Advocacy Teams: Frequently Asked Questions

Advocacy teams help sending churches provide consistent care for missionaries while keeping the congregation meaningfully connected to their work. Yet many churches struggle with how to form and sustain these relationships over time. This FAQ resource addresses common questions and offers practical guidance to help missions leaders establish, strengthen, and maintain healthy advocacy teams in their church context.

Advocates and advocacy teams help sending churches remain faithfully connected to the missionaries they send—providing consistent care while also creating opportunities for missionaries to influence and strengthen the church. For a comprehensive guide to the purpose, structure, and formation of advocacy teams, see “How to Establish Advocacy Teams for Missionary Care.”

Because advocacy teams can be challenging to implement and sustain, the following FAQ addresses common questions and practical lessons from numerous sending churches to help missions leaders build healthy, lasting advocacy relationships.

What Does an Advocacy Team Do?

What an advocacy team does can vary widely based on how the church chooses to structure the role. Generally speaking, there are two entities involved on the sending church side:

1. The advocate (sometimes called the “point person” or Advocacy Team Leader) — the primary connection between the church and the missionary.

2. The advocacy team — a group of people committed to praying for and caring for the missionary. This team may come from a single small group or from individuals who already know and love the missionary.

Basic Level

• The advocate meets one-on-one with the missionary over video call every three months.

• The advocacy team prays monthly for the missionary, both individually and together.

• The advocate and/or team responds to prayer updates as an expression of care.

Moderate Level

• The advocate meets one-on-one with the missionary every one to two months.

• Each spouse has a dedicated advocate.

• The advocate and/or team sends notes or gifts for family birthdays.

• The advocate and team participate in the missionary’s commissioning.

High Level

• The advocate meets one-on-one with the missionary every month.

• Children from the sending church connect with the missionary’s children through video calls.

• The advocate and/or team visits the missionary periodically.

• The advocate is involved in the missionary’s assessment and development.

• The advocate builds a relational connection with the missionary’s supervisor. (Often this is led by the missions leader, but advocates may participate alongside them.)

What Do Different Churches Call Advocacy Teams?

Churches have utilized a variety of titles for their advocates and advocacy teams. From the churches we connected with, these titles include:

• A-Teams 

• Prayer and Care Teams (PAC Teams)

• Home Teams

• Care Teams

• Barnabas Teams

• Sending Teams

• Harbor Teams (communicating safety and resupplying)

• Pit Crews (drawing a racing analogy)

• Missionary Care Team (MCT) - Each sent one has an individual advocate, and the advocates collectively make up the "team."

For the purposes of this document, we’ll call the team leader “the advocate” and the group “the advocacy team.”

What Are Some Different Formats for an Advocacy Team?

Churches have used a variety of approaches to structure advocacy teams. Each approach has its own benefits and challenges. As a church, you will need to consider:

1. What is our goal? Is it primarily to care for the missionary, to grow the church’s heart for missions, or both?

2. What fits our church’s existing systems? Do you primarily operate through small groups, or through ministry teams and committees?

Below are four formats the Upstream team has observed in churches.

Teams Formed Around a Small Group

Some churches form advocacy teams within a small group. In this format, the small group leader or another member serves as the advocate. This may begin pre-field or after the missionary has launched. The advocate shares updates with the group and connects with the missionary every one to three months individually or as a group.

Benefits

• Helps the church grow in understanding God’s heart for the world.

• Gives the small group a shared missions focus.

• Provides a natural place for the missionary unit to reconnect when home.

Challenges

• Small group turnover can make it difficult to build consistent, deep relationships.

• Missionaries may find it difficult to maintain meaningful connection with a large and changing group.

• Relationships formed after launch can be harder to develop.

While this format is viable, many churches see the small group as a supplement to the primary advocate. Missionaries benefit most from having a consistent individual advocate, with additional opportunities to influence the church through settings like furlough visits.

Teams Formed Around an Advocate

In this format, each missionary unit has a primary advocate, often someone with an existing relationship. These advocates are typically gathered by the missions leader for training and prayer, and each advocate involves their small group in care and prayer as appropriate.

Benefits

• Provides the missionary with a consistent, trusted connection.

• Builds on existing relationships.

• Maintains continuity even if the advocate changes small groups.

Challenges

• Not every small group will have the opportunity to be involved.

• Small group changes still require adjustment for the missionary.

Teams Formed as Dedicated Teams

In this format, each missionary unit has a dedicated advocacy team formed outside the small group structure. The team is often made up of people with an existing relationship or strong interest in the missionary’s work. The missionary meets regularly with the team, primarily for care, though some teams also provide advisory support.

Benefits

• Provides meaningful care while involving more people than just the advocate.

• Team members often have strong buy-in and commitment.

• Creates a natural next step for those engaged in short-term missions.

Challenges

 If functioning as an advisory team, consider:

• Are there qualified people in your church to serve in this role?

• Does the missionary’s organization allow for this kind of input?

• Could this unintentionally undermine the missionary’s supervisor?

This format also does not directly involve the broader church body.

Advocate and Small Group as Separate Roles

Some churches assign both an individual advocate and a separate small group. The advocate focuses on consistent personal connection, while the small group prays, sends encouragement, and connects when possible.

Benefits

• Keeps the missionary’s primary care relationship clear and consistent.

• Allows small groups to participate in missions engagement.

Challenges

• Assigning groups without prior relationships can be difficult.

• Maintaining multiple relationships requires additional effort from the missionary.

For this approach to succeed, clear vision and expectations are essential. Missionaries, advocates, and small groups all carry significant responsibilities, and advocacy must remain focused on meaningful care rather than becoming an added burden.

What Is The Best Way for Getting Church Members to Become Advocates or Join an Advocacy Team?

Vision-casting to both the missionary and the church is essential. Missionaries need to understand the importance of receiving care and helping shape the sending church. Likewise, advocates and advocacy teams need to see their role as a vital expression of the church’s responsibility to care for those they send and to be influenced by their global perspective.

Make it a big deal to be an advocate. Consider using an application and interview process to clarify expectations and ensure a good fit. Provide regular training and equipping, and involve potential advocates early—during the missionary’s assessment, development, and commissioning.

The best time for a missionary unit to identify their advocate and form an advocacy team is pre-field. Work with them to prayerfully consider who might serve in this role. Questions to ask include:

• Who are three to five people you know and love in our church?

• Who will you enjoy connecting with regularly?

• Who will pursue you even when you are “out of sight and out of mind”?

• Who will ask honest questions while also empathizing with your overseas life?

How Can a Missions Leader Ensure Advocates and Advocacy Teams Maintain Momentum?

Like any ministry, advocacy requires ongoing attention to remain healthy. Missions leaders play an important role in sustaining momentum by reinforcing vision, equipping advocates, and ensuring missionaries are being well cared for. Without this intentional investment, advocacy teams can easily lose focus or fade over time.

• Missions leaders should have regular touch points with advocates for vision-casting, training, and prayer. These should happen at least quarterly.

• Missions leaders should check in with missionaries annually to ensure they are having a positive and meaningful experience with their advocate and advocacy team.

• It is often helpful to establish defined “term” lengths for advocates and team members. Clear terms provide a natural off-ramp if someone can no longer serve and create opportunities to thoughtfully reaffirm or transition roles when needed.

When Should an Advocate Escalate Concerns?

Advocates play an important role in caring for missionaries, but they are not meant to replace the missionary’s supervisor or the church’s missions leadership. Part of their role is knowing when to listen, when to encourage direct conversation, and when to involve others who are responsible for providing oversight and support.

Advocates should first encourage missionary units to address concerns directly with their field supervisors or team members. If this kind of direct communication is difficult or unfamiliar, resources such as Peacemaker or Resolving Everyday Conflict by Ken Sande can help missionaries and advocates develop healthy patterns of resolving conflict before and during their time on the field.

At the same time, advocates should be aware of situations that need additional support. For example, signs of extreme culture shock—such as persistent depression, anxiety, withdrawal, or an inability to carry out normal responsibilities—may indicate the need to involve the missions leader or supervisor. If an issue continues over time, whether related to the missionary’s personal well-being or challenges with their team or leadership, it is wise to bring in the church’s missions leader.

Advocates serve best when they resist the urge to “rescue” and instead help connect the missionary to the appropriate sources of care and oversight. Missions leaders and supervisors are positioned to help address complex situations, and advocates can support this process by communicating concerns, encouraging healthy next steps, and faithfully praying.

Where Should We Start? Practical First Steps for Missions Leaders

Establishing advocacy teams does not need to happen all at once. Start by taking a few intentional steps that build a strong foundation over time.

• Clarify your vision. Determine how advocacy teams will help your church care for missionaries and strengthen the church’s missions engagement. Share this vision with your leadership.

• Begin with missionaries preparing to launch. The pre-field stage is the ideal time to help missionary units identify and invite their advocate and advocacy team.

• Identify and invite potential advocates. Look for spiritually mature, relationally consistent members who will faithfully pursue and care for missionaries over time.

• Provide initial training and clear expectations. Help advocates understand their role, including regular communication, prayer, and when to involve missions leadership.

• Start simple and build over time. Faithful, consistent connection is more important than complexity. Advocacy teams can grow and develop as the relationships deepen.

• Stay involved. Maintain regular touch points with advocates and periodically check in with missionaries to ensure the relationships remain healthy and helpful.

Along the way, expect to learn through experience. Advocacy teams often develop over time through trial, feedback, and adjustment. Maintain a humble, teachable posture—listening to your missionaries and advocates, and making improvements as you go. Faithful sending is not built all at once, but through consistent care and a willingness to grow together.

Advocacy as an Expression of Sending Well

Of all the ways a church supports its missionaries, faithful, thoughtful advocacy is among the most important. Those we send need trusted people who will champion them within the church and help the church receive the unique perspective and encouragement missionaries bring.

By establishing and equipping committed advocates and advocacy teams, sending churches create relationships that help missionaries persevere in their calling. At the same time, these relationships deepen the church’s own participation in God’s global mission—strengthening the bond between those who go and those who send.