5 Ways A Mobile App Experience Connects Missionaries to Your Church

Even though they’re surrounded by people every day, it’s easy for missionaries to feel isolated. Disconnection from their home or their church can contribute to feelings of seclusion or abandonment.

But thanks to social media and mobile technology it’s easier for missionaries to feel more connected with others. But did you know that a church’s mobile app experience can also make them feel more connected to the life of their church while keeping local congregants more engaged in their ministry?

Here’s how to use an app to keep your congregation and missionaries in sync.

1. Feed their blogs into your church app

When you’ve been doing missionary work for a while, coming back to your church (or other partner churches) can be hard. New people don’t know who you are and don’t have any connection to your ministry. And unless the church is doing regular updates, even those that know you can lose touch with what’s going on.

If a missionary keeps a blog (and they really should be encouraged to do so), you can feature it in your app. This lets people in the church know what’s happening in their ministry, and how they can pray and become involved.

2. Feed missionaries’ Instagram and Twitter feeds in your church app

This is another fabulous way for congregants to get up-to-the-minute news. If missionaries experience immediate needs due to earthquakes, droughts, or other emergencies, they can alert your members immediately.

Instagram gives the church the luxury of seeing the people and culture the missionaries are ministering to. There’s nothing like an image to really capture people’s attention and hearts. Regular picture updates in your church app can inspire prayer in ways that a missionary fridge magnet never could!

3. Designate missionary donations

echurch’s church app experience software is integrated with Pushpay, which empowers congregants to give anytime from anywhere. Within the app, your church can equip congregants to give specifically to your missionaries whenever they’re inspired to! If missionaries have a specific need, church members can contribute right from the app. This offers transparency and connection to the cause they feel called to support.

This has potential to revolutionize how missionaries raise funds. If they have a number of churches supporting them, their blog and social accounts can be fed into their apps, too. And those churches can also contribute directly to missionaries.

Once churches are connected to missionaries via their church app, the missionary’s visit doesn’t have to be another “here’s-who-we-are” stopover. It can be a reunion and a celebration! They can talk about needs that the congregation is familiar with and thank them for the monetary gifts they’ve already received.

4. Missionaries can view/listen to sermons

Having your sermons available in the church app experience can play a big part in keeping missionaries plugged in. They can follow the church’s teaching and sermon series, and continue to grow alongside the rest of their community. They can even use and share those sermons in their own ministry and outreach.

5. Missionaries can read the church blog

Connection via a blog goes both ways. Not only can the church benefit from having app access to the missionary’s blog, but those out on the mission field can also keep their finger on the community’s pulse through the church’s blogs.

Engage Your Whole Church

If you don’t have a custom church app experience, it’s time. Most of your church is using mobile apps to do everything from handling their finances to staying connected to loved ones. Why not take advantage of the technology available to strengthen your discipleship and community?

Contact Pushpay today to discover how your church can use world-class mobile technology to help connect your missionaries and drive engagement at your church. Click here to talk to one or our church tech experts!