In This Issue: Prayerwalking your neighborhood
Day: June 29, 2016
CURRICULUM: Exile Night
Source: Voice of the Martyrs
Exile Night is an opportunity for churches, youth groups, and student groups to identify with their persecuted family members in a tangible way, experiencing a small piece of what displaced believers face every day. Participants will eat what they eat, sleep how they sleep, and be inspired that faith in Christ is what matters—even when it costs everything.
Exile Night is an overnight event that can be done indoors or outdoors. Whether inside or outside, the goal of Exile Night is for attendees to gain an understanding of what Christian refugees experience, to be encouraged by their faith in Christ, and to stand with their persecuted family in a practical way.
» Learn more or get suggestions and materials, most of them free.
» See also Voice of the Martyrs’ review of an interesting new book, They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East, by Mindy Belz.
PRAYER GUIDE: 30 Days of Praying Through the Neighborhood
Source: Nav Neighbors
In a recent letter home, some friends serving in the Muslim world not only invited readers to pray for Muslim friends and Muslims around the planet (as we do each time Ramadan rolls around) but also offered a helpful 30-day prayerwalking guide we can use as we seek to be Christ’s ambassadors close to home, no matter who our neighbors are.
Prayerwalking, as my friends wrote, is a great way “to pray and engage with the community where God has placed you and to gain a sense for why he might have you just where you are (see Acts 17:26-27).”
» Download Thirty Days of Praying through the Neighborhood (four-page PDF). You might also want to learn more about the folks who put it together, the Nav Neighbors ministry.
BOOKS: Serving God in a Migrant Crisis
Source: GMI Books
Serving God in a Migrant Crisis: Ministry to People on the Move, by Patrick Johnstone with Dean Merrill. GMI Books, 2016. 121 pages.
“Our world is full of war, poverty, terrorism, corruption, failed states, and ecological disasters, all of which uproot people and send them searching for a better life,” write Johnstone and Merrill. “I have news for you. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
This brief but informative and compelling book puts today’s migrant crisis in perspective, describing its causes, effects, complexities, and implications for the global church. Each chapter concludes with thoughtful questions for readers to ask themselves. Several chapters explore what individuals, local churches, Christian agencies, and the global body of Christ can do.
Both readable and well-documented, this book also surveys relevant biblical passages and principles. It does a good job steering clear of preaching or self-righteousness. It also points to helpful resources. Though more could be said about any of the topics covered, sometimes brevity is best. This book feels balanced and up to date. It might make a good study for your small group.
Note that this is second in a series of books by Johnstone and Merrill on challenges facing the global church. The first is Serving God in Today’s Cities: Facing the Challenge of Urbanization.
» Learn more or buy the book from Amazon (or elsewhere); US$9.99 for the Kindle edition, US$14.99 for the paperback.
» See also two other recent publication from GMI Books designed to inform decisions and communication efforts: Our Anchor in a World Adrift: 7 Stats You Need to Know to Serve the King and Missiographics 2.0: Visualizing the Great Commission.
BOOKS: Compassion, Transitions, and a Story of Answered Prayer
Sources: Various
We don’t have time or space to write at length about all the new books suggested (and sometimes sent to us) for resource reviews, but here are glimpses of a few recent reads you might want to check out:
Compassion and the Mission of God, by Ruben Das. The author, a professor on several seminary faculties, traces God’s compassion as revealed in the Old and New Testament and as understood and expressed by the early church. It provides a biblical and theological foundation for ministries of social justice, relief, development, and compassion.
Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service, by Amy Young. A respected authority on missionary care calls this self-published book a “must-read” guide and says, “Give one to every missionary you know!” I found the quality a bit uneven, but it does address an important gap with much wisdom and stories of personal experience.
The Prayers of Many: The Story of a Church on Mission, by D.G. Wynn. The author demonstrates how God answered the concerted prayers of those in one Colorado church (and others) and worked through their missionaries and partners to see his kingdom established in a remote (but unnamed) Muslim context.
EVENTS: Conference, Training, and More
July
July 3-13, Refresh! (Grenoble, France). Retreat for cross-cultural workers. Provided by Heartstream Resources.
July 3-22, Manarah (Detroit, MI, USA). Muslim evangelism training provided by Christar.
July 4 to November 6, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Course (online). Provided by the Perspectives Study Program.
July 10-15, ABIDE (Joplin, MO, USA). Re-entry and debriefing for singles, couples, and families provided by TRAIN International.
July 11-22, Engaging Islam (Boulder, CO, USA). Evangelism and discipleship training course provided by Horizons International (two one-week intensives).
July 12, Special Episode: Is It Time to Rethink the Native Missionary Model? (online). Free, web-based, interactive conversation from The Mission Table.
July 12-15, Thrive Retreat (Beaver Creek, CO, USA). For North American women serving cross-culturally.
July 16, Global Prayer Journey (various locations). Walk, run, and cycle through the world’s forgotten neighborhoods and pray; also a fundraiser. Organized by MoveIn.
July 16-18, Perspectives National Gathering (Timonium, MD, USA).
July 16-22, ReBoot Reentry Program (Kitchener, ON, Canada). For returning missionary kids, ages 17-20, transitioning to life in Canada.
July 20-22, Refugee Highway Partnership North American Roundtable (Toronto, ON, Canada).
July 23-30, New Wilmington Mission Conference (Western Pennsylvania, USA). Annual, week-long multi-generational mission conference; a tradition for more than 100 years.
August
August 1 to December 4, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Course (online). Provided by the Perspectives Study Program. (Another class starts August 15.)
August 6-12, ReBoot Reentry Program (Calgary, AB, Canada). For returning missionary kids, ages 17-20, transitioning to life in Canada.
August 27, Bridges Seminar (Oklahoma City, OK, USA). Building bridges to reach Muslims. Provided by Crescent Project.
August 29-30, Support Raising Bootcamp (Rogers, AR, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.