Each year many short-term missions teams, led by U.S. pastors and church members, minister alongside Foursquare missionaries and churches around the world. Foursquare Missions International (FMI) facilitates such efforts through the Go Teams office, the short-term missions ministry of FMI. They help to connect churches and individuals to effectively fulfill God’s call to the nations.

Go Teams trips are not corporately managed but represent the prayerful efforts of individual pastors and churches, and are facilitated by David Wheeler at FMI, who keeps a plaque on his desk that simply states, “Middle Man.”

“I like this term to describe my role,” David explains. “I’m a connector. I promote and connect people to short-term missions that are already happening within the local churches.”

According to David, about 75 percent of the Go Teams that are sponsored from his office flow out of local churches.

“The thing I'm most proud of about Go Teams is that we are champions of the local church,” he emphasizes. “We are promoting their teams and their successful ministries, rather than our own agenda. I think the most notable thing that Go Teams has done is to increase partnerships across the U.S.”

David tells Foursquare.org that when he started in his role with FMI, the short-term missions office only coordinated with one other church beyond the trips led from FMI. But this year, he notes, the Go Teams office worked with 11 other churches and team leaders across the country.

“I'm very proud of the relationships our office has developed,” David says confidently, “and for the hard work and dedication of so many pastors and leaders who lead the Go Teams. Many churches are making remarkable headway in other countries.”

During spring and summer 2010, several Go Teams were sent out. All Go Teams are effective in what they do; yet they each offer different kinds of ministries in different places—all with unique approaches.

Jeff Lamont, senior pastor of New Song Louisville (Louisville 2 Foursquare Church) in Louisville, Ky., has led teams to collaborate with Foursquare churches in Nicaragua since 1998, when Hurricane Mitch devastated parts of the country. Last summer, over 100 Go Teams members, representing 15 churches from 10 different states, converged in Nicaragua to participate in building projects, staffing medical clinics, children’s ministry, sports outreach, drama and evangelism.

Jeff reports that over 1,000 people made decisions for Christ during the team’s ministry last summer. He enthusiastically endorses the benefits of short-term missions.

“Participating in a short-term mission gives people a fresh perspective on how their lives can make a real difference in the world,” he affirms.  

Currently Jeff’s team is connecting with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Nicaragua, strategically planning to put a Bible in every household in the country. Last summer, his team initiated the project in Dolores, Nicaragua, and distributed Bibles throughout the city. Jeff says that nearly 200 homes received Bibles and that his team, along with the pastor and a number of people from the Foursquare church in Dolores, prayed with many of the people in those homes.