The System

Some very good attempts have been made to set up communication systems for missionaries, including agency-sponsored newsletters for which the missionaries contribute articles and news updates, church and agency websites where missionaries can post their information, and printed brochures, magazines, and catalogs. Some missionaries even maintain their own blogs. While these attempts to set up missionary communication systems have for the most part been good, they fall short in several areas.

First, they are isolated. Most current missions information systems reach only those who have some pre-existing relationship with the church, mission agency, or missionary. It is difficult to find general information about missions and missionary activity, and a Google search will lead to hundreds or thousands of different websites, most of which are only a fair to poor match for the search criteria. Second, current systems are generally one-sided, since the receivers of the information do not have a chance to respond in a meaningful way. Third, current missions data is not useful for other purposes. Data in a database has to be maintained, and such maintenance creates an extra level of administrative overhead unless the data is created as a by-product of some other meaningful activity.

Developing effective missionary communication requires a bigger-picture view than thinking simply of the relationship between the missionary and their sending agency or church. Effective missionary communication involves a loosely-coupled but complex system of interdependent relationships. Missionar