Missions and Technology: Email

 

Missions and Technology: Email

This one is an older technology that has been around for many years, but still, very useful. I want to look at both sides— first, missionaries and then, churches about how they can use email effectively to not only stay in contact, but help promote missions.

Missionary

  1. Monthly Updates
  • The first thing you need to do is get a mail-sending client like MailChimp, where you can make your email signup list. There are many different ones out there but find the one that works for you and use it!
  • Make sure you have permission from the person to use their email address. Don’t just go online and find every email you can. This can get you in trouble and get your account banned.
  • Put a signup banner on your website and also, your Facebook page, so people can sign up to receive your emails!
  • Don’t make it too long and check to make sure how it looks on both phone and computer. Break up long paragraphs, make sure to add pictures when you can!
  • Put a PDF link to your prayer letter so churches can print them off and give them to their church members. Putting the link as a PDF is easier and looks better than just printing off the email.

2. Weekly updates

  • Every missionary should have some sort of weekly update. They do not have to be long, just keeping people informed about what is going on in your life!
  • Write about things that happened this past week. Tell stories so people know how to better pray for you!
  • Talk about your country!
  • Use this as means to let people know what is going on in your life!

3. Blog posts/Missions articles

  • We are in need of more missionaries taking the gospel to the world! Why not, every now and then, write an article about the need in your country or the need for more missionaries!
  • You can send it out to your email list to help encourage them!

Churches

  • Most churches expect missionaries to send them an update at least every quarter. Why not try to send an email update to the missionaries you support every quarter, as well? I have several churches that do this and it helps me better pray for the church and know what is going on there! You can delegate someone in the church to do this and set a time when it should go out! Your missionaries will enjoy hearing from you!
  • Have your people communicate with missionaries! Encourage them to send emails to missionaries or respond back to missionaries, as they send in their updates! I have seen churches that have a computer set up with all their missionaries and a way to email them from that computer! What a way to keep missions and missionaries in front of your people!
  • Read their updates! Read them at home and pick one or two key things from them and then let someone in your church get up and talk about that missionary during one of the services! Don’t just read the prayer letter— find a couple of key points and have the person tell the church how they can pray for the missionary and what is going on in their lives!
  • Print out their updates!— Not all of them but at least their monthly update. Make sure to pass them out and give them to your people. I would hang them up, but also put them in the bulletin or hand them out so your people can pray and know what is going on in your missionaries lives!

Email is an older technology but still useful to help us communicate with missionaries and missionaries communicate with us! Make sure to use this tool and signup for missionaries’ updates as well as missionaries, make sure you are using email to communicate with your supporters and others back in the states and around the world!