Day: August 26, 2020

1. VIDEO: How Your Prayers Help
2. BOOKS: Good Stories
3. ARTICLE: Five Ways to Share Your Faith Online
4. BLOG/BOOK: Disability in Mission
5. EVENTS: Happening Online in September

Source: Wycliffe Bible Translators

Maybe you—or people who support your work—struggle to pray and know prayer makes a difference. Some Pioneers colleagues introduced me to this short video from Wycliffe. We’re going to try to do something like it to honor our own prayer partners. Maybe it will inspire you, too.

» See also Wycliffe.org/prayer.

Source: William Carey Publishing

Every now and then we just need some inspiration from brothers and sisters who have gone before us to do something awesome with the Lord. This is a collection of some of those great stories (about a dozen books in all). The prices are good, too. We’ve reviewed many of these in Missions Catalyst.

» Learn more.

» Know George Verwer of OM? He says a dream of his has come true: all but one of his books are now available for free download from georgeverwer.com and royhessionbooktrust.org.

World Venture, August 10, 2020

Paul followed God’s calling to Antioch, Syria, Turkey, and Greece. And he wrote letters from prison. If Paul had the same access to the internet we have, what would he have done with it? Here are some ways to share your faith online:

1. Rethink how you can use social media tools.
2. Consider your motivation in online ministry.
3. Use watch parties and “rooms.”
4. Watch for gift opportunities.
5. Choose your photos more intentionally.

» Complete article includes tips in each of these areas.

» See also Maintain Your Momentum (“25 ways to move church missions forward during COVID…and eight types of people who might do it”). Great ideas from our friends at Catalyst Services.

Source: Joni and Friends, Hendrickson Publishers, The Lausanne Movement

“I’m sorry, sir, that the only person who responded to your invitation to give themselves to serve the Lord in mission was the little crippled girl who could never do it.”

The apology came after a service in my little rural church. It was about me. When I was five years old, polio had profoundly weakened me. Now 12 years old, using my crutches and braces, I had walked down the aisle to say, “Yes, I believe the Lord wants me to be a missionary someday.” Logically, it looked like an impossible dream, but the speaker looked the other gentleman in the eye and said, “Whom the Lord calls, He will use.” Those words could not be a truer description of my experience of disability in mission.”

» That’s the story of Elinor Young, and one of several recently shared in a new blog series on disability in mission from Joni and Friends. To learn more about Elinor, watch World Team’s 2015 video, Bad Legs: A Story of God Using One Woman’s Weakness for His Glory (YouTube).

» Check out the Disability Concerns network at Lausanne, and/or pick up the 2019 book Disability in Mission: The Church’s Hidden Treasure, edited by David C. Deuel and Nathan G. John. Looks like these blog posts are excerpts from the book.

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

First, a couple of August items you might still want to catch, both on Thursday, August 27:

• Charitable Giving in the Wake of COVID-19. Webinar from Missio Nexus. Featuring findings from a recent survey of 1,000 major and mid-level donors.
• God’s Vision for All Peoples. Training session from Beyond. Part of a series offered regularly.

September 3, Spiritual Formation Integration for Ministry Leaders. Webinar from Missio Nexus.

September 3, Mobilizing People of Color, Part 2. Webinar from Sixteen:Fifteen (watch Part 1).

September 7 to December 6, Encountering the World of Islam. Embracing Muslims with the love of Christ. Note: The first-ever Spanish-language EWI online course starts September 14.

September 8, It’s Bigger Than Short-Term Missions: Nurturing a Missions Ministry in a Disinterested Church. Webinar from the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

September 8-12, Engaging Islam Institute. Training from Horizons International. Usually offered in Dearborn, MI, but this year you can catch it online.

September 10, Hope Conference. Explore God’s work in the Muslim world through this Crescent International event. Timed and designed for an American audience. A similar event will happen September 17 for those from Africa, Asia, and Europe. Material in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, and German.

September 10, Multiplying Prayer: Fuel for Movements. Training session from Beyond. Part of a series offered regularly.

September 16-17, People Raising Conference. Be equipped for raising personal support. Usually held in Oak Brook, IL; this year on Zoom.

September 17 to October 15, Foundations of Media to Movements. Learn to leverage media to start disciple-making movements. Course from Mission Media U.

September 22-24, Support Raising Virtual Bootcamp. Provided by Support Raising Solutions multiple times a year, usually in different parts of the US.

September 24, Focus2020 Spotlight. Online event from Missio Nexus in place of the network’s annual conference.

» View complete calendar. Submissions and corrections welcome. We will continue to make updates about canceled and postponed events.