In This Issue: Nine skills that apply to Christians everywhere
- BOOK: Basic Missionary Skills for Christians Everywhere
- EVENT: Global PrayerCast
- BOOKLET: Raising a Support Team
- BOOK: Mondays in the Middle East (Free Ebook Edition)
- EVENTS: Missions Catalyst Calendar
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!
BOOK: Basic Missionary Skills for Christians Everywhere
Source: The Upstream Collective
Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission, by Larry McCrary, Caleb Crider, Wade Stephens, and Rodney Calfee. Urban Loft Publishers, 2013. 208 pages.
“For too long, the church has separated out ‘missionary training’ from the rest of discipleship,” says the authors of Tradecraft.
“We’ve acted like only those of us traveling abroad need to learn basic missionary skills. But as Christians, we are all outsiders. Our role on the earth is to incarnate the gospel about the people around us. We’re all missionaries; it’s just that most of us haven’t been properly trained yet.
“Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission is your manual for learning missionary skills. We took the same basic training most international missionaries receive and selected nine skills to apply to all Christians everywhere.”
The nine skills covered are following the Spirit, mapping, exegeting culture, building relationships, [fostering relationships with] persons of peace, engaging tribes, contextualization, [exploring] alternative paths [e.g., roles and platforms], and protecting indigeneity. Use them to train future missionaries as well as disciple believers in your local context.
One endorsement describes in this way: “In this book the authors lovingly articulate the key missionary tactics and approaches that can unlock neighborhoods and cities for the Gospel. They have a long experience in these matters and are very well-read. Highly recommended as a handbook to missions anywhere.” (Alan Hirsch)
» Look inside the book, read reviews, or get your copy from Amazon for US$12.99 (paperback), US$6.99 (Kindle).
Quotable
“Andrew Jones… has often said that his job is to ‘throw parties and tell stories.’ Thom Wolf taught that the missionary’s role is to retell people’s stories back to them in light of the gospel. This is very good missionary tradecraft indeed: find out what people are talking about, and show them how it all relates to the Most High God.”
– Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission
EVENT: Global PrayerCast
Source: Unleashed for the Unreached
Unleashed for the Unreached invites us to join other groups and churches participating in a worldwide simulcast prayer event focused on praying for the world, the unreached, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The Global PrayerCast is scheduled for April 17.
» Learn more, watch a brief video, or download fliers.
BOOKLET: Raising a Support Team
Source: Love Global
Love Global, a foundation dedicated to helping missionaries become fully funded, has published a simple, concise booklet on raising up a support team for your ministry or mission trip. It’s practical, contemporary, and free.
» Download Raising a Support Team.
» Looking for more substantial help on this topic? Consider a People Raising Conference or Personal Support Raising Bootcamp, talking to Tailored Fundraising Solutions, or picking up a book like Funding the Family Business.
BOOK: Mondays in the Middle East (Free Ebook Edition)
Source: Pioneers
Our February edition of Resource Reviews included a review of a brief but engaging book called Mondays in the Middle East. The author has recently been able to acquire rights to give it away for free (as an ebook), and would love you to have a copy.
» Learn more or download Mondays in the Middle East.
» Readers might also be interested in another short but powerful book distributed by Pioneers, Robert Miller’s Spiritual Survival Handbook for Cross-Cultural Workers.
EVENTS: Missions Catalyst Calendar
Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar
Items from our calendar for April 2013:
April 4 – How to Create a Crisis Management Team (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus, this one hosted by Bob Klamser.
April 6 – Bridges Seminar (Lodi, CA, USA). Building bridges to reach Muslims. Provided by Crescent Project.
April 11 – Initial Actions Following a Kidnapping (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus, this one hosted by Bob Klamser.
April 11 – Do Local Churches Really Need Mission Agencies? (online). Free webinar provided by Sixteen:Fifteen and Avant Ministries.
April 11-13 – MissionFest Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada). Free, community-based mission festival for all ages.
April 11-13 – Missio Alliance Gathering (Alexandria, VA, USA). Topic: The future of the gospel – renewing evangelical imagination for mission.
April 17 – Global Prayercast (online). Worldwide simulcast prayer event, organized by Unleashed for the Unreached.
April 18 – How Do Interculturalists Approach Cross-Cultural Adjustment? (online). Webinar provided by Missio Nexus, this one hosted by Becky Johnson.
April 18-20 – Ethnic Ministries Summit (Chicago, IL, USA). A coalition of ministries encouraging local churches to share Christ’s love with the growing ethnic diversity in our communities. Sponsored by the Ethnic America Network.
April 19-20 – Care ConneXion (Beaverton, OR, USA). Equipping and networking leaders to provide relevant and effective care for missionaries.
April 21 – Internet Evangelism Day (global). Explore growing opportunities for digital evangelism.
April 25-28 – Global Congress on Business as Mission (Thailand). Bringing together BAM practitioners and leaders from all over the world.
April 26-28 – The Journey Deepens retreat (Kansas City, MO, USA). Sense God is calling you into missions, but need help in discerning your direction? The Journey Deepens Retreat is a great next step.
» View the whole calendar or tell us about a mission event.
Marti Wade is a writer, speaker, and project manager for the Church Partnerships Team at Pioneers. As a mission mobilizer, she has also trained and sent out many short-term teams to do relationship-based research to serve among the world’s least-reached peoples.
Marti has managed and published Missions Catalyst since 2004 and is the author of Through Her Eyes, a book about the lives of women serving cross-culturally in the Muslim world. She and her husband Chris live in Oregon.