How do I transition to a less for more strategy?

Let's say that you agree we need to support less missionaries for more money. You like the idea of saving travel time and money for our missionaries. You want the missionaries to spend more time investing in their home church. What are the steps to taking your home church to that missions philosophy? Realistically, it is not going to happen over night.

Of course, there must be vision casting within the church for this to happen. People must understand the overall goal, but they also need to know it will take time. First of all, we can't just start dropping all the missionaries randomly. That could cause a lot of chaos. Remember, this process will be very slow. There will not be a sudden shift in missions that will have all the missionaries taken care of, but you can gradually make the changes that will make it possible for the future. 

Check up on the missionaries. Sometimes those you support are not even on the field! Unfortunately that happens. Make sure they are being held accountable for their work. This topic links closely to the topic about partnering versus supporting. Be a partner!

Instead of supporting new missionaries, increase the support of those you already support, especially those from your home church. A comment was made on the blog that if one church supports for too much and then they have a change of leadership, the missionary could be out. I understand that (and really think that if the church had a proper leadership structure, it wouldn't depend on one Pastor. There should be a leadership structure that is constant and are the main decision makers).  There is always the chance a church can drop a missionary, but the missionary would have to spend time raising more money anyway, whether before he gets to the field or once he is on the field. If he has a strong relationship with people in the church, it should not be that easy for a new Pastor to come in and take his support away. That is why it is important to have a partnership attitude with our missionaries, not just a business-throw the money at them- type relationship. 

If you do get to the point where you can take on more missionaries, look for missionaries whose home base is close by. They should not have to travel so much to be around you. (I hope to have an article on here sometime about consortiums). You can also lobby for the missionaries from your home church to find churches nearby that will support them so they don't have to travel so much.

Also, share this idea with other churches. Encourage them to buy into this philosophy because it won't work if only a couple churches are doing it. Actually, churches are already starting to do this, but the majority is not. Let other churches know what can happen and be excited about it.

Here is a link to another great post on this topic by Jeremy Wallace, an independent baptist pastor in Chattanooga.