In This Issue: Reentry, Ramadan Prayer Guides, and More
- BOOK – New Reentry Resource for Short-termers
- EVENT – September 2008: 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus
- BOOK – Explore “Best Practices” for Ministry among Muslims
- ADDITIONS / CORRECTIONS – More on Last Month’s Resource Topics
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Resource Reviews, edited by Marti Smith, are published once a month.
BOOK – New Reentry Resource for Short-termers
Unearth: Exploring a Land with No Name, by Christy Vidrine and Autumn Rogers. Waukegan, Illinois: Plethora Publishing, 2008, 94 pages. US$8.99; bulk discounts available.
Being a missionary can sound glamorous until you find yourself in the thick of culture shock, team conflict, and burnout. After such experiences, even short-term missionaries return home hoping for a reprieve from the intensity they felt overseas – only to find the challenges of reentry just as great.
Vidrine and Rogers, former college roommates whose first adventure together was a semester abroad, have participated in 21 mission trips between the two of them. Both have worked for mission agencies, training and leading short-term teams and walking with others through struggles such as they experienced themselves. They wrote Unearth to acknowledge the chaos of reentry and encourage participants to persevere.
The strength of this book is in its fresh, contemporary voice – it has a postmodern feeling that should speak well to a younger generation. Pioneers USA is putting copies in the hands of all its returning summer missionaries this year. Get more details and read an excerpt on the book’s website, here.
See also: Peter Jordan’s Reentry: Making the Transition from Missions to Life at Home (1992), Lisa Espineli Chinn’s Re-entry Guide for Short-term Mission Leaders (1998), and other reentry and follow-up resources available from STEM International.
EVENT – September 2008: 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus
It’s almost time again! Join the millions of Christians around the world who each year participate in this largest ongoing international prayer focus on the Muslim world, coinciding with the month of Ramadan. This effort is coordinated by 30 Days International, an international prayer network formed for that purpose.
Each year a new illustrated prayer guide booklet is published in a number of languages and locations around the world. The North American edition, published by World Christian, and is available for US$3 a copy (with discounts available) here. Large print and just for kids editions are also available.
Contact information for organizers and distribution points worldwide is compiled here.
Mobilize your church, ministry, school, supporters, or friends to participate as well! Promotional materials (or the information you would need to make your own) is also available on the above-listed websites.
BOOK – Explore “Best Practices” for Ministry among Muslims
Source: William Carey Library
From Seed to Fruit: Global Trends, Fruitful Practices, and Emerging Issues among Muslims, edited by Dr. J. Dudley Woodberry. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 406 pages. Retail price USD$20.99; discounts available. (Publication date July 23, 2008)
What practices is God blessing in raising up groups of Jesus followers among Muslims? And how shall we understand Muslim peoples and their access to biblical witness? In recent years workers from a growing number of organizations have begun to discuss such questions.
Their initial insights were refined by a broad group of workers in a consultation in the spring of 2007, further analyzed in subsequent months, and compiled in this volume. From Seed to Fruit presents the most recent worldwide research on witness to Christ among Muslim peoples, using biblical images from nature to show the interaction between God’s activity and human responsibility in blessing these peoples.
Book includes a CD-ROM of supplemental resources on global trends and fruitful practices.
More information here.
ADDITIONS / CORRECTIONS – More on Last Month’s Resource Topics
1. Connecting house churches and missions
Last month we pointed you to an article by Ted Esler about connecting house churches and missions. Another reader, Don Davis, wrote in response:
“I just wanted to inform you (and you can spread the word if possible) of the 2008 National House Church Conference August 29-31 in Dallas, Texas. The theme this year is “House2Harvest.” One of the main tracks will be House Churches doing Missions and Missions in the Marketplace. A blog to facilitate discussion leading up to the conference has been established. Anyone is welcome to chime in with contructive comments.”
2. Correct dates for women’s retreats in Turkey
Women of Compassion is offering two international retreats where missionary women can go to be pampered and encouraged. This one is designed for women working in Central Asia and the Middle East. If this sounds like something you (or a woman in your life) needs, contact them. There are two retreats, back to back, in the same location:
Antalya, Turkey – October 19-22, 2008
Antalya, Turkey – October 23-26, 2008
Sign up soon; expected to fill quickly. Get more information and register here or send an email.
Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.