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Source: Missio Nexus
Essentials for People Care and Development, edited by Heather Pubols and Geoff Whiteman, Missio Nexus, 2023. 222 pages.
Whether you serve in a sending agency, lead a ministry, or are a concerned pastor or care provider, you’ll find something in this book to help you care for global workers.
It’s a slim book but includes 14 articles from 15 authors serving in a variety of contexts, though most are in professional member-care roles. Each provides reflections and recommendations rooted in scripture and research. Footnotes and resource recommendations will help you go deeper if you like.
Learn more, get the ebook edition for US $14.95, or find the paperback on Amazon.
You might also appreciate an interview with a member care provider on the latest episode of the Relentless Pursuit Podcast (Pioneers-USA). After sharing her own somewhat painful story, she talks about what she’s learned about the interplay of suffering and spiritual growth.
Source: Global Frontier Missions
Remember GFM’s short teaching videos on mission topics like the biblical basis for missions, what makes a group unreached, the state of the world, and more? You may have seen or shared them in a missions class or used them with your church or small group.
But say you wanted to share them in another, non-English-speaking context. You may be in luck. These videos have been translated into Russian, Vietnamese, Swahili, and Portuguese.
Take a look. Thanks, GFM!
See also a collection of short videos defining and exploring what the producers call difficult mission terms (Lausanne Movement). They unpack words like polycentric, missio Dei, evangelical, and ecumenical.
Sources: Various
Help This Person
“Don’t take my word for it. Instead, for the rest of the day, try thinking ‘help this person’ every time you interact with another human being.”
Read Three Words That Will Transform Your Career (Bruce Kasanoff).
Have This Conversation
“When you’re thinking about serving in missions, inviting your pastor or church leader into your journey from the beginning can be an invaluable source of encouragement and wisdom. But how do you start?”
Read 7 Questions to Ask Your Pastor When You’re Thinking About Missions (Wycliffe Bible Translators).
Fear of Failure
“What if I don’t feel qualified to be a missionary? What should I do?”
Read What If I Don’t Feel Qualified to Be a Missionary? (Global Frontier Missions).
Growing Passion for the Nations
“The church members most involved in missions become those most excited about missions. Engagement in missions drives excitement about missions.”
Read 10 Ways to Develop a Missions Culture in Your Church (ABWE).
Source: Perspectives USA
Always meant to take a Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course—or journeying with someone you’d love to see take it?
Perspectives Online is the fully online, asynchronous version of the live class. Coursework requires 4-6 hours a week and includes videos, reading, weekly homework, and group discussions. There are no class meeting times.
A Perspectives Online class will begin November 6, and five more will launch this spring (January 8, January 22, February 5, March 4, and April 8). Registration is now open for all of them.
Learn more about the class or find and register for a class.
You might also check out the Kairos Course and MomentumYes.
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
November 2, Resetting Theological Education to Serve Global Church Growth (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
November 2-4, B4T Expo (Austin, TX, USA). Transforming nations through business.
November 2-5, Haven Retreat (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt). For kingdom-minded women serving overseas from various nations. Provided by Azmera.
November 3-4, NWA for the Nations (Fayetteville, AR, USA). Northwest Arkansas Missions Conference.
November 3-4, MissionConnexion Southwest (Tempe, AZ, USA). A free, annual, community-based mission conference. Come early for Leadership Connexion or a Standards Introductory Workshop.
November 3-4, MissionFest Seattle (Bellevue, WA, USA). A free, annual, community-based mission conference.
November 5, International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (global). Observed annually.
November 6-17, Mobilization Equipping School (Chiang Mai, Thailand). From the Global Mission Mobilization Initiative.
November 6 to March 10, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New classes begin regularly.November 9, Branding from the Inside Out: Growth Through Authentic Brand Communication (online). Webinar for mission communication and marketing staff. Provided by Missio Nexus.
November 9-11, Global Missions Health Conference (Louisville, KY, USA and online). An annual event; the largest healthcare missions conference in the world.
November 10-11, Student Connexion (Portland, OR, USA). A mission conference just for middle school and high school students.
November 12, Virtual Prayer Gathering: Call to Prayer (online). Held monthly for members of Missio Nexus.
November 12-14, Build a Mobilization Game Plan (Cary, NC, USA). Training for mission mobilization directors from Missio Nexus.
November 13-14, Support Raising Bootcamp (Dallas, TX, USA). Provided by Via Generosity (formerly Support Raising Solutions).
November 13-17, Storytelling Training (online). Offered regularly by StoryRunners, a ministry of Cru.
November 16, Equipping Missionaries to Mobilize Others (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
November 16-18, International Conference on Missions (Oklahoma City, OK, USA). An annual event. An annual conference in the Christian/Disciples of Christ tradition.
November 17-19, Catalyze Boise (Boise, ID, USA). Discover what God is doing in the Muslim world. A three-day intensive offered by Frontiers USA.
November 17-20, Field Security Seminar (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.
November 21, Contend: Monthly Day of Prayer For Mission Mobilization (global). Coordinated by GMMI and held on the third Tuesday of each month.
November 30, Informed, on the Ground Metrics for Mission: GAPP (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
December 6-7, Denominational Roundtable for Mission Leaders (Greenville, SC, USA). An annual networking event organized by Missio Nexus.
December 7, Developing Movement Catalysts: It’s Within Your Reach (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
December 10, Virtual Prayer Gathering: Call to Prayer (online). Monthly event for members of Missio Nexus.
December 19, Contend: Monthly Day of Prayer for Mission Mobilization (global). Coordinated by GMMI for the third Tuesday of each month.
December 21, The Details Matter: How a Project Manager Can Help Reduce Your Workload (online). Webinar for mission communication and marketing staff. Provided by Missio Nexus.
View the complete calendar, updated regularly. Submissions welcome.
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Source: DMMs Frontier Missions
The Multiplier’s Mindset: Thinking Differently About Discipleship, by Cynthia Anderson. DMMs Frontier Missions, 2023. 230 pages.
Ever struggled with making disciples or experienced frustration when you tried to fulfill the Great Commission? This book will show you how to recognize and overcome the mindsets that block our fruitfulness and impact.
YWAM leader and trainer Cynthia Anderson leans into Scripture, tells stories, and raises questions related to what we believe about God, ourselves (specifically how God can use us) and how to make disciples who make disciples.
I love this book. It’s written for church-planting, disciple-making missionaries pursuing movements, but much of it has broader application. It’s a quick read but worth working through slowly.
The Kindle edition is just US$9.99 but it’s also available as a hardcover book or paperback. Learn more and get the book or related resources from the book website. You might also consider reading her blog, listening to the interviews she conducted for the book, or taking an online class.
Source: HBO
Here’s an important but disturbing story. Renee Bach was a U.S. missionary who set up a feeding clinic in Jinja, Uganda and is accused of causing the deaths of malnourished children whom she cared for despite a lack of medical training.
Explore the story in Savior Complex, a three-part HBO original documentary that premiered this week on Max. See trailer below.
Maybe, like me, you don’t have access to watch the series. But you can read an article about it in The Guardian or listen to an eight-part podcast series (The Missionary; scroll back to 2020).
See also Shadow Side of Missions, part 1 of 3 in a series on ethics by Ed Stetzer (Church Leaders).
Source: Global Witness, Globally Reimagined, September 14, 2023
Harvey Kwiyani writes:
I grew up in a revival in Malawi—the kind of revival that turned many nominal Christians into fervent followers of Christ, ever ready to pray and evangelize. I learned after leaving the continent that the revival was a widespread phenomenon that touched almost all sub-Saharan Africa and has been going on for decades. In the context of a revival, mission and evangelism tend to be straightforward. I saw many people miraculously convert by themselves because of dreams and other spectacular phenomena. Many of them are still active following Christ today, 30 years later.
Central to all this revival is a theology (shaped by an African worldview) that requires that God acts for and on behalf of people. Even in African (traditional) religion, a god who does not heal or provide is useless and will have no followers.
Yet, such is the God that many other Christians worship, especially in the post-Enlightenment West. Many people profess to follow Christ, yet, they live as if they are atheists. They are Christians, yet they are so self-sufficient that they do not need help from God. They live out their faith as if everything depends on them.
Read the full article and a follow-up, “Will This Jesus Protect Us?” Thought-provoking.