4 P’s for Successful BCBP Missions

Members of the Mission Team of BCBP Legazpi chapter rededicate themselves to the BCBP Mission of Bringing Christ to the Marketplace.

By Bro. Junep Ocampo, BCBP Kapatiran Managing Editor

BCBP chapters wanting to put up missions or outreaches may want to listen first to Bro. Bert Masiclat’s advice first before firing away.

The National Service Coordinator for Mission has three words of advice that all start with “P” — People, Prospecting, and Planning.

In an interview by the BCBP Kapatiran, Bro. Bert said these three P’s are the most basic ingredients of successful BCBP missions and outreaches — and failing to include any of these P’s would most likely result in failure.

The first “P” is People.

According to Bro Bert, going on a mission or setting up an outreach is like going to war.

“I was a former soldier so I know this very well. You cannot go to war and expect to win if you don’t have the right people in place. You must start by developing your own people first and making sure they are ready and that they really know what they are going into,” he said.

Bro. Bert noted that some chapters are so eager in responding to the call to bring Christ to new marketplaces that they forget that doing so would require a whole new level of commitment on the part of their members.

“Even our Lord Jesus knew this. It took Him three years of training his people before He sent them out to evangelize the world,” he said.

The second “P” that Bro. Bert recommends to those wanting to put up new missions is Prospecting. The word came from the Latin word prospectus, meaning “to view.” Simply put, prospecting is a mindful assessment of the field and identify targets.

“What we do is selective evangelization. We are after the captains of the industry or those who would be captains of the industry in the future. We should always ask ourselves, ‘Ito bang mare-recruit ko eh may potential to become Chapter Head someday?’ Because if we recruit leaders, then eventually those leaders will recruit more leaders,” he said.

The third “P” is Planning. By this, he means thorough, SMART planning with clear objectives and adequate resources.

Bro. Bert advised chapters with well-trained people and clear prospects to have an Outreach Development Plan that includes resources that must be allocated to the mission or outreach for the next two years.

“The plan should be well-thought of. Hindi puwedeng short-cut. Yung ibang chapters kasi, in their eagerness to evangelize, bukas lang nang bukas ng outreach. So no wonder, madami hindi nagu-grow. 17 years na outreach pa din. Or worse, yung iba namamatay,” he said.

Bro. Bert’s final “P” is Prayer. “This is the most important of all P’s,” he said. “We should ask God’s help before and after every mission activity. We are doing this for Him and by praying we are asking His blessing. Without God we are nothing.”

Bro. Bert calls on chapters to innovate and continuously improve in their approaches to evangelization, especially in the weekly Breakfast meetings.P.

“The Breakfast should be fun and always engaging. Dapat merong variety. Hindi puwedeng pare-pareho na lang every Saturday. Pag ganun, magsasawa ang members. And it should always have first-timers. Kung walang first-timers, then lugi ang Breakfast. Something is wrong.”

To continuously improve, Bro. Bert recommends the regular holding of post-Breakfast meetings for evaluation purposes. “Unfortunately, post-Breakfast evaluation is rarely seen among BCBP chapters. Kaya imbes na mag-improve at mag-grow, the Breakfast and the chapter deteriorate and shrink in membership. ,” he said.