Source: Justin Long
Researcher Justin Long serves with Beyond, a ministry that sends teams to the unreached to start movements. He publishes a great weekly “Friday Roundup” of curated links to news stories, articles about trends and strategies, and other resources useful in reaching the unreached. Join the growing list of subscribers and get helpful info in your inbox every Friday.
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
Note: We’d appreciate your help gathering information about 2017 events so we can include them in a special edition of Missions Catalyst at the end of next month. Check the listings and let me know if you are aware of something that should be added. Thanks!
December 5-6, Support Raising Bootcamp (Orlando, FL, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.
December 6-8, Finishing the Task Conference (Lake Forest, CA, USA).
December 8, Key Insights from the 2016 CEO and Church Mission Leader Survey (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
December 27-30, Cross Conference (Indianapolis, IN, USA). Conference calling students to the unreached.
December 27-31, Chinese Missions Convention (Baltimore, MD, USA).
» View the complete calendar. For additional information about a specific event, please contact the organizers.
» See also the UK-based mission information service OSCAR, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s Christian Community Calendar, events with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, and an international calendar of network meetings at Linking Global Voices.
So did the U.S. presidential election not go your way? Feeling like it might be a good idea to live abroad for a few months next year, or know some youngster who voted unwisely and should be sent away for a time?
I’ve got you covered! I’m looking for ten sharp people who will spent three to six months in Sicily in 2017. We need help in our long-term response effort to the refugee crisis that’s unfolding on the island.
Here’s what you’ll get:
Here’s what it will cost:
» Learn more about this opportunity or write and tell me about your interest. If this might be a next step on your journey with Jesus, I’d love to help you work it out.
Source: World Watch Monitor, October 20, 2016
The kidnap of a pioneering American missionary in Niger is a “terrible tragedy” for the communities he served for 24 years, according to the local mayor. It has also raised security concerns among the country’s missionary community.
Jeff Woodke, 55, who worked for [a branch of] the US-based Youth With a Mission (YWAM), was abducted by unknown assailants late on Friday evening (October 14) from the town of Abalak in northern Niger.
Bilou Mohamed, the mayor of Abalak, told World Watch Monitor the community had “suffered a terrible tragedy” and locals “wept with sorrow, lamenting the loss of a friend” the day after his abduction. He added: “This man has lived among us for years, even in when it has been difficult to accompany vulnerable populations… Everyone knows his goodness.”
Woodke is known in Abalak for his devotion to Niger and its nomadic populations. He runs several development projects among the Tuareg, focusing on farming, health, literacy, primary school education and improving access to drinking water, among other things.
He has spoken internationally on the impact of climate change on nomadic peoples and is a pioneer of “sustainable nomadism”—enabling nomads to maintain their traditional lifestyles in the face of increasingly frequent drought. He is the only American in his team.
Rev. Kagninde added: “Jeff has given everything for the Tuaregs, which raises the question: how did people of malign intent kidnap a man well-known in the community without arousing the suspicion among the local population, especially given that his house is next to that of the mayor of Abalak? The kidnappers must have been outsiders.”
In This Issue:This month we welcome some 60 new subscribers who signed up through Perspectives classes in several cities. Glad you could join us!
Source: CROSS Conference
There’s nothing like the CROSS Conference. It’s a four-day mission gathering that challenges college-aged young people to boldly advance the gospel among the least-reached people. The event will take place at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, December 27-30. Speakers include John Piper, Matt Chandler, David Platt, and others; representatives from many mission organizations will be there as well. Sign up now if you plan to attend, as rates will go up as the event comes closer.
» Learn more or register to attend. You might also have a use for video content from previous conferences held in 2013 and 2015.
» Find yourself in a different phase of life? Check out A Mom Embraces God’s Mission and other resources from Weave family ministry.
InterVarsity Press has just released two new books that dig into scripture for insights on cross-cultural ministry. I enjoyed both and hope many of you, too, can put them to use.
In Crossing Cultures in Scripture: Biblical Principles for Mission Practice, Marv Newell of Missio Nexus explores many of the cross-cultural encounters described in scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, and what we can learn from each one to apply to a variety of cross-cultural situations today. This helpful book fills a gap in our biblical theology of culture and missions and includes many thoughtful practical applications. It would make a great resource for a teaching or preaching series; check out the table of contents to see the scope.
» Learn more or purchase for US$13.97 from Amazon (or elsewhere). The Kindle edition is US$9.99.
Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials explores issues you may have learned about in co-author Jayson Georges’ previous book The 3D Gospel or his website HonorShame.com, or perhaps the writings of Kenneth Bailey, Rolland Muller, or Werner Mischke. This well-researched volume is more complete. It invites readers to see the Bible through the lens of honor and shame and illustrates principles through the authors’ experience in Central Asia, Latin America, and beyond. Published by IVP’s academic branch, it may be most helpful in the classroom or the hands of global workers.
» Learn more or purchase for $16.95 from Amazon (or elsewhere). The Kindle edition is US$9.99. Download a great chapter with eight guidelines for relationships in honor-shame cultures for free, or sign up for the November 3 Missio Nexus webinar on honor and shame (see below).
Source: William Carey Library
Mission in Motion: Speaking Frankly of Mobilization, by Jay Matenga and Malcolm Gold. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2016. 298 pages.
This study, nearly a decade in the making, explores what motivates and mobilizes Christians, globally, to the task of world mission. In it nine researchers draw on interviews with mission mobilizers, mission leaders, church leaders, and church mission advocates in eight world regions.
Mission in Motion builds on the work of respected South African missiologist David Bosch whose (rather dense) work Transforming Mission explored historical paradigms of world mission, concluding that mission thinking was in a state of transition. Matenga and Gold’s findings, 25 years later, support this. The church and mission leaders interviewed lack a common understanding of what is and isn’t “missions.” While inclusiveness and focus each have their advantages, this data helps explain a question mission mobilizers grapple with: What is it we are calling Christians to, anyway?
Mission in Motion also describes the history of mission mobilization and some of the typical approaches before focusing in on what might be most useful section, an analysis of the factors that help and hinder Christians pursuing global mission roles.
World mission “accelerants,” they find, include the example, encouragement, and support of family members (following in the footsteps or catching the vision of a relative), as well as relationships with missionaries and church leaders. Books, conferences, and courses may help. But according to the data, those things did not seem to initiate a missions interest. They were accelerants, not the spark. The spark was something much more transcendent.
World mission “retardants,” the research finds, include funding and fundraising challenges (especially for non-Westerners), burdensome structures and requirements, gender disparities, and cultural trends toward secularism, individualism, and materialism.
» Learn more or purchase the book at the special price of US$15.95 from William Carey Library, for a limited time. Preview it through Facebook. We’ll try to let you know when it’s on Amazon and/or available as an ebook, or if findings are published in articles you could more easily share and discuss with others.
Source: Brigada Today
Is it just my imagination, or are more and more missionaries assuming they will “train nationals because they understand better the language and culture?” Maybe it’s due to economic realities. Churches and foundations want to stretch every dollar so that it can be as efficient as possible. Or maybe it’s pragmatic: Recent shifts in strategy involve training nationals to multiply ministry anyway. So why bother with language acquisition, especially when national partners already speak English anyway?
» Give some thought to the role of language learning, then join the conversation at Brigada Today.
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
Note: As ministries post information about their 2017 events, we will be adding those to the list and preparing a special 2017 calendar edition of Missions Catalyst to send out December 28. Got something you’d like to see included, even if your website hasn’t been updated to include it yet? Please let me know. Thanks!
November 2016
November 2-4, Your FOCUS on the World Coach Training (Lenexa, KS, USA). Church mission coaching training from Catalyst Services.
November 3, 10 New Ideas to Transform Your Mobile Ministry in 2017 (online). Mobile Ministry Forum webinar; free.
November 3, Ethics & Discipleship in Honor-Shame Cultures (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
November 3-5, Oasis National Conference (Houston, TX, USA). Crescent Project annual event about reaching out to Muslims in North America.
November 3-5, Canadian Network of Ministry to Muslims Annual Conference (Richmond Hill, ON, Canada). Creating a welcoming community.
November 4-5, Crisis Management Workshop (Minneapolis, MN, USA). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.
November 6-12, Recalibrate! (Aurora, IN, USA). Five days of group and personal missionary debriefing, programs for children of all ages.
November 6 or 13, International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (global).
November 7 to March 19, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Course (online). Provided by the Perspectives Study Program. New classes start nearly once a month.
November 8, Do Agencies Hurt Churches When They Do Missions “For” Them instead of “With” Them? (online). Discussion from The Mission Table.
November 10-12, Global Missions Health Conference (Louisville, KY, USA). An annual event.
November 17-20, International Conference on Missions (Lexington, KY, USA). Conference of the Christian Church/Churches of Christ.
November 18-19, The Journey Deepens (Renton, WA, USA). Retreat for prospective missionaries.
November 19, UPG Tech Conference (Harbor City, CA, USA). One-day TED-Talk style event on using technology in ministry to the unreached, from CyberMissions.
November 23-26, GO Equipped Tentmaking Course (Hattingen, Germany). Provided by Global Opportunities.
December 2016
December 5-6, Support Raising Bootcamp (Orlando, FL, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.
December 6-8, Finishing the Task Conference (Lake Forest, CA, USA).
December 27-30, Cross Conference (Indianapolis, IN, USA). Conference calling students to the unreached.
December 27-31, Chinese Missions Convention (Baltimore, MD, USA).
» View the calendar. For additional information about a specific event, please contact the organizers.
» See also the UK-based mission information service OSCAR, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s Christian Community Calendar, events with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, and an international calendar of network meetings at Linking Global Voices.