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Source: DMMs Frontier Missions
The Multiplier’s Mindset: Thinking Differently About Discipleship, by Cynthia Anderson. DMMs Frontier Missions, 2023. 230 pages.
Ever struggled with making disciples or experienced frustration when you tried to fulfill the Great Commission? This book will show you how to recognize and overcome the mindsets that block our fruitfulness and impact.
YWAM leader and trainer Cynthia Anderson leans into Scripture, tells stories, and raises questions related to what we believe about God, ourselves (specifically how God can use us) and how to make disciples who make disciples.
I love this book. It’s written for church-planting, disciple-making missionaries pursuing movements, but much of it has broader application. It’s a quick read but worth working through slowly.
The Kindle edition is just US$9.99 but it’s also available as a hardcover book or paperback. Learn more and get the book or related resources from the book website. You might also consider reading her blog, listening to the interviews she conducted for the book, or taking an online class.
Source: HBO
Here’s an important but disturbing story. Renee Bach was a U.S. missionary who set up a feeding clinic in Jinja, Uganda and is accused of causing the deaths of malnourished children whom she cared for despite a lack of medical training.
Explore the story in Savior Complex, a three-part HBO original documentary that premiered this week on Max. See trailer below.
Maybe, like me, you don’t have access to watch the series. But you can read an article about it in The Guardian or listen to an eight-part podcast series (The Missionary; scroll back to 2020).
See also Shadow Side of Missions, part 1 of 3 in a series on ethics by Ed Stetzer (Church Leaders).
Source: Global Witness, Globally Reimagined, September 14, 2023
Harvey Kwiyani writes:
I grew up in a revival in Malawi—the kind of revival that turned many nominal Christians into fervent followers of Christ, ever ready to pray and evangelize. I learned after leaving the continent that the revival was a widespread phenomenon that touched almost all sub-Saharan Africa and has been going on for decades. In the context of a revival, mission and evangelism tend to be straightforward. I saw many people miraculously convert by themselves because of dreams and other spectacular phenomena. Many of them are still active following Christ today, 30 years later.
Central to all this revival is a theology (shaped by an African worldview) that requires that God acts for and on behalf of people. Even in African (traditional) religion, a god who does not heal or provide is useless and will have no followers.
Yet, such is the God that many other Christians worship, especially in the post-Enlightenment West. Many people profess to follow Christ, yet, they live as if they are atheists. They are Christians, yet they are so self-sufficient that they do not need help from God. They live out their faith as if everything depends on them.
Read the full article and a follow-up, “Will This Jesus Protect Us?” Thought-provoking.
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
October 2 to February 4, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly.
October 3-4, Support Raising Bootcamp (Krakow, Poland). Provided by Via Generosity (formerly Support Raising Solutions).
October 3-5, GACX Forum (Dallas, TX, USA). An annual event from the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication.
October 3-6, Pastoral Training in Member Care (Asheville, NC, USA). For anyone involved in caring for global workers; usually held annually.
October 4-7, Christian Community Development Association National Conference (Cincinnati, OH, USA). Learn about CCD and network with others to help people and communities experience God’s shalom.
October 8-9, The Mobilized Church: Keys to Unlocking Your Church’s Mission Potential (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, USA). Provided by Sixteen:Fifteen.
October 8 to November 3, Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life and Ministry (Union Mills, NC, USA). Followed by a Language Learning Accelerator course, November 5-17. Provided by the Center for Intercultural Training.
October 10 to December 12, Mission Leader Cohort (online). Designed to help mission pastors be further developed in the head, heart, and hands of their unique and crucial role. Provided by Upstream Collective.
October 9-13, Culture for Global Gospel Workers (online). Training course offered several times a year by CultureBound.
October 12, Missionary Education in the 21st Century (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
October 13-14, Evangelical Missiological Society Annual Conference (Dallas, TX, USA and online). Theme: Educating for contemporary mission.
October 16-17, Support Raising Bootcamp (Monument, CO, USA). Provided by Via Generosity (formerly Support Raising Solutions).
October 17, Contend: Monthly Day of Prayer For Mission Mobilization (global). Coordinated by GMMI and held on the third Tuesday of each month.
October 16-19, Thrive Retreat (Cape Town, South Africa). For North American women serving cross-culturally.
October 16 to November 11, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International.
October 17-18, Amplify Outreach Conference (Wheaton, IL, USA). An annual event from the Billy Graham Center in partnership with Outreach magazine.
October 23-27, Language for Global Gospel Workers (online). Training course offered regularly by CultureBound.
October 23-27, Abide Debriefing (Joplin, MO, USA). Help for moving forward with hope and momentum; from TRAIN International (held eight times a year).
October 19-23, International TCK Conference (Chiang Mai, Thailand).
October 24-26, DigitalMediaCon 4.0 (virtual event). This three-day conference for Christian communicators, held by the Evangelical Press Association and the National Association of Evangelicals, is an annual event.
October 24-26, Standards Introductory Workshop (online). An introduction to the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Missions, from Mission Excellence.
October 25-27, Support Raising Bootcamp (Nairobi, Kenya). Provided by Via Generosity (formerly Support Raising Solutions).
October 26, The End of the Beginning (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.
October 26-29, Haven Retreat (Marathon, Greece). For kingdom-minded women serving overseas from various nations. Provided by Azmera.
October 27-28, Field Security Seminar (Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.View the complete calendar, updated regularly. Submissions welcome.
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Thousands of Auburn University students attended a worship event that ended in the unplanned baptism of hundreds in a nearby lake as students responded to the gospel. See story below.
Source: God Reports, September 14, 2023
God is moving on college campuses across the country. Revival hit campuses like Asbury University, Lee University, and Samford University earlier this year. And now Auburn University students are testifying that God moved at an event earlier this week that still has them “speechless and in awe.”
Thousand of students at Auburn packed out Neville Arena on [September 12] to worship and praise Jesus, but an impromptu baptism that started with one student wanting to be baptized grew to roughly 200 people who decided to give their lives to Christ.
“I’ve seen Auburn basketball beat Kentucky. I’ve seen Auburn football beat Alabama, but I have never seen something like I did Tuesday night,” Auburn University senior Michael Floyd told WFSA12 News.
More than 5,000 people showed up to Unite Auburn’s “Night of Worship.” The campus ministry’s outreach was created to bring the Alabama school’s Christian community together for a night of worship. It featured guest speakers New York Times Best Selling Author Jennie Allen and Pastor Jonathan Pokluda, and worship was led by Passion Music.
Allen shared on Instagram that toward the end of the night, she felt led to ask students if they wanted to be baptized.
“I finished a message at Auburn and was off stage, and a student texted the pastor beside me they wanted to be baptized tonight. So I went back on stage and asked if anyone else wanted to trust Christ and be baptized,” she explained.
“Dozens raised their hands,” Allen added.
There wasn’t a tub to baptize the students, so thousands of people headed over to a lake at Auburn’s Red Barn.
“They circled the lake, and 6-10 of us were in the water baptizing hundreds,” Allen described.
Read the full story and another from God Reports, Bigger than Asbury Revival Unfolding in This Majority Muslim Country (spoiler: It’s Guinea-Bissau). See also 100s of Students Baptized After Worship Service on Auburn University Campus (Dennison Forum).
There’s a new book about the Asbury revival. Check out Taken by Surprise by Asbury’s Mark R. Elliott.
Source: 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World, September 12, 2023
In the early hours of the morning on September 8, 2023, a magnitude 6.8+ earthquake struck Morocco’s Marrakesh–Safi region. The earthquake’s epicenter was located 70 km southwest of Marrakesh, near the Oukaïmeden ski resort in the Atlas Mountains.
The earthquake caused widespread damage in the region, with more than 2,500 people killed and over 2,000 injured. Many buildings were destroyed, including homes, schools, and mosques. The earthquake also caused landslides and rockfalls, which blocked roads and made it difficult for rescue workers to reach affected areas.Updates from around the world:
The earthquake is the deadliest to hit Morocco in more than a century. It is a reminder of the country’s vulnerability, even though the last major earthquake in Morocco occurred in 1960 when a magnitude 6.7 earthquake killed more than 12,000 people.
Read the full story or see more pictures (Christian Post). See how Moroccan Christians are serving others following the earthquake (Christianity Today).
We can pray in much the same way for Libya, where thousands more were killed in recent floods (International Christian Concern).
Source: Christian Headlines, September 18, 2023
The Taliban has detained 18 workers, including one American, in Afghanistan for allegedly preaching Christianity. The International Assistance Mission (IAM), a Swiss nonprofit group, said the Taliban stormed its office in Ghor twice and abducted 18 workers, The New York Post reports.
Three workers were taken in the first raid on September 3, and 15 were taken in the second raid on September 13.
IAM said it was “unaware of the circumstances that led to these incidents and have not been advised of the reason for the detention of our staff members.”
Meanwhile, the Taliban said in a statement that the workers were taken for “propagating and promoting Christianity” in the predominantly Muslim country.
Read the full story. Another quotes IAM saying all its staff agree to abide by the laws of the country (CBS News). Read their complete statement.
Source: The Christian Post, September 10, 2023
UN experts have appealed to India’s government over the ongoing violence in Manipur state, which has left 187 dead, 70,000 displaced, and hundreds of churches destroyed amid ethnic and religious tensions.
Nineteen independent experts with the UN Human Rights Council have noted that Christians have been disproportionately impacted, saying the violence was incited by hateful speech against the Christian Kuki-Zo minority, particularly women, due to their ethnicity and religious beliefs.
The conflict involves Manipur’s largely Hindu Meitei and largely Christian Kuki-Zo tribes. The UN experts also expressed alarm over the misuse of counter-terrorism measures against ethnic and religious minorities, the human rights group ADF International said in a statement.
Read the full story or the ADF statement (which includes links).
