Why Partnering Local Matters

Whether it’s Google Maps or your best friend’s grandma, chances are if you’re going to somewhere you’ve never been, you’re going to be looking for a local guide. Someone who can tell you the best food spots, the fastest routes, and what time the coffee shop on the corner opens in the morning.

It’s no different in missions.

Oftentimes, the local Church serves as a hub for its community. Depending on the individual church, it is not uncommon for a church to offer free programs, childcare, food pantries or free meals, assistance with immediate needs, connections in the community like therapy, counseling, or medical care - the list goes on and on. Just by the nature of the local Church and the heart of Jesus, this is the organic outcome of serving a local community: the church and its members become experts at navigating and assisting those in their hometown however needed.

So you can understand how imperative it is to partner alongside a local, active church in ministry when planning a mission trip in order to ensure that the most impactful and needed ministry is happening. They are the best guide you could ever ask for or need.

One of the most important aspects when we begin planning a mission trip with a partner, is to begin by listening. Understanding that we are not the expert - they are - and they know what needs are most important and time sensitive for those in their neighborhood.

At Praying Pelican Missions, once we get priorities set by our local partners, then we try to find interested teams who can match up with them. We put our partners first in the trip planning process, to ensure their needs and desires are at the heart of our operations. Maybe a pastor in Costa Rica is looking to put on a medical clinic and baseball camp for the youth in the community - we would do our best to find a medical team and team with experience in baseball, who could assist in this way. It’s organic and meets real needs - resulting in the greatest impact for reaching the world for Christ.

Another reason it’s so important to work with an established local partner is for follow up. Mission teams are often only present in a community for 5-7 days, but the local Church is there 365 days a year. They are the ones developing relationships, discipling new believers, and networking with other organizations and programs day in and day out. As new believers come to know the Lord, they need a place to get plugged in to continue learning and deepening their faith - the local Church is that place. When a mission team partners alongside and humbly comes under their desires for the week of ministry, the important work of reaching people in that community for Christ continues long after the mission team returns home and their week of impact is sustained.

While you serve on your PPM mission trip, you’ll get the chance to get to know your local Church partner. We encourage you to take time to ask them questions, hear their testimonies, and encourage their hearts. Time and time again our pastors tell us that mission teams re-energize and revitalize their churches, reminding them that there is a global family of believers praying for them, believing in them, and rooting for them.