Benefits of a mission team

A short term mission team involves a lot of hard work. There is much planning, time and details to see to for both the team going, and the people they are going to help. While Scott and Sharon were here they shared with us, some of the ways that having a team will benefit them. Some direct benefits are that we will be seed scattering manpower by way of tract distribution, and open air. Another benefit comes from us just going over there. As we give up part of our summer and do various things to serve the Lord, it is a living testimony. We represent a changed life, one that is committed to follow a living God. A less obvious, but just as important benefit is that by coming and witnessing first hand their ministry, we will have a better understanding of their needs, we can communicate those needs better with others, and we can pray better.
Aside from the benefits for the missionaries the team also receives benefits. Participating in a cross cultural ministry can change the course of the participant's life. The preparation work, and bible study, and team bonding gives the team a practical way to live out their faith. Some even go into full time missions after a short term trip. So you see in the long run all the work is worth it. Tune in next time to see the benefits for the senders.

Culture Training

During our training session with the MacLeans we learned about the culture and the area that they are serving. Scott said to describe it in 3 words he would use:Beautiful, Needy, and Hard. Beautiful is the obvious word since Domodossola is in the valley of the Alps.

Needy-the city where they live is in a central location to many little villages. This area has about 70,000 people and of them the city of Domodossola has about 20,000. In all that area there is only about 100 evangelical believers.

Hard-people's hearts are very hard to the gospel. They are not hostile to it, just apathetic (they just don't care). They are Catholic because they are Italian. Beyond the sacraments of youth their religion does not affect their life, it is more of a cultural thing. This is why it takes a while for someone to become a believer. The most effective witness is to build a relationship with people and then they notice that our faith is one that makes a difference in our life.

We learned that depression and suicide are common in Italy. To go along with that cheating is quite accepted and they tend to be very suspicious. Some things that they value are family, food, and their appearance. They never go out sloppy. Some things that they don't value is time, they are never in a hurry (unless driving), tactfullness, they say what they think, and to my personal horror, ice. They drink warm drinks! They won't go out with wet hair or dislike fans and drafts.

It was great that we were able to speak to the MacLeans while they are still in the states. This is such valuable information to prepare us for this cross cultural ministry. Tune in to the next post to learn what the benefits of our trip will be.

Training with the MacLeans

The MacLeans arrived Friday evening and met with the team to prepare us for our trip. We began by learning a little about each other and then Scott shared what his ministry goals are and where they are currently in their plans, and then how we fit in. This is what we learned. His ministry is a church planting ministry. At the beginning most of the work is in seed scattering, knowing that if enough is scattered then they will find thirsty souls that will become contacts. Over time spent building relationships, reaching out in Bible studies, etc. a few will become new believers. Then after time spent discipling, and training these native believers will in turn reach out to others in their circle of friends. The goal ultimately is to equip this growing body of believers to take over their own church and then the MacLeans will move to somewhere else and begin again. Currently they are in the scattering seed stage. They have a few contacts and have a few native believers.

The exciting part is where we fit in. When we come we will distribute tracts, do mime in the park and market, host a youth outreach, possibly do a childrens club, basically we will help them scatter seed and hopefully make new contacts. The time is perfect for him to have a team such as ours as they need to reach as many as possible. If their ministry was more developed they would be more involved in discipling and training. God is so awesome to provide their need and he is using us to do it. Well more details about the training tomorrow.