of finances, and team member attention to the logistical details of the trip. We provide every church liaison with a training manual that outlines their role and responsibilities. In addition, our staff and the team leader serve as coaches and mentors to make

sure the church liaison is able to do everything expected of them pre-field, on the field, and post-field.

A key component for a successful team is empowered team members. There are several key roles filled by the team members themselves, in addition to carrying out the project. The team medic is a nurse or EMT – someone certified to provide basic emergency care should the need arise. The cultural coordinators research the country and culture of the country where the team is going and help facilitate the team’s pre-field cultural learning. The luggage coordinators manage the check-in of luggage at airports, the claiming of luggage in baggage claim, and the movement of luggage throughout the trip. The music coordinator works with team members leading devotions to provide appropriate music for those devotions and throughout the mission team experience, as needed. The team photographers take photos and video clips to capture the team experience for team members and others. And certainly this is not an exhaustive list of team member roles. Depending on the team and the team’s project, it might be useful to have a tool coordinator, a meal coordinator, a craft coordinator – and so forth. It’s really up to each individual team to decide what roles they need.

MOST Ministries Team leaders are very well trained. The process for becoming a team leader requires a significant investment of time and resources on their part. First, they have to serve as a team member on at least one or two teams. Then they have to participate in a Team Leader training seminar. Then they have to serve as a Secondary Team Leader on one or two teams, with a Team Leader Trainer in the Primary Team Leader role. Then they have to serve as the Primary Team Leader on another one or two team, with the Team Leader Trainer in the Secondary Team Leader role as a coach and mentor. Thus our team leaders have participated in at least three to five teams before they are ever asked to serve as a team leader on their own. Our team leaders are all volunteers and, on average, lead two to four team a year. Our team leaders meet at least once with their team prior to leaving for the mission field. Our team leaders are responsible for interacting with the hosts on the field, overseeing the team project, ensuring team safety, managing any crises that might arise, keeping the focus on the spiritual nature of what the team is doing, helping the team process what they are seeing and doing, and leading nightly debriefing sessions.

MOST Ministries provides training through our Team Leaders as well as educational videos that are emailed to team members, live links to helpful webpages and a plethora of documents that covers personal preparation, cross-cultural preparation, what to expect with re-entry and coming home, a Bible Study on servanthood designed to get team members in the right frame of mind to participate in a short-term mission team, a post-field Bible study, team building exercises and fundraising helps. In addition to the in person training from the Team Leader, the videos and on line documents, our staff is committed to walking alongside each and every team to ensure they are well-prepared for their mission experience.

Slide 9

Presenter: Please check with the Team Administrator at MOST Ministries before your presentation to learn what teams are currently open and plug this information into this slide

MOST Ministries team schedule can always be found on our website but if you don’t see something that works for you, please call the office. There are always project and teams that need filling that aren’t listed.