Connection Levels
One of the biggest mistakes that is made in cross-cultural mission work is getting engaged at a level which you are not really prepared for
In normal life circumstances, that can lead to personal embarrassment or failure. In cross-cultural mission ministry circumstances, it can lead to even more grievous results -- broken relationships, ineffective communications, bad impressions, and lost ministry opportunities for the Gospel. That said, we still need to engage, but we need to do so with wisdom. One way to help ensure that we are connecting at the level we are prepared for is to categorize the levels in which we might typically engage in mission work.
Keeping it simple, there are three general levels of mission engagement for churches:
- "Products" These are the critically important materials needed in the mission field that your church can provide -- bibles, teaching materials, medicine, financial support, building materials, etc...
- "Projects" Holistic ministry efforts which provide tangible, hands-on personal ministry support to meet the felt needs of a people in areas such as spiritual growth, health, medical, and others.
- "People" The long term interpersonal relational connections directly with church leaders, missionaries, and people groups which exist in our overseas mission fields.
Here is what it looks like in terms of connection levels, working from the bottom up in terms of complexity:
