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You Can Be a Team Partner

What is "Team Partnering"?

Referring to preachers, the Apostle Paul rightly asks “…and how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:15). In today's technology-based world, we can legitimately refer to Bible translators and ask "how can they do IT based translation if IT missionaries are not sent?" Now that you know there is such a thing as an IT missionary, and how crucial their work is to the Kingdom of God, you should also know they are maintained the same way other missionaries are—through a team of personally committed partners. Here are the types of team members each IT missionary needs:

How to Support Your Personal IT Missionary

Regular Financial Partners – provide for the IT missionary's monthly support. The financial side of ministry support is truly a major element of ministry and seems to get the most attention. It is also true that the lack of regularly-provided money is a major hindrance to those in IT ministry with Wycliffe. Ministry operates remarkably like your own life, and just like yours, requires money. IT missionaries have to feed, house and clothe their families, use utility services, educate their children, pay medical bills, buy equipment for ministry, send out newsletters, prepare for retirement, tithe, use motor vehicles and handle "unforeseen events."

The average IT missionary family is supported by 40-70 donors (singles, couples and/or churches), each one committing to give on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly or annually) a specific amount of money (of their own choosing). God Himself assembles this team of partners through friends, churches, contacts and "divine appointments" that He orchestrates during the IT worker's "partnership development" or "PD" process. We refer to this support-through-partners concept as "living by faith."

"One-time" Financial Partners – provide one or more individual financial gifts in the amounts and at the times of your own choosing. These may help cover unplanned expenses (health problems, equipment repair, funeral travel, etc.); major expected costs (like airfare, a computer, a vehicle); sudden drops in regular income (this happens from time to time); and special treats (funds for a needed but unplanned vacation; parental visits; attendance at a wedding; a nice dinner date). Many times the “one-time” gift comes exactly when the IT missionary needs it! Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s leading does meet needs.

Prayer Partners – commit to pray regularly for the IT missionary's work, family and relationship with God. Often the IT missionary will put out a current prayer needs update to keep partners praying intelligently. Every Wycliffe IT worker needs the prayerful involvement of fellow Christians as much as any other kind of support. The Bible translation movement has an enemy who desperately seeks to destroy the work and/or the worker, in order to stop the distribution and understanding of God's letter to mankind. All the donated money in the world will not purchase victory in the heavenly realms. Only a prayer team can do this. There is more on this topic in the "Be A Pray-er" section, but know that every Wycliffe IT worker needs specific people specifically committed to pray regularly for his/her ministry.

Service Partners – provide all kinds of specialty services to the IT missionary family and/or work. There are some things that all missionaries need that they just cannot do for themselves. Maybe they do not know how to do it. Maybe they do not have time to do it. Maybe it cannot be done where they live. In any case, there are a number of things a particular Wycliffe IT worker may need that a team partner can provide. This list is obviously not exhaustive. Just ask, and the IT missionary can probably think of something needed other than money and prayer. Some possible examples are:

Help in formatting, printing, stuffing and distributing newsletters. It may be too expensive to mail from a certain location. Sometimes the IT worker is too busy to have time for the whole process of sending out a newsletter.
Help in creating or maintaining a personal or ministry website.
Pickup missionary at airport. For returning missionaries, it is wonderful to see a smiling face at the end of a long journey and know that someone else will navigate the roads that have been built since the last visit home.
Property management for an IT worker who owns a house "back home."
On-site video shooting and editing for the IT worker who needs presentation material.
Baby-sitting. Furloughing missionaries do not often get “date nights”, sometimes because they cannot afford a baby-sitter. Providing free childcare for a few hours will refresh your furloughing friends.
Loan a car. Loaning your extra vehicle to missionaries during their furlough can save them thousands of dollars and many stressful hours they might have spent purchasing or renting a car.
Hosting a get-together. When missionaries return home, reconnecting with people feels overwhelming, you can help by arranging fun times together
Gifts and special remembrances (birthdays, etc.) for an IT worker's family.
An encouraging visit to the IT worker's location.
Help with packing. No matter how long a furlough lasts, packing to return to host country is always challenging. Helping a missionary pack can make you a hero.
Assistance for college-aged children. Often, missionary kids return to their parent's home country to continue their education. You can be a second family/foster parents to these kids by providing advice on financial aid, university entrance requirements, helping them find a place to live, introducing them to others in a church or campus group or inviting them to your home for the holidays.
Provision of a vacation or getaway housing for times of refreshing and relaxing.
Help in regular shipping of a special medicine, sermon tapes, home school supplies, or emergency comfort items like German chocolate, Vegemite, scones or M&Ms. (Do check with the missionary about duty charges before shipping.)
Regular phone calls to keep the IT missionary "in the loop" of home-town or home-church happenings.
Mail forwarding or mail-processing services for the IT missionary who cannot securely receive bills or financial statements where he or she works.
Regular professional services (dental hygiene, auto repair, Internet access) that would ordinarily cost the IT missionary a lot but which you could provide at your own cost.

Championing Partners – focus on the care and growth of a specific IT missionary's partnership team. This could mean:

Introducing "their" IT missionary's ministry to a church missions committee;
Hosting informal get-togethers with their own contacts; making local arrangements for the IT missionary to promote Bible translation work;
Setting up meal connections with Christian IT professionals who want their IT background or resources to impact the Kingdom;
Accompanying the IT missionary as an aide on speaking tours.
Virtually every Christian IT professional anywhere could make a huge impact for Christ throughout the world by simply being this kind of a local IT missions encourager and serving as a connection between the IT missionary and the Christian IT professionals that God would have involved.

Why YOU Should Consider Partnering with a Wycliffe IT Missionary

If God is calling you, you should seek out an IT missionary with whom to partner.

Involvement in missions (i.e., what God is doing in the world to redeem uncountable millions for Himself) is not optional. In Matthew 28, Jesus did not give us the "Great Suggestion." We call it the Great Commission because Jesus' words call each one of us to have a part by using our skills and capabilities.
Being in direct, relational contact with a specific missionary—your missionary—can be very satisfying and one that God rewards greatly. Matthew 6:33 is still true: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."

You understand why IT missionaries are needed in a way that non-IT Christians ever will. No one has to explain to you why SPAM control is important or why specialized, linguistic software development must be done. You do not need an orientation to network security, or a defence of web-based personnel applications. You know what would happen to your company if you and your IT skills were not available for their mission.

Few Christians are actively investing any personal time, talents or treasure in some aspect of the Great Commission. Yet, if you are a typical IT specialist, God has been enormously generous to you in knowledge imparted, skill developed and salary provided. He only asks you to honour Him with a small part of it through tithes and offerings.

As you partner with an IT missionary you become a part of the work they do, a member of the team, excited to see each ethnic group for whom Christ died finally hear God speak in the language He created for them.

Provided by www.jaars.org