Category: Resource Reviews

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

February 1, Navigating Short-Term Trips in 2021 (online). Webinar from The Upstream Collective.

February 1 to June 6, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New classes begin regularly.

February 7-19, Second-Language Acquisition Course (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by the Center for Intercultural Training.

February 11, Propagating: Gospel-Driven Discipleship (online). Part of The Greenhouse, a series of workshops for church mission leaders from Pioneers USA.

February 11, Your Best Kingdom Workers Are Hidden in Plain Sight (online). Webinar about engaging business people, provided by Missio Nexus.

February 11, Three Easy Ways to Drive Innovation (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

February 11, Speaking of Jesus: Non-evangelism to reach your neighbors (online). Ignite online training event from All Nations.

February 11, The Buddhist World (online). Regional update from Beyond.

February 16, Three Steps to Kickstart Your Fund Development Program (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus; first in a series of three.

February 17-19, Support Raising Bootcamp (online). Similar events held throughout the year in various locations by Support Raising Solutions.

February 17 to March 28, Seek God for the City (global). An annual prayer campaign coordinated by WayMakers.

February 18, Good News for Honor/Shame Cultures (online). Ignite Training from All Nations.

February 18 to March 18, Foundations of Media to Movements (online). Training course from Mission Media U.

February 19-20, Short-Term Mission ConneXion (online). If you plan mission trips, lead them, are going on one, or even just considering going on a mission trip, this conference is for you.

February 22 to March 20, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International.

February 24-26, Crisis Management Seminar (Orlando, FL, USA). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.

February 25, Go to the Mosque: Connecting with the Lost (online). Nugget training from Beyond.

February 25, Move (online). Virtual missions conference provided by Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

February 25, Innovating Theological Education: How BibleMesh Can Prepare your Staff for Ministry (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

View complete calendar. Corrections and submissions are welcome.

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

January 4-30, COMPASS (Palmer Lake, CO, USA). Language and culture acquisition provided by Missionary Training International. There’s a wait list for this one, but MTI plans to offer COMPASS six more times in 2021.

January 11 to April 11, Encountering the World of Islam (online). New online classes start several times a year; also available in other formats/languages.

January 11 to May 16, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online). New online classes begin regularly. Note that a special virtual class will take place from January 17 to May 23 and taught via Zoom rather than using recordings as the usual online course does. Perspectives Canada has a similar offering. There are also classes in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

January 10 to February 5, Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life and Ministry (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by the Center for Intercultural Training. CIT plans to offer the course four more times in 2021. They also offer a second-language acquisition course; many participants come for both.

January 12, Planting the Seed: Gospel-Driven Discipleship (online). Part of a free series for church mission leaders from Pioneers USA.

January 14-15, The Mobilized Church: Keys to Unlock Missions Potential (online). Two-day interactive workshop provided by Sixteen:Fifteen and the National African-American Missions Council. For a taste of this, register for the executive preview January 6.

January 14, Publishing in a New Era (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus, featuring Denise Wynn of William Carey Publishing. This may help you figure out what to do with that manuscript you worked on during lockdown.

January 15-16, Mission ConneXion (online). Formerly a regional conference based in Portland, OR, this has been turned into a virtual, worldwide event. Related events include a Short-Term Mission ConneXion which will be online this year as well, February 19-20.

January 26-28, Support Raising Bootcamp (online). Similar events held throughout the year in various locations by Support Raising Solutions, but provided virtually as needed. The next virtual event is February 17-19. You might also look at Tailored Fundraising for personal coaching in this area.

January 28, Through the Wall (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus, featuring psychologist Bill Gaultiere. Looks like it’s focused on soul care.

January 29-30, Missions Fest Santa Barbara (online). Usually offered in Santa Barbara, CA but moved online this year.

January 29-31, Mission Central Conference: Serve (online). Formerly Missions Fest Vancouver, the largest mission event in Canada has been recast into three parts. Part 2, Grow, will be February 19-20, and Part 3: Create (focused on the arts) will be February 26-27. Note that several other Canadian Mission(s) Fests have been called off for 2021.

» View complete calendar. Right now it is not very complete; still too much uncertainty for many of the sponsoring organizations. Any corrections and submissions are welcome.

1. The Expat Cookbook
2. Two New Titles from Pioneers
3. National African American Missions Council
4. Perspectives Virtual Class to Start in January
5. Mission Events Online in December

Source: Rachel Pieh Jones, via A Life Overseas

The Expat Cookbook: Travel, Cook, Eat, Love, by Rachel Pieh Jones. Independently published, 2020. 145 pages.

“The Expat Cookbook is more than a cookbook. It is 60+ recipes that can be adapted into dozens more. It is a guidebook for cooking, packing, transporting, even mailing food, all designed to contribute to a flourishing international life.”

» Learn more or purchase the Kindle edition for US$9.99 or US$15.99 for a paperback.

» Can’t live on bread alone. Another contributor to A Life Overseas, Amy Young, wrote Connected: Starting Your Life Overseas Spiritually Fed.

» William Carey Publishing has released a new, 30th anniversary edition of the practical book, Managing Conflict Creatively: A Guide for Missionaries & Christian Workers, by Donald C. Palmer. Includes case studies, discussion questions, and more.

Source: BottomLine Media / Pioneers USA

Here are a couple of titles from our parent ministry, Pioneers. They may interest many of you. Both will be released next week (December 1) but can be pre-ordered now.

1. A Sequel to When Everything Is Missions

Conversations on When Everything Is Missions: Recovering the Mission of the Church, edited by Denny Spitters and Matthew Ellison. BottomLine Media, 2020. 146 pages.

In their previous book, When Everything Is Missions, Denny Spitters and Matthew Ellison raised seven questions that shape how we think about and carry out the global mission of the Church and called readers to refocus their gaze on the gospel and the Great Commission.

Conversations on When Everything Is Missions adds the voices of mission leaders J. D. Payne, Ted Esler, Jeff Jackson, Gary Corwin, Pam Arlund, James Mason, Jean Johnson, Jeff Lewis, Steve Beirn, David Platt, Mark Vowels, Dick Brogden, Ed Stetzer, and others. They write on the same theme but from different angles. Some chapters were previously published in the November/December 2019 edition of Mission Frontiers.

» Preorder the Kindle edition (available December 1) for US$4.99 or paperback for US$9.99 from Amazon or elsewhere. Missio Nexus member? You might want to catch a webinar with Spitters and Ellison on December 2 (see events calendar, below).

» For a different look at tensions between mission priorities and how to navigate them in a local church context, see Sharon Hoover’s excellent 2018 book Mapping Church Missions: A Compass for Ministry Strategy.

2. An Adaptation of Peace Child

Treachery on the Twisted River, by Don Richardson, adapted by Karen Robertson, BottomLine Media, 2020. 180 pages.

This book is a young-adult adaption of the late Don Richardson’s 1974 bestseller Peace Child. Both describe the early years of his family’s ministry among a tribe of headhunters and cannibals in New Guinea in the 1960s. After more than 50 years, perhaps it’s no spoiler to tell you many of them become followers of Jesus and saw their community transformed (a story revisited in the documentary Never the Same).

Treachery on the Twisted River was condensed and adapted by a teacher who wanted a version of the story to share with her students. It simplifies the language and removes some of the description and context for a younger and/or less patient audience. There’s too much violence and intensity for young/sensitive children; that’s intrinsic to the story. But this is certainly an easier read for today’s teens (and adults) than Peace Child.

» Preorder the Kindle edition (available December 1) for US$5.99 or the paperback for US$13.99 from Amazon or elsewhere. It might make a good Christmas gift for someone on your list.The Pioneers bookstore also has related titles.

Source: NAAMC

Did you see NAAMC’s big announcement, below?

» Read more about NAAMC’s vision and plans.

Source: Perspectives Study Program

Due to COVID-19, the folks who organize Perspectives on the World Christian Movement courses are conducting a National Virtual Class in English this spring via Zoom. Anyone in the US is welcome, but the goal is to provide a class for people who don’t have one in their area or don’t feel safe attending a class in person.

The class starts Sunday, January 17 with registration and orientation and concludes May 23. Will you help spread the word? They would love to have 200-300 people in the class. Alumni get a discount. They’re also looking for some alums to volunteer as mentors and graders.

Perspectives also offers the class in a flexible, pre-recorded online format which may work better for some. New classes start about once a month. In 2021, a number of groups plan to host traditional 15-week, in-person Perspectives classes for their cities, while others will take to the internet.

» Learn about or register for the National Virtual Perspectives Class. Perspectives Canada is also offering a virtual course for Canadians. Don’t forget to download activity sheets to include your kiddos!

» You should also check out Pathways to Global Understanding and the Kairos course, independent incarnations of much the same sort. Need something shorter? Consider the six-week class MomentumYes.

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

See our online calendar for a handful of in-person events as well as some events planned for 2021. Got submissions? Send them my way!

December 2, Conversations on When Everything Is Missions: Rediscovering the Mission of the Church. Webinar from Missio Nexus.

December 3, Counting the Cost of Movements. Part of a training series from Beyond, but each can stand alone.

December 3, Fertilizing the Soil: Define Missions. Part of The Greenhouse, a free series for church mission leaders from Pioneers USA.

December 8, Mission Trips, COVID, and 2021. Webinar from Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

December 8-10, Support Raising Bootcamp. Provided by Support Raising Solutions. Similar events offered throughout the year (live or virtual).

December 10, The Five Directions to Guide Investing Your Leadership. Webinar from Missio Nexus.

December 28-30, CMC Global 2020. Chinese Mission Convention, organized by Ambassadors for Christ. Completely new format with multiple events.

December 29-30, Cross Conference. Student missions conference. Previously scheduled for Louisville, KY; now moved online.

» View complete calendar. Corrections and submissions welcome.

1. DEVOTIONAL: The Hands and Feet of Jesus
2. ARTICLE: Eight Tips on Writing Newsletters that Rock
3. REPORT: The Future of Missions
4. BOOK: Misreading Scripture Through Individualist Eyes
5. EVENTS: Videos from Online Events for Mission Leaders
6. EVENTS: Happening Online in November