Empowering Mission Advocates
What would it look like, to rally together a group of people who love and champion missions in their church? What would happen if Global Partners was able to help equip this group to do a little bit more of what they already love?
These were some of the questions asked a little over a year ago, as a group of Global Partner (GP) mobilizers dreamed of empowering people to be able to advocate for and champion missions more effectively within their churches.
Now the group – dubbed “Mission Advocates” – has grown to 94 people and the results have been fruitful.
It takes a lot of effort to champion missions in a church, so the idea wasn’t to add a long list of things to do, meetings to attend or other unnecessary things to the lives of these advocates. The goal is to streamline all of it, so the advocates feel even more empowered to do what they love most – advocating missions.
GP consistently communicates with this group of advocates, sending emails to inform them of newly appointed missionaries, helpful resources, special projects and more.
Dan Wallis, pastor of Cornerstone Wesleyan Church (Ontario) and missions chair for the Central Canada District, said the emails have been helpful for him in his role. He’s able to bring stats and reports to the Central Canada district, while also feeling more connected to the missionaries and the organization as a whole.
Since this group knows firsthand what’s helpful for churches, what ideas/resources need more work, or what simply doesn’t work – having access to their feedback has also been very valuable.
Additionally, the group is a pathway to collaboration and networking with other like-minded, missions-loving people within The Wesleyan Church. For Thad Spring, outreach pastor at All Shores Wesleyan Church (MI), this has been the biggest highlight so far.
“Being a part of this group has helped to create more networking and collaboration, with the anticipation that we could do more together …” Thad said. “connecting together, seeing how other people are doing things, how they’re raising funds, leading teams … that has been very helpful for me.”
Collaboration has been something Thad has prioritized for years, but being a part of a group like this has brought more opportunities to work together. He referenced being able to have spontaneous calls throughout the week with other church leaders to give input on how All Shores has done certain things and to work together for the greater purpose of God’s mission.
Part of this ease of collaboration initially came from GP’s Go Global event, which took place in October 2025. At the event, more than 60 Wesleyan church pastors, leaders and volunteers came together to network and discuss global sending. This included those who had been recruited to this advocate group up to that point in time.
Maegan Gahima, missions director at Parkway Church on the Mountain (VA), said the event has been the most impactful part of being in the mission advocates group so far. In fact, she’s now working with her district to host a Go Global event later this year, in hopes that it will rally Shenandoah’s churches and leaders together and help to eventually revamp the district’s mission strategy.
For others who might be championing missions in their churches, or wanting to take steps in that direction, this group also offers encouragement and practical ideas.
Dan is a big advocate for short term trips, whether it’s someone in the congregation going on a trip, or encouraging and sending pastors on trips. When the individuals come back to their home church, they have firsthand knowledge, vision and experience to share, which ultimately has a lasting impact on the church.
Thad said All Shores does things like “outreach Sunday” on fifth Sundays, where they have unique children’s programming, highlight different partners, show a video and identify ways people can take the “next step” (signing up to volunteer, supporting a new missionary, signing up for an event etc.).
He said he’d also encourage people to connect with a partner/missionary, hear and share their story, have a Zoom call with them once a month or have some sort of regular communication with them. From experience, he said you’ll likely get to know some of their needs that you might not have known otherwise, and you can share the need with your congregation or key people in your church.
And as simple as it might seem, Maegan suggested starting with prayer.
“Whether you’re a missions advocate or just the everyday person who may be interested in missions, start with praying for it. Pray for missions and educate yourself on what you need to pray for,” she said.
She added that if you want to champion missions in your church, make sure you’re living it out. “Are you praying? Are you giving? Are you going? Are you welcoming refugees? Are you living out what you’re asking other people to do?” she offered.
Praise God for the ways He’s uniting His Church and calling people to advocate for His mission. If you’re interested in joining the GP group of Mission Advocates or know someone who would be, contact the Mobilization Team and let them know!