Category: Resource Reviews

Source: BibleProject

Looking for tools to bring the Bible to life for people today? Visual commentaries may take you further than blowing the dust off your books from seminary or Bible school. BibleProject is a nonprofit animation studio making the unified story of the Bible accessible to everyone. Their free videos, podcasts, classes, and resources explore the books and themes of the Bible.

Watch the leaders describe their new app and their online learning platform, or just poke around their website or YouTube channel for short videos you can use as you learn, learn, and make disciples. You’ll find things like the video below. Everything is well organized in playlists. Some of the videos have also been translated into more than 30 languages.

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

February 2, Showing the Heart of the Sojourner to Afghan Refugees (online). Peer to Peer Virtual Gathering for church mission leaders from Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen.

February 7-11, ABIDE re-entry debriefing for global workers (Joplin, MO, USA). Provided regularly by TRAIN International.

February 7 to June 12, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly.

February 8-9, Mission Agency Consultation (Atlanta, GA, USA). Workshop for organizational leaders, provided by Sixteen:Fifteen.

February 10, Studying Missions in Credible and Useful Ways (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus.

February 10, Regional Update: The Buddhist World (online). Part of a series of Nugget trainings from Beyond.

February 10, Love Thy [Muslim] Neighbor (online). Part of a training series from AllNations.

February 16, Apostolic Imagination: Rethinking Missionary Engagement from the Inside Out (online). Webinar from Sixteen:Fifteen.

February 17, Field Onboarding and Retention (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

February 17, Thriving: Missionary Care and Partnership (online). Greenhouse workshop for church mission leaders from Pioneers-USA.

February 17 to March 24, Foundations of Media to Movements (online). Develop a social media outreach strategy; from Media Missions U.

February 19, Telling Stories Like Jesus (Lee’s Summit, MO, USA or online). Training from AllNations.

February 17-20, Haven Retreat (Mombasa, Kenya). Provided by Azmera to provide a safe environment for women who are global workers to connect and commune with Jesus. Another retreat will be held in Capetown, South Africa, February 25-28.

February 21 to March 19, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International. There’s a waitlist for this one, but MTI plans to offer the course six times in 2022.

February 22-23, People Raising Conference (online). Be equipped for raising personal support.

February 24, Being Sent Means You Go (online). Nugget training from Beyond.

February 24-25, Standards Introductory Workshop (Clackamas, OR, USA). Learn about the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

February 25-26, Short-term Mission ConneXion (Clackamas, OR, USA and online). An annual event for mission leaders and participants.

February 25-26, Midwest Conference on Missionary Care (Bloomington, MN, USA). An annual event.

February 26, Trip Leaders Security Workshop (Colorado Springs, CO, USA). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.

View the complete calendar. Corrections and submissions are welcome.

Source: Pioneers USA

Fire & Ice: Missionary Adventures of the 1800s, by John C. Lambert. Pioneers, 2021. 134 pages.

This book traces common threads in tales of missionary adventure from the 19th century. Glimpse the lives of pioneer missionaries and local Christians from the Arctic Circle to just beyond the southern tip of Patagonia and from the coral islands of Fiji to the Himalayan plateau of Tibet.

The diversity of those God called and equipped to carry out his worldwide mission in the 19th century is as staggering as the variety of places he sent them.

Kapi’olani, a Hawaiian chief, climbed a volcano to prove the power of her God. George Mackay, a Canadian, pulled teeth in Taiwan to prove the exact same thing. Coley Patteson and Allen Gardiner died on two beaches 7,500 miles apart for exactly the same reason. They believed the gospel of Jesus Christ is for every person on earth.

Fire & Ice condenses and updates for modern readers John C. Lambert’s much longer 1907 text, The Romance of Missionary Heroism (now in the public domain).

Pioneers-USA President Steve Richardson wrote a foreword for this edition. Fire & Ice also includes an epilogue based on C.S. Lewis’s thoughtful response to the question, “Why read old books?”

Get the paperback from Amazon for US$9.99. Or get the ebook from Pioneers for free. I helped edit this book. It was such a fun project. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Source: The Upstream Collective

Listen: How to Make the Most of Your Short-Term Mission Trip, by Larry McCrary, Melissa Fu, Caleb Crider, Debbie Stephens, and Nathan Sloan. The Upstream Collective, 2021. 131 pages.

What would it look like to approach every aspect of a short-term mission experience as a listener? This workbook is designed to help mission trip participants focus their listening on what the scriptures and the Holy Spirit have to say to them about the mission trip and what God desires for it.

It is also designed to help readers learn to listen to teammates, church leadership, and on-the-ground ministry partners. The authors propose ways to engage in listening before, during, and after a mission trip. Included are tips for learning language and culture, understanding worldview, asking questions, telling stories, debriefing, reporting back, and more, with lots of space for writing your own notes along the way.

While listening may seem simple enough, it may be challenging for those of us accustomed to a more task-oriented approach. Making this shift, though, can make a huge difference for a mission team as well as those who send and host them.

Get the paperback from Amazon or elsewhere for US$9.99. If you find this book helpful, you will probably want one for each member of your team.

See also Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission and First 30 Daze: Practical Encouragement for Living Abroad Intentionally. These books and others are also available through the Upstream store.

Source: International Covered Ministries

Hear about disciple-making movements in other countries and wonder if something like that could ever happen in your backyard? This film will encourage you. Watch a handful of individuals strive to live out the commandments of Jesus: to love God, love others, and make disciples as a church.

Barry, the preacher, needs to see how this works for himself. Alex and Morgan learn how to live out disciple-making principles themselves as they connect and support other practitioners around the world. Amanda shares her powerful transformational story and shows that God still moves in miraculous ways. And Becky and others in Tampa, Florida share what they’ve learned—and how they’ll never be the same.

Watch the trailer below, then go to the Love One Another website to watch the film (92 minutes). They can also set you up with training and support to put what you learn into practice.

Source: Global Frontier Missions

There can be a tension in missions between the call to make disciples of all nations and the mandate to love others. Christians must holistically embrace the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. But if we’re going to holistically bring social action with the gospel, we have to do it the right way.

This five-minute whiteboard video was inspired by principles in When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. It’s the latest in a series of short training videos GFM has produced over a number of years.

Check out Global Frontier Missions to learn more about their missionary training school and other resources.

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

January 7-8, The Journey Deepens (Glendale, AZ, USA). Retreat provided by MissionNext to help you deepen your walk with God and discern next steps.

January 10 to April 10, Encountering the World of Islam (online). New online classes start several times a year. Also available in other formats and languages.

January 12-13, Support Raising Bootcamp (Fayetteville, AR, USA). Similar events are held in various locations by Support Raising Solutions.

January 12 to February 7, Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life and Ministry (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by the Center for Intercultural Training. CIT plans to offer the course four more times in 2022.

January 13, 40 Years of Mega-Change in Missions (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus and featuring Marv Newell.

January 13, Focus on the Word: Where Do You See That in Scripture? (online). Nugget Training from Beyond.

January 13, Partnering: Choosing Church and Agency Partners (online). Greenhouse workshop for church mission leaders from Pioneers-USA.

January 17 to March 11, Trauma and Crisis Care Course (online). How children respond to trauma and how you can help. Provided by Crisis Care Training International. During the same period, CCTI is offering courses on restoring hope to children with disabilities, [working with] street children, and counseling children.

January 17 to May 22, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly. Many in-person classes also begin in January.

January 20, Love Thy Millenial Neighbor (online). Part of an online training series from All Nations. Future sessions will focus on loving your Muslim neighbor and your refugee neighbor. All Nations also offers a variety of other online and in-person ministry training programs.

January 21-22, Mission ConneXion Northwest (Beaverton, OR, USA). Free, community-based mission conference held annually in the Portland area. Back in-person this year, with four dynamic speakers, more than 100 workshops, and 80+ exhibitors.

January 26, Essentials for Fundraising and Development (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus, featuring a panel of fundraising veterans.

January 26, The Lausanne Update: State of the Great Commission (online). CEO Thought Leader Briefing provided by Missio Nexus, this one featuring Michael Oh.

January 26, Best Practices for Mobilizing GenZ (online). From the Center for Mission Mobilization and Retention at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School. Online events held monthly.

January 27, Discovering the Effective Writer Within You (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus.

January 27, Extraordinary Prayer: The Spiritual Posture of Disciplemakers (online). Nugget training from Beyond.

January 28-29, Missions Fest Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA, USA). An annual community-based event.

January 28-30, Mission Central Conference: Serve (online). Formerly Missions Fest Vancouver.

January 31 to February 1, Support Raising Bootcamp (For Worth, TX, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

View the complete calendar. Corrections and submissions are welcome.

A Third of Us: What It Takes to Reach the Unreached, by Marvin J. Newell. William Carey Publishing, 2021. 136 pages.

Ever wished you had one short but sound and winsome book that makes the case for prioritizing efforts to reach the unreached? Here you go!

A Third of Us calls the body of Christ to recognize the injustice that more than a third of the world is unreached with the gospel and calls us to respond. In between, it explores the five Great Commission passages that show us the essence of the task of making disciples among all nations.

If you are a long-time Marv Newell fan like me, you will recognize some of this material; it’s adapted from his 2010 book Commissioned. Ample and current references and footnotes addressing the nuances should help this book go further.

Learn more and get the ebook for US$9.99 or the paperback for US$10.99 from William Carey or elsewhere. Find related resources including a (rebranded) podcast of the same name at Alliance for the Unreached.