Kingdom Consultants: Skills That Matter in the Great Commission

How Switchboard volunteers use their gifts and experience to participate in what God is doing across the world

 “A lot of professionals think that the only opportunities to serve God are found at their church in roles like Sunday school teacher or greeter,” says Joel, an experienced marketer with a heart for the Great Commission. But as he and numerous other believers are discovering, their skills matter in God’s Kingdom.

Their abilities and experience make a difference in the ministries of cross-cultural workers like Rex,* who know the pressure and cost of wearing many hats, including many outside of their skill sets and giftings. As director of Doulos Missions Institute (DMI), a school that prepares Filipino believers for church-planting ministry, Rex has juggled everything from accounting to curriculum development to construction—sometimes all in the same day. He admits, “I was spending stupid amounts of time on things I’m not really good at.”

But, thanks to a team of believers serving from numerous locations around the world, he no longer has to tackle these tasks alone. Through Christar’s collaborative partnership with Switchboard, an organization that connects cross-cultural workers with believers who volunteer their professional skills, he’s received expert advice and help that has enabled him to run DMI more effectively.  

Switchboard volunteers, known as Kingdom Consultants, lend their expertise in areas ranging from graphic design to engineering to IT. Switchboard matches volunteers with needs that fit their skill sets, and then, through video calls, they help cross-cultural workers like Rex to overcome obstacles and embrace new opportunities for ministry.  

But Kingdom Consultants’ service doesn’t just benefit the cross-cultural teams who receive their help. These volunteers are also blessed by the ability to participate like never before in what God is doing in least-reached communities—all without leaving home.

A New Way to Serve

Joel is one of these remote volunteers. He had been on short-term trips, but serving with Switchboard was different. “It wasn't until I actually had a call with a worker overseas that I fully grasped the impact it could make, but also how radically different it was from ‘normal missions,’” he recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh, this is huge.’”

Unlike the missions experiences he’d had before, serving through Switchboard has given Joel the opportunity to use his experience as a marketer for God’s Kingdom across the world, without the barriers of international travel. “I have four boys, and it's really hard to just say, ‘OK, I’ll go on a mission trip,’” Joel shares. Being able to jump on a call with a cross-cultural worker and serve that person through his professional skills was revolutionary. “Switchboard allowed me to use my marketing skills to help someone very specifically who had a specific need and then see that impact. That was really cool.”

Kingdom Consultants start by creating a profile on the Switchboard website and then are matched with potential volunteer opportunities that fit their skill sets and experience. As Joel explains, “A worker overseas can be connected with someone who needs your help within 10 minutes, and you can have an immediate impact doing something that not just anyone can do—something that only someone with your skills can do.”

For Joel, that something was helping to create a social media strategy to attract students to DMI. “Rex got a better understanding of what he needed to do versus just ‘social media,’” Joel shares, adding that often, Kingdom Consulting involves not only filling a cross-cultural workers’ request but helping him or her clarify what’s actually needed.

For example, a worker might ask for help with creating a logo; but, through a conversation with a Kingdom Consultant, is able to clarify that their real need is to increase awareness of their ministry in their community. “A lot of times you need that expert to be able to dig to the root problem, and I think that's what Switchboard does a great job of,” Joel explains. “[Cross-cultural workers] get access to someone who has that experience, knows what they're talking about and can save them hours and hours of time.”

Since his first call through Switchboard, Joel has come alongside numerous cross-cultural workers as a Kingdom Consultant. In addition to assisting workers like Rex with social media, he’s helped them create business plans and websites.

Andrew, founder of PitchFact, a company that serves angel investors, had a similar experience as he worked with Rex to create a pitch deck to promote DMI to potential funders. With over a thousand pitches under his belt, he found volunteering his professional skills from across the ocean fun, easy and meaningful. “I was surprised by how directly correlated this particular opportunity was with what I do in the professional realm,” he recalls. “Hearing that [Rex] was so impacted by it was shockingly encouraging. … It was neat to hear about what God is doing.”

A Life-Changing Experience

The expert help that Kingdom Consultants provide from afar enables cross-cultural workers like Rex to be better stewards of their time and resources. As he explains, “A lot of cross-cultural workers are decent amateurs at a lot of stuff, and we get by. … We tend to think that being a decent amateur is the way missions has to be. … The job done by experts is just so much better and goes so much quicker.” And with Switchboard, Rex says, “You have a real expert.”

Yet, in spite of the huge benefits to the cross-cultural workers who receive support, Scott Elequin, executive director of Switchboard, suspects that the volunteers may actually get the greater blessing. “In some ways the bigger impact is on the Kingdom Consultant than the worker because the worker is able to get more done, but the Kingdom Consultant’s life has been changed. ... “It’s like when people go on a short-term missions trip: Their lives change because they’ve seen it. Now they’re literally starting tomorrow and they’re seeing it every week. They’re on a staff meeting once a quarter with the whole team. … That really changes your heart.”

Joel testifies of this benefit as well. “Great Commission Organizations need help, but as Kingdom Consultants come along and support them, they're getting joy and benefit from that too. ... It's very unique, and it's amazing to see. … I just create a profile and within 10 minutes I could potentially be matched with an organization or a field worker who needs my expertise. … This is giving you the ability to do missions with the skills that God has given you.”

Click here to get started as a Switchboard Kingdom Consultant!

Participate Through Prayer

• Ask God to raise up more believers to serve as Kingdom Consultants.
• Pray that through these volunteers’ service, cross-cultural workers will be able to overcome obstacles, be better stewards of their time and resources and, ultimately, see more people transformed by the gospel.