Since I have an office at church, many people don’t realize that I’m not doing translation work yet. Right now I am focusing full time on building my partnership team. Once I have reached my goal of 100% of my budget, I will be able to begin working. In case you missed the newsletter, that goal is set for August of 2017! I’m so excited to have a date in mind!

However, when people hear that “all” I’m doing is building a partnership team, they often wonder what I do all day, so here’s a look at the day of a missionary building a partnership team!

The most important part of building a partnership team is people. I spend most of my time communicating with people. The very first thing I have to do is find people. I find people by thinking of people I know from different parts of my life, through word of mouth (thanks advocates!), through social media, and through speaking at different churches or small groups. So I spend part of my day brainstorming, updating social media, and working with advocates to set up speaking engagements. 

Once I have a list of people who might be interested in building a bridge to God’s Word, I spend part of the day sending out emails, Facebook messages, or making phone calls to connect with these people, and then to set up appointments after they have responded.

It’s always exciting when an appointment is scheduled. Meeting with people is my favorite part of building my partnership team – not only do I get to share my passion, but I also love to hear the stories and passions of those I am meeting with. I always learn something from these meetings and go away feeling energized in my own vision as well. 

Usually when I meet with people, they ask for a few days to think and pray before they make a decision. I set a time to follow up, and part of my day is spent following up with people to ask if they have made a decision. More emails, Facebook messages, and phone calls! 

When a partner joins my team, I have a little celebration! Yay! I send them a thank-you gift and add their name to my database so I can see my new percentage. It’s encouraging to see that percentage moving up! My team members are integral to my ministry, so I spend time keeping up with people after they have joined as well. I write individual notes, as well as newsletters and blog posts to keep my partners informed.

Whew! Networking takes a lot of work! It’s not really the type of work that I am “good” at, but I have appreciated the chance to stretch my abilities and find joy in something I wouldn’t do otherwise. It makes for a busy day!