Author: MC

In This Issue: Explaining the world, expecting great things, and more

• MAPS: Forty that Explain the World
• WEBINAR: Church Planting Movements
• REPORTS: Mission Research Data   
• BOOK: New Biography of Adoniram Judson 
• EVENTS: Upcoming Training, Retreats, and Conferences

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!

Source: Washington Post and others

Have you seen the Washington Post’s collection of 40 Maps that Explain the World? It was inspired by the more light-hearted (but sometimes a bit offensive) 40 Maps They Didn’t Teach You in School and probably the Business Insider’s 36 Maps that Explain the Entire World. See also a discussion of the Washington Post maps and what they mean, which includes a video and some additional links.

William Carey (see below) said, “to know the will of God we need an open Bible and an open map.” Do any of these maps open the world to you? How could we (appropriately) use them in our speaking, writing, and blogging? Have you already done so?

» Comment on this item below.

Source: William Carey Library

Expect Great Things: Mission Quotes that Inform and Inspire, compiled by Marvin J. Newell. William Carey Library, 2013. 368 pages.

Expect Great Things includes 700 quotations from 250 former and contemporary missionaries, statesmen, teachers, and preachers, from pithy one-liners to thought-provoking paragraphs. It doesn’t provide a lot of context, but it cites original sources, organizes the quotes into 70 categories, and includes an index. Its biggest selling point may be its reliability as a reference. Each quotation has been carefully verified as to its source and wording.

“Read them for personal encouragement,” urges Newell, the Senior Vice President of Missio Nexus. “Paste them on your website, blog, or other social media. Tweet them to a friend. Include them in sermons, speeches, newsletters, and lesson plans. Pass them along to others to encourage them along their way to Great Commission familiarity and commitment. ‘How good is a timely world’ (Proverbs 15:23).”

» Purchase this book for US$19.99 from the publisher or elsewhere. Also available from William Carey is the newly revised Writing Exceptional Missionary Newsletters.

Source: Sixteen:Fifteen

What are church planting movements and why are they important? What does it take to see these movements happen among unreached people groups?

If you have an hour and a good internet connection, you might take a look at how colleagues with Pioneers addressed such question in a recent webinar for Sixteen:Fifteen, a ministry that does church mission coaching.

Church Planting Movements – Making Disciples and Church Planting in Hard Places explores some of the practices and assumptions that characterize a few common church-planting approaches. A recording of the presentation, including questions from those who watched it live, is posted on the Sixteen:Fifteen website and can be viewed or downloaded for free.

» Watch the webinar. You might also be interested in previous webinars, including several in partnership with Avant Ministries that deal with aspects of church-based mission teams.

» See also Ed Stetzer’s article, Church Planting and the Mission of God (Christianity Today).

Source: Justin Long

Looking for data about the status of world missions and the contexts in which the least reached peoples live? Mission researcher Justin Long has published a great package of materials (a downloadable .zip file) which might contain something that would interest you. It includes:

1. District-by-district population surveys for Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia (continuing to be developed).

2. Current version of three longer reports with forecasts for the Cushitic world (Horn of Africa – Afar, Beja, Somali, and Oromo peoples), the Persian cluster of peoples (Iran), and the Turkic cluster of peoples (Turkey).

» Purchase this collection of materials for US$10. Or, if you prefer, make a donation to Justin’s ministry and get updated and additional materials sent to you monthly throughout the year.

Source: Christian Focus Publications

Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life, by Vance Christie. Christian Focus Publications, 2013. 384 pages.

One of America’s first and, in his own time, most well-known of missionaries, Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) served for nearly four decades as a Baptist missionary to the people of Burma. After more than twenty years on the field he said, “The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be, ‘Devoted for life’.” When asked, he always listed as a critical qualification for missionary service the intention to devote one’s entire life to it.

Not many have paid as high a price for such a commitment, facing imprisonment, discouragement, and great illness, loss, struggle, and hardship. Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life provides a complete chronicle of Judson’s life and family and includes many quotations from books and letters. It also paints an informative picture of the times in which he worked.

This volume and 20 others that might interest you are part of a series from the publisher on History Makers.

» Get the paperback for US$13.49 from Amazon (or elsewhere); US$9.99 for the Kindle edition.

» See also an informative review by blogger Tim Challies, or, from Christie’s blog, 10 Significant Reasons to Read Adoniram Judson’s Biography.

Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar