Summer 2005 - John Brown University

The Harvest Is Justa Mouse Click Awayby Karen Azucena ’99Planning her next missionary tripfelt like a pleasant dream for LizStevens as she found online exactly whatshe was looking for in January 2002.The young woman, who had recentlyparticipated in a short-term mission toKenya, wanted to find a longer missionopportunity.“Not knowing where to begin, Iwent to the web and put ‘short termmissions’ into my browser. Your websiteshowed up and right then, without beingtoo dramatic, my life was changed,”wrote Stevens in a thank you letter toJBU alumnus Peter Armstrong ’00,executive director of Siloam SpringsbasedMission Data International (M-DAT). “After plugging in a little info onwhat I was looking for, I found OMFInternational (Overseas MissionaryFellowship).” She then went on twomission trips to Asia and now works forOMF in Denver, Colorado.Just like Stevens, thousands of peoplehave searched through the comprehensivedatabase built in the websitewww.ShortTermMissions.com, where 62mission organizations are representedand over 900 one-week to three-yearmission opportunities are announced24 hours a day.And it all began at a JBU computerlab in 2000.Supported from the beginning by hiswife Heather (Menks) Armstrong ’99,Peter’s work provides Internet-basedguidance and tools that help people withmission interest overcome obstacles,such as lack of information, to moveforward in their mission involvement.In March, his “baby” turned fiveyears old. The non-profit organizationis run by “mission mobilizers” or, asPeter puts it, “people who help believerslatch onto God’s plan to reach everypeople [group] with the gospel andalso provide practical assistance to helpthem grow in their involvement in whatGod is doing around the world.”Like a rocket propulsion system, M-DAT staff, which includes three JBUalumni and a current student, mobilizesChristians to share the gospel of JesusChrist with nonbelievers. It also helpsmission organizations to get the wordout about their opportunities.Peter said that this “out of the box”idea came when God mixed four keyingredients: the difficulty Peter andHeather experienced in trying to finda one- to two-year mission opportunityafter wrapping up at JBU; a talk with afriend about the future of the Internet;the Perspectives on the World ChristianMovement course the Armstrongs weretaking at JBU; and a conversation withPeter’s father, David Armstrong, cofounderand current M-DAT directorof Agency Services, in regard to theadvertising difficulties mission agenciesface.Although there are several organizationsthat also placethis kind of informationonwebsites, Short-TermMissions.comenables people toquickly find currentdetails on mission opportunitiesaccording toWorld Viewspecific characteristics, Peter said.“In the past you had to navigatemultiple websites and send dozensof inquiries to get the info you werelooking for,” he added.Today, people interested in missionscan sift through hundreds of missionopportunities and find three or four thatinterest them and fit them in a matter ofminutes. ShortTermMissions.com offers a fulldescription of each mission opportunity,agency contact information, and aspace to immediately submit an e-mailfor further details.“Mission Data’s ShortTermMissions.com website has helped connect GlobalMissions Fellowship with a numberof missions-minded individuals”,affirmed Rev. Frank Banfill, directorof Mobilization at GMF. “Not only arethese people interested in our shorttermmission trips, but many times theyalso are exploring a missions career.”And the Armstrongs’ career asmission mobilizers is up and running.“I didn’t feel prepared, I had noexperience starting an organization,forming a board, doing web programming,designing databases, marketing,fundraising, managing a large project,accounting, and the list goes on. I thinkGod chooses to use people who clearlyare not ideal for the job...so that He canget the most glory!” Peter said. ■John Brown Bulletin Summer 2005 23