Missions Catalyst – Page 132 – World Missions News, Ideas, and Resources

ETHIOPIA: Man Unable to Speak or Walk Healed by God

Source: God Reports, July 27, 2018

An Ethiopian man who suffered great torment for eight years found healing in Jesus, according to a church planter affiliated with New Covenant Missions.

“Tesfaye had been possessed by an evil spirit and been unable to speak or walk,” the church planter recounted. [His wife] requested prayer for her husband, even though they were not Christians.

“We started praying fervently to the Lord Jesus to heal him from whatever was oppressing him… Just then the evil spirit that possessed Tesfaye shouted very loudly and went out of him in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ!”

“Then we explained to the couple about the Lord Jesus and His love for them. We also explained to them about Satan who wants to destroy us, rob us of our joy and health, and that he is the enemy of our souls. We told them Jesus has crushed the power of Satan by living a sinless life and dying for our sins on the cross then rising from the grave.”

“Right then both husband and the wife stood up asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Immediately Tesfaye began to speak and to walk!”

» Read full story which originally appeared here.

» Eritrean Christians and human rights advocates are cheering the release of 35 Christian prisoners as a new peace pact between Eritrea and Ethiopia takes hold this month (Religious News Service).

RWANDA: More Than 8,000 Churches Closed by Government

Source: World Watch Monitor, July 27, 2018

The Rwanda Governance Board continues to close churches it says fail to meet requirements laid down at the beginning of the year. New requirements set in place for those congregations that want to continue ministry are also complicating efforts to comply.

According to a report by Rwanda’s pro-government KT Press, more than 8,000 churches have now been closed, and the number keeps growing.

This law is being enforced even though it has not yet been approved officially. In most cases it is almost impossible for churches to make the required changes within the given timeframe of 15 days.

» Full story includes links to related news and reports a marked increase in government secularism as well as fear among church leaders. A story from Baptist Press says that 1,100 of the closed churches have reopened.

MALI: A Christian on the Run

Source: Open Doors, July 25, 2018

Naomi [and her sisters] were born into a devout Egyptian Muslim family in Mali. Their father had moved from Egypt to Timbuktu to spread Islam. When Naomi was eight, her father died, and the girls were adopted by their uncle. He enrolled them in an international Christian school, a common practice for Muslims who desired good educations for their children.

As Naomi interacted with Christians at school, she found herself drawn to Christ, and at the age of 12, she professed him as Lord. Her life would never be the same.

Almost immediately, her family disowned her. When a local missionary family heard about Naomi’s situation, they took her into their home.

“They loved me like their own daughter,” says Naomi. “From them, I learned more about Christ and grew in my faith.”

Eventually, the missionaries had to return to their home country, leaving Naomi with no option but to ask her family to take her back. She remembers how each day, they cruelly harassed her for her faith.

When she was 16, Naomi met a Christian man from Belgium and agreed to marry him.

“I hoped very much that this would be the beginning of new things,” she says. But the persecution continued.

“Whenever I went around town, people would call me a kafir (which means infidel). But for me, the hardest thing to handle was the rejection from my family. When they saw me, they would spit in my direction and curse the blood we shared.”

“More than once, my family sent jihadists to my house to kill us (or at least intimidate us),” she says. “Their plans never worked. But one day, while my husband was on a business trip, he was gunned down. He was killed for his faith, and for marrying an ex-Muslim. His colleagues delivered the terrible news to me. I have no idea what happened to his body.”

After his death, Naomi, now a young widow, somehow managed to care for her two sons—alone. But in 2012, as Muslim jihadists used the political Tuareg Rebellion as an opportunity to wreak havoc, things took a turn for the worst.

» Full story includes prayer points and reports that Open Doors is trying to find a viable business venture for Naomi to help her provide for her family.

» In addition to a cultural shift towards intolerance, Mali recently closed 750 schools, affecting thousands of children (Partners International). Mali had presidential elections on July 29 (AP News).

Voices from the field; movements and missionaries | July Resource Reviews

ACTIVITY: Global Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Source: Wycliffe Bible Translators

Kids are home from school, the weather is warm, the outdoors are green, and everything is filled with promise for adventure and fun. But it can also feel a bit overwhelming when you consider the weeks (they might even feel endless) that your kids are out of school, needing to be entertained, engaged, involved, or kept busy with something.

This scavenger hunt should keep your kids busy for a portion of the day while also giving you a chance to teach them something fun and interesting about the world in which we live. So go ahead, send them on a worldwide scavenger hunt—right in your own home!

» Learn about other activities for children from Wycliffe.

» See also Worldviews: A Children’s Introduction to Missions, from Pioneers (which is also the ministry behind Missions Catalyst). Discover any great new resources for children’s missions education? Let us know.

MAGAZINE: EMQ, the Mobilization Issue

Source: Missio Nexus

The Evangelical Missions Quarterly, which recently became part of Missio Nexus, is in its fifty-fifth year as a professional journal serving the worldwide missions community. If you don’t currently subscribe to EMQ, now may be a good time to sign up.

The latest issue will give you plenty to chew on related to raising up and equipping global missionaries (and global mobilizers). It includes the nine articles listed below and nine book reviews as well as several other features. The magazine is only published electronically now.

Mobilization: The Fourth (and Final?) Era of the Modern Mission Movement, by Steve Shadrach
The Mobilization Index: Connecting the Global Church to the Unreached, by Jason G.
Mobilizing God’s People for God’s Mission, by Steve C. Hawthorne
Mobilizing Movements, by Randy G. Mitchell
Rites of Passage: Building a Mobilization Team in Your Church, by David J. Wilson
ONLY vs. Primary and Secondary: The Key to the Missionary Motivation Problem, by Bob Sjogren
Prayer: Our Greatest Task in Mobilization, by Steve Coffee
Innovations in Mobilization Collaboration, by Mark Stebbins
A Re-Focus on the Local Church: Media Collaboration in the Middle East, by Phill Butler

» Learn more about EMQ and check out the Global Mobilization Network.

» Also see the Launch Survey website, with research for mobilizers on the most significant motivations and obstacles facing aspiring missionaries. Additional material has been added to the site in recent months.

BOOK: Voices from the Field

voices from the field Source: Peregrini Press

Voices from the Field: Conversations with Our Global Family, ed. T.J. MacLeslie. Volume 2 in Field Notes series. Peregrini Press, 143 pages. 2018.

What do “they” say about “us”? Are you sure want to hear? Can we afford not to?

Author T.J. MacLeslie asked dozens of missionaries to interview local friends in their host cultures, asking about their lives and stories of faith as well as their answers to questions like, “If missionaries were going to come to your town, what would you want them to know before arriving?” and “What are some areas of conflict you observe in the foreign community?” Some missionaries were reluctant to ask. Some of their friends were hesitant to speak. But these are conversations we need to have, and the answers were gracious as well as enlightening.

The volume includes the voices of more than 30 respondents from Mexico to Mongolia. You’ll have to read carefully: in order to preserve authenticity, submissions were only lightly edited and cultural differences were not smoothed out or explained away. As you read, be thinking about how local people in your context might answer these questions. Better yet, ask them.

» Purchase the Kindle edition for US$3.99 (introductory pricing). Also available as a paperback from Amazon or with free international shipping from Book Depository.

» Readers might also be interested in Global Humility: Attitudes for Mission by Andy McCullough. We learned about it in a review from OSCAR.

BOOKS: On Movements and Missionaries

Sources: Various

Kingdom Unleashed cover The Kingdom Unleashed: How Jesus’ 1st-Century Kingdom Values Are Transforming Thousands of Cultures and Awakening His Church, by Jerry Trousdale and Glenn Sunshine. DMM Library, 2018. 400 pages.

This most recent volume in the growing body of literature about disciple-making movements focuses less on telling stories from Africa and Asia, and more on analyzing how long-held practices and paradigms keep those of us in the “Global North” from experiencing the same kind of power.

This is not a simple book. It blends Bible, theology, and church history with the stories of DMM leaders and ordinary people from around the globe to make its case for a new/old way of following Jesus. If DMM is your world (or you want it to be), take some time to work through this book. It may not be the best place for someone to start, though. Readers, what would you suggest?

Mind of a Missionary cover The Mind of a Missionary: What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today, by David Joannes. Beyond Reach Global, 2018. 332 pages.

This book explores the motivations, expectations, risks, and rewards of a missionary life. In each chapter, the story of one of a dozen mission leaders, old or new, shows us how to thrive on mission today. These missionary “guides” include Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, C.T. Studd, Nikolaus Zinzendorf, Robert Moffat, Jackie Pullinger, David Eubank, Nik and Ruth Ripken, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Don Richardson, and Heidi Baker.

I haven’t read this book but it looks interesting and well crafted. I intend to pick it up. See the book’s website to learn more.

EVENTS: What’s Coming up in August and September

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

Editor’s Note: Before we leave July, consider making time for researcher Justin Long’s Quarterly Update Webinar exploring events and trends impacting missions to the unreached. It will be offered several times on July 27. Signing up also gives you the access to materials to watch and read at your convenience.

August

August 4-11, ReBoot Re-entry Program (Calgary, AB, Canada). For returning missionary kids, ages 17-20, transitioning to life in Canada.

August 5-10, Check-IT-Out Summer Conference (Charlotte, NC, USA). For IT and software professionals and students on using technology in missions, particularly Bible translation.

August 6-7, Support Raising Bootcamp (Plano, TX, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

August 10-12, Everywhere to Everywhere (Sioux Falls, SD, USA). Missional training and outreach event.

August 13-17, Cubs to Lions (Edmonton, AB, Canada). Discipleship for Christians with a Muslim background.

August 23, The Role of Church and Mission in Crisis Management (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

August 23-24, Support Raising Bootcamp (Edinburg, TX, USA). In Spanish.

August 31, The State of the Gospel in North America (online). Webinar from the Billy Graham Center.

September

September 3 to January 6, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online).

September 3-16, ORIENT (Joplin, MO, USA). Missionary training.

September 6, A Missionary Pipeline for your Church (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

September 6-8, Multiply: Disciple-making Movements Summit (Wheaton, IL, USA).

September 10-14, Global Member Care Network Conference (Quito, Ecuador).

September 10 to December 9, Encountering the World of Islam (online).

September 13, Spirituality in Cross-Cultural Mission (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

September 13-14, Support Raising Bootcamp (Vancouver, WA, USA). Provided by Support Raising Solutions.

September 3-14, Great Commission Leadership Institute (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Provided by SVM2.

September 17-18, International Orality Network Annual Conference (Orlando, FL, USA). Followed by Simply the Story Orality Training.

September 19-20, Standards Introductory Workshop (Orlando, FL, USA). Presented by Standards of Excellence in Short-term Missions.

September 19-25, Traction (Wilderswil, Switzerland). Renewal conference for men serving cross-culturally.

September 20-22, Missio Nexus Annual Conference (Orlando, FL, USA).

September 21-23, Business as Mission Conference (Philadelphia, PA, USA).

» View the complete calendar. Please let us know about mistakes or omissions. For more details, contact the event organizers.

Exchanging the good for the greater | Missions Catalyst News Briefs 07.18.18

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See a father’s love for his child displayed in this sweet short film, Delight (The Jesus Film). How does this remind you of God’s love for his children?

Today’s news briefs deal with challenges and breakthroughs for the Church around the world. As you read them, remember the Father’s loving presence with us in every situation.