In This Issue: Great Guide to Business as Mission, Inside Look at Haiti, and More
- BOOK: A Comprehensive Guide to Business as Mission
- TOOLS: Short-Term Mission Starter Kit
- BOOK: Living among the Poor in Haiti
- NEWSLETTER: January Edition of Momentum
- DVDs: Encounter India and Encounter Muslims
- EVENTS: New on the Missions Catalyst Calendar
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: A Comprehensive Guide to Business as Mission
“On a plane flight this week I dove into the most comprehensive book about business as mission I’ve ever read,” writes Justin Forman of the Business as Mission Network.
“Business As Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice by Neal Johnson is over 400 pages and is a great read for students and business leaders already interested in business as mission but are looking to get the full picture.”
Here’s how the publisher describes the book:
“Business as mission (BAM) is a mission strategy whose time has come. As global economics become increasingly interconnected, Christian businesspeople and entrepreneurs have unanticipated opportunities to build kingdom-strategic business ventures. But Christian companies and business leaders do not automatically accomplish missional purposes. BAM requires mastery of both the world of business and the world of missions, merging and contextualizing both into something significantly different than either alone.
“C. Neal Johnson offers the first comprehensive guide to business as mission for practitioners. This book breaks new ground in how faith and work intersect and are lived out in cross-cultural contexts, where job creation and community transformation go hand in hand.”
>> Purchase this book for US$28 from InterVarsity Press.
>> Visit the Business as Mission Network to see Justin’s lists of best BAM books, conferences, and lots more.
TOOLS: Short-Term Mission Starter Kit
Source: DELTA Ministries Int’l, press release January 13, 2010
A newly released Short-Term Mission Starter Kit, developed by DELTA Ministries International, gives churches nearly 40 resources for prayer, encouragement, training, post-ministry follow-through, and a comprehensive referral list of more than 60 short-term mission resources.
“The kit offers new, as well as proven, resources DELTA has used for many years,” said Chris McDaniel, DELTA’s Chief Business Development Officer. “It was designed to help churches that are just getting started with a STM program, as well as fine-tune established programs.”
McDaniel added that an effective short-term mission program requires preparation and planning for the pre-field, on-field, and post-field experience. The kit includes printable materials, DVDs, and links that provide resources for all phases of a short-term mission [and] adheres to the U.S. Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.
>> Read more or request a free copy.
>> Readers might also be interested in the resources available from Round Trip Missions and STEM International. Looking for a short-term mission trip to join? Check out shorttermmissions.com.
BOOK: Living among the Poor in Haiti
Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously, by Kent Annan. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2009. 208 pages.
“Kent Annan left behind his comfortable life to face the world beyond its gates, where people wear his cast-off clothing and survival is an open question,” reads the back cover of this highly personal, engaging, and honest exploration of what it can be like for someone from a land of privilege to live among the poor.
As one reviewer writes: “It’s not often you read a book at once as moving and disturbing as Kent Annan’s accounts of the time he has lived among the rural poor of Haiti, where every day tested his fortitude, his marriage, and his abundant store of good humor. Yet he doesn’t wish to play on our feelings or to point an accusing finger. Rather, he wants to share his fears, his bewilderment, and the everyday glimmers of beauty and joy he finds among his neighbors.”
>> Purchase from IVP for US$11.20. There you can also read an excerpt from the book and learn about Kent’s ministry.
NEWSLETTER: January Edition of Momentum
We’d like to encourage you to download the latest edition of the recently relaunched periodical, Momentum, edited by Justin Long of the Network for Strategic Mission. This free newsletter summarizes and links readers to world news stories, global trends and statistics, new resources and technologies – all for the purpose of helping believers passionately, quickly, and effectively reach the least reached.
This month’s cover story shares seven ways to find the kingdom vision that would pull your eyelids open each morning and get you out of bed: the passion with which your spirit resonates. Then, how do you build a network or catalyze a movement around that kind of vision? Justin calls it “swarming.” Read more here.
>> Download Momentum, January edition (8 pages, 680 kb).
>> Editor’s note: The International Bulletin of Missionary Research is now available online for free, as well.
DVDs: Encounter India and Encounter Muslims
Looking for excellent media tools to use in introducing your church, group, or family to unreached peoples? For decades Caleb Project produced videos, prayer guides, and more for just such a purpose, and many of these tools are now available on DVD.
The Encounter India DVD includes 18 videos, long and short, including several just for children, along with people-group-specific prayer guides, lesson plans, photographs, and more. The Encounter Muslims 2-Disc Set includes similar material but about twice as much, and introduces people groups from across the Muslim world.
>> Each product now sells for US$24.95 (formerly US$59.99) plus shipping and handling from the Caleb Resources store.
>> Readers might also be interested in resources from The Sentinel Group, which produced the popular Transformations videos (1999, 2001). Remember those? They’re still available, along with much more. Visit their new online store.
EVENTS: New on the Missions Catalyst Calendar
February 17 to March 28 – Seek God for the City (international). Forty days of prayer. Coordinated by WayMakers.
February 19 to 20 – ACMC Southeast Regional Conference (Columbia, SC, USA). Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment.
February 26 to 27 – 247 To Go Workshop (Atlanta, GA, USA). That’s 247 large, unengaged Muslim people groups. Come explore what you can do. Sponsored by Frontiers.
March 10 to 13 – Call2All America Launch (Fairfield, OH, USA). Network of ministries for winning and discipling a generation.
March 12 to 13 – 247 To Go Workshop (Bakersfield, CA, USA). That’s 247 large, unengaged Muslim people groups. Come explore what you can do. Sponsored by Frontiers.
March 26 to 28 – The Journey Deepens (Atlanta, GA, USA). Retreat and mentoring for prospective missionaries; explore next steps on your journey. This one’s hosted by OM USA.
May 27 to 29 – ACMI Conference 2010 (Manhattan, KS, USA). Association of Christians Ministering to Internationals.
June 05 to 06 – World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk (international). Facilitated by Viva Network.
June 19 – The Next Mile Conference (Ogden, UT, USA). One-day conference for teens and adults designed to help you “stay different” after a short-term mission.
June 24 to July 04 – Breathe 2010 (Wilderswil, Switzerland). Ten-day retreat for cross-cultural missionaries, provided by Catalyst International.
June 25 to 27 – The Journey Deepens (Fort Washington, PA, USA). Retreat and mentoring for prospective missionaries; explore next steps on the journey. This one’s hosted by WEC USA.
July 24 to 31 – New Wilmington Mission Conference (New Wilmington, PA, USA). Week-long multi-generational conference in the Presbyterian (PCUSA) tradition.
November 12 to 13 – ACMC Virginia/Maryland Conference (Washington, DC, USA). Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment.
>> Planning a public, missions-oriented event? We’d love to help you get the word out! Submit an item.