In This Issue: Faces of the Unreached, Global Prayer, and More
- EVENT – AIMS Training in Mobilization
- POSTERS – Faces of the Unreached
- VIDEO CD – 2005 Global Day of Prayer Documentary
- BOOK – A Guide to Missions Networking and Partnership
- More Resources for Global Prayer
- EVENT – Furlough Retreat to Refresh Missionary Women
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 – AIMS Training in Mobilization
From: Carolyn Bennett, AIMS
Do you want your church to have a greater impact in missions? Churches around the world are mobilizing their churches to become more involved in reaching people whom have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Your church can be one of them.
Accelerating International Mission Strategies (AIMS) presents, “Multiplying Missions through the Local Church,” June 19-23 at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Join other pastors, missionaries, church leaders, and students to learn about how you and your church can take part in completing the Great Commission by mobilizing churches. For more information, call the AIMS home office at 757.226.5850, e-mail AIMS or visit their web site.
POSTERS – Faces of the Unreached
From: Caleb Resources Store
Catch everyone’s attention with these dazzling posters. These six large, colorful images, portraits of unreached peoples, are designed to bring those who come to our churches, schools, bookstores, and libraries, face to face with the unreached. They are also a great resource to use in promoting or decorating for missions conferences and classes.
Description:
* Two are 29 x 26.5 inches (74 x 67 centimeters).
* Four are 26.5 by 19.25 inches (67 by 49 centimeters).
* All are ready for display or framing.
* Sold as a set.
Through May 31, 2006, get all six posters for a special introductory price of $24.99. For more information or to place an order, go to the Caleb Project store or call 303.459.5405 (toll-free in the US at 877.662.1040).
VIDEO CD – 2005 Global Day of Prayer Documentary
From: Marc van der Woude, Joel News
Last year the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) united 200 million people in 150 nations in what has been labeled ‘the biggest prayer gathering ever.’ From Fiji in the east to Hawaii in the west, the whole world was covered with non-stop prayer and worship. In thousands of stadiums, church buildings, squares, desert tents, living rooms, and even prisons, believers poured out their hearts to God.
The touching documentaries of this Global Day of Prayer and the years of prayer that preceded it, have now been captured on one CD. People who saw the Transformations video series (from The Sentinel Group), which showed how united prayer transforms nations, will certainly appreciate this high-quality video CD compiled by the South African GDOP team. This is a great tool to encourage churches and prayer groups and to mobilize Christians to pray.
This English-language CD can be played on any PC or notebook computer. Besides the video material, the CD also contains manuals, articles, and promotional materials for the upcoming Global Day of Prayer on June 4, 2006, and the 10 days of prayer and fasting that will precede this event. Make a free-will offering and request your copy from Joel Ministries or send an e-mail.
BOOK – A Guide to Missions Networking and Partnership
From: visionSynergy
“Well Connected: Releasing Power and Restoring Hope”
By Phill Butler
Phill Butler’s new book is a practical guide to inspire and inform those who want to help God’s people work together – in their neighborhoods or around the world. It addresses the theory, theology, and practice of networking, which help mission organizations and churches realize Jesus’ vision that “they may all be one … so that the world will know you have sent me” (John 17:21).
“This is a book that many of us have been awaiting for a long time. I know of no one whom the Lord has used more effectively in launching ministry partnerships than Phill Butler. Phill writes from a deep reservoir of experience as he has been used of God to launch literally scores of significant ministry partnerships around the world. No one is better equipped than Phill to provide this significant book for all of us to not only read, but to be led of the Holy Spirit to put the principles into practice wherever we minister.” – Paul Cedar, Chairman of the Mission America Coalition
Ordering information: Waynesboro, GA: Authentic Media, 2006, 352 pages. Available for US$15.95 plus shipping and handling from ConnectBook.net or write to Power of Connecting.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We can’t say enough good things about Phill Butler and the ministries he has launched and inspired. Get a taste for yourself through several chapters of this book posted at ConnectedBook.net. Collective wisdom on this topic from the staff of Interdev was also published in a paperback book by Ernie Addicott. “Body Matters: A Guide to Partnership in Christian Mission” is available from Interdev Partnership Associates (IPA) for US$10 plus shipping and handling. To learn more, contact IPA. Both these books are also available from William Carey Library.
More Resources for Global Prayer
The next Global Day of Prayer is Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 2006. Are you ready? Millions of Christians are expected to pray for the ten days preceding Pentecost as well. A useful guide has been published by Waymakers; other resources and details are also available at GDOP USA.
But this day of prayer coincides with the launch of an even more extensive prayer campaign, an unprecedented year-long prayer focus on the world’s least-reached peoples. Ethne,Global Prayer Digest, Joshua Project, and others are teaming up to provide information to fuel this effort, which will last from June 2006 through May 2007. We expect united prayer will open doors and fuel effective outreach efforts throughout the earth! the
Each month will be dedicated to prayer for one of 12 regions:
June 2006: South Pacific
July 2006: Southeast Asia
August 2006: Northeast Asia
September 2006: South Asia
October 2006: Central Asia
November 2006: Middle East and North Africa
December 2006: East and South Africa
January 2007: West and Central Africa
February 2007: Eastern Europe and Eurasia
March 2007: Western Europe
April 2007: Central and South America
May 2007: North America and the Caribbean
Ethne has produced a DVD with video testimonies and videos highlighting each world region and its prayer needs. They are currently finalizing global distribution channels. “Other resources will be available through the Ethne site and are being uploaded now as quickly as possible. You are given permission to duplicate and distribute as much as possible,” write the Ethne staff.
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5
Write to request further information.
EVENT – Furlough Retreat to Refresh Missionary Women
From: Lorrie Lindgren, Women of the Harvest
Is your daughter or sister or friend coming ‘home’ to the USA on furlough this summer? Are any of your church missionaries on home assignment in June? Could they use some encouragement and pampering?
Missionary women tell us that being in the States is a very stressful time for them. They are in a continual state of loss and transition. It is hard to leave their country of service and the people they have grown to love. Trying to connect for quality time with family and friends across the country is challenging. And they usually arrive on US soil exhausted from a demanding ministry and the pressures of packing to re-locate for the next few months. They need emotional and spiritual refreshment but seldom set aside time or money to care for themselves.
Women of the Harvest is hosting a special weekend get-away for a limited number of North American women who live and work cross-culturally and are back in the States for home assignment.
When: June 1-4, 2006
Where: The Cove in Asheville, NC
Cost: US $90
Contact: Women of the Harvest
Please register by May 1!
Future Women of the Harvest retreats are planned for: United Arab Emirates (November 2006), West Africa (March 2007), USA (June 2007) and South America (late 2007).
Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.