First off, thank you for your support of ManagedMissions.com. We’ve been hard at work adding new features to makeManagedMissions.com even more helpful for your short term mission trips. Here is a quick look at what you’ll see in this update. As always, we welcome your feedback and encouragement. (In fact, some of these updates were your ideas!)

Instant Insurance Quotes from GoMissionTrip.com
We’ve partnered with GoMissionTrip.com to provide instant travel insurance quotes online. Just choose ‘Purchase Trip Insurance’ on the ‘Trip Details’ page to see what GoMissionTrip.com can do for your trip.

Team Documents: Visible to Team
When attaching documents to a trip you can now specify whether that document is visible to the team or just to the team leaders. This will allow you to upload more sensitive documents to your trip without exposing them to the entire team.

Admins can now change passwords
Trip admins can now change a user’s password when viewing that person’s profile. Just choose the ‘Change Password’ option in the ‘Related Options’ on the team member’s profile.

Travel Agent Export
The Travel Agent Export has been updated to include Gender in the export file.

Custom Subdomains
Add a bit of personalization to your ManagedMissions.com account with custom subdomains (http://MyChurch.ManagedMissions.com). Personalized subdomain are just $25/mo. If you are interested shoot us an email at hey@managedministries.com.

New Email Editor
Our new email editor allows you to mark up your emails with BOLD,Italicized, and underlined text in your message, as well as create numbered lists more quickly.

Email Address on Contributions
You can now track donor email addresses when entering contributions into ManagedMissions.com. These email addresses are available for export throughout the application.

We hope these new updates will make your experience using ManagedMissions.com even better! And remember, anytime you have a question or idea for us, feel free to reach out on Twitter @ManagedMissions or via email by clicking ‘Help’ while logged into ManagedMissions.com

- The ManagedMissions Team

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First off, thank you for your support of ManagedMissions.com and for your feedback about the app as it has grown this past year. As a non-profit software company, we are always excited to be able to offer new features and even better usability to our fantastic users.

With the beginnings of short term mission season underway, we have been hard at work to improve the app to make this year’s trip management even more efficient for you. (Many of these new features were suggested by you on our support forum, so thank you!)

Here’s a little bit about what was included in yesterday’s update to ManagedMissions.com.

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In terms of encouragement and building up a mission team, I think we can agree that the word is indispensable. (Hopefully we can also agree that that holds true regardless whether on the mission field or off.)

Over the years of going on mission trips, specific passages have become consistent reminders to me of God’s heart for missions. While each of these verses addresses different things, they primarily speak to God’s design of the body of Christ including our call to spread the gospel, brotherly affection and selflessness. Because each of these passages warrants it’s own blog post (or volume), I’ll leave you with just a list and let God’s word speak for itself.

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Twenty years ago, if you were to travel across the world, there was a good chance that the only communication you’d be sending back home was a postcard or maybe an email from an internet cafe.

However, today’s blogging, tweeting and Facebooking culture is a great opportunity for mission teams to share the experience with friends and families back home. Because the schedules of each team and internet availability will vary from team to team, a unique approach to communication is sometimes called for.

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Hello. Devin here,  filling in for my wife Ashleigh this week. This summer we led a short term trip to Slovakia with a group of High School students. I wanted to share with you some things we did to have fun and bond as a team before we left for our trip.

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Coming back after a short term mission trip is often a difficult transition, perhaps even more difficult than the initial transition into a new culture and environment. If your like me, then this is especially true because the adventure of living for God’s Kingdom and the fellowship were so welcome in the first place.

So how do we ease back into our everyday lives without giving up the things we loved about living a missional lifestyle? (more…)

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The most important part of many short term mission trips is not what fifteen people accomplish with a two week visit to a foreign country.

Now, please take that statement with a grain of salt. Short term mission trips often achieve a lot of in-country purposes like encouraging and helping long term missionaries or impacting a community by meeting a vital material need. And we hope and pray that God will use our work to impact His Kingdom.

So, I’m not saying that He doesn’t or that he won’t impact the people we leave behind. He Does.

What I am saying is that the most measurable impact many trips have on the Kingdom, is on its team members. Here are a few ways I see this being played out, and I’d love to hear what you’re seeing in your teams in the comments.

Popping the bubble

There’s nothing quite like experiencing a new community and culture for the first time. And whether it’s through going deep in new relationships, working ten-hour construction days or playing with children who may or may not have bathed this week, short term mission trips are sure to take your team out of their comfort zones and personal space bubbles.

As many of you can attest, this is where the real change begins. God finds us in our brokenness and our inability to do it on our own and brings His own strength into play. Seeing God’s power in our weakness brings a renewed perspective of our identity and value in Christ.

Africa is not a country

Actually visiting a different country is a lot different than reading about one in “Multiculturalism 101.”

You may have read Dr. Dennis Horton’s article in the Huffington Post last week, which posed the question: “Are short term mission trips worth it?” (If you haven’t perused it yet, it’s an interesting read.)

As the director of ministry guidance at Baylor University, Dr. Horton conducted an interesting study on the impact of short term missions on 578 Baylor students. Of the 578 who were surveyed, he conducted in depth interviews with 32 of them who had just returned from trips.

Of the 32 students interviewed after their trips, 29 said the experience had changed the way they see other cultures, with 17 mentioning increased respect and concern. Almost half said they were less likely to see their culture as inherently superior.

He also found that some students’ existing desire to enter the mission field was strongly affirmed by their short term experience.

While many of us can say from experience that this is true, it’s exciting to see it happening similarly in other parts of the country.

♫ Come together ♪

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” – John 17: 22-23

Out of all of the things we do “programmatically” (so to speak) in the youth ministry at my home church, mission trips seem to create unity more than anything else we do. There is something about being in a foreign country and only recognizing twelve people. It forces you into a situation where it’s suddenly all the more natural to depend on and support your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The long term effect on the church body is invaluable, especially in the United States where relationships typically run shallow. The impact of unity goes beyond the church however, and like Jesus promised, has a profound impact on the world around us.

With these kinds of benefits to our churches, it’s hard to argue that we don’t need short term missions—and it may be that we even need it more than the communities we visit.

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Do you agree? How do you see short term missions impacting your local church or mission organization? What is one thing you hope your mission team this year will be impacted with?

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Whether this is the first mission trip you’ve lead or the fifteenth, preparing is hard work.  Every year, during mission season, there are probably a thousand things running through the minds of every trip leader.

With all of the ministry decisions on your plate, we want to alleviate some of the administrative stresses of planning a mission trip and give you more time to focus on your team.

Here are five administrative hassles that ManagedMissions.com helps you leave behind:

1) Endless spreadsheets

A spreadsheet for team member info. One for the budget.  And one for each team member’s fundraising progress. Or if you’re like one pastor we know… 20 pages of team info, a constantly evolving notepad for the budget, and a stack of 20 pieces of lined paper—one for each person’s contributions.

Whatever your method—spreadsheets or yellow notebook paper—ManagedMissions.com (MM) is the light at the end of the tunnel. MM keeps track of all of it in one place, no excel finesse required.

2) Communication snafus

Have you ever wanted to email the team members who missed a meeting?  Or maybe just the ones who are a little short for the next fundraising goal?  Instead of sorting through contribution totals, MM allows you to email specific team members who meet the criteria you choose.  We’ll even get the note started for you.

3) Tracking down a travel agency

While some large organizations have travel agencies they’ve been using for years, the average trip leader may not know where to start.  We’ve made it easy for either way.  If you don’t know what travel agent to use, click “Get Travel Quotes” to send your trip information to a few agencies and request a quote.  Once you have an agent, just use the “Travel Agent Export” to get exactly the information your agent needs for ticketing.

4) Dollar discrepancies

Team members may not always keep accurate records of their contributions, but with MM, they know which checks you have received from them. For instance, if you may have a $1100 total for one team member, but they might think they’ve turned in $1250. By encouraging team members to log-in regularly to track their fundraising progress, you can catch discrepancies quickly and more easily figure out where that extra $150 disappeared to.

5) Losing people in the shuffle

Communicating about a change in the training schedule can be a pain. However, with MM’s easy to update calendar of events, meetings, tasks and goals, team members can log-in to see what is coming up next and mark it on their own calendars.  And if you need to change something, everyone has access to the change. No more printing out new schedules.

What are some of the administrative hassles you’ve dealt with while planning a mission trip? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe you’ll be the inspiration for the next ManagedMissions.com feature.

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Every mission team is a little different. Some teams are made up of families from one tiny church, in one tiny town. Others might be twenty teenagers from twenty different cities around the country. No matter what a team looks like it’s is sure to contain a whole spectrum of personalities, needs, hopes and fears when it comes to serving in a missional capacity.

As a mission trip leader, it’s your job to help support each individual while also promoting team unity and preparation, but it can be easy to get caught up in the administrative work that planning a mission trip requires.

Here are three simple things to put on your list to help your team prepare for the mission field together.

Pray.

Pray that your team will be an encouragement to the body of Christ. Pray for God to reach the lost with the gospel. Worship together. Pray for God to provide financially. Pray knowing that a big God hears you.

“And this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”  – 1 John 5: 14-15

It may seem like a no-brainer, but unless you make prayer a priority as a team leader, it will easily slip by the wayside.  Praying together can help your team members work through anxieties they may have about missions; remind them of the bond you share in Christ; and prepare them to support one another better during the trip.

Work.

Breaking a sweat together before you spend two weeks in a foreign country is a good thing.  Aside from learning to serve together in a physical sense, it’s a great way to break the ice among team members, and creates opportunities to learn about each person’s strengths and weaknesses.

“From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  – Ephesians 4:16

Emphasizing team building experiences, like serving together, will make it more natural for team members to labor alongside one another as a body, rather than a group of individuals, when it comes time for the trip.

Play.

“It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes” – St. Thomas Aquinas

Even serious guys like St. Thomas Aquinas saw the value in playfulness and just enjoying one another. Hopefully, this one will develop on its own.  But, as a leader, you can be mindful that amidst trainings and meetings, that you throw in some lighthearted fun.

For your team that might mean going out for pizza and not talking any business. Or maybe it looks like playing at a place like JumpStreet or Pump It Up for a few hours or going bowling. Whatever you do—enjoy being together.

How is your team praying, working or playing together? What area does your team excel in? What area do you think could be emphasized more on your team? Let us know in the comments below.

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“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4:19

We work with a lot different mission trips and organizations that all face the common challenge of raising enough money for their teams.  While many teams have their members send out letters to friends and family, asking for support, some team members may still have trouble raising the amount they need.

Here are 20 unique fundraising ideas to help your team stay in the black:

1)      Host a group garage sale. The more stuff, the better, so join forces to make your garage sale a success.

2)      Do a 50-50 raffle. Sell tickets to friends and family for $2 each.  The winner gets to keep half of the total, and the other half goes toward your trip.

3)      Do a photo-shoot. Do you have an aspiring photographer on your team? Offer to do discount photo shoots and provide a disc with all of the photos.

4)      Teens—do laundry for a month for your family. A tedious job, but someone has to do it—and your mom will be glad it’s not her.

5)      Put on a concert. If you have a few talented musicians on your team, have them play on a Friday night at church or another local venue. The other team members can sell tickets and serve snacks to attendees.

6)      Offer to clean your neighbor’s house. Get your clean on, and take the opportunity to tell them about your trip.

7)      Do a gift-card raffle. Collect donated gift cards from local businesses and restaurants. Then raffle off the whole bundle. Talk to your local grocery store about selling raffle tickets to customers.

8)      Host a Parent’s Night Out. Whether it’s on Valentine’s Day or just a random Saturday night, parents always appreciate a good babysitter.

9)      Personally ask close friends and family members for support. A quick phone call can give your friends and family a chance to ask questions and you a way to personalize your request for support.

10)   Host a cake auction. Have groups of team members bake and decorate the most tasty or creative cake they can think up. Then, invite family and friends to bid on each cake. This is a great chance to tell people more about your trip and enjoy some yummy treats!  (Some areas will require team members to get a food handler’s license.)

11)   Do a restaurant fundraiser. You’ve got to eat anyway, right? Many restaurants offer a percentage of the proceeds to groups for a night.

12)   Sell roses at church on Mother’s Day. Encourage your church to do a little extra something for Mom and support missions at the same time.

13)   Sell Avon. Do you know someone who sells Avon or Mary Kay? Ask them about how to sell beauty products as a fundraiser for your team.

14)   Make Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards to sell. This is a great one if you have some team members with excellent scrapbooking abilities.

15)   Throw a three-legged-race-a-thon. Have each pair of team members collect pledges for the number of “laps” they complete with their legs tied together. Then, invite all of your supporters to come out and watch.

16)   Offer to do yard work for a neighbor or friend. Don’t forget to tell them why you’re raising money.

17)   Do a service auction. Auction each team member off to do yard work, running a garage sale, cleaning house, car washing for a month, personal shopping services, a few nights of babysitting, etc.

18)   Run in a local race. Collect pledges for every mile you run.

19)   Ask 10 coworkers for $10 each. You might be surprised at how many people in your office are happy to support your trip.

20)   Volunteer at a wedding. Do you know someone who is getting married? Offer to serve cake or dinner as a team.

What are some creative ways you or your team members have raised money for missions? Tell us about them in the comments.

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