Missions Catalyst 07.27.05 – Resource Reviews

In This Issue: Rwanda – Revival, Genocide, and Hope

  • Conference – Learning to Lead Muslims to the Living Water
  • Periodical – Magazine for Women in Missions Goes On-line
  • Book – Lives Given, Not Taken
  • Book – Rwanda: Revival, Genocide, Hope
  • CONFERENCE: ‘One Foot Forward’ Short-Term Missions Conference

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.

CONFERENCE: Learning to Lead Muslims to the Living Water

From: Crescent Project

Oasis Conference 2005
September 22-24, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Featuring Bill Wagner, Fouad Masri, and Carl Ellis

Workshop titles include:

* The Many Veils of Islam: Ministering to Muslim Women

* Married to Muhammad: Hope for Americans Married to Muslims

* My Muslim Classmate: Ministering to Muslims on Campus

We are at a critical point in the history of our witness to the Muslim world. Christians in North America are now face-to-face with a large Muslim population. God has given us a tremendous opportunity to reach them with the love and peace of Christ that previous generations only dreamed about. But are we ready? How can we effectively communicate the gospel to our Muslim neighbors? Oasis 2005 will give you practical training and resources to help your church reach out to the local Muslim community.

For more information, see Oasis Conference 2005.

PERIODICAL: Magazine for Women in Missions Goes On-line

From: Women of the Harvest

“We are excited to offer Women of the Harvest magazine in its new format. We hope it takes encouragement to the next level, breaking the bonds of isolation, encouraging women to persevere, and creating a place to come for spiritual refreshment. Check out all the resources just for you. We believe there is power in community. Come, woman of the harvest, and rest in the company of friends who get your life.”

Features of the new Women of the Harvest on-line Magazine:
* Articles of encouragement for women living overseas
* Published bi-monthly, on-line, for free
* Audio introductions from the author of each article
* Message board for reader feedback and interaction
* Multiple editions to suit your situation

Other free services:
* The Weekly Word Bible study by e-mail
* Harvest Legacy, a newsletter for the parents of missionaries
* Personal invitations to international retreats

To register, click here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to access most elements of the web site you will need to register. The editors are also looking for submissions. This is an American ministry and the bias shows a bit, but many elements would speak to other Westerners.

BOOK: Lives Given, Not Taken

From: International Mission Board

Lives Given, Not Taken: 21st Century Southern Baptist Martyrs
By Erich Bridges and Jerry Rankin

Immediately following the deaths of Southern Baptist workers in Yemen, Iraq, and other places, the International Mission Board (IMB) received an outpouring of support and consolation. But it did not take long for the questions to come. “Why do missionaries go to dangerous places?” “How can the IMB be so irresponsible to send missionaries to places where their lives will be endangered?”

Yet, those who died gave their lives as a witness to their faith and testimony to their obedience and devotion to their Lord. They died because they were willing to be in a place where their lives were vulnerable – because offering eternal life to others was more important than maintaining their own earthly lives.

“We must not think that the call to take up our cross and die was only for those in the first century,” said IMB President, Jerry Rankin. “It always will be the cost for reaching our world for Christ.”

The book describes the impact the martyrs had on those around them, not just through their deaths, but also during their lives.

Order your copy from IMB Resources.

BOOK: ‘RWANDA: Revival, Genocide and Hope’

From: David Mays, ACMC – July 8, 2005

RWANDA: The Land God Forgot? Revival, Genocide and Hope
by Meg Guillebaud

Through the eyes of British missionaries a story emerges that helps one understand the missionary question of the decade: How could a country “90% Christian” experience the tragic genocide of 1994? The essence is that “an unresolved injustice in one generation will return to haunt the next” (p. 293, quoting Roger Bowen, former general secretary of Mid-Africa Ministry).

Other excerpts:

Many Europeans, missionaries included, assumed that the Tutsi, with finer features, were superior to the Hutu” (p. 33-34).

“Somehow the country needed to address the roots of hatred which had led to these waves of killing over the years, each feeding on the bitterness left by the last” (p. 239).

“Sadly, many church leaders, while not actively involved in the killing, did nothing to prevent it or even to condemn it” (p. 244).

“Sadly, in many cases, the Rwandan church had preached, and still does preach, a gospel of conversion with no emphasis on discipleship and training in the holiness of a Spirit-filled life …” (p. 303).

Monarch Books, 2002, 368 pages. Available from Amazon.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: See more excepts from this book, and other book notes at David Mays’ web site.

CONFERENCE: ‘One Foot Forward’ Short-Term Missions Conference

From: The Prospect Group

The “One Foot Forward” Short-Term Missions Conference is being held October 7-8, 2005 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The conference brings together school, student, and church mission leaders from all over the United States in an effort to encourage, inspire, and prepare God’s people to continue in his work to fulfill the commandment to go and make disciples of all nations. In a period of 36 hours, One Foot Forward offers three strands in which to explore the multiple facets of missions in both school and church settings: spiritual leadership, missions management, and the student strand.

Starting a missions program can lead to a litany of skinned knees and epiphanies as a result of taking those scary steps forward in faith. There is no teacher like experience. Although we are grateful that God has allowed us to grow in the way we have, we are even more hopeful that, by bringing together the masses to learn, share, and encourage one another, we will all be able to learn from each other as we pool all of our missteps and scrapes together for two days.

One Foot Forward is still accepting applications from presenters (deadline: August 15) and exhibitors (deadline: September 9).

Send an e-mail for more information.

Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.

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