The concept of the Mission Partners Platform evolved from a conversation between three guys who were convinced that the health of the Christian church, its vibrancy in mission and ministry, was rooted in releasing the priesthood of all believers. The concept of the priesthood is found in 1 Peter 2:9 where Peter writes to the Christians who were scattered by poverty and conflict:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

In that simple verse, Peter reminds every believer that they have been set apart by their baptism to be a priest to their community by proclaiming the amazing redemption given us by Christ. As with the passage from Peter, Ephesians 4 has been a pivotal influence in this process. In Ephesians 4 Paul describes a thriving church as a collaboration of all members. He writes,

...speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (ESV)

Convinced that God has called all believers to mission and ministry and gifted some with unique gifts and ability to encourage and equip the body of Christ; the group of friends wondered how they could empower the singers, musicians, artisans, writers, animators, and educators to "speak the truth in love" with the church at large. With a great deal of prayer and conversation with may other people the concept of an online marketplace began to take shape. The marketplace would be like a mall or shopping center. It would be a central gathering place with a wide variety of "shops." Some of the shops would have "things" for sale, like artwork or music. Some of the shops would have resources for sale, like children's ministry or youth ministry resources, plays for use in the church, adult Bible studies. Some of the resources would be available for free, a gift from the creator to the church.

The marketplace will accomplish its goal of giving voice to the people in three ways. First, the marketplace will be a community gathering point to share ideas and sell content. Second, the marketplace will be a safe community where developing content creators can receive feedback and coaching to improve their craft. Third, the marketplace will amplify the voice of content creators through the use of cross-marketing.

Our goal is that Christians and Christian ministries will benefit from the marketplace by gaining access to a wider variety of resources for use in their ministry context. We believe that a greater variety of resources will enable ministries to find resources that meet the needs of their unique cultural context. We are committed to helping ministries invest more resources into serving their communities by providing resources at low cost or no cost. Each content creator is free to set their fee for use of their resources. However, the marketplace will be producing core resources that will be offered free of charge. Eventually, the core resources will include confirmation material and children's ministry resources.

We are excited to see how God will use this new venture to strengthen the church and its mission work to God's lost children. Please pray for the endeavor, that God will bless our efforts to connect with old and new content creators. Pray for the up-coming creators' conference that it will be an effective tool for empowering content creators with training and networking opportunities. Pray for our work at securing writers and donors to produce high-quality free core content.

That small gathering, the group of friends has grown to include a couple of dozen actively involved supporters, fully engaged leaders, and content creators. We are seeking more like-minded people to join our ranks. If you are interested, complete the contact form found using the button below.