Month: April 2023

How to Take Your Church to the Temple, Recover Rest, + More

A field trip to a nearby mosque or temple could be a perspective-changing experience for your church or group. See the article below.

  1. Article: How to Visit a Mosque or Temple
  2. Curriculum: Culture Kits to Help Kids Engage With Mission
  3. Video: UnRest—Finding Peace Amidst Loss, Grief, and Burnout
  4. Books: New Titles on Fundraising and Partnership
  5. Magazine: Evangelical Missions Quarterly’s April edition
  6. Events: Mission Conferences, Training, and More in May

Read or share the email edition or scroll down to read each item.

Article: How to Visit a Mosque or Temple

Source: Catalyst Services

“I’ll never forget the experience that radically changed my view of Hindus in America. One minute I was standing on a typical street corner in New York City. The next, I was transported to another world as I stepped inside a Hindu temple.”

Get tips from mission leaders with extensive experience organizing church visits to places of Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist worship. It could create a perspective-changing experience for your church.

Read How to Visit a Mosque or Temple.

Catalyst Services also put together a collection of helpful resources for debriefing a visit, including information on world religions and ideas for sharing your faith. You might have other uses for those, too.

Curriculum: Culture Kits for Kids

Source: SIM

Want to help kids in your church, family, or classroom learn about other parts of the world and engage with world missions? Download SIM’s free, interactive culture kits. Written by SIM teacher, each kit contains information about the region and a story from one of its young people. There are also prayer points, book and video suggestions, games, crafts, and recipes. The material is undated but seems up to date. SIM says they are good for kids from age six to early teens.

The series includes kits focused on four regions: the Middle East, South Asia, the South American Andes, and East Africa.

Learn more or download culture kits. No registration required.

Video: UnRest—Finding Peace Amidst Loss, Grief, and Burnout

Source: Story Partners

In the face of devastating loss and crushing responsibility, Rob reached his breaking point. With three family members gone, his church in shambles, and everyone looking for him for answers, he cried out to God for help. But the answer he got was not what he wanted.

Watch the video (22 minutes). Beautifully told. Too many of our church and ministry leaders experience this. Have you been there?

Check out Rob and Jen’s ministry, Restoration Family Farm (New Jersey).

Books: New Titles on Fundraising and Partnership

1. Turning Donors Into Partners

Turning Donors Into Partners: Principles for Fundraising You’ll Actually Enjoy, by Brad Layland, InterVarsity Press, 2023. 176 pages.

Feeling the pressure to raise funds for your ministry or organization, do you find yourself forgetting that what you need is partners, not donations?

Here’s a new book to re-energize or motivate and equip you for fundraising, whether that’s raising personal support or (especially) funding a non-profit. It covers lots of nuts and bolts about how to build a case statement, recruit a team to help you, and identify and prioritize prospects, as well as how and when to ask—all while keeping relationships central.

The author serves as CEO of The FOCUS Group, which offers an online course and fundraising consultation effort called Taking Donors Seriously. That’s the basis for this helpful and encouraging book.

Learn more or purchase the book in paperback or as an digit book for US$20 from the publisher or elsewhere (a bit less on Amazon).

See also a toolkit of free resources (registration required) or listen to the Taking Donors Seriously podcast.

2. Sent Together

Sent Together: Developing Strong Gospel Partnerships for Global Missions, by Cody Wilbanks. Independently published, 2021. 103 pages.

Warm, healthy relationships between missionaries and their supporters can be a source of shared joy and encouragement, but too often these partnerships can be unhealthy, superficial, and disappointing (on either or both sides), instead. Wilbanks, a former missionary and now a pastor, explores what both senders and sent ones can do to form deeper, more mutually satisfying relationships, learning from Paul’s “partnership in the gospel” with the Philippian church. Great book.

Learn more or purchase the book. The Kindle edition is US$6.99 while the paperback in US$9.99.

3. Financing Mission from Anywhere to Everywhere

Here’s one more book:

New Funding Models for Global Mission: Learning From the Majority World, by Tim Welch (William Carey Publishing) explores 17 alternatives to “traditional” missionary support raising which may be more appropriate for many global workers.

I haven’t had time to read it. Have you? Learn more or purchase.

Magazine: Evangelical Missions Quarterly’s April Edition

Source: Missio Nexus

The April 2023 edition of Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ) thoughtfully explores the connection between missions and creation care. Content represents the collaborative contributions of missionaries from a variety of organizations including OMF, Care of Creation, A Rocha, and Creation Stewards International.

Several articles can be viewed without a subscription, including Witnessing God’s Resurrection Power in People and the Land and Creation Care for Pastors and Local Churches. This edition also includes four unrelated articles and a dozen book reviews.

EMQ is the oldest and most widely distributed professional journal for evangelical missionaries. Many missionaries now qualify for a no-cost subscription to EMQ (if they or their organization are members of Missio Nexus). To learn more about subscription options, email EMQ.

Events: Mission Conferences, Training, and More in May

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

May 1-3, Sahara Challenge (Nashville, TN, USA). Training to serve unreached Muslim people locally and globally, from Crescent Project. Also offered in a live, online format May 23-25.

May 1 to July 30, Encountering the World of Islam (online). New online classes start several times a year. Also available in other formats and languages.

May 1 to September 5, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly. An intensive class will be held from May 15 to July 30.

May 3, Preparing Your Church to Send Missionaries (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

May 4, National Day of Prayer (USA).

May 4, Engaging Moms: The Evangelism Strategy No One Is Talking About But Should Be (online). Free webinar from Barna and MOPS.

May 4-6, Support Raising Bootcamp (online for Latin America). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

May 5-6, Care Connexion (Beaverton, OR, USA). Helping those responsible for the care of missionaries on and off the field; a MissionConnexion event.

May 8-12, Storytelling Training (online). Get hands-on experience with oral Bible storytelling with five three-hour sessions provided by Story Runners.

May 8 to June 3, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International.

May 9-10, Church. Agency. Now. Conference (Kansas City, MO, USA). Mobilizing the whole church to reach the whole world. Sponsored by Sixteen:Fifteen, Avant, and CrossWorld.

May 9-11, Support Raising Bootcamp (Kampala, Uganda). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

May 10, Organizational Change: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back—InterVarsity’s DEI Journey (online). Webinar from MissioNexus.

May 10-12, Standards Introductory Workshop (online). This 10-hour seminar is designed to help short-term mission leaders make their mission trips better; provided by MissionExcellence, a ministry of MissionWorks.

May 11, Missionaries and Language Learning: What Can Missions Organizations and Missions Leaders Do to Help Their Missionaries Succeed? (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

May 15, Discipleship: Gaining Ministry Experience (online). Hour-long webinar from Frontiers USA; join live or watch the replay a week later.

May 15-16, People Raising Conference (online). Reduce the fear and time it takes to raise funds. A similar event will be held in September.

May 15-18, Eurasia Media and Distribution Consultation (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Usually known as EMDC, this group meets once a year. Those working with minority language media content creation and distribution are encouraged to attend; includes pre- and post-conference training opportunities.

May 15-19, Abide Debriefing (Joplin, MO, USA). Help for moving forward with hope and momentum; from TRAIN International (held eight times a year).

May 16, Contend: Monthly Day of Prayer For Mission Mobilization (global). Coordinated by GMMI and held on the third Tuesday of each month.

May 16-17, Gear Up! (Marion, IN, USA and online). Training for new mission mobilizers. Coordinated by Gospel Mobilization (formerly the Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention). Followed by Mobilization Ideation, May 18-19, a regional networking gathering for mobilizers and mission leaders.

May 19-21, Catalyze Philly (Downingtown, PA, USA). This three-day intensive will help you learn missional skills for reaching Muslims. Sponsored by Frontiers USA.

May 22-24, Support Raising Bootcamp (online for USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

May 24-25, Mobilization Ideation (Colorado Springs, CO, USA). A regional gathering for mission mobilizers.

May 25, Your Greatest Story Ever Told: How Your Missions Writing Can Reach More Readers (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

May 28, International Day for the Unreached (global). This year, some are observing an International Week for the Unreached, kicking off on May 20.

May 31, AI and Its Impact on Global Mission (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

View the complete calendar, updated regularly. Submissions welcome.

Six Years in Prison | Book of Joy

In this week’s News Briefs:

  1. Myanmar: Sentenced to Six Years in Prison
  2. Burkina Faso: Displaced by Extremists and Nearly Killed
  3. World: Decade of Great Commission Effort
  4. Southeast Asia: The First Believers in Their Province
  5. East Africa: A Once-Ridiculed People Find Joy and Identity

Read or share the email edition or scroll down for individual stories and links.

Greetings!

Passover and Easter always come at the same time, but sometimes other religious holidays overlap as well. The timing of Ramadan this year meant all three Abrahamic faiths had celebrations around the same time. But did you know Hindus and Buddhists had something to celebrate as well?

Speaking of honored leaders, you likely heard about the Dalai Lama’s controversial request of a young devotee. It may not be what you think. Two views:

Want to understand Buddhists better? Check out the Change the Map Podcast and subscribe for more about sharing Jesus with Buddhists.

Looking forward to the next Christian holiday,
Pat Noble

Image: Translators and cousins Ezekiah Dada and Enos Dada carry an ark holding newly translated Keliko New Testaments through the streets of Koboko, Uganda (Wycliffe Bible Translators).

Myanmar: Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, April 7, 2023

The former President of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Reverend Dr. Hkalam Samson, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by a court in Myanmar.

He was jailed on charges of unlawful association, defaming the State, and terrorism.

Reverend Dr. Samson, an outspoken and courageous voice for human rights for the Kachin people, was arrested at Mandalay International Airport on December 5, 2022 as he was attempting to travel to Bangkok. He has been held in Myitkyina prison since his arrest.

Reverend Samson served as President of the KBC from 2018-2022 and previously for two terms as General Secretary from 2010-2018. He is an internationally respected advocate for freedom of religion or belief and human rights in Myanmar. In 2019 he traveled to Washington, DC to participate in the International Religious Freedom Ministerial Conference, where he was among religious leaders from around the world who met with the United States President in the White House.

Read the full story. Also from this region, Human Rights Watch reports that Thai immigration officials forcibly returned three opposition activists to Myanmar.

Here’s some good news from a different part of the world. After being detained for nearly five months in Mozambique, American MAF missionary pilot Ryan Koher and two other men under suspicion of terrorism and supporting insurgents have been released and reunited with family, though they must remain in the country while their court case continues.

For your prayers: The Middle East Council of Churches reminds us that April 22 marks ten years since two Orthodox bishops were kidnapped in Syria. Their fate is unknown (Assyrian International News Agency).

Burkina Faso: Displaced by Extremists and Nearly Killed

Source: Global Christian Relief, April 5, 2023

Pastor Touwende was a pastor in the northern region of Burkina Faso, until recently—when he was forced to flee. In the past few years, Muslim extremists have surged through the northern region, attacking Christian communities and displacing millions. Believers have been abducted, beaten, and even killed for their faith.

[But then] the situation got even worse.

“I was afraid, because two days before, they killed someone in the village, thinking he was the pastor. Today they are looking for me! In my mind at that time, I thought I would be killed. I prayed, ‘Oh, Lord, if my work for You is finished and I will die, so be it. But if it is not yet finished, may Your will be done.’”

Then the attack came.

Read the full story. Evidently, Pastor Touwende was one of the only pastors in this region. Ask God to strengthen his people in the midst of these tensions and tragedies.

See also Jubilee Campaign’s recent Universal Periodic Review on Burkina Faso. Very detailed with much fuel for prayer.