Are Your Champions DOING Your Ministry? (Part II) |
Aug 24, 2009 |
In my last post, dated Aug. 17th, I talked about how biblical marketing focuses on equipping your champions to be your ministry, as Paul did with his followers in Corinth. As we look to market our cause to others, we want to disciple these champions to be “living brochures”, which are much more impactful than printed ones.
So, what exactly is a “living brochure” and how do you create them? A living brochure is the transformation brought about by your cause personified in one of your champions. Living brochures frequently demonstrate spiritual maturity which has resulted from action. In order to create living brochures, you need to provide your champions opportunities to take action as it relates to your cause. Let’s consider how certain actions can equip your ministry champions to be “living brochures.”
Take a look at what transformational steps your champion has experienced and what they have learned from that experience that can be passed along to others.
In the case of one of our own MIF staff, joining a Moms In Touch group 8 years ago to pray for her two school-aged children, transformed her for the cause of prayer. She says, “MIT has permeated my whole life . . . not just the way I pray for my kids. It’s hard to know me for very long and not know about MIT and how it’s affected my prayer life. I’ve learned to pray the Word and I model that to people who never join a MIT group.”
Next, you want to ask, “What have I received from God related to this cause that I can pass on to others?” Our MIF staff grew in her spiritual maturity as God gave her wisdom, knowledge, life experience, passion and insight, through her prayer life.
If you were to ask this staff person about Moms-In-Touch and the cause of prayer, her transformed life would be all you needed to understand the impact prayer has had on her life. She is an excellent example of a “living brochure” and could testify to the power of prayer, more than any other marketing message or vehicle.
As you contemplate how your champions might DO ministry alongside you in your joint cause, consider what transformational opportunities you can present them with and equip them for. Allow them to be part of the process in determining how God might use them.
Let me end with MIF’s Transformational Giving Principle #6: “The champion, not your organization, is called to be the primary means of advancing the cause within the champion’s sphere of influence.” Let’s begin using “living brochures” to advance our cause and market our ministry!!
