In This Issue: Is it time to start something new?
- Short Summer Shot #3: Summer’s Over. Let’s Get Started.
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Short Summer Shot #3: Summer’s Over. Let’s Get Started.
One of the things I like about cycles – time cycles, not bicycles – is the regular chance to start over. Or simply to start. (One of the coolest things about bicycles, though, is that you pretty much have to be in motion to balance them. A metaphor plump with application for this column!)
I hope you’ve had a lovely summer, but let’s say it: summer’s over. Or soon will be. And that means it’s time to get cranking! To take action. To begin again. To start something.
If you subscribe to Missions Catalyst from the southern hemisphere or a home near the equator, thanks for reading and for humoring us. I hope you’re inspired to start something without the seasonal spark your northern colleagues get these days.
Step into the Water
I love the picture in Joshua 3 of the priests, ark in hand, stepping into the flooded Jordan river. The murky water swirling over their like-new sandals . . . then slowly less, then not at all. This story could illustrate tons of great sermon points, but here’s mine: The thing Israel needed badly – the water stopping – only happened when the priests started forward. Starting was the catalyst.
Sometimes what we need and long for only comes when we get started. This little sermon will have three illustrations but only one point (how upside down is that?): Get started. Begin. Step into the water. Put your dream in motion. Filled with the power of the resurrected Christ, seize the day for the glory of God Almighty.
Maybe that’s as much as you need to read.
What dream is lurking in your mind? What project is waiting to be prioritized? What conversation awaits your initiation? What small group is ready to gel? What idea is tinder, ready to spring to flame, if you will but apply a spark, some breath, some caring attention?
To encourage you and help kindle that fire, consider three stories of fresh starts.
1. Embassy
Sometimes what you pray for simply drops in your lap. The founders of Embassy had a dream: to speak with people in closed countries. They wanted to encourage the underground church and share the good news of Jesus with Muslims. While practicing Arabic in hopes of going abroad, they discovered thousands of Muslims in closed countries go online to practice English. More than 60 percent of them want to study the Bible! They soon realized that responding to this demand was something more than a few people could pull off. Leaders would need to be trained, resources gathered and created, and people mobilized.
So they began recruiting, training, and connecting believers online with seekers in the Middle East. Ransack their site to learn more, to link up with them or simply to be inspired to get started on your own dream. To get an inside scoop, write and tell them you saw them in Missions Catalyst.
2. ForAFriend.com
A young friend of mine named Travis once heard a missionary speak. You’re not going to believe this, but the missionary was raising funds for his ministry! Travis loved what the guy was doing and really wanted to support him, but he didn’t have any money. Well, almost no money. Certainly no reliable income coming in. The missionary had mentioned in his talk that he met with new disciples for coffee. Travis thought, “I could pay for one cup of coffee. If there was a way to do that, I’d do it.”
So Travis grabbed a couple of techie buds, Daryl and Adam, and they got started building ForAFriend.com. The site is designed to unite potential givers of small gifts with missionaries who use the gifts for practical ministry purposes. It’s a triple win: missionaries get needs met, givers are trained and released into giving, and relationships are formed. Give a gift, set up a missionary profile, or just snoop around here. (For a good example of a bad profile, feel free to check mine.)
3. Solavei
My bud (long-time mobilization all-star) Robby Butler and I have recently started something ourselves. We’re teaming up with a new mobile phone provider called Solavei to promote a new way to raise funds for non-profits and bolster our ministry support in the meantime. Solavei offers a contract-free, unlimited talk/text/data mobile phone plan coupled with a great referral program: US$20 per month for every three people you refer to the service, plus US$20 per month for every three people your friends refer to the service.
Say the local inter-city mission, dog shelter, or our new friends at Embassy want to raise funds for the good stuff they’re doing. They could sign up for Solavei and invite friends and potential donors to subscribe to the service. They sweeten the pot by giving US$5 per month to their non-profit fund for everyone who signs up, for as long as they use the service. The donor gets a great product plus a chance to contribute (albeit indirectly) to a favorite charity. See what Robby has to say or contact me for an invitation.
Conclusion
So what’s on your mind? What’s in your heart? Got something you’re ready to start? Let the rest of us know. We’d love to give you some prayer and an “attaboy!” Of course, if Jesus says to wait, do so. Otherwise, let’s get our feet wet. God calls and the world waits.
Shane Bennett has served in missions mobilization since 1987, much of his energy going to recruiting, training, and sending short-term teams. He’s been on research teams in Bangkok, Bombay, and Turkey. He coauthored Exploring the Land, a guide to researching unreached peoples, and has written numerous articles.
Shane now works as a public speaker for Frontiers and helps his church, Commonway, follow God to the nations. He and his wife, Ann, have five school-aged children. They live and work in Indiana.