Read or share the email edition. Suggested caption: Missions Catalyst Resource Reviews: in this edition, mission infographics, Chinese new year, 25 years of a new century and what’s coming up soon. Check it out!
Source: GlobalCAST Resources
Need punchy, easy-to-share graphics with accurate, up-to-date info about the state of the world? MobilizeKit, a missions mobilization resources kit, contains ready-to-use missions infographics that are also editable and customizable for any use.
There are two versions:
Done-for-you Graphics: Explore and download ready-to-go materials. They do look great! And you have 72 infographics to choose from; skim through to see what works for you.
Do-it-Yourself Canva: Edit and customize every element to suit yourself.
Thanks, GlobalCAST! (By the way, we did not find this on their website, just on their social media feeds).
Source: 110 Cities, a project of International Prayer Connect
January 29, 2025 is Chinese New Year.
Join thousands of believers from many churches and Christian ministries around the globe, as we come together online for a 24-hour prayer meeting covering key cities and regions of the Buddhist world.
This will be an opportunity to pray together, exalting Jesus Christ as King throughout the Buddhist world, asking the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers to every unreached people group in these cities and nations.
Chinese New Year is a special time for families to gather and we want to pray for them.
Learn more or sign up for a prayer slot. While you’re there, you might browse the 110 Cities site to learn how you can pray for some of the most unreached cities in the world.
Ready to jump in? Our friends at Beyond are also starting 21 days of Prayer for the Buddhist World, January 9-29. Check out their prayer guide, too.
Source: The Schuman Centre for European Studies
Twenty-five years ago, the world was in the grip of Y2K panic. As January 1, 2000, drew near, fear spread around the world that a global computer bug would cause widespread computer failures in hospitals, airborne planes, traffic systems, television broadcasts, military control over rocket launches, including nuclear weapons? All eyes were on New Zealand as the clock clicked towards midnight on New Year’s Eve ahead of the rest of the world.
Twenty-five years later, our world has become overwhelmingly shaped by computers in almost every field. The iPhone introduced Smartphones only in 2007, one of the most transformative technological innovations of the 21st century. They now dictate our daily lifestyles: waking us up, feeding us Whatsapps, emails and social media updates, offering finger-tip access to daily Bible and meditation readings, weather reports, daily agendas, news headlines, directions for public transport for our appointments—and that’s all before getting out of bed!
Read the thought provoking article. It addresses many sweeping changes in the world and the global church in the first quarter of the century.
Perhaps a disclaimer is in order: You may see some of these issues differently than the author does. What would you see as highlights (and lowlights) in your corner of the world?
Source: MissionConnexion
A shout-out to readers in the great Pacific Northwest! We’ve got a big event coming up January 17-18. I was at the last planning meeting just this morning.
Can you make it? Have you thought about who else you can bring with you? It’s not too late too invite them.
Learn more, register to attend and get promotional materials. Psst: We’re still looking for volunteers; sign up at the bottom of the webpage.
Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar
January 12, Virtual Prayer Gathering (online). Monthly event for members of MissioNexus. Each gathering features a different presenter. The next one will be February 9.
January 12-14, Sending Church Elements Cohort (Tempe, AZ, USA). Discover practical strategies that can multiply your church’s sending. A joint project of Upstream Collective and Frontiers.
January 13 to February 8, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International.
January 16, Innovation Fund Overview and Process (online). Learn how you can apply for a grant from this fund.
January 17-18, MissionConnexion Northwest (Portland, OR, USA). A free, regional missions conference.
January 17-18, Agriculture Missions Summit (Manhattan, KS, USA). Hosted by Pioneer Bible Translators, Team Expansion, and Farming God’s Way.
January 21, Contend: Monthly Day of Prayer For Mission Mobilization (global). Coordinated by GMMI and held on the third Tuesday of each month.
January 22-26, Vision 5:9 MERGE Conference (Orlando, FL, USA). A gathering for all reaching out to the Muslim diaspora in North America. Organized by a network of organizations and churches.
January 24-25, Help! We’re Going on a Short-Term Trip (Marietta, GA, USA). Seminar for team leaders from CultureLink.
January 25, The Nexus Central Florida (Oveida, FL, USA). One-day regional event for church mission leaders.
January 29, Global Day of Prayer for the Buddhist World.
February 1, Santa Barbara Mission Conference (Santa Barbara, CA, USA). An annual regional mission event.
February 3-5, Frontiers’ Pastors Track (Tempe, AZ, USA). In-person missions leaders cohort to multiply church sending.
February 3-7, Storytelling Training (online). Offered regularly by StoryRunners, a ministry of Cru.
February 6 to April 3, School of Mission Advocacy (online). This eight-week, affordable ($12) course by GlobalCAST Resources equips you with tools to mobilize your community for missions.
February 7-9, Missionfest Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB, Canada). Community-based mission festival.
February 8-11, Field Security Seminar (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.
View the complete calendar. Submissions welcome.
In this edition:
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Source: Navigators
Often, the fast-paced time and space to connect with God through prayer is difficult. Use these 12 powerful prayers for Christmas to hep you slow down and focus on the true meaning of this season—the celebration of Christ’s birth.
Share these with a friend or small group and spend time praying them together as you anticipate your Christmas celebration.
Read 12 Prayers for Christmas or download the one-page PDF. It’s great!
Looking for timely ways to pray for missionaries over the holidays? I made this list for Prayer Notes, a weekly publication from Pioneers. Feel free to re-purpose any of the content you find helpful.
Source: Catalyst Services
A growing number of churches are considering internships to be an important early step for young adults who express interest in missions. This trend is driven by at least two factors:
Read the article. It addresses components to consider, internship models, and specific opportunities that include service in the U.S. and abroad. Know someone who would benefit?
Sources: Various
Living in a world with many distractions, do you find it’s getting harder to read whole books from cover to cover? Even so, the publishing industry doesn’t seem to have waned in its production. Here are some I loved, and you might too—plus a list of books we’ve mentioned in 2024.
People Vision: Reimagining Mission to Least Reached Peoples, by Leonard N. Bartlotti. William Carey Publishing, 2024. 324 pages.
A few months ago I wrote about my struggle to call people to take the gospel to the places and populations with the greatest need and least opportunity, given all I know about the debates and divisions surrounding how we think and talk about people groups now. This book helped. It’s a compendium reflecting a wide variety of perspectives, expanded from a core first published in Evangelical Missions Quarterly (Fall 2020). It’s helped me and those I work with as we seek to harmonize theory, message and practice. The most significant work on this topic today.
Learn more or get the book from the publisher or elsewhere.
Not on Board: Jonah’s Plunge Into God’s Plan, by Steve Richardson. Pioneers, 2024. 104 pages.
Most Christians know the story of “Jonah and the whale,” but have we thought deeply about its global implications? Steve Richardson’s new book shows there’s a lot more going on under the surface than most people realize, as a surprising God sent an unlikely conscript on an unthinkable mission and got an extraordinary response—and what it means for us today.
Learn more or get the book. You can read it online for free or get the ebook for US$.99 if you don’t want to spring for a paperback.
Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders, by Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer and Cameron Doolittle. FaithWords, 2024. 256 pages.
Is this a mission book? Not exactly. But take a look. The authors spent three years interviewing Christian leaders on six continents who collectively serve in more than 100 countries. In a winsome and inspiring way, they share what they learned from these leaders (and others) about the crucial role of prayer in their lives and work.
If you or a ministry you serve with has gotten to the point where you tend to rely on competence rather than desperately seeking God, you may need this book.
Learn more. The website also has practical tools to download.
And More Books About Mission
I won’t load you up with all the links, but here are other new or new-ish mission books I read this year. You might want to look up a few to put on your TBR (to be read) list.
Reviewed or excerpted in Missions Catalyst:
Read but not reviewed:
And here are a few I want to read but haven’t yet:
What books are on your list?
As a social media post reminded me, this could be your last week to buy books as Christmas gifts if you plan to read them before you wrap them!