In this earlier article, I suggested that many evangelistic strategies demonstrate a certain embarrassment about the main church meeting. By running a plethora of evangelistic events we often infer that that we consider our normal Sunday church to be unsuitable for non Christians.

So it should come as no surprise that when our churches welcome the services of a visiting "mission team' from a Bible college, we normally put energy into special events, since we ultimately believe that church is inappropriate for evangelism.

As a result, we spend a week with the team running lots of interesting events, from bush dances and kids games through to special dinners and craft nights. We rejoice when we see newcomers attend these occasions, and we praise God that many people have heard a testimony or short talk about Jesus.

Yet, when the mission team goes home, and the church begins to experience the post-adrenaline crash, we are confronted with the disappointment that many of the visitors who came to the events have been lost in the transition to the normal Sunday meetings. What's more, many of the newcomers even seem lukewarm in their acceptance of our invitations to courses about Christianity.

However, most people assume that this unfortunate outcome is somewhat inevitable. We sow the seed, and God brings the harvest. Some of the seed will fall on good soil, but much will fall on rocky or weedy soil. The fragrance of the gospel will be received by some as the aroma of life, but to others it will be the stench of death.

Yet, it is possible, and perhaps even preferable for the mission team to concentrate less on evangelism, and more on equipping. We assume that because it's called a "mission' team, the group must be doing outreach. However, the reason they are a mission team is because they are "sent' from the Bible college. After all, the word "mission' comes from the Latin missio (to send.)

So, if we remove the premise that a mission team must concentrate on doing the evangelism, then many options open to us that may provide much greater opportunities for church growth (in both number and quality.)

Here are some ideas about how to radically restructure the program of your visiting mission team:

1. Get the team to train the church

Invite the team members to train your church in the latest tool for sharing the gospel. Turn each home fellowship group into a training session, rather than a dialogue meeting, using the teaching skills of the Bible college student. Run an all-day training session on the Saturday, in which members are taught skills in personal evangelism. Or, the church could even run a parish-wide houseparty over the weekend, and use the team to run a great kids and youth program, freeing up every adult to be trained and nurtured by the teaching of God's word, under the ministry of the visiting preachers from the Bible college.

2. Get the team to pray with the church

Get the team to encourage the church members by leading them in prayer. What better way to provide a proper preparation for everyday evangelism than for the visiting team to energise the church into regular prayer. Run daily prayer meetings, and invite as many as possible from the church to attend. Help turn the desire to prayer into a habit, both for the individuals and for the whole church.

3. Get the team to focus on the schools

Get the mission team to run as many scripture seminars and classes as possible, but with the intention of modelling and training the church members. A mission team member could prepare the lesson or seminar in conjunction with the church member. Then, for the first time, the mission team member could run the lesson, then when they repeat the lesson with the next class, the local church member could run it together with the mission team member, and the third time, the mission team member could just watch and debrief later. A great opportunity to do the "Watch me', "Do it together', "Do it on your own' training technique.

4. Get the team to help you raise your church profile

Today, more than ever, our society seems to have a social conscience, at least superficially. Why not tap into that, and get the team members to work with the church to run a community care event? Raise the profile of your church in the schools by partnering with the local P&C to do some landscaping, or paint a building, or even get a nerd from the church to refurbish some older computers to create a computer lab? Make a big noise about the event, send press releases to the local papers, and work through the school newsletter to raise the profile of your church. The contacts and goodwill generated could exceed anything you've ever tried, and the best thing is that your love for the community makes your normal Sunday gatherings more attractive, because they will have a higher regard for your overall church. Furthermore, it might help the relationships with the Principal and staff as you seek to continue and expand your scripture teaching at their school.

5. Get the team to critique your church

There are many strange things that happen in a church that are only apparent to the outsider. Having a team of "fresh eyes' critique your church could be a great way to improve your normal gathering. Get each team member to fill in a questionnaire, and then have the parish council meet with the team members during that week to hear the feedback. You might be surprised to hear that the big gates you've constructed to keep the kids safe actually create the impression that you're closed to the community. Or, maybe, the team might be able to honestly report just how friendly your church is to newcomers, especially if you send one person the week before to act as a newcomer" !

Teach them to fish

The thinking behind this radical reinvention of the "College Mission' is to help us make our normal church activities sensitive to and sufficient for outsiders. If we get this right, then every Sunday will be a "special' event for newcomers, and every Bible study will be a dialogue meeting. Inheriting a team of twenty theologically trained students, with an experienced lecturer in tow, should be a training dream-team for any church.

So, get the mission team to train and encourage your church for evangelism. For if the mission team does the fishing for you, then your church will only have new fish for a week. But if the mission team teaches your church to fish, then you will have fish for a lifetime!

Jodie McNeill is Year 13 Director and a Youth Ministry Lecturer at Youthworks College. Visit his blog at jodiemcneill.com