Last week’s post was about deputation and what it is. In preparing for the mission field, you’ve got to know more than just what deputation is, you’ve got to know how to do it. This blog gives a few highlights of how to do deputation. There could be posts on each of these topics but for now we will just touch these themes…

• Things to buy: First off, a missionary on deputation needs prayer cards and a display board. These things are very important. The prayer cards should include everyone in the family, everyone’s name, the mission field, sending church and support address. The display board ought to be something portable and should display the whole family and the name of the mission field (country). 
• Call churches: I think many people in our churches think of deputation as traveling which is definitely part of it, but before any of that deputation is calling churches and requesting an opportunity to present how God is leading you. Calling churches is not just for a couple of hours, but what a missionary on deputation does every day and all day until the schedule is full. 8-10 hours per day should be spent on the phone. Deputation is making calls. The missionary who does not make calls will not have a full schedule and consequently will take much longer to get to the mission field. The goal (which is very obtainable) is to have 13 meetings per month (Each Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and an extra meeting). Don’t stop making calls until you have a whole year scheduled out (two years would be better). There are contact programs that will help you through this process. Take good notes with every call you make and set reminders when a pastor asks you to call back. Much more should be said to emphasize the importance of calling churches.
• Go to meetings: When going to a scheduled meeting to present what God is leading you to do there are several things to keep in mind. Be early. Our goal was to be in the parking lot of the church at least one hour before the service started. Frequently we were the first ones there! Your appearance is important so make sure you are dressed appropriately, clean, clothes ironed, etc. Keep a pack of breath mints (not gum) in your pocket (there are few things more distracting than bad breath). Be respectful, if Pastor gives you 10 minutes, take 8 minutes. Do not go over time! Be sure to thank the Pastor for the opportunity. He didn’t have to have you in. Introduce your family. This shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds or so, but let everyone know who your family is, they make up the team that God is sending to plant churches, it is important that people know who they are. Smile. A smile goes a long way and remember people are watching you. How you preach and how stirring your presentation is will have little affect if you look miserable the whole time. Be genuine. Don’t put up a “front”, be the man God has saved you to be. 
• Stay in contact: I know some people are not interested in what is going on in your ministry, but some people are. Keep them updated. Have an email sign-up sheet (ask the Pastor for permission to put it on your table beforehand) and send updates to all who are interested! You should send one physical prayer letter per month and at least one weekly update per week. People are investing in the ministry God has placed you in and they should have the opportunity to know how God is blessing and working through you. 
• Trust God and work hard: The first months of deputation can be hard. God will bless. God will take care of you. Make sure you work very hard and fill up your calendar with meetings. My mentor uses the illustration of a farmer. A farmer who prays for a strong crop, but never goes out to plant one seed is not doing it right. The farmer who begs God for a strong crop and works to plow the field, plant the seeds, fertilize and water faithfully, that is the farmer who will have the strong crop. 

There is much more than should be said about deputation. Preparing for the field includes this important step. One more thing that I would like to share, deputation is not a “part time endeavor”. It is full time work. I know men who have done deputation “part time” and after a few months they are discouraged. If you are going to do it, jump all the way in! There is much more to preparing for the mission field. More on preparation is coming soon. 

Father’s Day and Friday Nights

We were very blessed to have a special Father’s Day. We have one special event each month that we push as a big day with special invitations, gifts, etc. Father’s Day was a big push. We gave hammers to every father present. We had 6 fathers present (including myself and another missionary)! We also started a youth night on Friday nights. We are praying that God uses these special services to give us young men to train for the ministry! Please pray this way with us. 

We have a several special days in July. We will have another ladies fellowship on July 14. The ladies really enjoyed the last one and look forward this fellowship. We will also have Friend Day. Friend Day is actually a day celebrated annually in Argentina. We will really push this day to invite others in hopes to see more people saved. God is working in our young church!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, Ivy, and Isla Henry

• Pray for our special Friend Day service. 

• Pray for the ladies fellowship in July.

• Pray for our discipleship program.

• Pray for those attending Faith Baptist Church that they will catch on to the vision and purpose of our church!

Today is another very special day for us. We start a youth night service tonight that will continue each Friday night. We have things ready for a great youth meeting. We have already passed out 1000 invitations and will be passing out more each week. We will also have banners hung across a few roads near the church. We are praying for young men that will be saved, discipled, and further trained in the ministry.

Leslie has already discipled a lady and her daughter this afternoon. Tomorrow we will have visitation and of course Sunday we will have the morning and evening services. The weekend has already started for us and we are praying that God uses each and everyone one of these ministries for His glory!

Whatever you are going to attempt to do for Jesus, you should be prepared, or at least as prepared as you possibly can be. Being a missionary isn’t just a “go forward at the altar call and surrender to be a missionary” and jump on a plane. Preparation is very necessary. This post is about raising funds to minister on the mission field. That process is called “deputation”. I can remember missionaries coming to our church for years. They would come through, share there burden and plan, and sometimes preach. We would have a mission conference, something I also did not know anything about. These would include several missionaries over a 3-4 day conference. What I did not know then was that they were on deputation. 

I used to think that there must be a better way. I had a friend (who is not a missionary) tell me that deputation is “broken”. I guess I thought the same thing. That being said, I was very hesitant before we started deputation. I was wrong. Here are some things to consider about deputation…

• Deputation is not broken. Deputation is the best way for missionaries to raise funds for ministering on the mission field. 
• Deputation is work. Deputation is thousands and thousands of calls
• Deputation is driving thousands and thousands of miles. 
• Deputation is late night drive-thru’s and driving through the night to be able to sleep in your own bed. 
• Deputation is attending hundreds of churches. 
• Deputation is staying in prophet chambers and hotels across the country.
• Deputation is leaving voicemail, after voicemail, after voicemail.
• Deputation is prayer cards, missionary display boards, mission packets, and postcards. 
• Deputation is making more calls.
• Deputation is sending weekly updates to all who are interested. 
• Deputation is your kids asking when they will sleep in their own bed again.
• Deputation is having the opportunity to meet some of the most wonderful people in the world (and perhaps a few strange ones as well). 
• Deputation is stepping out by faith and believing God and seeing God bless and take care of you and your family.
• Deputation is seeing different parts of the country.
• Deputation is going into cities and towns you that you did not know ever existed. 
• Deputation is eating amazing food…and unfortunately gaining weight, a lot of weight!
• Deputation is oil changes, tire replacements, and car repairs. 
• Deputation is making friends all over the States. 
• Deputation is setting a departure date, not knowing if you will have raised enough support but trusting God through it and watching Him show Himself strong!
• Deputation is making more calls. 
• Deputation is learning that your support comes from God and not just from churches.
• Deputation is believing God.
• Deputation is preaching, teaching, and sharing the desire that God has placed in your heart. 
• Deputation is sitting in a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for hours in between Sunday morning and Sunday evening services. 
• Deputation is sad goodbyes at the end of each service. This was also hard for our kids as they made friends across the country and had to say goodbye way too soon. 
• Deputation is hours and hours in the car. 
• Deputation is way too much coffee (especially on those “drive through the night to get home” trips). 
• Deputation is some of the greatest memories of your life!
• Deputation is watching God use you in the lives of others. 
• Deputation is raising support and ends in leaving for the field.

A few more thoughts on deputation. I remember talking to missionaries before we ever started deputation. Some were positive and some were negative, one couple (who are no longer missionaries) looked at it as a necessary evil. That being so, we loved deputation. There were hard times, but the good times outweighed the hard times. My children to this day talk about deputation with fondness. They loved it! We still talk about the people, the cities and towns, the sites, the food, the special fellowships, the prophets chambers, and the things God did in our lives. It doesn’t have to be a dread. It does have to be work. Deputation is not broken, nor is it a “necessary evil”. It works and it is an amazing opportunity to build the missionary and his family. How to do deputation is another topic, one that will be addressed very soon.