International (MNN) — At the beginning of the pandemic, e3 Partners had to reevaluate its strategy for mission trips. So they connected groups in the US with Christians in other countries via digital technology. This allowed people to pray for ministry work happening in real-time around the world. Read more about this virtual trip format here.
E3 Partners has hosted over 100 virtual trips so far. Now, with some travel available, e3 Partners Church Partnership Specialist Joshua Spinx says the ministry is mixing things up. “We have a short-term team who is actually able to go and participate on the ground in another country. But at the same time, we marry with them a virtual team that’s back here in the States that’s serving as prayer support, serving as an advocate, serving as someone who can just relay the story back to their churches and wherever they’re plugged in.”
e3 Partners calls this approach, “One Team, two locations.”
Visit the e3 Partners website for more information about how to join one of these hybrid trips or one that is fully online. E3 Partners has trips planned to locations like Nigeria, Greece, and Lebanon.
A permanent format
Spinx says e3 Partners created the virtual trip format to get around COVID-19 travel restrictions. But the program has grown well beyond just being a crutch. “This is something that is not going to go away. This marrying a virtual trip with a short-term trip on the ground is something that I think is going to be a part of most of our short-term trips until Jesus comes back.”
Spinx says this format also raises awareness of the trips and enables the ministry to raise resources for the trips and for people in need. Spinx says, “For example, during the short-term Middle Eastern trips that we did, we were able to raise several thousand dollars for the humanitarian aid over there. This is something that could certainly be a wonderful tool moving forward into the future long past COVID-19.”
Pray e3 Partners will have wisdom as they continue their ministry in new ways during the pandemic.
(Header photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
