Three Valuable MPD Lessons from the Summer of 2011

Here are three lessons I learned from my MPD trip back in the Summer of 2011 that still make a big difference in how I trust the Lord with my finances:

Walking in the Spirit:  On the first week of our trip we were encouraged by Scott Morton’s post on Support Raising Solutions about the importance of being filled with the Spirit.  Scott Morton’s words rang true, “… I concluded that any kind of ministry is stressful when I am not relaxed in the Lord. I’m stressed anytime worry overtakes me—on any subject!”  This summer, God really impressed upon me the importance of walking in the Spirit, completely depending on God.  Not only did God bless us with reaching our support goal for this summer, but He also helped me to really enjoy it and to be more sensitive to ministry opportunities along the way.  Our latest newsletter focused on this, and how it was truly a faith adventure!.

No More Pre-Call Letters:  Calling for appointments is the most difficult part of MPD for me.  I always hoped that a pre-call letter would help prepare the way for my call, but more often than not the person hadn’t even read my pre-call letter, or they didn’t read it very carefully.  When this happened, asking them if they received my pre-call letter turned out to be a distraction.  So this summer I tried it without the pre-call letter, and it worked out great.  I actually felt more comfortable calling for appointments, and it felt more personal.  Also, we could receive a referral on an appointment, and when we get in the car we could call them up immediately.  We had a few appointments within minutes of receiving their name!

GPS:  This summer I finally got a GPS, and I realized that it can be used for a lot more than just finding directions.  If you export your partners (along with their phone number, last gift and last appointment) as custom “Points of Interest”, you can seize the moment when you’re driving past their home to see if they are available to visit.  Here are instructions on how I exported my partners to my Garmin GPS from TntMPD.

--Troy