In This Issue: Tools You Can Use to Change the World
- BOOK: Mobilizing Your Church to Touch the World
- DISCUSSION: On Missionaries and Missions
- BOOK: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
- VIDEOS: Cape Town, Operation World, Prayercast
- EVENTS: December Happenings, and Looking Forward to 2011
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!
Resource Reviews, edited by Marti Smith, are published once a month.
BOOK: Mobilizing Your Church to Touch the World
The Mission Leadership Team: Mobilizing Your Church to Touch the World, by David Mays. Atlanta, GA: The Mission Exchange, 2010. 131 pages.
In this new book, long-time church missions consultant David Mays explores what it means to be involved in missions and mobilize your church when both the church and its perspective on missions have changed dramatically. He writes:
“Small groups have replaced Sunday schools. Many committees have been replaced by ‘teams’ or volunteers who assist staff in carrying out church initiatives. Church leaders still seek to advance the Great Commission but they are much more oriented toward the pervasive moral and social needs of our communities.
“Missional churches are not satisfied to exclusively send long-term, church-supported representatives to other nations and cultures. Every member should participate in mission. This often means going on mission trips and getting involved in the community or city.”
Not only has has the church changed in recent decade, but so has our understanding of the mission field:
“We can no longer hold to the dichotomy of our nation as Christian and other nations as pagan. Church leaders have found it more practical to cast a vision for ‘mission’ – meaning all ministry beyond the congregation – than try to explain same-culture evangelism, local ministry, and cross-cultural missions to congregations that have little ‘missions’ background.
“All of this has changed and complicated the job of the mission leadership team. What is the team’s purpose and what is its biblical mandate? What is the scope of the team’s responsibility, and what authority do church leaders delegate to them?”
David raises questions, suggests things to think through, and recommends resources and models for today’s churches. Various chapters explore the charter of the mission team, its functions, qualifications and training, constituencies, structure, and operation.
>> Read endorsements and introductory material on the David Mays website. Purchase for US$12.95 from The Mission Exchange Ask about bulk pricing, too.
>> See also many great articles and other resources from David Mays.
DISCUSSION: On Missionaries and Missions
Yesterday I received an email from a supporting church addressing me – and the other recipients, all of whom receive support through the church’s budget – as “dear missionary.” While I was glad to hear from the church, I realized that many of the recipients would cringe to be addressed in such terms. What is a missionary? Who is one, and who isn’t it? And while we’ll take the checks and prayers that may come with the “missionary” label, many of us may not wear it with ease.
In the same way, as a mission mobilizer, I’ve wondered if our efforts to invite people in our churches to get excited about missions and missionaries are shooting at the wrong target.
Of course what Jesus said 2000 years ago is still true today: The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. Let us, as he said, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 14:37-38).
Perhaps this calls us to pray and work for something both broader and more vigorous than simply “getting involved in missions.”
A recent blog post from Wycliffe UK’s Eddie Arthur speaks to some of these difficulties. Read Is The Term ‘Missionary’ Past its Sell-by Date? You might also be interested in Should the West Be Sending Missionaries? (part 1) and Should the West Be Sending Missionaries? (part 2).
>> Let us know about other resources you have found helpful.
BOOK: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt. Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2010. 230 pages.
“David Platt’s book is a mission mobilizer’s dream,” says Dave Datema from the U.S. Center for World Mission. With the disclaimer that it doesn’t lend itself to use outside the U.S., I’d have to agree! Datema continues:
“Rarely do high-profile pastors take it upon themselves to call the church to a lifestyle of radical obedience in fulfilling God’s global purpose. Rarer still are those who end up saying it better than we do. God will use this book to inspire many to global service, just as he has used John Piper, Rick Warren, and Bob Roberts (to name a few) who have also used their pastoral role to cast a global vision.”
>> Check out Missions Frontiers’ November-December issue, most of which is dedicated to stories related to Radical.
>> Read the first chapter online or purchase a copy of the book for US$14.99 from Multnomah. Lower prices and bulk discounts are available from other distributors.
VIDEOS: Cape Town, Operation World, Prayercast
Did you hear about the Korean girl whose testimony was a highlight of the Lausanne III conference in Cape Town? Now you can watch it online: the inspiring testimony of a student ready to live wholeheartedly for the Lord. See also a brief article about this presentation (Christianity Today).
Did you miss the Operation World online launch event earlier this month? Watch the video on the OW website. My favorite segment is the story from Malta, also on YouTube. Readers might be interested in participating in and mobilizing others for OW’s 60-day prayer experience. Subscribers receive a daily email inviting them to pray for a specific country and linking to information and prayer points (also available on the OW site).
Some of the content Operation World is using comes from Prayercast, a ministry that produces excellent country-specific prayer videos. These videos are designed to help you pray with people in that country, not just for them. Prayercast also produced a great video called Shine, featuring Psalm 67 set to music.
>> Let us know about videos you’ve discovered and/or used in mobilization efforts. Better yet, comment on our website.
EVENTS: December Happenings, and Looking Forward to 2011
Items from our calendar for December 2010:
December 1-2 – Interchange Conference (Wilmington, DE, USA). This year’s theme: Mobilizing Next-Generation Churches. Sponsored by Catalyst Services.
December 2 – Webinar: Global Church-to-Church Partnership Essentials (online). Featuring Michael VanHuis of Pioneers, provided by and free to members of The Mission Exchange.
December 5 – Day of Prayer for Sudan (global). The World Evangelical Alliance is passing on a request from church leaders in that country to pray for their troubled country. A significant election is scheduled for January 9.
December 9 – Webinar: Metrics in Mission – A Case Study (online). Featuring Kama Bernabo, LCMS World Mission, provided by and free to the members of The Mission Exchange.
December 13-14 – Personal Support Raising Boot Camp (Orlando, FL, USA). Provided by The BodyBuilders.
December 16 – Webinar: Improving Your Organization – Beginning a Journey Toward Feedback-Driven Continuous Improvement (online). Featuring Steve Moore, provided by and free to members of The Mission Exchange.
December 28-31 – Story’10 (Orlando, FL, USA). Multi-generational missions conference. Meet field missionaries, hear first-hand accounts of what God is doing among the nations, and discover how you can make your move to the unreached. Sponsored by Pioneers.
>> See our full calendar or submit items. Could you help us develop more complete listings for 2011?
