Podcast: Follow One Maverick’s Unexpected Journey

Source: Pioneers-USA

The Maverick Podcast explores the unexpected journeys of spiritual seekers as they buck cultural norms and religious expectations to follow Jesus. The first season follows the story of Bishara, a young Muslim man from Central Africa who had everything going for him until a chance encounter dramatically changed the course of his life.

From strange dreams and guns that misfire to imprisonments and miraculous healings, Bishara’s story may sound too wild to be true.

To get to the bottom of it all, host Sarah Lewis talks to those close to him—and experts around the world—to find out what would make a man like Bishara risk it all in pursuit of truth.

Listen to the podcast. Just two of the eight short episodes have been released so far, but they come out once a week. Disclaimer: I helped create this. But I think it’s great and would love to see the word get out! Can you help by sharing it with people you think would like it?

Check out several new mission-related podcasts from other sources:

  • Doing Theology. Thinking Mission, with Jackson Wu and others from Mission ONE, launched in August. Each episode is about an hour long and digs deep into critical issues.
  • On September 28, One Way Ministries will launch a new podcast called One80 featuring testimonies and stories of transformation. You can listen to the trailer now. It sounds quite inspiring.

Article: Drinking Tea with Leaders of the Global Church

Source: Lausanne Global Analysis, September 2021

When Leaders Drink Tea Together: A Critique of Western Christian Leadership in Light of Global Trends, by Mary Ho.

“We are living in a global era where what the global church needs are global leaders with a global mindset, not just Western leadership styles and writings exported to the rest of the world,” says Mary. Her article includes good data and analysis of leadership styles along with practical tips.

Explore this issue of Lausanne Global Analysis. It also includes articles on Christianity in the UK, reaching Israelis in Berlin, and growing churches in hostile contexts.

Website: A Directory of Missionaries Raising Support

Source: Ergatas

Most missionaries raise the bulk of their support from people they know—or get to know along the way. But what if you’ve tapped out your networks, or what if, as a donor, you would love to support individuals in a certain kind of ministry but don’t know any?

Ergatas is basically a cross-agency directory of missionaries raising support. It can be searched using detailed filters so users can find missionaries who share their vision. The service is free to use and takes no part of any donations.

So far, it’s pretty small, and only includes about 60 workers sent out from the US, Canada, Australia, and UK (although they hope to expand). More than 100 organizations have been approved to participate.

Learn more about Ergatas. Their about page answers many questions.

In the past we’ve written about several services that connect would-be missionaries with opportunities. Mission Next is a good place to start.

Do you need to put more effort into raising support? Check out a bunch of helpful worksheets from Scott Morton or listen to the replay of a recent webinar on how to prepare for year-end giving campaigns from Tailored Fundraising.

Article: Is the World Still a Waffle?

Source: Mission Frontiers, September-October 2021

The world is a very different place than it was nearly 50 years ago when the people group paradigm was birthed. Should the missions community still view the world as a waffle? Is traditional ethnolinguistic people group thinking still relevant?

The current issue of Mission Frontiers addresses how the waffle barriers are changing. Global trends are creating new social dynamics and changing both the barriers and boundaries by which groups are defined. New hybrid, trans-national and dynamic groupings must be considered.

Read Mission Frontiers. You might want to start with Dan Scribner’s editorial, but don’t miss the articles from Asian, African, and Latin American voices sharing how people group thinking and information have impacted their ministries.  

See also a conversation with Dave Datema on The Universal Particularism of Panta Ta Ethne (The Mission Matters Podcast) or read Len Bartlotti’s 2020 article challenging the model, Reimagining and Re-envisioning People Groups (International Journal of Frontier Missiology).

Mission Events: Things to Do or View in October

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

October 3-29, Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life and Ministry (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided regularly by the Center for Intercultural Training.

October 4-9, Debriefing and Renewal (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Provided regularly by Missionary Training International.

October 4 to December 3, Trauma and Crisis Care Course (online). How children respond to trauma and how you can help. Provided by Crisis Care Training International. Additional courses are available on counseling children, restoring hope to children with disabilities, and caring for orphans and vulnerable children.

October 4 to February 13, 2022, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly.

October 6, Media4Movements Global Gathering (online).

October 6, Mobilizing GenZ (online). Peer-to-peer virtual event from Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen.

October 7, Educational Support for Families (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

October 7, Hope Conference (online). An annual event from Crescent Project. Designed for participants in North and South America. A similar event is designed for participants in Europe, Asia, and Africa on October 14.

October 11 to December 6, IGNITE Training Course (online). Be equipped to mobilize for missions by the Global Mission Mobilization Network.

October 11-15, ABIDE re-entry debriefing for global workers (Joplin, MO, USA). These are now held almost once a month by TRAIN International.

October 12, Missions Trip Reimagined in the COVID Era (online). Webinar from the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

October 13-15, International Wholistic Missions Conference (Phoenix, AZ, USA). An annual event.

October 14, Sharing Good News: Let the Master Teach You to Multiply (online) Nugget Training from Beyond.

October 18-21, Standards Introductory Workshop (online). Seminar on the Seven Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

October 18, 21, Ends of the Earth (theaters across the US). A full-length documentary film about the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship; in theaters two nights only.

October 18-23, Debriefing and Renewal (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Provided regularly by Missionary Training International.

October 19, The Porch: Using Scripture to Mobilize (online). The Porch is a place for pastors, missionaries, and mobilizers to learn, share, encourage, and pray for one another. A Ministry of the Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention.

October 19-20, Amplify Outreach Conference (Wheaton, IL, USA). Provided by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College and Outreach Magazine.

October 21, The Role of Missionary Organizations in Missionary Well-Being (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

October 21 to November 18, Strategic Storytelling for Movements (online). Offered regularly by Missions Media U.

October 23, Heart for Muslims Conference (New York, NY, USA).

October 25 to November 20, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International.

October 28, Truths and Myths of Refugee Resettlement (online). Webinar from Sixteen:Fifteen.

October 29 to November 1, GO Equipped Tentmaking Course (Sinsheim, Germany) From Tent International and Global Intent.

October 31 to November 12, Second Language Acquisition (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided regularly by the Center for Intercultural Training.

View the complete calendar. Corrections and submissions are welcome.

A Day of Atonement | Japan’s Minister of Loneliness

In this edition:

  1. Editor’s Note: A Day of Atonement
  2. Afghanistan: Has the Taliban Opened a Back Door for Chinese Missionaries?
  3. Philippines: Rival Factions Sow Seeds of the Kingdom
  4. Japan: The Surprising Appointment of a Minister of Loneliness
  5. South Africa: God Sends Christian Leaders on Mission of Healing

Read or share the email version or scroll down for individual stories.

Editor’s Note: A Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur starts a few minutes before sunset on September 15. For nearly 26 hours, Jews everywhere will gather and pray for forgiveness. (Image: Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center)

Greetings!

Before we get into other stories from around the world, I want to point out that The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur starts just before sunset tonight (September 15). For practicing Jews everywhere, this is the holiest day of the year. Many will be earnestly seeking God today.

Want to pray for them? The book of Hebrews is a good place to start.

Poke around Chabad.org to learn more about Yom Kippur observances and other Jewish practices.

I also found the following articles on the topic of atonement helpful, though admittedly they might be more useful for reaching secular Jews.

Blessings as you pray,
Pat

Afghanistan: Has the Taliban Opened a Back Door for Chinese Missionaries?

Source: Back to Jerusalem, August 2021

The Taliban is turning to China for help after taking over Afghanistan last month, according to the Taliban Spokesman for International Media (English), Suhail Shaheen. The Taliban is excited about China’s potential economic “One Belt One Road” investment, without realizing the spiritual implication of the Silk Road strategy of the underground house church missionaries.

As Chinese businessmen and contractors begin to flood into Afghanistan by the thousands, laced in those numbers will be [Chinese] missionaries armed with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Could a back door to Afghanistan be opening up for the first time in our lifetime? Could the nightmare of the rise of the Taliban today, like the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949, be the beginning of the largest house church movement ever experienced in Afghanistan’s history?

Read the full story.

Another article asks the question, “What if the next Billy Graham is currently part of the Taliban?” See also Pray for the Taliban (SAT-7).

Philippines: Rival Factions Sow Seeds of the Kingdom

Source: Christian Aid Mission, September 9, 2021

Tribal factions in an area of the Philippines were hostile toward each other until native missionaries brought bananas, corn, and gospel seeds.

Members of the tribe lived in isolation from each other due to decades of conflict that at times flared into war. At first, native missionaries arrived not with a message of eternal life but with the suggestion of community farming.

For the local missionaries, the suggestion was based on the biblical tenets of inter-dependent community, fruitfulness, and creativity as people made in the image of a triune, fruitful, and creative God. For the tribal villagers, it was just a necessary evil; persuading the factions to work common lands was not easy, but the villagers knew they were in desperate need of income.

As they began to work toward the common goal of providing food that could be marketed with enough left over to feed themselves, they began to live together more closely and formed new hubs of community, the leader of the native ministry said.

“With the missionaries facilitating, they planted corn and bananas for sources of livelihood,” the leader said. “But coupled with this was the missionaries’ promise that they had a more important matter to share with them besides the development of their community.”

Having already experienced a measure of reconciliation, the villagers were primed to learn of the one God who reconciles wrongdoers to Himself by sacrificing the Holy One.

The workers began teaching villagers about Christ, and within a year most of them had put their faith in Him. A local church emerged, he said, and the community has also flourished; harvest profits have enabled people to meet the costs of the education for their children.

Read the full story.

Japan: The Surprising Appointment of a Minister of Loneliness

Source: OMF USA, August 7, 2021

February 12, 2021, the media announced the surprise appointment of Tetsushi Sakamoto to fill a newly created cabinet position in response to recent troubling trends. In an attempt to reduce widespread loneliness, social isolation, and increased suicide rates accelerated by the restrictions of COVID-19, Mr. Sakamoto now serves as the official Minister of Loneliness.

Loneliness had already been identified as a growing problem among the Japanese populace in previous years, but the serious measures recently taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 only served to hasten this harmful trend.

For the first time in eleven years, there has been a rise in the number of suicides in Japan after several years of decline due to various public campaigns. In fact, in 2020 in Japan, more people died from suicide in one month than the total number of deaths associated with COVID-19 in the whole country.

Loneliness has been linked to other serious health issues such as heart disease, eating disorders, and mental illness. Women and the elderly have been particularly affected by recent job losses and the implementation of social limitations. The prolonged depression of the Japanese economy and an alarming but steady decline in birthrate is symptomatic of related social dysfunctions that seem to be eating away at the heart of the country.

While innovative government initiatives to reverse this destructive trend of loneliness are commendable, a sustainable and truly effective solution to such a deep-rooted problem lies well beyond the authority and power of political leaders.

From the very beginning of time, when God created man in His own image as a relational being, He declared that “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).

Read the full story.

Also from OMF, read an article from an Australian missionary to Japan on Lonely Missionaries: Why and What Can We Do About It.