It’s been awhile since we’ve updated the blog, but we’ve been busy finishing MissionMakr.com for release.  Here’s a look at our home page … we’re almost ready!

Tell gives your short-term trip, long term impact!

If you’ve ever returned from the mission field, you know how difficult it is to create long term impact from your mission trip experience.  You want to  tell your “story” to all those who want to hear it, but you are often limited in many respects.  MissionMakr.com gives you a unique way to do it … through Tell!

By this time (after creating Launch, GearUP and GO!) you would no doubt be a pro at creating pages, adding content and using MissionMakr’s Widgets.  The question is:  what content do I add?

Tell is a public page which means that anyone with access to the Internet can view Tell for your trip.  That’s great … so add content like testimonies, photos and photo galleries … add the Get More Info Widget that allows you to build anticipation for your next trip.

Tell (MissionMakr’s fourth phase) is an excellent way to create long term impact from your trip.

GO! helps you connect with MissionSupportrs from the field

We live in an increasingly connected world — even while traveling on the mission field.  Use technology to stay connected with those who pray, financially support, volunteer or otherwise want to be on the front line of missions but can’t be there to experience it firsthand.

Like Launch and GearUP, GO! allows you to drag and drop cool, easy-to-use widgets to build your GO! page.  However, since you’re going to the mission field to do missions and NOT work on a computer, you’ll only need to focus on the Blog, photo and (soon) video widget.

Here’s a suggested way to use GO!

Let’s imagine that you’ve signed up 500 people using the MissionSupportr Sign Up Widget.  Once approved, each MissionSupportr receives an email notification confirming they will be following the mission trip.

Once the trip leaves, MissionSupportrs receive an email notification communicating that the trip has left.  Typically, the trip leader or someone he/she assigns will post an update each day.  Once the blog is updated with text and/or photos, MissionMakr.com sends all MissionSupportrs following the trip an email notification of news!

MissionSupportrs log into MissionMakr.com using their email address and a unique password where they can read the blog, view the photos and watch the video.

GearUP is MissionMakr's second phase for people going to the mission field.

Like Launch, GearUP allows you to create custom pages and add content.  But while Launch focuses on promoting missions, communicating your short-term trip and signing people up, GearUP focuses on preparing the heads, hands and hearts of those who are going to the mission field.

GearUP is secure and password protected for those who have moved from being a Pending MissionMembr to an Active MissionMembr.

In addition to the standard widgets, GearUP has widgets specifically designed to help you build a cohesive team:

• Language Widget – displays common words and phrases for the country of origin (we’re beginning with Spanish)
• Devotion Widget – allows a member of the Mission Team to create one or multiple devotions and send to all MissionMembrs immediately or based on a calendar.
• Verse of the Day Widget – Displays a new Bible verse focused on missions (going, sending, serving) from different translations each day.

Other features of GearUP

Add Mission Supporters (we call them MissionSupportrs) – Each Active MissionMembr has the ability to invite an unlimited number of people to follow the trip.  The MissionMembr types in an email address.  The MissionSupportr receives an email inviting him/her to follow the trip once it leaves.

As the Mission Team logs blog posts in the GO! phase of MissionMakr.com, MissionSupportrs will receive a notification that new information is available.  They log in to MissionMakr.com and are taken to the GO! page where they can *read the blog, view the pictures or watch the video. (*assumes users from the field can access the internet).

SMS Messaging – GearUP allows members of the Mission Team (based on roles assigned) to send one-way SMS Messages at no cost to your church or organization.  Standard text message rates apply for the receiver.  SMS is a highly requested feature that is new to this version.

MissionTrackr – this is an incredible feature!  It allows the Mission Team to add items — passport, trainings, forms, etc. — that need to be tracked and accounted for (turned in etc. by a certain date).  You set up the items and dates and each time the time is turned in and accounted for my MissionMembr, it provides notification.

Below is the input screen that the Mission Team sees when setting up the items, dates and information in MissionTrackr.

MissionTrackr

Wall and Private Messaging (social networking that builds a cohesive team) – Until now, you’ve had to rely on FaceBook® or other social networking sites to build a cohesive team.  You can now do the very same thing inside MissionMakr.com.  For Active MissionMembrs and Mission Team Membrs, they can send “Wall” messages as well as Private Messages.

GearUP … it’s the powerful second phase of MissionMakr.com

While you’re building your pages and adding content, you can change your theme color with a click!

Change the color theme of Launch, GearUP, GO! and Tell.

When you click on “Do Stuff”, you can change your theme colors with a click.

Clicking on "Do Stuff" from inside any phase lets you do cool stuff like change the theme's color

The “Cocoa Brown” theme is shown above … Here’s a close up of the theme color choices.

Color palette of 12 cool complementary colors.

Launch

Are you still relying on bulletin inserts, PowerPoint®, platform announcements, video messages and small group meetings to engage people in missions?  MissionMakr’s Launch phase allows you to create custom pages and add content to promote missions, communicate your trip and sign people up.

What if you could put your mission trip opportunity online for the whole church to see in less than an hour, and it had cool features like custom pages, video, photos, PDFs for download, custom colors and branded for your church or organization?

Edit and Add Widget Mode for Launch

Widgets and “drag and drop” feature allow you to add content quickly.

If you already have a paper based mission packet in Microsoft Word®, simply add a page, let’s call it “Purpose”, add the Rich Text Editor and copy and paste from your document into the Rich Text Editor, add a graphic or photo and you’re done!

The Widget list is impressive!

Select a widget, drag it around on the page, add content and you're done!

• Text Widget
• Sign Up Widget
• Image Widget
• Video Widget
• File Widget – upload a file (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .pdf)
• Verse of the Day Widget
• Photo Gallery Widget
• Mission Supporter Invite Widget
• Devotions Widget
• Blog Widget
• Language Widget
• See Who’s Going Widget

Launch is a public phase of MisisonMakr — anyone with an internet connection can see it.

Be sure to read our other posts on how people find your trip and changing theme colors.

Mission Control makes it easy to see what's going on with your short-term trip.

Mission Control is where you:

• Create and edit your trip and its phases (Launch, GearUP, GO! and Tell)
• Manage your Mission Team
• Add/Edit/Track/Delete MissionMembrs — those who will go on the trip.
• Add/Edit/Track/Delete MissionSupportrs — those who support, pray and want to follow the trip.
• Do all the administrative stuff for your trip.

Because MissionMakr is “role based”, only those identified as being part of the Mission Team (MissionCreatr, MissionMakr and/or MissionMovr) have access to Mission Control.

Creating a trip is easy! Mission Control allows you to do everything from one place.

Get started in a snap!  Click “Create a trip” where you input a few critical trip details, and you can begin to create your trip’s pages (Launch, GearUP, GO! and Tell).

Here’s a snap shot of Mission Control with:

• Home
• Trips
• Ministries
• User Accounts
• Account
• Support

Helping you decide what goes into Launch, GearUP, GO! and Tell.

MissionMakr.com divides your short-term trip into four phases:  Launch (promotion and signup), GearUP (preparing heads, hands and hearts for those headed to the field, GO (a cool blog for MissionSupporters to read and pictures to view from real time field updates you post, and Tell (communicating with your church, Mission Supporters and anyone who wants to read about what God did through you and to you while on the field).

Helping you make more out of missions!

The challenge is always, “Where do I start?”  If you have a paper-based packet, you’ve already started as the documents are from a standard word-processing program.  It’s easy then … create a new page in Launch, GearUP, GO! or Tell, copy text from your word-processing application and paste into MissionMakr’s Text Widget.

Simple … quick and easy!

Okay … for those who don’t have a mission packet developed or for those who just want a different perspective or a new idea, we’ve developed a way for you to organize your thoughts as you begin to think about what goes into Launch, GearUP, GO! and Tell.

Download the help and check it out.  Click here.

In need of an easy, cost-effective way to communicate short-term mission trip opportunities and create long term impact for Mission Supporters, World Link Ministries (worldlinkministries.org) has chosen MissionMakr.com as their communication and impact tool.

Robert Carpenter, Founder of MissionMakr.com and Manny Fernandez III, Missionary and Pastor in Spain, World Link Ministries

Recently, Manny Fernandez III, Missionary and Pastor in Spain and son of founder Manny Fernandez got a “behind the scenes” look at what we’re launching in March 2010, and here’s what he had to say:

“MissionMakr’s cutting edge technology takes a dynamic approach to aiding the Church in crafting effective missional strategies that will directly affect missions mobilization and church growth.”
— Manny Fernandez, III, Missionary and Pastor in Spain — World Link Ministries

World Link Ministries is  dedicated to training and deploying national leaders, promoting discipleship, and evangelizing un-churched people.  They began as the Spanish Seminary for Theological and Evangelistic Training (Seminario Español de Formación Teológica y Evangelización) or SEFOVAN, founded in 1991 under the auspices of TEAM by Manny Fernandez, a graduate of Multnomah School of the Bible and Dallas Theological Seminary.

SEFOVAN was released to form World Link Ministries in 1993 as a 501(c)3 mission agency. Today World Link Ministries is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

In January 2006, they entered into an agreement with the Evangelical University of the Americas (UNELA) in San Jose, Costa Rica, allowing SEFOVAN to offer bona fide and accredited associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and even doctorate degrees. At that time the name was changed to Seminario Europeo de Formación Teológica y Evangelización, but still using the acronym SEFOVAN.

World Link Ministries provides funding, administrative, and management support from its North American headquarters to SEFOVAN in Spain and other ministries in Italy, Romania, Ukraine, North Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Mexico, and Vietnam.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with World Link Ministries.  We look forward to the contribution that MissionMakr will make in helping to foster communication and impact with those who will participate in their Summer Campaigns as well as those who support, pray and give to the work.

Here’s how it works.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Someone once told me, “If you can’t write it down, you don’t understand it.”  So, in 2 minutes reading time, here’s how MissionMakr.com works …

MissionMakr.com is a web-based application that focuses on two essentials of missions and short-term missions in particular:  communication and impact.  Specifically, it focuses on helping churches and organizations deploy their communication and impact strategy through the four phases of every short-term trip … Launch, GearUP, GO! and Tell.

Let’s get practical …

After entering some trip details (where you’re going, trip date, cost, and uploading your logo), you start by creating Launch.  No doubt you have a series of things you want to communicate.  For example:  1) Purpose, 2) Details, 3) Testimonies (from previous trips), 4) Sign Up, 5) Photos or video.

Next, click on “Edit and Add Widgets” and you’re presented with a blank page — which already has your logo and the name of your trip on a cool changeable background color (actually there are 12 color themes to choose from).

Click “Add Page” and give it a name … let’s call it Purpose.

Click “Add Widget” and you’ll be presented with a list of Widgets — Add Text, Add Images, Sign Up, Add Files, Add Video and more (15 in all).

If you already have your information in a Word document, simply cut and paste into the text editor and your first page is done.  Repeat the process for every major page you want to create.  When you’re done, click on “All Done Designing”.

Your page — and your trip — is now visible to everyone to see and signup.  Each phase (although different in it’s purpose) works the same way.  It’s Widget based, requires no special software and is easy (really easy) to get in and create a trip.

Now for the cool part!  MissionMakr.com is not just a “web savy way” to communicate your trip.  People can sign up for your trip, download your trip application and be added to the trip as a “Pending MissionMakr” through Mission Control.  Once approved by you or someone on your team, they become an “Approved MissionMembr” and move on to GearUP — a password protected phase where they begin to interact with others on the trip.

Are my 2 minutes up?  I have so much more to say … did I mention that a church or organization can build their trip on MissionMakr.com at no cost?  The cost ($25 per person) applies only to people who sign up and are approved to go on the trip … and people identified as Mission Team (typically church/organization staff) always go free!