To be sustainable and effective, missions systems have to be strategic and holistic. Will Rogers, missions director at Southeast Christian Church and executive director of the Global Missions Health Conference, shares a practical framework for how churches can disciple, send, and care for mission-minded people across every age group. We discuss trends in global missions, why healthcare missions are uniquely strategic, and how the “missions maturity model” can help churches build a long-term plan for mobilization.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro and setup for the conversation with Will Rogers
04:05 - Will’s background in economics, international development, and global work
05:20 - What capacity building means for organizations
06:54 - Why healthy organizations need both maturity and entrepreneurial “infancy”
08:40 - The origin story of the Global Missions Health Conference
11:09 - Missions is getting more strategic and more focused
12:34 - The Great Commission as a real scorecard for nations, tongues, and tribes
14:50 - Why “long-term” missions now often looks more like midterm
16:15 - Mobilization needs and the gap in biblical knowledge
18:23 - COVID’s impact on short-term and long-term sending
19:20 - The missions maturity model across every age group
21:02 - Why relationships matter in early missions calling
23:44 - Why medical missions requires a different kind of care
24:40 - Building a clear support framework with eight areas of care
26:17 - Dignity, long-term impact, and why short-term trips must lead somewhere
28:59 - What churches should look for after someone returns from a trip
31:49 - Holding rest and commissioning together
34:43 - How to get younger generations involved in missions
35:37 - Adam and Eve, the Great Commission, and the thread of commissioning through Scripture
39:35 - The unleashed process and discerning calling
42:42 - Relational connection and matching gifts to opportunities
43:38 - Advice for first-time medical missionaries
46:45 - Equipping the saints and the joy of the conference
48:26 - Hebrews 4, Ephesians 4, and a final word on rest and weariness
49:17 - Closing thoughts on strategy, thoughtfulness, and the heart behind the work
