MOST, an acronym for Mission Opportunities Short Term, was first founded in 1992. The idea for the project started in 1989, when the Sommerfelds helped rebuild a church in Haiti on a mission trip with their church. Both Gayle and Don felt called to continue international mission projects, but returning home to full-time careers and family life led to delays in their long-term ministry plans. Eventually, they began to understand the need for someone to help orchestrate short-term mission trips on a larger scale. That was when MOST Ministries was formed.
In the words of executive director Marty Moro, “I didn’t fully understand the impact of our work at MOST Ministries until I went on a trip myself. And now I’m excited to amplify the work our team does every day. We get to orchestrate volunteers from congregations all over the United States to better serve as the hands and feet of Christ on a global scale.”
MOST in Action
Each MOST Ministry project begins with a request from a long-term church worker outside of the United States. Currently, MOST teams have been sent to five continents and over 50 individual countries.
After the request is placed, the MOST staff begins advertising mission opportunities through their website and national congregation connections. On average, they seek to equip a team with 10 members, including a team leader who will help coordinate travel and on-site communication with the missionary host.
“The MOST Ministries office is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But we receive regular volunteers from as close to home as St. Lorenz Lutheran in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and as far away as churches in Colorado and Florida,” Moro notes. “We also have a strong relationship with the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), and they regularly organize volunteer teams for us as well.”
A short-term trip with MOST will usually last a week and a half, and it can include a wide variety of activities. “The main service we offer is eyeglass clinics to international communities who will host us. But we have also sent out teams to lead medical clinics, offer water filtration and construction services, as well as lead classes for vacation bible school and English as a second language. Basically, we strive to meet any needs of overseas missionaries who reach out to us,” says Moro.
The Gift of Sight
Unlike other programs offered by MOST Ministries, their eyeglass clinics do not require any volunteers to be eye care experts to participate. A medical clinic offered by MOST Ministries usually includes a pharmacist, nurses, and a doctor whenever possible. The fact that anyone can participate in eyeglass clinics with ease is one of the main reasons it’s the most popular outreach opportunity currently offered by MOST.
MOST Ministries currently receives an average of 30,000 donated glasses every year, provided by congregations all over the United States. “People often think about the Lions Club donation boxes for glasses that they’ve seen around town. We actually partner with a few Lions Clubs to meet our glasses goals. But when you’re donating your glasses to your Lutheran church, most often they end up in the hands of MOST Ministries,” says Moro. “We also receive glasses from the LWML and through the mail.”
And the exact number of glasses collected by MOST Ministries is more important than one might think. “30,000 glasses a year means we can bring enough excess to guarantee every person at one of our clinics gets the right fit,” Moro shares.
After donations are collected nationally, every pair of glasses is reviewed and prepped for reuse at the MOST Ministries headquarters in Michigan. This includes grinding down lenses to fit a wide variety of prescription needs. Then only a minor amount of training is required for the glasses to be distributed through free clinics hosted around the world.
Many of the volunteers at a MOST eyeglass clinic will be trained to help size individuals for the right pair of glasses. The team will also work directly with the mission host to offer a witnessing booth and other resources to connect people to faith. In the words of Marty Moro, “The gift of sight opens doors to directly show a person the impact of the Gospel.”
MOST and Support
Individuals who participate as volunteers in these short-term projects are called Goers by MOST Ministry members. But Moro pointed out that there are so many ways a person can assist in the outreach offered through MOST.
MOST Ministries uses two terms for the buckets into which their volunteers fall—Goers and Senders. Senders are people who can’t commit to international travel but still offer support to MOST mission trips through financial gifts, eyeglass donations, or by volunteering weekly at the MOST headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Without our volunteers in Michigan, none of our eyeglasses would be ready to use in the field,” says Moro. “And I can’t undersell the importance of our prayer warriors who cheer for our work as well.”
On top of this, Moro believes there is one more crucial group that guarantees the success of MOST Ministries; he calls them Receivers. These are the mission team hosts involved in long-term mission work overseas who submit the initial request for a MOST Ministry program and the local people who they serve.
“Each MOST trip is designed to make a difference in parts of the world where there are huge needs,” Moro states. “So many of the people who receive care from a MOST Ministries team have had to go without for most of their lives. Through our mission model at MOST, we get to empower a wide variety of everyday church members across America to go out and meet those needs.”
The Faces of MOST
Of course, none of the work at MOST Ministries would be possible without its volunteers. “We are fully aware our outreach is already limited by the time and funds people are able to commit to a week and a half of international travel,” Moro explains. However, the long-term mission and goals of MOST Ministries are lived out daily through the support of its part-time and full-time staff.
Marty Moro has been serving as the executive director of MOST since August 2022. He also works directly with Kelly Bone, business manager and volunteer coordinator. Kelly directly oversees all the moving pieces of the eyeglass program run by MOST Ministries. Then Kelly’s daughter Kaleigh Bone is in charge of team administration and communications. This involves training every team leader who travels with MOST volunteers out into the field.
Cindy Pine serves as MOST’s mission engager, working to fill mission teams and connect with missionary hosts overseas. Linda Thompson is MOST’s data specialist and works to keep the MOST Ministries office running smoothly through office administration.
Funding for MOST
Thanks to Marty Moro’s background in development and fundraising for Lutheran schools, he knows the importance of sound financial partners, especially in the field of ministry. That is why he is so thankful for the continued partnership between MOST Ministries and the Michigan Church Extension Fund.
“None of the great work done by MOST Ministries would be possible without the financial backbone provided by CEF,” Moro states. “The MOST Ministries headquarters building was purchased through a mortgage funded by CEF 10 years ago. CEF also continues to offer support through an endowment, grants, and other investment opportunities for MOST.”
The monetary foundation of CEF can also mean the difference between a person being able to afford travel with MOST Ministries and having to stay home. “We set up all the travel arrangements for our MOST Ministry teams, but each of our volunteers pays their way. Thanks to partners like CEF, we do get to offer a few scholarships to help ease this cost and empower those who can give the time to serve on a MOST mission team.”
From the end of October to November 2023, the MOST Ministries team plans to finish the year with three volunteer teams, all of which are already full. These groups will offer water treatment support, a medical clinic, and an eyeglass clinic in different parts of Guatemala,
To learn more about MOST Ministries and how you can best support their work, you can check out their website at MOSTMinistries.org.