Month: August 2018

MUSIC: Urbana 2018 Master Song List

Source: Urbana Student Missions Conference

If you’re an American reader of Missions Catalyst, chances are good you have happy memories of something God did through an Urbana Student Missions Conference. The tagline for this year’s event, to be held in Saint Louis, MO, December 27-31, is “discern your place in God’s global mission.”

Worship leaders put together a playlist of music for this year’s event. Want to listen? Warning: You may have to get up and dance…

» Listen to the music on Spotify or learn more about Urbana. See also Songs That Sustain Mission and click on the links throughout the article (International Mission Board).

» Another student missions event is coming up January 2-5 in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s more focused and is meant for 18-25-year-olds and their leaders. Learn about the CROSS Conference.

DEVOTIONS: YouVersion Reading Plans

Source: YouVersion

Looking for devotional material or Bible studies for your mission team? Here’s a free and easy alternative to creating or purchasing them. The YouVersion Bible app offers hundreds of daily reading plans for your phone or mobile device, some with daily devotionals from a variety of ministries and organizations. You should be able to find one that is the right length and focus for you or your group. A few caught my eye:

  • Discover Your Role in God’s Mission (7 days, Southeast Christian Church). Discover God’s heart for the nations and your role in helping finish the task of global evangelism.
  • God Use Me—Devotions for Your Mission Trip (10 days, Compassion International). Use this plan as your pre-trip planning and post-trip debrief. You’ll find helpful Scripture, insightful commentary from experienced trip leaders, and thought-provoking prayers. Use journaling and discussion questions to dig deeper.
  • Helping without Hurting: The Bible and the Poor (10 days, The Chalmers Center). Explore the depth of God’s concern for the poor and what it might look like for you to answer that call in your own life.

You’ll have to download the app, set up an account, and be logged in to browse the plans. Readers, what other plans would you suggest?

» Comment on this article on our website or Facebook page.

TRAINING: What US Colleges Teach Missions?

Source: Cappex, via Brigada Today

Cappex.com did a study of 137 schools [colleges and universities] in the US offering missions classes and a missiology major. You can filter results by tuition costs, college type, and state (location). You can see stats about the number of students, campus life, and even your chances of getting admitted. In many cases, there are personal reviews and even tweets and pictures. You can also see if the college is affiliated with a certain denomination and, in most cases, start your application directly from the listings. And in some cases, Cappex has negotiated scholarships with the college if you apply through the Cappex site.

» Learn more. Thanks, Cappex and Brigada! The August 12 edition of Brigada Today highlighted a number of resources worth knowing about.

» Editor’s note: Mission training may take many forms. Don’t dismiss the value of more secular degrees and/or experiential training.

DOCUMENTARY: Our Man in Tehran

Source: PBS Frontline

Iran watchers might be interested in this: Thomas Erdbrink is one of the last Western journalists living in Iran. In this two-part series, he takes viewers on a rare journey into a private Iran often at odds with its conservative clerics and leaders. Iranians share their stories, hopes, and fears with him over the course of four years of filming.

I haven’t watched this yet, but a like-minded friend raves, “This was SO good! You will laugh and you will cry, but most of all, it will make you fall in love with the wonderful people of Iran!”

You may be able to watch the documentary online or on your local PBS station/app if you’re in the US. Available on DVD in October.

» Learn more.

» Readers, what other cultural films and documentaries (from a Christian perspective or otherwise) do you recommend? Comment on this article on our website or Facebook page.

EVENTS: Coming up in September

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

September 3-14, Great Commission Leadership Institute (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Provided by SVM2.

September 3-16, ORIENT (Joplin, MO, USA). Missionary training.

September 3 to January 6, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New classes start nearly every month.

September 6, A Missionary Pipeline for your Church (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

September 6-8, Multiply: Disciple-making Movements Summit (Wheaton, IL, USA). Organized by the Ephesus Partnership.

September 10-14, Global Member Care Network Conference (Quito, Ecuador). Bilingual in English and Spanish.

September 10 to October 6, COMPASS Prefield Training (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Provided by Missionary Training International multiple times a year.

September 10 to December 9, Encountering the World of Islam (online).

September 13, Spirituality in Cross-Cultural Mission (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

September 13-14, Support Raising Bootcamp (Vancouver, WA, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

September 13 to October 11, Foundations of Media Strategy (online). Mentored course on using social media for deeper conversations and disciple-making, from Mission Media U.

September 17-18, International Orality Network Annual Conference (Orlando, FL, USA). Followed by Simply the Story Orality Training.

September 19-20, Standards Introductory Workshop (Orlando, FL, USA). Presented by Standards of Excellence in Short-term Missions.

September 19-25, Traction (Wilderswil, Switzerland). Renewal conference for men serving cross-culturally.

September 19 to October 17, Introduction to Story in Ministry (online). Mentored course to better communicate the message of Christ (oral, written, or filmed), from Mission Media U.

September 20-22, Missio Nexus Annual Conference (Orlando, FL, USA). Includes lots of side meetings this time; check it out.

September 21-23, Business as Mission Conference (Philadelphia, PA, USA).

September 28-29, People Raising Conference (Oak Brook, IL, USA). Be equipped for raising personal support.

» View the complete calendar. Please let us know about mistakes or omissions. For more details, contact the event organizers.

Can they find freedom in Christ? | World News Briefs

Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_large

Will you join 100,000 believers from around the world for three days of prayer and fasting (August 19-21) for the 2+ million Muslims on Hajj (August 19-24)?

Greetings,

Before our next edition of news briefs, the annual hajj pilgrimage will have come and gone, so I don’t want to miss this opportunity to offer you fuel for prayer for the pilgrims and for ministry to Muslims in general.

For a good introduction, see First Friday Prayer for the Muslim World: Hajj and the Festival of Sacrifice (SEND International). SEND is one of some 180 mission agencies banding together to ask God to draw 10 percent of the world’s Muslims to himself in the next ten years. Will you pray with them?

Pat

 

 

 

MUSLIM WORLD: Freedom in Christ

Source: Bridging the Divide, July 27, 2018

Last month over forty of us gathered to discuss various facets of freedom in Christ, especially as they relate to those coming to faith in him from a Muslim background. We had a substantial and informative time together, in some cases finding more agreement than we had expected. A summary of our interaction can be found on our Core Documents page, and many of the pre-readings and presentations can be found on the BtD 2018 page. Other readings and presentations cannot be shared publicly, but we trust the Lord will use this treasure chest of information for bringing spiritual freedom to many more, for his glory.

» Read full story. I’d love to see someone use the five affirmations in the conclusion of the report to create some prayer points for the whole church. Any takers?

NIGERIA: Behind the Fulani Herdsmen-Farmers Conflict

Source: World Watch Monitor, August 9, 2018

The ongoing deadly clashes between the nomadic, mainly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and the predominantly Christian farming communities of Nigeria’s Middle Belt are often referred to in the mainstream media as “farmer-herder clashes.” The Middle Belt is a farming region, and the advancing Fulani-owned herds have increasingly encroached on croplands.

However, attacks by herder militia now occur with such frequency and apparent organization that the characterization as “communal clashes” no longer seems adequate.

Human rights groups have accused Nigeria’s government and its president, Muhammadu Buhari, of failing to deal with the conflict. An International Crisis Group report has pointed out impunity as one of the root causes of the continuing violence.

Here, World Watch Monitor explains the history of the conflict and why, in recent years, the herders, who once lived peacefully alongside their Christian neighbors, have been responsible for more bloodshed than Boko Haram.

» Read full story and watch the six-minute video.

» Also: Could the Fulani Herdsmen and Boko Haram Be Related? (Mission Network News) and Boko Haram Horror Leads to Life (Assembly of God).

PHILIPPINES: A Sharia State for Mindanao

Source: Barnabas Fund, July 31, 2018

The government of the Philippines is to push ahead with the formal creation of a fully-autonomous region in Muslim-dominated Mindanao, which will include allowing elements of sharia (Islamic) law.

President Duterte is expected to sign the Bangsamoro [Organic] Law later this week. The law, which has been in discussions since 2014, will establish an autonomous region on the southern island of Mindanao. Elements of sharia law are to be incorporated into the justice system.

The Bangsamoro area has a sizeable non-Muslim population. Although it is claimed sharia law elements are expected to only be applicable to Muslims, its incorporation effectively creates an Islamic sub-state within a secular, pluralistic and mainly-Christian country.

The proposal for an autonomous region was included in a peace deal agreed between the government and Muslim rebel groups in 2013, but its implementation has been delayed by successive governments.

» Read full story.

» This bill was indeed signed, though—as a more positive report on this topic points out—the road ahead may be a tough one (Al Jazeera). World Watch Monitor reports some of the responses of Christians.