In This Issue:
Today we welcome a bunch of new subscribers who signed up through Perspectives classes in several cities. Glad you could join us!
Sources: Deidox, Moving Works, and Prayercast
While many of the resources we feature here are designed to inspire and equip you (and those you might mobilize) for global service, today I want to share some great videos about showing love closer to home.
Turns out the principles are much the same. We still have internal resistance, issues with our priorities, and other barriers to overcome if we want to be obedient and make a difference in the lives of others.
Jay has been challenged to love his neighbors, but he can’t do it if he doesn’t know them. Watch as this Austin, Texas man and his wife wrestle with finding the time and then take a small but simple step. Love Your Neighbors—A Simple Step is part one in a series of three short videos from Deidox. The others will be out within the next two weeks. This first video, at just over four minutes long, might easily be folded into a presentation.
Moving Works has also released a new short video (5.5 minutes) about someone who has a conversation with God that leads her to reach out to love and serve a neglected population close to home. Watch Bettie Goes to Jail. Download a simple discussion guide for small groups.
Finally, our friends at Prayercast are part of an interesting campaign to raise up prayer for a city. They’re mobilizing praying for every one of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. Each day between September 8 and November 23, a prayer video for another neighborhood will be released. Check out Chicago77.
What would it look like to pray systematically for every inch of your city?
Source: SAT-7
Working with people who speak other languages? SAT-7 has free apps available for Apple and Android devices with streaming gospel content from each of their broadcast channels. These could be a great resource for anyone who knows a refugee or immigrant speaker of Arabic, Farsi, Dari, or Turkish. Use them as a witnessing tool, conversation starter, or resource for discipleship.
» Also check out TWR360, the multi-lingual media resources from TWR, accessible via the web or a free mobile app.
Source: GMI and Grow2Serve
The book Crossing Cultures with Ruth: Lessons on Thriving in Mission offers Kingdom workers encouragement and inspiration as they discern and work out God’s call in their lives. The book also provides practical insights based on James Nelson’s years of Fruitful Practice research into the best means and methods of missionary outreach.
Now available is a six-week online course that will enhance your learning and growth through purposeful interaction in a community with the book, author, a course facilitation team, and other learners.
Included in your course fee is a download of Crossing Cultures with Ruth and Crossing Cultures with Ruth: Study Guide for Christian Workers.
(Ring a bell? We highlighted the book and study guide when they were published earlier, and I, Marti, co-authored the study guide).
» Learn more or register for the course.
» See also an affordable, 25-hour online course called Evangelism: Abundantly Sowing the Seed (with World Team) and an 8-10-hour course in Animism and Folk Religion (with SEND International).
Source: The Jesus Accounts
Several years back we published a review of The Jesus Accounts: Fact or Fiction?, a high-quality, half-hour documentary designed to explain the reliability of the Bible and answer the most common objections or misunderstandings in a positive and respectful way. You can watch or share it online in Arabic, Russian, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Bengali, Turkish, Chinese (several versions), and Urdu, as well as English, or get it on DVD for a reasonable price.
Now, a second documentary of the same length addresses and attempts to clarify what it means when we say Jesus is the son of God. Jesus, Son of God? was filmed in Turkey and the UK and has been dubbed into Arabic, Russian, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, and Bengali; there’s also an English version with simplified Chinese subtitles.
Though these videos are designed primarily with a Muslim audience in mind, Islam is not mentioned in either one. I think you will find them useful with secular or Christian friends as well. A third video dealing with the historicity of the crucifixion is currently in production.
» Preview both films and their trailers in English on YouTube or go to each film’s website to learn much more about these projects or buy DVDs.
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
October 3 to February 12, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Course (online). Provided on a regular basis by the Perspectives Study Program.
October 5 to November 30, Mobilizer Equipping School (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Provided by Student Volunteer Movement 2.
October 7-8, Missions Fest Seattle (Bellevue, WA, USA). Free, annual community-wide event.
October 8, Costly Call: Following Jesus in a Hostile World (Lynnfield, MA, USA). One-day event sponsored by New England Perspectives Study Program and the J. Christy Wilson, Jr. Center for World Missions.
October 10-11, Support Raising Bootcamp (Tulsa, OK, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.
October 11-14, Support Raising Leaders Conference (Tulsa, OK, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions (and partners).
October 11 to November 8, Expand Your Mission Through Media (for Women) (online). Mission Media U course to develop a media project plan.
October 13, Protecting Your Ministry from Sexual Identity and Gender Issues (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus.
October 13-15, Open B4T Expo (Chicago, IL, USA). Transforming nations through business.
October 14-15, People Raising Conference (Oak Brook, IL, USA). Be equipped for raising personal support.
October 14-16, Evangelical Missiological Society (Dallas, TX, USA). Annual meeting, this time focused on “Missions and the Local Church.”
October 16-19 and 20-23, Thrive Retreats (Cape Town, South Africa). For North American women serving cross-culturally.
October 16-21, ABIDE (Joplin, MO, USA). Re-entry and debriefing for singles, couples, and families provided by TRAIN International.
October 17-19, Excellerate Conference (Alpharetta, GA, USA). A mission conference for church leaders. Hosted by North Point Ministries.
October 19, Set Apart: Connecting the Local Church to God’s Work (online). Free webinar from Sixteen:Fifteen.
» View the calendar, with some big events coming up in November as well. Planning a mission event for December (or any other time down the road)? Please let me know!