Missionaries sometimes have a difficult time getting the attention of the busy (and distracted) churches that send them. It’s really hard to compete with the flashy ad campaigns of nonprofits that have contractually-obligated celebrity endorsements and seemingly limitless resources. Costly partnerships in intangible work with unreliable results can be a hard sell. Sometimes, ministry just isn’t cool.
The answer? Marketing. Missionaries (and their advocates) present their work in ways that grab attention and pull at heart strings- even if it means defying logic (or sound theology).
Consider the “10/40 Window,” that so-called “Final Frontier” of evangelical missions. It’s finite, measurable, and descriptive. It’s marketing. It establishes a first-tier of priority “no one deserves to hear twice until all these unreached people have had the opportunity to hear once.” Of course, a “10/40 window” focus comes at the expense of those people groups unfortunate enough to live too far north or south. It also overlooks the fact that Christianity was born in the heart of this very “window.” But it doesn’t matter, because the concept has served to focus the missionary efforts of the American church like never before.
Really, it’s all marketing. The difficulty of life on the field. The prayer card photo of the (large) missionary family all dressed alike. The personal stories. The prayer requests. The tales of hardships. The mythology of the martyrs. The photos of people who are so obviously different from us, the clearly depicted need.
Missions cannot be separated from the marketing it depends on. Too bad so much of it is a poor knockoff of the tactics employed by the world in the pre-electronic age. I’m praying for new marketers for missions. People who can cast vision for lived transformed, for redemptive relationships that shape culture through radical Christ-centralization. I’d love to see missions marketed as “This is what you were made to do. Anything else will leave you frustrated, unfulfilled, and wanting.” We need a campaign that emphasizes the supernatural element and God’s divine orchestration of people and resources. Something interactive and engaging- a way to get the word out that doesn’t feel manipulative, competitive, or revisionist.
Until then, won’t you join me in praying that the Lord of the Harvest would send more workers?
Unless writing a lot makes one a "writer," Ernest is a former missionary. After more than six years in Western Europe, he moved to Portland, where he drinks too much coffee and over-analyzes human behavior. For more about Ernest, visit the About page where you can read a long-time reader's interview with him. Or, if you don't mind waiting a very, very long time, send him an email.
Excellent post. I think that slowly the change is coming. We both have blogs…not for updating family on our kids or for showing black and white pics of the poor in our city…but for creating conversations. There is an emerging group of m’s out here that are bypassing newsletters, prayer cards and slide presentations and instead are seeking to engage the modern church the same way guys do in the US, Facebook, Blogs, Twitter…
I think the 10/40 window thing was a great rally cry but it placed mission work in the 10/40 as the work for the true missionaries and places like Europe were filled with….guys who were too soft for the 10/40 (which isn’t true btw). I think we too often rely on mass marketing because we don’t see personal marketing and relationship building with the US church as part of our role, thats what the organization is for. I can’t change the organization…but I can do my best to connect with people who are like minded in the US and seek to partner with them.
“The mythology of the martyrs. The photos of people who are so obviously different from us,” are both reasons why a) Western Europe is dismissed (in people’s minds) as a viable mission field and b) workers are reluctant to answer the call. The reality is that not every mission field has these issues.
And, yes, I second the idea that missionary marketing needs to be improved. I had to sit through a 50 minute presentation, and I still honestly do not know what the particular missionary did. We’ve maintained a blog, email newsletters, print newsletters, and personal notes to supporters with overwhelming regularity and diligence. What’s made the difference? Facebook. Our supporters are more engaged than ever before, despite our prior efforts.
“I’d love to see missions marketed as “This is what you were made to do. Anything else will leave you frustrated, unfulfilled, and wanting.” We need a campaign that emphasizes the supernatural element and God’s divine orchestration of people and resources. Something interactive and engaging- a way to get the word out that doesn’t feel manipulative, competitive, or revisionist.”
In many ways, John Piper is marketing missions in the way you desire. His emphasis on worship being the fuel of missions turns missions into a lifestyle we choose because anything else leaves us unfulfilled. He does emphasize the unreached, yet his recognition of the sovereignty of God leaves ample room for God’s divine allocation of people and resources.
“What’s made the difference? Facebook. Our supporters are more engaged than ever before, despite our prior efforts.”
I manage a marketing \ public relations team for a denomination’s missions department, and I have found that social networks are uniquely positioned to help missionaries market their ministries. The emphasis on dialogue and connection reflects the priority we give to relationships. Instead of someone simply giving their message in a sermon or a blog, it becomes a conversation on Facebook, and engagement increases.
As former and current missionaries (preparing) to Western Europe I found the the “10/40 window” idea, while marketingly brilliant was hard on those of us ministering in the west. This might be an overstatement but it seemed to cast work in Western Europe as unnecessary and church planting in the US as something other than mission work. If we are to find a marketing idea we should be careful not to diminish the work elsewhere. As for facebook, while we’re in the support raising stage we’ve been nervous to join up because my employer and my colleagues would be sure to find out…that would not be good. Thanks for the post!
In addition to the vaunted “you ain’t crap unless you’re in the 10/40 Window” attitude among missionaries there’s also the “you ain’t crap unless you’re ministering to (so-called) ‘unreached people groups’ (read: indigenous populations).” Honestly, both annoy me and lead to holier-than-thou attitudes among those stated above.
I agree with your point that missionaries have a hard time getting church’s and Christian’s attention who are saturated by flashy nonprofit advertisements, and dare I say it, church building campaigns. On the other hand, I think more analysis is needed. Individuals in The U.S. are saturated with advertising. I agree with your points, but I think we have to, as ministers or missionaries, bring our fellow Christians in the U.S. along slowly (meet them where they are). We must also realize that most “marketing” is geared toward gaining the mission/ministry’s financial needs or recruiting. Ministry’s and mission agencies are so busy trying to prepare workers and continue the ministry overseas, how do they have time to also address what churches should be addressing? Para-church ministries (including mission agencies) are not perfect, but how can we expect them to create these new and better marketing campaigns when American churches are still singing a different song?