Presentation Schedule

February 1, 2014 By Mike in Churches, Places Tags: AIMUPCI, UPCI 4 Comments

Below, you’ll find a “calendar view” and a “table view” of our schedule to date.

Given the interest to date, many are looking to welcome us in the fall, which will, I suspect, fill up quickly. If you’d like us to come and are able to take us earlier in the year, it would allow us to visit as many churches as possible.

*Note* there are some problems with the google calendar display on mobile devices (shows simply “busy” in stead of the presentation locations. Recommendation: check out “table view”).

Calendar View:

Table View:

No upcoming events

Thank you for your interest in having us come!

10 reasons to keep your Pastor in the Loop

January 29, 2014 By Mike in Churches, People, Process Tags: Mission Point 6 Comments

In my Sensing God’s Direction post, I suggested that one of the first steps your should take, after God has birthed a dream in your spirit, concerning short term missions (or any ministry involvement for that matter), is to talk about it with your pastor.

My Experience:

I can’t express how much of a benefit it has been, to have my pastor both completely informed of and involved in, the application process, the progress of preparations and the communication of my burden. In my mind, the value of your pastor’s role cannot be underestimated.

10 Reasons to involve your pastor:

His Responsibility: Your pastor is accountable to God for the way he takes care of you, one of the sheep that God has entrusted to his care. For this reason, no major ministry-related decisions of any kind should be made without consulting him. If your desire is truly from God, chances are your pastor will not be surprised and will be glad to help you put feet to the dream.

Objective 3rd party: Your pastor is a great person to identify errors or omissions that could weaken your application. In my case, there was a contextual issue which, had I not qualified it, could’ve incited doubts or led to unnecessary questions in the minds of the men evaluating my application. He brought it to my attention and with the addition of a single paragraph, the occasion for confusion was alleviated.

Points of doctrine: Sometimes statements can be made which can come across to someone who doesn’t know you well, as representing an error in doctrine. In 1989, while still in the Baptist church, I was being interviewed for a missions opportunity and responded something along the lines that “the Holy Ghost was a tool through which God…..” I forget the rest, but a poor choice of words raised a major red flag, which, in the absence of clarification, could’ve killed my interview.

Organizational knowledge: Your pastor can provide insight into the normal workings of the departments or individuals on an organizational level: what things need to happen before something else can occur for example.

Pitfall experience: If your pastor has been around for any amount of time, he has likely seen applications (whether for short term missions, district appointments, or others) that have done very well and others that have fallen flat on their face…. or even fell on “deaf ears” because evaluators were missing key details. He can help you to not be another case of pitfall.

Approaching other ministers: Whether you have a formal ministry position or not, your pastor can be a great help in leveraging support, and/or contact, with other ministers, both in and beyond your district. Some pastors, because of ministerial ethics, will not be comfortable approaching you directly (or being approached by you), without first going through your pastor. They want to make sure everything is OK and above board – and this is a wonderful safe-guard. See this note from my pastor, which went out to all ministers in my district before I even thought about contacting them. It establishes that we have worked hand in hand on this project and invites them to contact me directly or to go through him.

Impact on the local church: Whatever the outcome of your application, there will be implications on the local church, moreso of course, if you end up going on short term missions for a time. No pastor wants to be surprised about personnel or staffing changes, nor do they want to be surprised about the timeline. They have to work with remaining staff to ensure the smoothest possible transition and minimize any void left by your absence.

No lone rangers: There have been, in the past, somewhere between the north and south poles, lone rangers. These are people who, to escape a negative situation – whether personally, interpersonally or at a church level – take off to the mission field. Perhaps they feel they will “finally” be able to “have a (recognized) ministry”. far away, where no one knows them. In the long run… lone rangers generally do not benefit the foreign field, nor do they represent the home church or the kingdom of God well. You do not want to risk being associated with, or perceived to be, a lone ranger. Work with your pastor!

Home church advantage: You want to benefit from the full support of your home church in the following areas and your pastor is key to them all:

financial support: unforeseen circumstances may require extra funding. If you have worked with your pastor throughout the process, he will be more inclined to bail you out with a cheerful and willing heart.

prayer support: No one knows your strengths (and weaknesses) like your home church. They are among the most equipped and the most inclined to stand by you in prayer.

moral support: There will be days when a care-package from home will be a welcomed treat. Chances are that someone in your home church spearheaded that effort.

ministry support: Times will arise when a word of advice or insight will make the difference in a make-or-break situation. Keep the line of communication open with those who know you best.

He’s still your pastor: Just because you may find yourself on the other side of the world, does not mean that a father in the faith ceases to be your pastor. Your leadership structure may change, but your pastor should always be able to speak into your life or ministry.

In Short:

If you begin your short term missions journey walking in step with your pastor, there’s a good chance that you’ll benefit from his wisdom and resources throughout the entire process. Your overall experience will be greatly improved and the kingdom of God (both in your life and in your missions experience) will be advanced.

Can you think of other ways in which you’d benefit from including your pastor in the process right from the get-go? I’d love to hear them.

Letter from my Pastor

January 11, 2014 By Mike in Churches, People, Process Tags: AIMUPCI, Mission Point 6 Comments

This note was sent from my pastor, Rev. Brent Carter, to the other ministers of the Atlantic Carter_bust_bw flip District, on Friday, January 10th, 2013. I have his permission to share it in here as well.

Good Afternoon Brethren,

The Lord has opened the door for Bro. and Sis Long, and their family, to be involved in AIM in the country of France. Bro. Long has felt the burden for a number of years and under our direction as Pastor, we support fully their desire to see this come to pass.

During our vision service for 2014 and beyond, this past Sunday, Bro. Long announced to our congregation what we, as a team, have worked towards for their future. This will be a great loss for Mission Point but a great blessing to the Missionaries of France. Their primary purpose will be to take care of things while the Bro. and Sis. Brochu are on deputation.

All approvals have been given by WEC and the budget has been set. The timeline for the Long’s to be in France would be by January 2015. Bro. and Sis. Long are fully versed in the Language and are very capable of accomplishing what God has laid on their heart to do, immediately upon their arrival.

Mission Point will be very involved in helping them financially fulfill this term. If any individuals could assist them financially or if any church would be willing for them to come and share their burden for France, it would be much appreciated as well.

You can either contact myself or Bro. Long by phone or email (633-0010, pastorcarter@missionpoint.ca or mike@missionpoint.ca ) to schedule a service, or, a donation can be sent to the church on their behalf.

Thank You for being an incredible Missions minded District. I thank you in advance for your sacrifice towards this awesome family. They are a wonderful couple and have three awesome children.

Thank You,
Pastor B Carter

I can honestly say that this note is very representative of the level of support that I have received from Bro. Carter from the time we began working together, in September 2012.

As I’ve already written a post on the importance of your spouse being on board with the vision that God gives you, I urge you to take a look at another post:

10 Reasons it’s important to keep your pastor in the loop.

Welcome MissionPoint Family!

January 5, 2014 By Mike in Churches, Events Tags: Mission Point Leave a comment

Just a short note to welcome members of an incredible church family…. MissionPoint!

As the first Sunday of 2014 draws to a close, we have had quite a day! We heard what has been stirring in Pastor’s heart concerning the direction of this great church during the next couple of years, and you have heard what has been stirring in my heart – in our hearts – looking ahead to 2015-2016. You, MissionPoint family, will undoubtedly be the first to discover AIMLong.ca as nothing about our plans had been made public prior to sharing them with you.

Let me give you a quick tour of the site so you’ll know what to expect.

This site will be central hub of communication for our AIM appointment and information is primarily divided into two types:

Pages (information that will not change frequently)
…describing the basic details such as where we’ll be, who we’ll be working with, budget targets etc. can be found in the following categories (also visible on top menu).

The Destination

The Dream

The Team

The Need
Who? These pages will serve as a general introduction, for those who are just discovering the project.

Blog Posts (information that changes regularly or blog updates)
… this will, for the most part, be shared in The Blog section and will be sorted out by date. This section also includes some of my thoughts on Short-Term Missions Involvement in general.Who? This section will be of interest to those already aware of the project and wanting to stay up to date: with the progress of preparations prior to departure and with happenings on the field.

In terms of navigating the site there are also a few tips that can help:

There is a search function in the top-left corner of the site. If you are looking for certain key words, this may help.

On the blog section, you can look for hints in the right-hand margin of the page that will help. There is a calendar of blog posts (allowing you to search posts by date) and there is a list of recent posts immediately beneath.

If you want to Follow the Blog (or get updates automatically delivered to you):
Worpress Users: There is a “follow AIMLong“ button
Want to follow via email? Scroll to the bottom and look in the left corner for the option of following via email. (This option allows new posts to be sent to you directly via email)

They say that a picture is worth a 1000 words, so Our France at a Glance (in the right margin) will give you a quick look at our experiences there to-date, through photos.

MissionPoint… You are, without question, part of who I am today… who we are as a family. Thank you for teaching me, in word and through example, what it is to be apostolic. This AIM appointment is as much about you as it is about me. I have said it before and I’ll say it again.

Our involvement in France is not about “MY/OUR ministry” but about being an extension of the ministry of this church. Our church… it’s YOUR ministry also.

So Let’s minister… let’s impact France… Together!
We love you MissionPoint!

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5 Parties Decisionmakers look out for…

December 28, 2013 By Mike in Churches, Process Tags: AIMUPCI, Dream, UPCI, Volunteering Leave a comment

What happens when decision-makers consider your application? By what criteria are they evaluating your readiness for service overseas? Who are they really looking out for?

Decision-makers look out for…

the candidate – An AIM term gone bad (or at least, one that doesn’t meet your expectations) can endanger a legitimate call of God on your life. How could it go bad? Check out my Short Term Nightmare post for 8 possible ways.

the missionary – A missionary wears many hats at the best of times. They’re responsible to their church(es) on the field, to the national church as well as to their support base in North America. They must grow a church, often without the well developed leadership team that would be common back home. They must remain constantly focused on what’s happening now while also planning the next step. An improperly vetted short-term candidate can require a great deal of support from the missionary since they know the country, the people, the resources, etc. given their longer tenure onsite. They are also “the closest thing to home”, so if a volunteer is having a difficult time with any part of their experience, the missionary becomes the first gatekeeper of support (translator if language skills are insufficient, first responder in a medical situation, go-between with government agencies (hospitals, drivers’ licenses, visa officers, etc.) or just plain emotional support). They always expects to deal with some such issues, but too much can become a major drain on the missionary’s time, energy and mental focus.

the national church – Although doctrinal issues are typically the same across the organization, the treatment of some questions of doctrine, or the practice thereof, can subtly differ from one country / continent / national church to another. By the very nature of the short term during which a volunteer may come, any lack of care on any of these questions can cause controversy among local believers. In Missions settings, many believers are younger in the faith and/or churches smaller in size, therefore, any controversy will have a greater impact that one would expect or anticipate. When decision-makers closely scrutinize applications on questions of belief, they are trying to protect national churches on the Mission Field.

the sending organization – If a short-term experience goes bad, in any way, for an individual… the ramifications are felt by the sending organization.

If the budget falls far shorter than expected and unforeseen economic reasons are not to blame, it’s organization can be seen as not properly creating an opportunity in which the candidate could “succeed” and lacking due diligence.

If the candidate is not truly a good fit for either the missionary or the field – whether in terms of personality, skill or responsibility – the organization will be seen to have not properly screened either the individual or the opportunity.

And the list could go on…. What’s important is that everyone involved (missionary, candidate, support base, etc.) looks to the organization to ensure, as much as possible, a good fit and a positive experience. If that does not happen… everyone still looks to them (to some degree) as having responsibility. If they are seen or perceived to not sufficiently prepare or protect all involved, they will lose the confidence of those looking to them and the organization ceases to be a viable choice for those looking for a short-term experience.

the sending church – The sending church (be it a local church, a local district or the collective North American church) places a great deal of confidence and invests a great deal of money into short-term missions candidates. If the sending church invests $30,000 into a volunteer on a 6-month assignment and that individual has to return home early, having neither completed the term, significantly advanced the work on the field or having inadvertently caused an issue in the national church, then the sending church can feel as though, through no fault of their own, they have not be a faithful steward of the financial resources that God has entrusted to them. They can then become hesitant to give in the future or may give with reservation.Both long and short-term missions are greatly dependent on the giving of the North American church. The quality of decisions made by organizational decision-makers, as proven out over time, greatly impacts the confidence level of this church. It is therefore essential to protect the confidence of the sending church.

Decision-makers are important: all parties involved depend on them to create, as much as possible, a win-win situation. So when they seem to over-emphasize this or that aspect of the application or the application process, they are really doing it for your benefit as much as everyone else’s … though it might not seem so at the time.

A negative decision might not mean that what you feel to be the will of God is not that. It might be an indication that it’s not the will of God for that particular moment. If it truly is the will of God, then it will happen.

Decisionmakers have been entrusted by men and by the Lord with judgement and responsibility to ensure that you experience the dream that God put in your heart without it ending up as a nightmare. If you haven’t yet read my Short Term Nightmare post… now might be a good time. Thank God for decision-makers!