In This Issue: Becoming a World-Changing Church
- Event – Retreat for Prospective Missionaries
- Book – Not Less Than Everything
- Video – Church-Planting Movements
- Booklet – Becoming a World-Changing Church
- Prayer Resources – Pray for Missionaries – and their Children
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.
EVENT – Retreat for Prospective Missionaries
From: John McVay, MissionsFocus International
The Journey Deepens is a weekend retreat to help prospective missionaries explore what it is like to be a missionary, discover how they fit, and connect with mission agencies. Each retreat of 50 participants, mostly Perspectives Study Course alumni, and 10 missionary mentors from multiple agencies is highly relational with extended worship, small-group discussions, personal reflection, and much prayer.
Retreat dates for 2006 are as follows:
* South Central USA: September 29 to October 1 in Davis, Oklahoma
* Southeast USA: October 20-22 in Atlanta, Georgia
The Journey Deepens is presented by MissionsFocus International and co-sponsored by ACMC, Caleb Project, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement and the U.S. Center for World Mission.
Past participants write:
“You should be aware of some items that were lost. We lost our fear of being missionaries. We lost our pride and entitlement to be comfortable. We lost our rights of security and safety. Most important, we lost our preconceptions of what we thought God had for our future and discovered a new direction.”
“This weekend gave me a clearer view and vision for what I would like to do and how I can get there. It brought people into my life to help me along the journey in many ways.”
For more info visit The Journey Deepens.
BOOK – Not Less than Everything
From: Neil Thompson, US Director of OMF – National Director News, May 2006
Not Less than Everything: The Courageous Women Who Carried the Christian Gospel to China
By Valerie Griffiths
Oxford, UK: Monarch Books, 2004. 352 pages.
If you haven’t already seen it, I’d like to introduce a new book which has challenged my life, “Not Less than Everything” by Valerie Griffiths, missionary to Japan with her husband (and former OMF General Director) Michael. The inside is even better, but here’s what you’ll find on the back cover …
“Two centuries ago the women of China spent their lives confined to their homes. For over 1,000 years the custom of foot-binding had crippled millions of them, and made walking painful, if not impossible. Unless Christian women could visit their homes in remote and difficult areas, how would they ever hear the message of God’s love?
“‘Not Less than Everything’ traces some of the early women missionaries, married and single, who shouldered this task. Struggling with poor health, isolation, and criticism from the expatriate community, the women of the China Inland Mission pioneered initiatives into the vast interior.
“By 1900 there were two missionary women in China for every male missionary. These Western women found themselves gifted for work in teaching and evangelism in ways which would have been impossible in their churches at home. These vivid stories allow a glimpse of their extraordinary ministry.”
This book will warm your heart and thrill your mission spirit. It is available at the usual places on the internet.
NOTE: Like Neil, who submitted this item, I loved and was fascinated by this book! It’s a good mix of biography, history, and analysis of issues faced by women in missions; both well-researched and “a good read.”
VIDEO – Church Planting Movements
From: David Garrison, International Mission Board, via Joel News – May 9, 2006
“These are days of great harvest, and nowhere on earth is the harvest greater than in the growing number of church-planting movements God is stirring around the world,” says David Garrison, global strategist with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB).
Garrison studied church-planting movements extensively in many nations, and sees several universal elements, of which the main three are: extraordinary prayer, abundant evangelism, and intentional planting of reproducing (house) churches.
NOTE: This 12-minute video was released in 2001; we at Caleb Project often show the video to our cultural research teams. It is nice to see it available to all on-line. But 112 Mb is huge; we had trouble accessing the video on-line and you might, too. You can still get the video on VHS for $10 here or order by calling 800.999.3113. You can find much of the material in written form as well. An excerpt of David Garrison’s “Church Planting Movements” book is available. Its predecessor, a 1999 booklet of the same name, is also available.
BOOKLET – Becoming a World-Changing Church
From: David Mays
Becoming a World-Changing Church
By David Mays
This newly released 32-page booklet is the compilation of six articles published in the ACMC quarterly ‘Mobilizer’ magazine, under the topic “Your Church and Its Mission.”
Many books on “doing church” cite the Great Commission as the church’s marching orders, identify the core of the Great Commission as making disciples, and give primary attention to reaching people like you in your own community. The “all nations” part of the Great Commission is often treated in a page or two near the back of the book under “missions.”
This booklet takes a fresh approach to making the Great Commission the central organizing principle of a church. The first part argues that “all nations” or “all the earth” is an integral part of the overriding purpose and mission of the church. The second part helps church leaders look objectively at their priorities and use of resources. The third part outlines what a globally focused church might look like. The fourth part discusses the relationship between purpose and ministries. The fifth part approaches the concept of implementing change. The sixth part examines the roles of church leaders in light of the mission.
Read excerpts from “Becoming a World-Changing Church.”
NOTE: Like most writers, David is also an avid reader. We enjoy looking over his shoulder and get ideas for our own reading from his Book Notes. These come out about once a week and deal with mission and culture issues as well as leadership, management, and other interests.
PRAYER RESOURCES – Pray for Missionaries – and their Children
From: OSCAR, UK information service for world mission
It is obvious but often overlooked. Missions and missionaries depend on prayer support.
When you pray for those in mission work, do you struggle with what to pray? Maybe you have so many things to pray for that it is difficult to focus on the real issues. We don’t just need to pray longer and harder, we need to pray smarter. Several valuable resources highlight prayer topics for missionaries and their families. There is even one about how to pray for missionaries’ children! Several of these resources are available in print form and on-line.
OSCAR’s Mission Directory can put you in touch with missions who will gladly supply you with fuel for prayer and have you join their ministry in this way.
Prayer Points – Pray for the current needs of a number of mission organizations.
Alternatively, you can pray for individual missionaries’ needs through one of the following sites:
Missionary Prayer Shield
24-7 Prayer
People Teams
A further on-line guide entitled ‘How to Pray for Missionaries’ Kids’ is available on OMF USA’s web site.
NOTE: OSCAR is also featuring an article about praying for missionaries available here. We enjoyed last month’s feature on raising kids overseas, available here. Kudos to Mike Frith who is continuing to build OSCAR into a helpful and dynamic web site for missions resources. He welcomes your submissions!