Shiloh Church returns from hurricane relief trip in Mississippi.

On July 28^th Shiloh Church returned safely from the gulf coast. The team had a tremendous week of ministry working in Pass Christian, Mississippi and getting to know the people of that community. I spoke with the Youth Pastor at Shiloh Church today and he said “This was the best missions trip I’ve ever been on.” I know it’s easy for me to say that so I asked him to blog about it on his website. He’ll do that later this week. In the mean time, click here to see pictures of their experience in Pass Christian, MS.

Thanks for your prayers while this team was “on the field”!

- joe

Striving for Exellence with SOE Membership!

At the heart of this ministry lies our passion to see every believer become a participant in the Great Commission. We recognize that short-term mission experiences have tremendous potential to encourage that participation by introducing individuals to the work of God around the world. But we also realize that passion and potential won’t accomplish anything without planning, preparation, partnerships, proper leadership, peer accountability, and, of course, prayer.

It is with these things in mind that we have begun the process of becoming members of the S.O.E. (U.S. Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission). This is a three-year process that will help us successfully navigate this ministry toward fulfillment of our passion. The process begins with our commitment to the seven standards of excellence: God-Centeredness, Empowering Partnerships, Mutual Design, Comprehensive Administration, Qualified Leadership, Appropriate Training, and Thorough Follow-Up.

By joining this association we will let the world know that we pursue the highest ethical standards in all our short-term mission endeavors. We will also improve our partnerships, training, and effectiveness, and reduce our risk through better planning and resource-sharing. Here are some more of the benefits:

Becoming a member of SOE means that we will...

• Let donors, prayer partners, sending partners, host receivers, and other participants know that our program applies nationally-derived measures of excellence.
• Let everyone know that we are committed to effective short-term mission.
• Become networked with similar groups who are also striving for excellence in short-term mission.
• Have assistance in identifying risk and applying appropriate risk management and crisis planning.
• Have assistance in becoming a better financial steward by avoiding costly mistakes.
• Have links to other valuable resources (publications, training media, training conferences... and hundreds of other Christians who are also doing short-term mission).
• Have opportunities to help mentor churches and organizations who are less experienced in short-term mission.
• Have opportunities to be mentored by more experienced churches and organizations.

Please pray with us as we begin this Membership process.

August Prayer Calendar

We've got some exciting things coming up this month and next month. Here are the things we need prayer for:

• Chapel Point Orphans Ministry will be in Jamaica August 13-20.
• Joe will be in Jamaica doing ministry development and leading Chapel Point team August 11-20.
• Joe will be teaching at Lansing Christian Middle School's annual retreat, September 10-12.
• September 18-23 is the Guatemala preview trip: Joe will be taking some guys down to Guatemala to preview two different ministry opportunities. We still need a few more to sign up.... Anyone interested?
  
• Fund raising needs: We are still quite shy of our initial budget goal. Pray for more supporters that will partner with us financially so that our vision can be accomplished.

Thanks for your prayers. We need them!