In This Issue: Resources for collaboration, the changing face of persecution, and more
Source: Create International Taiwan, via visionSynergy
Mission historical Stephen Neill wrote that Christian missionary work is the most difficult thing in the world, adding that it is surprising that it should ever been attempted! Yet amazing things happen when Christians work together, don’t they?
Check out the short animated video Collaboration – Reaching the Unreached through On-field Partnerships (itself the product of several mission groups working together).
This video also provides a nice example of storytelling through visual communication, too. Maybe, after watching it, you could take a moment to pray for Create’s (YWAM) School of Cartooning and Animation for Missions which is currently being offered in Taiwan, in Chinese and English. May God use it to equip and reach many.
» See also visionSynergy’s partnership resource repository, with ebooks, case studies, courses, field guides, and more.
Source: Family Research Council, March 19, 2004
In what countries are Christians most likely to be persecuted? Who is being persecuted, and by whom? According to Todd Johnson, patterns have changed radically in the past 100 years.
In a Washington D.C. lecture, Johnson, Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, draws on research from The Atlas of Global Christianity and Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians to provide a thoughtful overview of shifts within both global Christianity (e.g., from north to south) and global persecution (e.g., from state-sponsored to society-based) as well as offering ways we can respond.
This presentation may be particularly helpful if you write or speak on these or related topics, as the contents are both well researched and clearly communicated.
» Watch the video (47 minutes).
» See also Ed Stetzer’s recent interview with Dr. Philip Jenkins about global Christianity (Christianity Today).
Source: B&H Publishing Group
When Missions Shapes the Mission: You and Your Church Can Reach the World, by David Horner. B&H Publishing Group, 2011. 261 pages.
Veteran senior pastor David Horner here addresses fellow pastors and church mission leaders about the low level of commitment to the biblical mandate for global missions in our churches. He paints a sometimes painful picture of the current situation in many of our churches and denominations, where even those who seem to be leading the way in missions giving and sending are in fact investing resources disproportionately in their own contexts (e.g., doing more to support nearby Christian colleges and local programs than global outreach).
Horner also helps the reader recognize the major obstacles to kingdom-focused ministry and lessons to be learned from past mission movements.
Finally, he describes the results of a survey of 100 evangelical (North American) churches sharing their top ten best practices in fostering a strong missions culture, sharing some of the specific tactics as well as addressing objections and concerns in each area.
When Missions Shapes the Mission is a challenging and ultimately persuasive and practical book for churches discontent with their status quo and wanting to move forward.
» Learn more or get a copy for US$12.72 from Amazon (or elsewhere). Kindle edition is US$9.99.
Source: Mission Nexus
Mission Nexus, in partnership with Church-based Immigrant Ministry Coalition and World Relief, invites pastors, church planters, and mission leaders to a one-day regional event to explore approaches, resources, and partnerships for developing church-based ministry to immigrants, refugees, and international students. Meetings are planned for Baltimore (June 5), Los Angeles (June 12), Toronto (June 17), Chicago (June 19), and Atlanta (June 26).
Each event will include case studies from churches in the U.S. and Canada and presentations by leaders with on-the-ground experience as well as table-group discussions exploring practical application and next steps. Registration includes lunch and a copy of Strangers Next Door: Migration, Immigration, and Mission by J.D. Payne (also one of the presenters).
» Learn more or register. You can also download a free, related article by World Vision’s Jenny Yang, Immigrants in the US: A Missional Opportunity.
» See also the Association of Christians Ministering to Internationals, sponsoring a national conference in Atlanta, GA May 29-31, and take a look at J.D. Payne’s recent (free) ebook, Unreached Peoples, Least Reached Places: An Untold Story of Lostness in America.
Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar
April 2-5, iDisciple Conference (Kansas City, MO, USA). Focused on Disciple Making Movements. Provided by Cityteam.
April 4-5, MissionFest Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada). Free, annual, community-based mission festival for all ages.
April 5, Bridges Seminar (Toronto, ON, Canada). Building bridges to reach Muslims. Provided by Crescent Project.
April 8 to May 19, Mobile Ministry Training Course (online). Six-week class. Learn how to use mobile technology for evangelism.
April 11-12, T4T Training (Lebanon, TN, USA). Be trained in effective practices for church-planting movements at home and around the world.
April 12, Bridges Seminar (Omaha, NR, and Silver Spring, MD, USA). Building bridges to reach Muslims. Provided by Crescent Project.
April 12, Care ConneXion: Missionary Care 101 (Beaverton, OR, USA). A Mission ConneXion event.
April 14, Global Day of Prayer for the 4/14 Window (global). Praying for the world’s children (especially those aged 4-14).
April 24-46, iSpectra, Igniting Multicultural Discipleship (Los Gatos, CA, USA). Bay Area’s first global multiethnic discipleship conference, in conjunction with The Harvest Group.
April 26, Frontiers Connect (Chicago, IL, USA). Explore work among Muslims.
April 30 to May 2, International Wholistic Missions Conference (Peoria, AZ, USA). From the Global CHE Network.
April 30 to May 2, Northwest Mission Pastors Conference (Raymond, WA, USA). Coordinated by WorldVenture.
April 30 to May 4, GO Equipped TENTmaking Course (Bergen, Norway). Provided by Global Opportunities.
In this issue: Holiday celebrations and bringing a message from the king
Greetings!
I’ve never been good at traditions; ask my kids. Even birthdays were celebrated without much gusto. But ever since Thanksgivukkah I’ve been thinking more about how to leverage holidays for cross-cultural outreach. And I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of festivals this week.
I write on St. Patrick’s Day. A friend in India proposes that March 17, 2014 may set the world record for most inebriated folk, as Holi and St. Patrick’s Day fall on the same day! I’m thinking about a good friend hosting a Nowruz party for her Iranian friends, tomorrow. I’m also recruiting for an Easter outreach to international students. And earlier today I was meditating, during this Lenten season (a new tradition for me), about the story of Purim.
Then there are the holidays that almost every culture celebrates in some way, but with dates that are all over the calendar. Did you know that in the Middle East, Mother’s Day is March 21st (vernal equinox)? You have two days to write and send an e-card to the “mom” of the host family who fed you so well on that short-term trip! (If you haven’t done a mission trip to the Middle East, consider it!)
Celebrating new life, light, and our Savior King with you,
Pat
About Us
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Pat Noble has been the “news sleuth” for Missions Catalyst since 2004. In addition to churning out the news, she is working to create a SWARM (Serving World A Regional Mobilizers) in Northern New York using the NorthernChristian.org website. You can connect with her at www.whatsoeverthings.com.
Source: Asia Stories, International Mission Board, March 16, 2014
Troubadours once traveled on foot down trails snaking through the Himalayas, carrying news and the king’s messages to the far reaches of Nepal.
This may sound like a fairy tale, but it’s a historical fact that has changed lives and is part of the fabric of Nepal. This “once upon a time” is Padam Gandharva’s caste’s true story.
Padam comes from a long line of minstrels, only now he carries the messages and songs of Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
“The Lord gave me a vision and a command to go throughout Nepal proclaiming the gospel,” says Padam [a member of the minstrel caste]. “My vision is that through the sarangi (a stringed instrument) playing in every village of the Nepal, the gospel would be sung and declared.”
People recognize that when Padam comes in, he comes in as a cultural performer. When others come, there is suspicion. Padam journeyed to an area deep in a jungle where the gospel had not penetrated.
“I went through there, just singing, singing and people started following me, like a parade,” Padam says. “They said, ‘you’re singing songs about Jesus,’ and that opened the door for me to share the gospel.”
Seven families became Christians and 40 people were healed. There is now a large church in the community. Before Padam’s visit, two Christians attempted to share the gospel in the same village but were tied to a tree for three days.
» Full story with pictures and recordings, as well as several related stories about music and missions.
Source: World Watch Monitor, March 4, 2014
Church leaders in India are alarmed over a dramatic increase in attacks on Christians in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where in recent weeks one pastor has been murdered, others beaten, and churches demolished.
The All India Christian Council documented 72 incidents of anti-Christian violence and hostility in Andhra Pradesh in 2013, nearly double the 39 recorded in 2012. Today the state, India’s fifth-most populous, has the country’s highest rate of anti-Christian incidents.
“The jump from 39 incidents in 2012 to 72 incidents in 2013 is alarming, and the reasons for this escalated growth on the Christian minorities is the culmination of every effort of the right-wing political party to woo the majority of the communal agenda in the coming election of 2014,” Moses Vatipalli, a project coordinator for the All India Christian Council, told WWM.
» See also India: Communalism in an Election Year (Christian Solidarity Worldwide).
Source: Morning Star News, March 12, 2014
A top leader of one of Sri Lanka’s most militant Buddhist extremist groups led 250 people in an assault on a Christian leader and his family last month, according to sources in the country.
Based in the capital city of Colombo on the island nation’s western coast, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, general secretary of the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena, made the 71-mile trip to Sri Lanka’s central Kandy District to lead 250 villagers and 11 Buddhist monks to the premises of a Holy Family Church leader identified only as Pastor Susantha, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL).
After storming the pastor’s Asgiriya premises at about 6:30 p.m. on February 16, the villagers and 11 Buddhist monks belonging to the Bodu Bala Sena demanded that he immediately stop worship services that take place there. As Pastor Susantha was explaining to Gnanasara his right to continue worship services, the mob dragged the church leader and his wife from their home and assaulted them, sources said.
“The mob punched, slapped, and hit the pastor and his wife with their fists,” a Christian leader told Morning Star News. “The pastor and wife both suffered minor physical injuries.”
» See also Christianity in Sri Lanka: How We Can Learn from and Support the Church There (The Lausanne Movement).