A Day on the Phone

Yesterday I spent a busy day on the phone, calling churches. I thought I'd try to give you a little taste of what that is like for this missionary appointee. The method I use for calling churches is a three-step process:

1. First I call the church once to ask them if I can send them some information. I used to skip this step and go straight to #2, but after some frustrating experiences with spending postage money to send my information only to find that the church had moved or changed their phone number, I took a suggestion from another missionary and started calling them first. It saves a little postage money, but also it means that the church will be watching for my information when it comes.
2. I prepare and send an information packet, including a brochure introducing me and my ministry, two recommendation letters from pastors, and a cover letter.
3. Then comes the really hard work. After the church has had time to receive the packet and look at it, I call them to follow up on it. Occasionally I get a meeting scheduled after only a few calls, but more commonly it takes many calls, and even then I may find out that the church is not able to have me come. But, as my dad always says, "patience is a virtue"!
   

I've been getting ready to send out a bunch of new information packets, so yesterday I was mostly working on Step #1 - calling the churches once first. But I did call one church where I'd been trying to find a date that worked for both the church and me, and finally we found a convenient date (just after New Year's Day) and got the meeting scheduled.

Here's a breakdown of the other 45 churches I called yesterday:

• For 25 churches, the answering machine or voice mail picked up. That's okay, at least I know I have the right number! I'll send them some information and then try again to contact them by phone.
• In 13 cases, I got a real person, and they told me to go ahead and send in my information. This is good, because hopefully now those 13 churches will be watching for it.
  
• For one church, I already know the pastor quite well from my seminary days, so I skipped the first two steps and went straight to step #3. As he doesn't keep regular office hours at the church, I called his home number. He wasn't home at the time, but I left a message with his wife.
• 2 other churches told me not to send them information, because they are currently unable to take on any new missionaries. Good, that saves a bit of trouble!
  
• 2 churches didn't seem to have an answering machine, as the phone just kept on ringing. Or maybe the church has moved or closed down. Or maybe the machine just wasn't turned on. I'll try calling them again some other time.
• At one church, I got a recorded voice saying the number was no longer in service. I guess I better double-check to make sure my number is correct. But maybe the church has moved or closed down.
• One church had changed its position and is no longer a Baptist church. So I won't pursue that one any further.

Well, I hope that gives you an idea of what missionary appointees experience on a daily basis. If I've counted right, I now have to prepare and send out nearly 40 new packets, so I guess I better go and get to it!