In This Issue: Stories of the Gospel lived out
Day: January 28, 2015
VIDEOS: Stories of the Gospel Lived Out
We Are the Salt is a two-minute clip about reaching the unengaged people of Mali, West Africa. See also the longer film, Light on the Way.
Source: Moving Works
Looking for free, well-made, films that lift up Jesus and tell personal stories? Moving Works, a non-profit ministry in Austin, Texas, has quite a few you may be able to use. Films include two-minute shorts, some simply scripture with music and images, like Run the Race. Others capture short testimonies of God’s work in people’s lives, like Spirit of Prayer, which shares how God is stirring Egyptians to pray.
Blessed, eight minutes long, tells the moving story of a young missionary couple anticipating the birth of their first child and how it changed their lives and ministry. Disciples is a 15-minute film about two Brazilians transformed by God’s grace (in Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles). Some of the videos are also available in other languages.
On January 29, Moving Works will release a 44-minute film called The Foremost, their most ambitious film to date. It tells the story of a Cambodian pastor who escaped the clutches of the Khmer Rouge regime only to return with a message of forgiveness.
By the way, they’re always looking for great stories of what God has done around the world and for partners to help with translation, so feel free to contact them.
» Visit Moving Works to learn more and view or download videos.
BOOK: Contagious Disciple Making
Source: Thomas Nelson
Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery, by David Watson and Paul Watson. Thomas Nelson: 2014. 256 pages.
Perhaps you read Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love with Jesus, or The Father Glorified: True Stories of God’s Power through Ordinary People (which goes beyond the Muslim world). We reviewed both when they were released. The recently released companion volume, Contagious Disciple Making, covers the nuts and bolts of how people in any context can make disciples who make disciples by investing heavily in prayer, engaging with lost people, finding people of peace, starting discovery Bible studies, and more.
This highly practical book also deals head-on with how the methods the authors advocate differ from many standard practices used in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. Depending on whether you accept these practices and the reasoning behind them, you may see that as either the book’s strength or its weakness. Either way, it’s clear that the kind of results the authors encourage readers to seek could not come about by doing things the same way we always have. Read and be challenged.
» Preview the table of contents, read some helpful reviews, or purchase the book from Amazon (or elsewhere) for US$7.59 (Kindle) or US$10.43 (paperback).
BOOK: Where There Is Now a Church
Source: GMI Books
Where There Is Now a Church: Dispatches from Christian Workers in the Muslim World, edited by James Nelson. GMI Books, 2015. 210 pages.
Just released from GMI, Where There Is Now a Church provides seven case studies showing how God has established churches and church-planting movements among some of the world’s Muslim peoples. Each case study is accompanied by thoughtful discussion questions and a list of the church planting practices it illustrates. An appendix, more than 50 pages long, explains, categorizes, and describes a more complete list of 68 “fruitful” practices for evangelism and church planting in Muslim settings.
This readable and encouraging book would be a great resource for church planters to read and discuss with teammates. It may also be of interest to supporters, students, future church planters, missiologists, and instructors. The language is non-technical, the stories are written in an engaging way, and many of the practices could also be applied in non-Muslim contexts.
Though it can stand alone, this book is the sequel to a helpful 2010 publication, Where There Was No Church. You may want to read them both as well as From Seed to Fruit: Global Trends, Fruitful Practices, and Emerging Issues among Muslims (2nd edition). All three are based on the work of a multi-agency team that conducts primary research, analyzes data, and trains field workers in fruitful practice principles.
» Learn more or purchase Where There Is Now a Church for US$4.99 (ebook editions) or US$12.50 (paperback). GMI is also distributing the two-book set for US$9.25 (ebook editions).
TRAINING: Seminars on Strategy and Sending
Source: TRAIN International
TRAIN International in Joplin, Missouri has long been on our list of places to send cross-cultural workers for training in language and culture acquisition and help with debriefing and re-entry. But they also offer seminars for churches.
ACCESS (“Assisting and Coaching Churches to Effectively Send and Sustain”) is a weekend workshop designed to help local churches move to the next level with their current missions strategy and learn how to better care for their missionaries so they may more effectively partner with them on the field. Your local church can discover ways to raise the bar of your missions program or discover a place to start if you don’t have one.
» Learn more about TRAIN’s programs.
EVENTS: February Calendar
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
February 4-7, International Conference on Computing and Mission (De Betteld, Netherlands). An annual event.
February 5, Missionary Effectiveness and Intercultural Competence (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
February 6-8, Missionfest Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB, Canada). Free, annual, community-based mission festival for all ages.
February 7, Beyond the Veil (Bloomington, MN, USA). Seminar on ministering to Muslim women, from Crescent Project.
February 12-15, TENTmaking Course (Korntal, Germany). Provided by Tent Norway and Global Opportunities.
February 13-16, World Christian Conference (Boulder Creek, CA, USA). An annual West-coast event sponsored by The World Christian Fellowship – mobilizing Asian-American Christians (and those who identify with them) to disciple all nations.
February 15-18, 19-22, Thrive Retreats (Phuket, Thailand). For North American women serving cross-culturally.
February 16-17, Support Raising Boot Camp (Atlanta, GA, USA). From Support Raising Solutions.
February 18 to March 29, Seek God for the City (global). Annual 40-day prayer campaign. Materials available from WayMakers.
February 19, Churches Shaping the Missions Journey (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
February 20-21, Midwest Conference on Missionary Care (Roseville, MN, USA).
February 20-22, Missions Fest Alberta (Edmonton, AB, Canada). Free, annual, community-based mission festival for all ages.
February 26, Frontier Mobilization: The Powerful Potential of the Unsent (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
February 27, Cross Conference (online). Free, live simulcast featuring powerful worship and speakers; geared for young adults.
February 28, Bridges Seminar (Dayton, OH, USA). Building bridges to reach Muslims. Provided by Crescent Project.