Local Church Mission Support - How Do You Evaluate and Choose?

Our Outreach Committee met last night and we are perplexed each year as we try to figure out how some of the missionaries and mission causes made it onto our support list. Some of us have been members for 25+ years and it seems some of these people and causes have been on the list that long or longer. Even the veterans on the list have a difficult time figuring out how the person or cause "connects" to our church. That lead us into a discussion about the changing nature and demographics within our congregation and whether or not theses causes are resonating with the younger generations. Maybe their heart for missions, we reasoned, lies in different areas. 

Has our approval of the same list, year after year, become a hindrance in our pointed effort to promote missions through our Mission Emphasis/Faith Promise week? We are considering changing our procedures. An individual or cause will be required, in the future, to fill out an application to get on the list. That application will be good for three years, still, each cause will be reviewed yearly. After three years the individual/cause will automatically be off the list, but can re-apply to get back on. If we stagger the terms, we'd be closely looking at 1/3rd of the list each year, while the other 2/3rds would, presumably, be more likely to be rubber stamped on through.

Comments/Thoughts?

Any suggestions as to what questions we might use on our application?

What methods are you or your church using to be fair to those you support and yet keep it "fresh"?

Thanks,

Westend Outreach Committee