In This Issue: Mission Books, Websites, Events, and a Video
- BOOK – Sylvia Asks, “Did Someone Forget the Kids?”
- BOOKS FOR KIDS – Teach Preschoolers about Missions, Poverty
- BOOKS FOR KIDS – The Jesus Story, Jesus in Me
- WEBSITES – Tools to Help You Pray for the World Daily
- VIDEO – The Pushtun of Afghanistan and Pakistan
- EVENTS – Global Day of Prayer, Children at Risk, Missionary Retreats
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.
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BOOK – Sylvia Asks, “Did Someone Forget the Kids?”
Source: Reviewed by Karen Hardin, Caleb Resources
Daddy, Are We There Yet? by Sylvia Foth. Mukilteo, WA: Kidzana Ministries, 2008. Paperback, 213 pages. Available for US$10 from Kidzana.
Barely 15 percent of church spending goes toward ministry to kids, even though children and youth represent one third of the world’s population, closer to half in unreached areas. In our journey to make disciples of all nations, did someone forget the kids?
This book includes a rearview-mirror glance at historical outreach and ministry to children, an overview of current trends, and strategic questions for the road ahead. The author addresses cultural and societal roadblocks, but also offers encouraging stories of what God is doing in the lives of kids around the world.
Rather than seeing children only as a part of the mission field, the book affirms the contribution that children themselves can make to our mission efforts:
“Pour the love of Christ into their lives, teaching them to follow Christ wholeheartedly and they will not only change personally, but they will impact their families, their communities, their nations.”
Includes practical ideas, resources, and networks to help us move forward.
Editor’s note: Some readers might be interested in another 2008 book about a huge percentage of the world’s population suffering discrimination – See Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures, by Darrow Miller.
BOOKS FOR KIDS – Teach Preschoolers about Missions, Poverty
Source: Reviewed by Marti Smith, editor
Want to take Sylvia’s advice to heart? Here are two books to read with your kids. Both are from a big box of books WMU kindly sent us. They do excellent work! We’ll share more resources in a later edition.
Molly’s Adventures in Missions, by Joye Smith. Birmingham, AL: WMU, 2009. Paperback, 30 pages. Available from WMU for US$8.99.
We’ve never seen anything like this book, which is designed to help preschoolers understand what their church’s mission teams do and how they can play a part. Even if you don’t take little children on your trips, this could be a big help for children whose parents or older siblings go on mission trips (or who just wonder what everybody at church is talking about). Our in-house expert says Molly would probably appeal to kids up to about ages 8 or 9. The text includes simple activities for little ones, and the last page includes additional tips and ideas for parents.
What Does It Mean to Be Poor? by Joye Smith. Birmingham, AL: WMU, 2004. Hardback, 30 pages. Available from WMU for US$8.99.
This book is built around a conversation between a young boy, Trey, and his mother, when he asks her what it means to be poor. As his mom explains poverty in ways a preschooler can grasp, Trey and his family gather a box of things to give to those in need. We like that Trey and his mom are African-Americans, and the poor people in the book are from a variety of racial backgrounds. Likely this book would also work in a non-American context, as well. Like “Molly,” it includes tips and ideas for parents.
See also: Families on Mission: Ideas for Teaching your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care, by Angie Quantrell.
BOOKS FOR KIDS – The Jesus Story, Jesus in Me
Source: The Jesus Story
Say you wanted to share the gospel with little ones, and didn’t know where to start? Take a look at these two books:
The Jesus Story, by Don Hammatt. Baton Rouge, LA: Praise Works, 2002, and Jesus in Me, 2005. Paperback, 24 pages each. Available for US$3.95 each, from the publisher, with bulk discounts.
These two booklets explain in terms appropriate to very small children just who Jesus is and how they can know him and live in him, including an invitation to respond, and both feature a multi-ethnic cast of children.
You can find out what you’re getting, too; view the entire contents through online flipbooks in English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, and Vietnamese. The author is happy to make the contents available for translation and use in other contexts. Video and DVD versions are also available. Contact the author through the web or by email.
WEBSITES – Tools to Help You Pray Daily for the World
Source: Reviewed by Marti Smith, editor
Here are four great ways to keep the nations in your prayers. Each works a bit differently, but all are free. Can you find creative ways to use them with your church, class, family, or small group?
People groups: You may have seen the Unreached People of the Day “gadget,” produced by Joshua Project, on one or more of the missions websites you frequent. It allows anyone to put a free, daily rotating unreached people photo and statistics on their website or blog. (Something similar is available through Prayerguard.)
Language groups: Ever heard of The Seed Company? Affiliated with Wycliffe Bible Translators, this ministry supports the work of national workers to accelerate Bible translation. Explore their website or subscribe to their RSS feed to get short, interesting blurbs about the different people groups among whom they work, with easy ways you can learn more or find out how to help.
Countries: You’re probably familiar with the day-by-day prayer-and-information book, Operation World, also available on CD. But you may not realize that you can go to the Operation World website to view the information and prayer requests for the day’s country in Operation World. About half a dozen countries in the news are also posted on the site. Excerpts are also available on the 24-7 Prayer website.
Finally, take a look at Global Prayer Digest, which a faithful staff have been producing in a variety of formats for decades. March is focused on Muslims of Russia, April on Students in Western Europe, and May will introduce us to the remaining unreached peoples in Canada. Interested? Subscribe to the email or RSS feed here.
VIDEO – The Pushtun of Afghanistan and Pakistan
Source: Utmost-Highest Media
This short documentary takes us past the names and faces of the Taliban and the countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, to delve into the lives of the people behind them: the Pushtun. They make up nearly half of Afghanistan’s population and [seven percent] of Pakistan’s.
“It’s a journey that’ll open your eyes to a people who desperately need to hear the truth and light found in the one true love and hope of all. It asks the question: we know of them, but what are we doing for them?”
The six-minute video, produced in 2007 with footage from a variety of mission-related sources, is designed to help Christians in the West better understand the Pushtun and respond in prayer and ministry efforts.
The easiest way to get a copy is to download the 53 Mb file from Behemoth for US$1.95. To learn more or get a DVD with some additional background material about Pushtun culture and traditions, contact the producer.
EVENTS – Global Day of Prayer, Children at Risk, Missionary Retreats
Source: Marti Smith, editor
May 31 – Global Day of Prayer (international). Note: Our friends at Ethne tell us that representatives from 176 nations have signed up to let others know they will be praying. But they’d like to see people from every nation united in repentance and prayer. Who will pray from Niger? Nepal? Norway? Help spread the word.
June 6-7 – World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk (international). Coordinated by the Viva Network. Download excellent materials from the web site.
July 6-9 – Women of the Harvest Furlough Retreat (Colorado Springs, CO, USA). Designed for North American missionary women; still a few spaces available.
October 18-21, 22-25 – Women of the Harvest Retreats (Cancun, Mexico). For North American missionary women serving in Mexico and Latin America.
More events are listed on our Missions Events Calendar.