Category: Resource Reviews

Source: Sixteen:Fifteen

What are church planting movements and why are they important? What does it take to see these movements happen among unreached people groups?

If you have an hour and a good internet connection, you might take a look at how colleagues with Pioneers addressed such question in a recent webinar for Sixteen:Fifteen, a ministry that does church mission coaching.

Church Planting Movements – Making Disciples and Church Planting in Hard Places explores some of the practices and assumptions that characterize a few common church-planting approaches. A recording of the presentation, including questions from those who watched it live, is posted on the Sixteen:Fifteen website and can be viewed or downloaded for free.

» Watch the webinar. You might also be interested in previous webinars, including several in partnership with Avant Ministries that deal with aspects of church-based mission teams.

» See also Ed Stetzer’s article, Church Planting and the Mission of God (Christianity Today).

Source: Justin Long

Looking for data about the status of world missions and the contexts in which the least reached peoples live? Mission researcher Justin Long has published a great package of materials (a downloadable .zip file) which might contain something that would interest you. It includes:

1. District-by-district population surveys for Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia (continuing to be developed).

2. Current version of three longer reports with forecasts for the Cushitic world (Horn of Africa – Afar, Beja, Somali, and Oromo peoples), the Persian cluster of peoples (Iran), and the Turkic cluster of peoples (Turkey).

» Purchase this collection of materials for US$10. Or, if you prefer, make a donation to Justin’s ministry and get updated and additional materials sent to you monthly throughout the year.

Source: Christian Focus Publications

Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life, by Vance Christie. Christian Focus Publications, 2013. 384 pages.

One of America’s first and, in his own time, most well-known of missionaries, Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) served for nearly four decades as a Baptist missionary to the people of Burma. After more than twenty years on the field he said, “The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be, ‘Devoted for life’.” When asked, he always listed as a critical qualification for missionary service the intention to devote one’s entire life to it.

Not many have paid as high a price for such a commitment, facing imprisonment, discouragement, and great illness, loss, struggle, and hardship. Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life provides a complete chronicle of Judson’s life and family and includes many quotations from books and letters. It also paints an informative picture of the times in which he worked.

This volume and 20 others that might interest you are part of a series from the publisher on History Makers.

» Get the paperback for US$13.49 from Amazon (or elsewhere); US$9.99 for the Kindle edition.

» See also an informative review by blogger Tim Challies, or, from Christie’s blog, 10 Significant Reasons to Read Adoniram Judson’s Biography.

Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar

In This Issue: J.D. Payne’s 12 Global Pressure Points

• BOOK: Twelve Global Pressure Points
• VIDEO: The Good Neighbor
• ARTICLES: Mission Frontiers
• WEB SERVICE: AskaMissionary.com
  
• EVENTS: Upcoming Training, Retreats, and Conferences

Source: Thomas Nelson

Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church, by J.D. Payne. Thomas Nelson: 2013. 194 pages.

Pastor, professor, and author J.D. Payne’s new book explores twelve of the most significant global issues facing the church in our day. “This message is not intended to cause fear or fill the Church with a sense of depression and gloom,” says Payne. “While each of today’s critical issues poses numerous challenges to the advancement of the gospel, I write this work with a positive tone, believing that some of the greatest days for Kingdom advancement are still to come.”

Get a good taste of how he sees the issues by following the links below to a series on Payne’s blog, Missiologically Thinking.

The Church and the Pressures of the Age

Pressure Point #1 Unreached Peoples

Pressure Point #2 The West as a Mission Field

Pressure Point #3 Growth of the Majority World Church

Pressure Point #4 Pluralism and the Plurality of Faiths 

Pressure Point #5 International Migration

Pressure Point #6 Globalization 

Pressure Point #7 Poverty

Pressure Point #8 Growth of Cities 

Pressure Point #9 Children and Youth

Pressure Point #10 Health Care

Pressure Point #11 Oral Learners

Pressure Point #12 Pornification of Societies

Global Engagement in a World of Pressure Points

» Buy the book for US$14.94 from Amazon (or elsewhere);  US$9.99 for the Kindle edition.

Source: GemStone Media

Brad is carjacked, beaten, and left for dead on a lonely stretch of highway. Late at night, in the middle of nowhere, who will drive by? Will anyone stop to help?

The Good Neighbor is a modern retelling of Luke 10:25-37 (“The Good Samaritan”). The free, 20-minute video raises questions about what our obligation is to strangers in need. Use it as a resource with your church or Bible study group.

» Watch The Good Neighbor (or the one-minute trailer).

Source: Mission Frontiers

“The work God is doing today among Muslims is so historic and unprecedented that I wonder if any of us can truly comprehend it. Never before in the 1,400 years since the death of Muhammad have we seen so many Muslims coming to faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.” So writes editor Rick Wood in his introduction to the latest edition of Mission Frontiers.

The lead article, David Garrison’s God Is Doing Something Historic, reports that in the first thirteen centuries of Islam’s expansion, only one voluntary movement of 1,000 or more Muslims to Christ took place. In the last two decades of the twentieth century, there were eight. But as of 2012, there are at least 64 documented movements to Christ taking place among Muslims, each with more than 1,000 baptized believers and 100 churches. You’ll have to wait for Garrison’s new book to get the full scoop, but the excerpt in Mission Frontiers will whet your appetite.

For related articles, read Welcoming Muslim Neighbors into God’s Kingdom in East Africa, by Ben Naja, Why Are Muslims Coming to Jesus Like Never Before? by Robby Butler, and A Novice’s Guide to Fielding Common Muslim Objections, by our own Shane Bennett.

Readers might also be interested in several other articles, including a good piece on generosity and dependency by Jean Johnson, What Should We Do With All Our Money?

Source: AskaMissionary.com

What do would-be missionaries want to know? What would you tell them? The following are among the most popular questions on AskaMissionary.com, where you’ll find more than 150 questions with 500+ answers.

1. How can I know if God is leading me to become a missionary?
2. What is the first step toward becoming a missionary?
3. What types of training should I consider?
4. Should I skip a degree and go into missions now?
5. What can I do in missions with my professional skills or college major?
6. Why do many missionaries join agencies? How do I select an agency?
7. Why do some missionaries serve independent from an agency?
8. How much money should a missionary raise, and how long should it take?
9. Is there any way other than begging for support?
10. How can I raise prayer and financial support?
11. Should I, as a single person, go overseas now or get married first?
12. Can a couple with small children make it to the field?
13. What unexpected obstacles or doubts did you experience in becoming a missionary?
14. What do missionaries wish they had known before they first went?
15. What does day-to-day life look like on the field? What is a typical day for a missionary?

» Visit AskaMissionary.com. Maybe you have a good question or helpful answer to contribute. (Disclosure, I’m one of the editors!)

» Readers might also be interested in the 2010 “best of” book, Ask a Missionary: Time-Tested Answers From Those Who’ve Been There, edited by John McVay.

Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar

August 2013

August 1-3, Connext Conference (Chicago, IL, USA). National Leadership Conference For South Asian Christian leaders.

August 1-3, All-Africa Tentmaking Conference (Dar Es Salam, Tanzania). Provided by Global Opportunities.

August 4-10, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Leader’s Intensive Class (Pittsburgh, PA, USA).

August 5-13, MK/TCK Re-Entry Retreat (Gaston, SC, USA). Retreat designed for teens transitioning to college from missionary families.

August 8-10, 7th Annual Christian Storytelling Conference (Peoria, IL, USA). Provided by the Christian Storytelling Network.

August 20-21, Personal Support Raising Bootcamp (Albany, NY, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

September 2013

September 5-7, Missions Fest South Africa (Pretoria, South Africa). Free, community-based missions conference in the Missions Fest tradition.

September 7, Bridges Seminar (Santa Barbara, CA, USA). A training event to help Christians connect with Muslims, provided by Crescent Project (similar events listed below and on website.)

September 9 to November 25, Encountering the World of Islam (online). Twelve-week course will help you discover God’s heart for Muslims.

September 14, Bridges Seminar (Fort Wayne, IN, USA).

September 16-19, Annual Conference for Oral Communicators (St. Louis, MO, USA). From the International Orality Network.

September 18-19, International Society for Frontier Missiology Annual Meeting (Dallas, TX, USA). This year’s theme: Global peoples: gates, bridges, and connections across the frontiers.

September 19-21, North America Mission Leaders Conference (Dallas, TX, USA). Provided by MissioNexus.

September 21-27, Traction Conference for Men (Wilderswil, Switzerland). For men who serve in cross-cultural settings.

September 22 – Bridges Seminar (West Lafayette, IN, USA).

» View the complete calendar and/or submit an item.