Mission Co-worker Visits and Relationships
Mission Co-worker visits
Each Global Ministries mission co-worker serves with an international partner and then returns to serve in the US and Canada at the end of his/her term of service. During home assignment mission co-workers are scheduled for four months of interpretation in specific UCC Conferences and Disciples Regions. Usually, these visits are scheduled 3-6 months in advance. Please be in touch with your Region or Conference office about your congregation’s interest in hosting a mission co-worker. Should a congregation plan a special mission event, The Mission Personnel Office will try to provide a current or former Global Ministries mission co-worker or volunteer as a mission speaker.
If you are a member of a congregation interested in requesting or receiving a mission co-worker visit while a mission co-worker is in your UCC Conference/Disciples Region please contact Catherine Nichols
Planning a Mission Co-worker Visit
Hosting a Mission Co-worker
List of Mission Co-worker Relationships
Missionary Resources
There are always new resources to read on the Missionary Stories and Letters page. You’ll find worship resources, missionary photos, faith journey statements, and mission moments. Select a missionary letter the next time you prepare for worship, bible study or a prayer group.
Missionary Relationships
The Missionary Relationship Program provides an exciting opportunity for your congregation to gain greater understanding of mission around the world. By developing a relationship with a missionary, your congregation can put a face on mission and provide a wonderful church family for the missionary.
We have many exciting ways that you can deepen your relationship with our missionaries and we hope that your church’s Mission Committee can consider some or all as you enter into this relationship.
To Establish a Missionary Relationship
• Choose your missionary. You can find more details about each missionary and their work if you click on their name on our globalministries.org. Check out both the missionary, global mission intern and long term volunteer pages. All of our missionaries, in the various categories, are excited and ready to be connected to a local church.
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How to Create a Strong Missionary Relationship:
A missionary relationship can do so much to enhance your congregation’s awareness of mission.
Think about ways that you can bring the whole congregation into this connection.
• Share your congregation and your hopes with your missionary: write something about who you are and hopes for your partnership and then share them with the missionary so she/he can share his/her story and dreams as well.
• Find the members in your congregation who wish to correspond with your missionary partner and reporting back to the congregation. You could ask each church school class to take one month during which they are responsible for writing. Think of creative ways to share this correspondence.
• Pray regularly for the missionary and those they work with – in your bulletin, during the service, in a newsletter. Ask your missionary to share prayer requests with the global partner that they work with and let them know your needs as well.
• Consider creative ways for sharing news from your missionary partner in a variety of church group settings: Church School, worship, newsletters, group meetings. Add photos and even video! Send stories of your achievements to the missionary so they can share your stories with the partners.
• Set aside space in fellowship hall to display letters and pictures from your missionary. Add copies of the letters that you send so all can follow the correspondence. Ask your missionary to send photos of the partner so that your congregation can get a sense of the real life of partners.
• Supplement the letters from your missionary with area information available from Global Ministries or from the library or Internet.
• Think about adding a food from the country where your missionary serves to a church potluck. Ideas can be found in the Global Ministries Cookbook.
• Ask your missionary for an easy song to learn to sing from the region and sing it!
• If you wish to take a mission trip or people to people pilgrimage to the missionary’s country of service, we can help! Contact Lorna Hernandez with the People to People Pilgrimage Office, 317-713-2579 and she can work with your congregation on a plan for the connection.
• Share letters with the partner via the missionary – if your missionary teaches, ask to have the letters shared with students. If your missionary works with women, ask them to share letters with the women. Write about your lives and your hopes for their church. They may write back!
• If the missionary has Sykpe, you could arrange for a time to share information in real time with the congregation for a special church event. Please give the missionary ample time to prepare.
• Host a mission fair/event at your church and invite other churches in your area. We can provide supplies from Global Ministries including a staff person to attend if it is going to be a big event.
• A missionary relationship carries no financial obligation. Use your missionary relationship to help the congregation to understand that missionary support comes from DMF or OCWM giving, which provides the foundation for the work and mission of the entire church and support of missionaries.
Be creative, dream big – and have fun. This is a way for your congregation to feel how alive and growing God’s spirit is around the world! If you come up with a great new idea on how to connect with your missionary, let us know and we will add it to our list.
bmiller@dom.disciples.org
