Day: August 27, 2025

1. Service: A Source for Fractional Innovation Leadership
2. Articles: On Mental Health, Hospitality, and Moving Abroad
3. Mission Biographies: Greg Livingstone and Katharine Barnwell
4. Book: Missiology for Mission Pastors
5. Events: Conferences, Retreats and More Coming in September

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Source: Jon Hirst, Innovation in Mission

Every nonprofit needs an innovation process, no matter how simple. It is like the oxygen replenishing the lifeblood of an organization with the new ideas that will be tomorrow’s best programs.

However, most nonprofits do not have innovation and its management built into their budgets at the level needed. Fractional innovation leadership can reduce the costs by as much as two-thirds while still providing an organization with experienced executive-level support for the organization’s innovation agenda.

Learn more. If your ministry needs a Chief Innovation Officer, this is how you can get one on a fractional basis (a strategy businesses are using to access expertise in finance, technology, and more). And if you aren’t ready, you can still find free resources and sign up for the monthly newsletter on the website. Well worth your time.

Sources: Various

Missionaries and Mental Health

Would-be missionaries ask, “Do my mental health challenges disqualify me from serving in missions?” Don’t let fear or stigma hold you back. Read Can You Be a Missionary and Take Antidepressants? (Pioneers-USA).

It Starts With Hospitality

“I would argue that hospitality is the only biblical practice that accomplishes the Great Commission and the Great Commandment at the same time,” says Colorado pastor Nirput Alphonse. Read an interview about how his church does it (Outreach Magazine).

Know Before You Go

What should you pack and what should you leave home? What do you need to look into or take care of before you go? Find helpful input in The Ultimate Guide to Moving Abroad: Everything You Need to Know (My Baggage, via OSCAR).

Sources: Kregel Publications, B&H Publishing

“What do you think about missionary hero stories?” I asked you in July, and many of you acknowledged their limits but defended the value of missionary biographies as a whole, at least, you know, “the good ones.” Here are two I read in August and am happy to put in that category. Interestingly, Katharine was born in 1938 and Greg in 1940, so these two mission pioneers lived through many of the same events.

You’ve Got Libya: A Life Serving in the Muslims World, by Greg Livingstone. Monarch Books, 2014 (later republished by Kregel, 2018). 320 pages.

As we mentioned in a previous edition, Frontiers founder and mobilizer extraordinaire Greg Livingstone passed away in July. But more than a decade before, he wrote an autobiography. I’d always meant to read it. After I shared the sad news of his death with a fellow Livingstone fan, he sent me a copy of the book (after re-reading it, of course!) What a great read. Don Richardson called it “an utterly real, high-impact, sham-free life story” and Phil Parshall called it “A hard book to put down!”

This is anything but a hero story, as the author is well aware of his limitations and failures and shares them freely. Many memoirs falter by including too many unrelated anecdotes and dropping too many names. Here, I thought the stories and relationships added to its charm and brought it to life. Let me know if you agree.

Katharine Barnwell: How One Woman Revolutionized Modern Missions, by Jordan K. Monson. B&H Publishing, 2025. 304 pages.

Unless you’re a Bible translator yourself, you’ve probably never heard of a British mission leader named Katy Barnwell. But her influence has been tremendous, and her strategies for translation, rooted in her experiences as a translator in Nigeria, have brought the Bible to millions of people in thousands of languages. This book is both the story of one remarkable woman and the story of Bible translation, with an emphasis on the essential hand-off of the job to groups of local Christians rather than highly trained outsiders. So, it provides a refreshing contrast to some of the missionary-as-hero stories that make me squirm.

A few caveats: The author’s awe for his subject and his overuse of footnotes and personal asides make this book less focused and readable than it might have been, but perhaps a better resource for anyone who wants to dig deeper. And it’s still a good read, especially to those interested in modern mission trends and why things are the way they are. I learned a great deal. Listen to Monson talk about Barnwell on the Working for the Word podcast.

Source: The Upstream Collective

Missiology for Mission Pastors, edited by Bradley Bell and Ted Esler. The Upstream Collective, 2025. 229 pages.

Many who are charged with leading the church into global missions find themselves with a map but no compass. The urgency to act is clear. The way forward is not.

Missiology for Missions Pastors is designed to be a guide for the journey. With accessible chapters from trusted voices, it applies healthy missiology to the church’s missions strategy. Whether you’re a pastor, director, or volunteer, this book will help you chart a faithful course in today’s missions landscape.

Contributors include J.D. Payne, Miriam Adeney, Jason Mandryk, Mark Byrom, Dave Childers, Sharon Hoover, Julius Tennal II, Nathan Sloan, Brian Fikkert, and Ray Mensah.

Looks like the book is only available in paperback at this point.

Two more new things from Ted Esler that might interest you: Read What People Groups Are You Reaching? (try this one stupid trick to change the course of history in a people group) or listen to a discussion on The State of Missions (Aaron Renn show).

See also The Sending Shepherd: Leading Churches to Disciple All Nations, by Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters. This new book, based on a recent Barna study of pastors’ priorities and expectations related to missions, will come out sometime in September from 16:15 Outfitters. They are taking pre-orders now.

Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar

September 6, September 13-14, Missions Expo (Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa). Free, community-based mission conferences.

September 8 to August 4, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International.

September 8 to December 7, Encountering Muslims (online). Also available in other formats and languages; new online classes start several times a year.

September 8 to January 11, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly.

September 10-11, The Mobilized Church Workshop (Albuquerque, NM, USA). Provided by 16:15 Global Outfitters.

September 12-13, Great Commission Dental Conference (Carrollton, TX, USA). Provided by the Christian Dental Association and the Christian Dental Society.

September 13-15, Hostile Environment Awareness Training (Cairo, Egypt). Provided by Crisis Consulting International. Other trainings held in various locations throughout the year.

September 14-20, Recalibrate! (Aurora, IN, USA). Debriefing and renewal retreat for missionaries sponsored by Paracletos.

September 15-20, Thrive Retreat (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Retreat attendees must be women who are full-time, support-based, cross-cultural workers from the U.S. and Canada and currently living overseas. Retreats regularly held in locations around the world. Azmera, a similar ministry, will hold two retreats in Europe in October and November.

September 16-17, Support Raising Bootcamp (Phoenix, AZ, USA). Provided by Via in various locations throughout the year.

September 17-20, New Wineskins Global Missionary Conference (Black Mountain, NC, USA). An Anglican event held every three years.

September 18-24, Traction Conference (Wilderswil, Switzerland). Conference to serve men who are global workers serving cross-culturally. Provided by Catalyst International.

September 21-26, Interlude Debriefing Retreat (Lebanon PA, USA). A week-long retreat for adult global workers to process their experiences in a contemplative setting with peers and trained debriefers. Offered by Barnabas International. Another retreat is planned for November in Arizona.

September 22-26, Storytelling Training (online). Get hands-on experience with oral Bible storytelling with five three-hour sessions provided by Story Runners.

September 24-26, Mission Leaders Conference (Orlando, FL, USA and online). Provided by Missio Nexus. This year: Echo, amplifying the need for global evangelism. Includes multiple pre-conference training events.

September 28 to October 24, Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life and Ministry (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided regularly by the Center for Intercultural Training. Followed by a language-learning acquisition course.

September 29 to October 2, GACX Forum (Asheville, NC, USA). An annual event from the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication.

View the complete calendar, updated throughout the year. Your submissions are always welcome.