Innovative "Digital Mission Trip" Helps New Church Plant Launch Their Mission
Every day fifty-five people from around the country stop and pray for Rise Church and the people of Portland, Maine, at 10:02 a.m. That time of day harkens to Luke 10:02 where Jesus instructs his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest fields.” In the fall of 2020, God answered this prayer for laborers in an unexpected and exciting way.
Rev. Dan Wolf, the head planter for Rise Church – one of ADNE’s newest plants – was talking about practical needs for this new kingdom work with Adam Flynn, the Pastor of Multiplication at The Church of Eleven22, one of their partner churches in Florida. Due to pandemic restrictions, sending physical mission teams to Maine was nearly impossible. But as Covid-19 caused both new people to leave larger cities and move to Maine and local Portlanders asking new questions about meaning and God, they began discussing the immediate need for building a website as a doorway for the community. Adam suggested, “What if we put together a Digital Mission Trip made up of tech-savvy volunteers? We could build you a website and do it all via Zoom without people having to leave their homes.” Quickly the idea turned into a reality. A team was assembled and began meeting weekly leading up to the trip for discipleship, planning logistics, and learning about and praying for Portland. Then on the week of October 19th, a team of six people worked with Dan to build the website and create a promotional video for the church. Even though most of them never met in person, God showed up and worked in powerful ways.
Ray Kistemaker, a website designer said, “I design websites for a living and didn't expect these skills to align with a mission trip. This digital mission trip is a great reminder that God is involved in all areas of our lives. Our creator truly is creative in how he furthers his kingdom.”
Also, it was a great opportunity for the Florida-based team to learn about the Gospel needs and opportunities in Portland and New England. Maria West, a copywriter said, “I learned that mission trips aren't only for [foreign countries] or impoverished parts of our own country. Even regular, desirable towns can be lacking access to gospel truth. In this case with New England, it takes an even more intentional approach to relationships before shoving truth in people's faces. I am thankful to have been a part of it by creating website messaging that portrays a safe community where questions, imperfection, and doubts are welcome with open arms.” From this experience, two of the team members have actually started a business called Sunday-Sites.com to serve churches in building websites.
This Digital Mission Trip was a great example of how God has transformed paradigms and spurred on innovation during this pandemic. The website, www.riseportland.church, was launched in November. Rev. Dan invites you to check it out! Share it with friends you may know in and around Portland. You can follow their church on Instagram and share their church’s Facebook page. By simply engaging and sharing, you could help their website be a gateway to the Gospel in Portland.
To learn more about how to pray with or support Rise Church in Portland, feel free to email dan@riseportland.church.