SWOT, PDCA, and OIM
SWOT, PDCA, and OIM
Analysis of SWOT, PDCA, and OIM
Strategic planning based on the use and analysis of the SWOT matrix (FOFA), the PDCA cycle to take advantage of Improvement Implementation Opportunities in your action planning.
INTERNAL FACTORS
EXTERNAL FACTORS
| No. | STRENGTH | WEAKNESS | OPPORTUNITY | THREAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Christian military organization and PSP; | Physical and psychological limitations; | Christian receptiveness; | Adverse conditions; |
| 02 | Social and religious capillarity; | Fear of the new; | Missionary banner; | Distrust, acquiring and maintaining trust; |
| 03 | Ready Strategic Planning; | Too much work and fatigue; | Language: Portuguese and Spanish; | Mission duration; |
| 04 | Many potential partners; | Resources, acquisition; | Partnership potential; | Opening opportunities in churches; |
| 05 | History of military missions; | Individualized vision; | International bodies; | International requirements; |
| 06 | Economic project; | Engaging and committing; | Ease of movement; | Busy life and tight schedules; |
| 07 | Potential partner churches; | Staff qualification; | Hispano-American churches; | Politically closed locations; |
| 08 | Media: available social networks; | Connecting common interests; | American identity; | Personal egocentric interest; |
| 09 | Ethics and customs of executors; | Renunciation and resilience; | Innate thirst for God; | Denominationalism; |
| 10 | Multiple identification. | Cultural shocks, overcoming. | Social afflictions; | Social violence. |
INTERNAL FACTORS – STRENGTHS
STRENGTHS
OIM – Improvement Implementation Opportunities.
- Christian Military Organizations and Public Security Professionals: There are thousands of these organizations worldwide, and the mission will seek to integrate them into the mission as participants, supporters, or agents: AMCF and MCF.
- Social and Religious Capillarity: Motivating and utilizing the extensive social, religious, and ecclesiastical capillarity of Christian military personnel and public security professionals to recruit partners, move within the territory, and execute the work.
- Ready Strategic Planning: Start the dissemination of the mission and partner search by providing the entire detailed Project; nothing will be done spontaneously, only in cases of unforeseen events or adverse circumstances.
- Many Potential Partners: Having numerous potential partners and offering them compensation and visibility to those who participate in the mission: churches and individuals. Not asking for contributions per se.
- History of Military Missions: Using biblical and secular stories about Christians who are military personnel participating in missions and evangelization of the world, especially in the late Middle Ages through MCFs.
- Economic Project: The project has been structured from the beginning to be executed with minimal costs to seek the minimum investment for funding; less expense is proportional to a reduced need for resources. It is doubly economical for those maintaining it and its own low-cost operational structure. Presenting the Project to numerous churches and people across the Americas and other parts of the world to find partners and thus make investment cheap.
- Potential Partner Churches: Members of associations are pastors, church leaders, workers, and involved in the administration of many churches; this creates a strong bond with potential executors of the Expedition, thus positive internal factors that, once motivating, add virtues and values.
- Media: Available Social Networks: Having a website and social media and using them daily facilitates communication, Project dissemination, partner search, activity monitoring, and accountability.
- Ethics and Customs of Executors: Utilizing the ethics and military customs similar to Christian virtues to apply them as motivation for mission fulfillment.
- Multiple Identification: Missionaries on the team, as well as the mission itself, have factors that identify with each other in many ways: military, Christian, missions, American identity, both internally and externally.
INTERNAL FACTORS – WEAKNESSES
WEAKNESSES
OIM – Improvement Implementation Opportunities
- Physical and Psychological Limitations: Everyone has limitations that need to be faced and overcome through constant motivation given the nobility of the project and the eternal results of the work's fruits. Creating and maintaining high morale. Motivating missionaries to overcome factors that affect low initiative, daring, and natural creativity of people, especially military personnel due to systematic vertical administration training.
- Fear of the New: Using necessary tools to overcome fear, which is common to almost everyone, to varying degrees. Using challenge, expectation of the new, and the nobility of the mission. Not everyone fears novelty; on the contrary, it is a challenging element for some. Living with diversity of customs, multiple countries, and the grandeur of the mission should generate incentives rather than fear.
- Too Much Work and Fatigue: The schedule should be rigorous, with work routine, hours, and services fully focused. Therefore, weekly breaks and time optimization with periodic team changes are necessary.
- Resources, Acquisition: Anticipating and continuously forecasting expenses is essential for seeking sufficient resources. There is an expectation of partners everywhere: in Brazil, the mission target countries, the United States, and other parts of the world. Accountability and online communication will aim to seek and retain supporters through a wide range of opportunities.
- Individualized Vision: The vision, projects, and solidity of partner associations are not the broadest but fall short of their needs and potential. These vision amplitudes result from education through courses, training, and visionary motivation. The lack of full dedication to the associations' ultimate goals is also a significant factor. All this should be overcome by showing unexplored horizons and encouraging growth with the sky as the limit.
- Engaging and Committing: Many partner associations have not achieved leaders dedicated to the objectives and institutional purposes in full-time service or Christian ministry. There is a clear need for leaders to be motivated to prioritize the organizational cause to achieve more success and solidity. This gap is both for the project itself and for the daily actions of the associations. The Efficiency Formula addresses this gap.
- Staff Qualification: Teaching, training, and guiding missionaries in the fulfillment of the Project and continuously monitoring them throughout the execution of activities. No higher education or specific qualification is required, so there is no need for systematic teaching or deep theology. The expedition plans to create an institute for this goal.
- Connecting Common Interests: The project’s goals and interests need to be aligned with the same purposes of partner organizations, even if they are not yet awakened. Motivating and showing what has not yet been visualized becomes an essential action. People do not give what they do not have; they need to expand knowledge that offers broader and better views of new horizons.
- Renunciation and Resilience: Guiding the need for self-denial and renunciation for the expansion of God's Kingdom. Preparing the team, substitutes, and successors for much work, family absence, stepping out of comfort zones for a period. Resilience will depend, at times more and at times less, on each one, in wanting to complete the mission as better people and Christians, ready for new activities.
- Cultural Shocks, Overcoming: Preparing to face cultural differences, denominationalism, professional habits, and other factors of partner and target audience customs. Brazil also has a continental extension. Military and Christian culture is a universal standard and helps minimize social differences. Nothing will be done spontaneously; all liturgy, schedules, lectures, and sermons will be agreed upon in advance.
- Qualified Leadership: Training local leaders to support, replace, or succeed the Mission Command leadership. Local leaders are also part of the Expedition Command and assist the Commander.
EXTERNAL FACTORS – OPPORTUNITIES
OPPORTUNITIES
OIM – Improvement Implementation Opportunities
- Christian Receptiveness: Taking advantage of universal Christian fellowship to freely pursue the mission and the message.
- Missionary Banner: Working with the theme of missions provides fluidity, as it is an attractive subject for true Christians due to its biblical priority and the fulfillment of the command to go into all the world. The project is a mission in itself, as well as including education, training, and qualification.
- Languages: Portuguese and Spanish: These two languages are official for the mission and facilitate communication as they cover 90% of the targeted Hispanic states and countries; however, people who speak English are needed in a few countries, as well as for seeking resources from English-speaking institutions and individuals.
- Partnership Potential: Seeking maintaining partners in Brazil, the mission target countries, the United States, and other parts of the world. Appointing agents to affiliate churches and individuals to meet the Mission's needs. There are thousands of churches and millions of Christians in partner institutions forming a bond: military personnel and public security professionals.
- International Bodies: There are international organizations and laws in the Americas that facilitate movement, documentation, and cultural and religious exchange.
- Mobility of Movement: Advantages provided by the Pan-American Highway and air network, which have been used for decades.
- Hispano-American Churches: Contacting numerous Hispano-American churches in the United States whose members are interested in evangelizing their families and inhabitants of their countries.
- American Identity: Using the identity of the American people to raise awareness about forming unity in continental Christian missions: identity, cultural characteristics, language, and other common social issues.
- Innate Thirst for God: Humans have an innate thirst for God but do not know how to satisfy this longing and often seek it in wrong ways according to scriptures. People are eager for spiritual answers to fill the inner void in a troubled society, yet they do not know where to find it. We have the answer.
- Social Afflictions: Social disturbances such as plagues, diseases, financial crises, violence, stress, depression, earthquakes, floods, and others. All these make people needy and receptive to consolation, a spiritual friendly hand, and the preaching of the gospel.
EXTERNAL FACTORS – THREATS
THREATS
OIM – Improvement Implementation Opportunities
- Adverse Conditions: There will be adverse conditions and situations: climatic, social violence, economic problems, among others. Native missionaries are important in this regard, as they know local challenges and can warn the expedition team. There may be changes in routes, interruptions, or abandonment of the mission where there is no receptiveness or feasibility.
- Distrust, Acquiring and Maintaining Trust: Gaining and maintaining trust is a challenge in a world of distrust. To gain trust, it is necessary to present a history, which we have, with good services provided transparently and online as part of the project. The history of the institutions and individuals involved also testifies to their commitment, and all will be made available to ensure security. Gaining and maintaining trust through: history and secular services of evangelical Christian organizations constituted by military personnel; social and religious capillarity of their members; offering visibility to participating partners; daily accountability.
- Mission Duration: Maintaining motivation throughout the mission is challenging. It is necessary to continually seek partners, keeping and renewing them through credibility, accountability in the Logbook, and permanent interaction to maintain trust and have supporters become multipliers and replace those who withdraw.
- Opening Opportunities in Churches: Opening opportunities is not an easy task, from making partners to obtaining permissions to present the mission in churches and how to present the Project. Other facilities will be Christian and military relationships through advance contacts, informing the mission's objectives, making oneself and services available. In summary, being ready to serve.
- International Requirements: Even with facilitating international bodies, not everything is international standard; visa requirements should be anticipated. To overcome these challenges, leadership must anticipate requirements through permanent contacts. Native military missionaries are indispensable in assisting with this item.
- Busy Life and Tight Schedules: Opening a new agenda with people in a multitasking and challenging world. To address this issue, it is necessary to present noble objectives, a Kingdom Vision, visibility, offer compensation, if possible financial; quick activity, transparency, and online mission updates.
- Politically Closed Locations: The mission has no political banner and should work only in locations where authorization is granted; otherwise, the mission will not execute the Project, as it has no party ideology, only the preaching of God's Word and social services.
- Egocentric Interests: There are innate tendencies of egocentrism in humans and Christians, especially in contemporary days, with personal and institutional interests overriding the Kingdom Vision. To overcome these challenges, the mission plans collaboration, offering visibility, compensation, and other benefits. The mission’s realization in an inclusive manner and work in partnership. Creating a link between personal and institutional interests with the mission. Focusing on unity and teaching altruism.
- Denominationalism: Overcoming sectarian denominationalism, the insular and dogmatic Christian system through the search for UNITY in teaching and work in the Kingdom Vision. There will be no denominational banner, but work based on common Christian principles to all, with due respect for local customs and dogmas. Compensation will also be an aggregating factor.
- Social Violence: Utilizing the presence of native Christian military personnel from states and countries to support the mission while avoiding high-risk areas. They know the social reality and alternative routes. There is a designated Missionary Guide responsible exclusively for this requirement.
America for Christ Expedition,
Federal District, Brazil, October 31, 2023.
José Dierson Ricardo - Pastor Captain RR PMDF
Mission Commander - President of AMME and ACEMPS
Mobilizer of the AMCF 2024 World Conference
Former member of the UMCEB Board of Directors
UNITY Medal and Honorary Doctorate.
