Category: Resource Reviews

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

June 1-2, World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk (international). Coordinated by the Viva Network.

June 3-5, Enlace Global 2019 (Rockville, VA, USA). Lidera a tu iglesia para llegar a las naciones. Provided by Movilización Hispana.

June 3-29, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Mission Training International.

June 3 to August 11, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). Intensive version; regular course June 3 to October 6.

June 6-8, Emerge Business Summit (Colorado Springs, CO, USA). Be affirmed, confirmed, and empowered to do missional business in nations.

June 9, International Day for the Unreached (global). An annual event.

June 13-14, Support Raising Bootcamp (Wheaton, IL, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

June 16-28, Second Language Acquisition Course (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by the Center for Intercultural Training.

June 19-20, Standards Introductory Workshop (Vienna, VA, USA). Training in the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

June 19-22, Field Security Seminar (Lake George, CO, USA). Prepare to live, work, and travel in high-risk environments.

June 19-29, Breathe Conference (Wilderswil, Switzerland). Rest and renewal retreat for cross-cultural workers.

June 20, World Refugee Day (international). Many churches observe this with prayer the Sunday before or after.

June 20-22, The National African American Mission Conference (Vienna, VA, USA). An annual event.

June 25-26, Amplify Conference (Wheaton, IL, USA). Evangelism conference from the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

June 26-29, International Conference on Computing and Missions (Hannibal, MO, USA).

» View the complete calendar. Contact us to suggest additions. Want to know more about a specific event? Contact the event organizers.

Source: LifeNet Media Resources/Global Net

Have you seen this new, three-minute video designed to inspire a commitment to prayer and unity to reach the unreached? There’s also a longer version (nine minutes).

Could you show one of these to your church or group, then pray?

» See other short videos about the unreached—most of which we’ve featured here—as well as videos on related topics. Handy to have them in one place. Thanks, Joshua Project!

Source: Prayercast

On May 5, as Ramadan is about to start, Prayercast will begin releasing 130 new, short videos designed to stimulate focused, strategic, passionate prayer for the Muslim world.

Each video is four to five minutes long and led by a former Muslim who now follows Jesus, many sharing stories of healing and transformation. Prayercast will send you an email reminder each day of Ramadan with a brand new video to inspire you to praise and prayer.

Know someone you can invite to watch and pray with you?

» Learn more and sign up or look at other resources from Prayercast.

» See also 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World.

Source: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)

Serving Well: Help for the Wannabe, Newbie, or Weary Cross-cultural Christian Worker, by Elizabeth and Jonathan Trotter (Resource Publications, 2019). 378 pages.

Serving cross-culturally or planning to? You’ve got to read this book!

With more than 100 chapters, it covers everything from how prepare well to how to return well, with reflections and insight on moving overseas; taking care of your heart, marriage, and children; relationships, communication, pitfalls, and what to do when things don’t go as planned.

An emphasis on cultivating self-knowledge and emotional awareness comes through strong.

The book is comprehensive, funny, deep, and well written. I think it would be a good one to read or even read aloud with a spouse, friend, or teammate. You could use chapters to stimulate team discussion. Pastors and member-care types might want to read it, too, and use it as a resource to share with others.

The Trotters serve in Cambodia. Both write for the great collaborative missions blog A Life Overseas. Elizabeth is the editor-in-chief. Jonathan spends his days as a pastoral counselor.

» Learn more or purchase this book from Amazon. The Kindle edition is going for US$9.99. Want the paperback? Wipf and Stock is selling it for US$20, a 20% discount on the cover price.

» Another new missions book is making a strong debut. The title suggests a quite different tone. See A Company of Heroes: Portraits from the Gospel’s Global Advance, by Tim Keesee.

Sources: various

God Network News, now up to 100 episodes, shares news and stories of what God is doing around the world. They are running a series of testimonies and stories from the Middle East.

Global Missions Podcast features interviews to help Christians participate more effectively in local and global ministry, also reached 100 episodes not long ago. The producers shared a list of their favorite episodes.

Engaging Missions recently put out two episodes on loving Muslims and several more about depending on God.

Missions Pulse is an interesting new missions podcast from prolific author and mobilizer David Joannes.

Moving a bit out of the “missions” world, you might check out Bob Goff’s Dream Big podcast, or Five Minutes in Church History.

» What have you been listening to? Let us know through comments on our website, Facebook, or Twitter (or of course by responding to this email).

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

Note: USA-based mission mobilizers may also be interested in Mobilization Ideation events planned across the country during the month of May. I’ll be joining the one next week in Atlanta. Any of you planning to be there?

May 2, National Day of Prayer (USA).

May 2, Mapping Church Missions: A Compass for Ministry Strategy (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

May 2-5, Christian Medical and Dental Association (Ridgecrest, NC, USA). National Convention; an annual event.

May 2-30, Foundations of New Media Strategy (online). Mentored course on using social media for deeper conversations and disciple-making. Offered by Mission Media U.

May 3-5, BAM Conference Europe (Bucharest, Romania). Business as Mission.

May 6-7, Support Raising Bootcamp (Winter Park, FL, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

May 6 to June 4, 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World (global). An annual prayer campaign.

May 6 to September 8, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online).

May 7 to June 4, Using Mobile Phones in Missions (online). Mentored course to leverage ministry outreach using mobile phones. Offered by Mission Media U.

May 9-12, GO Equipped Tentmaking Course (Atlanta, GA, USA).

May 19 to June 14, Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life and Ministry (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by the Center for Intercultural Training.

May 20 to August 18, Encountering the World of Islam (online).

May 24-25, Engaging Islam Weekend (Dearborn, MI, USA). Provided by Horizons International.

May 27-31, Engaging Islam Institute (Dearborn, MI, USA). Provided by Horizons International.

May 31 to June 2, Everywhere to Everywhere (Sioux Falls, SD, USA). Missional training and outreach event.

May 31 to June 2, Invitation Prayer Retreat (Choctaw, OK, USA). Introduction to contemplative prayer from Beautiful Feet Boot Camp.

» View the complete calendar. Contact us to suggest additions. Want to know more about a specific event? Contact the event organizers.

Source: Brigada Today, February 17, 2019

Our friends at Beyond have boiled down a five-step strategy for reaching an unreached people group. They see it as prayer, prayerwalking, first contact, miracles and healing, then discipleship. They’ve created a quick intro video for each of those five prongs. See them at:

Step 1: Prayer
Step 2: Prayer Walking
Step 3: First Contact
Step 4: Miracles and Healing
Step 5: Discipleship

» Visit the video landing page, and while you’re there, check out their Nugget Trainings (to attend online) on topics like how to lead a discovery Bible study or how to become a strategic missionary.

» More videos! Missio Nexus recently put on a virtual conference featuring short presentations from a wide variety of mission leaders and subject-area specialists. The OnMission videos are still available to watch at your own pace, with transcripts, discussion questions, and other resources. Check them out not only for what you can learn but to find stories, data, and illustrations to use in helping others.

Source: WIGTake Resources

More Disciples: A Guide to Becoming and Multiplying Followers of Jesus, by Doug Lucas. WIGTake Resources, 2019, 248 pages.

As a follower of Jesus, what’s the one thing you can take with you from this life to the next? The answer: more disciples.

More Disciples is a practical, how-to guidebook that lays out a clear path for learning and implementing church-planting movement and disciple-making movement strategies and life principles. In particular, it describes the key concepts used in the web-based Zume Project course.

Quite a few other CPM and DMM books have been written at this point. Each has a somewhat different emphasis or audience. This one is definitely for practitioners; you will probably feel uncomfortable if your intention is just to read about making disciples and not do it! The author is passionate and practical but not dogmatic, calling instead for unity around the more timeless and universal of disciple-making principles.

Read all the other DMM books? I think you’ll want to pick this one up, too. You will find something fresh and new. But it is also thorough enough to make a good starting place if you are just getting started.

Lucas, a mission agency leader, is both well versed and well connected. The book includes a foreword by David Garrison and an introduction and epilogue from Curtis Sergeant along with endorsements from other leaders and references to other resources.

» Purchase from Amazon (or elsewhere). The Kindle edition is US$9.99 and a paperback can be yours for a few dollars more. See also the companion website, MoreDisciples.com. The creators are in the process of updating it.