Source: Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission
We may not see mission trip participation return to its previous levels any time soon, but some churches and organizations are using this season to prepare for doing mission trips better when the doors open again.
Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission has published a new reading plan with scripture, short articles on ministry principles, and reflection questions. It’s set up as a 14-day pre-trip devotional but you could use it other ways.
» Sad about cancelling that mission trip? You might be encouraged by this report about what Christar did when they had to call off their usual summer mission program: Redeeming a Summer of Cancelled Plans.
“I’ve observed that most missionaries struggle with one of two things when writing their prayer and update newsletters. Either they struggle to design a newsletter layout that is both attractive to the eye and easy to read, or they struggle to use language that speaks to the heart and inspires the reader. Here are four quick tips on the layout of your newsletter and four quick tips on the language in your newsletter.”
Have you been asked to address a group or write an article about the future of missions, missions and the next generation, or missions in a post-pandemic world? There seems to be a lot of that going around!
Some of the conversation circles around the recent 100-page report released by Barna. The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention commissioned Barna to research how young Christians’ perspectives on missions are different from older believers’ and this is the result. The Future of Missions: 10 Questions About Global Ministry that the Church Must Answer with the Next Generation. But there are several ways to explore the findings besides reading the report.
Attend the IMB’s online summit The Future of Missions on Thursday, October 29, 7-9pm Eastern. The two-hour presentation will feature Barna President David Kinnamin and a “panel of experts” talking about diversity in missions, implications of urbanization, the state of the American church, and what Gen Z thinks about missions.
I haven’t been able to read this one yet, but here’s the publisher’s description:
The Bible was written within collectivist cultures. When Westerners, immersed in individualism, read the Bible, it’s easy to misinterpret important elements―or miss them altogether. In any culture, the most important things usually go without being said. So to read Scripture well we benefit when we uncover the unspoken social structures and values of its world. We need to recalibrate our vision. Combining the expertise of a biblical scholar and a missionary practitioner, Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes is an essential guidebook to the cultural background of the Bible and how it should inform our reading.
E. Randolph Richards and Richard James explore deep social structures of the ancient Mediterranean―kinship, patronage, and brokerage―along with their key social tools―honor, shame, and boundaries―that the biblical authors lived in and lie below the surface of each text. From Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar to Peter’s instructions to elders, the authors strip away individualist assumptions and bring the world of the biblical writers to life.
Expanding on the popular Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes [co-authored by Richards], this book makes clear how understanding collectivism will help us better understand the Bible, which in turn will help us live more faithfully in an increasingly globalized world.
Richards is a professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Richard James (pseudonym) is involved in church-planting ministry in the Middle East. Nijay Gupta, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, wrote a review of the book for Christianity Today.
Source: Missio Nexus, Finishing the Task, MoreDisciples.com
Missio Nexus cancelled the conference that attracted 1,000+ mission leaders in 2019 but held a four-hour online event in its place on September 24. Anyone can now watch the entire event, Focus Spotlight 2020. Good stuff. I need to watch some of these sessions again.
The Global Assembly of Pastors for Finishing the Task was held online October 13-15. Organizers are now offering free access to online presentations about church-planting and disciple-making principles, practices, and strategies worldwide.
On October 1, MoreDisciples.com and 24:14 kicked off MultiplyUs, a new network for those who want to see disciple-making movements launch in North America and other Western contexts where they’ve been slow to grow. You can watch the launch event online. A follow-up is planned for November 7. Both focus on the vision to see disciple-making movements happen in North America and other Western contexts.
November 4-25, Contend! International Prayer Campaign. Interceding for an increase of mission mobilization in the global Church; register your participation to receive prayer materials. Coordinated by Global Mission Mobilization Initiative.
November 11-13, Support Raising Bootcamp. Similar events held throughout the year in various locations; note a Spanish-language course will also be offered online November 19-21.
November 12-13, Mission Fest Seattle. Free, community mission conference for all ages; now moved online for greater access.
November 12-14, Global Missions Health Conference. Annual event focused on medical missions. Was planned for Louisville, KY. Now a virtual event.
One of the best ways to experience a place or people group is to take a short trip and go there. But that’s not so easy to do during a pandemic. You can go along with Jeannie Marie and a few friends on a (pre-pandemic) survey trip to see for yourself what she describes as one of the most unseen—and beautiful—places on earth: the southern districts of Bangladesh.
The Red Book, by Gillian Newham. Bespoke Christian Publishing, 2020. 342 pages.
A nineteenth-century missionary spends 20 summers among Mongolian herdsmen, seeing no fruit but leaving behind a precious Mongolian Bible with a holy man who was his friend.
Nearly a century later, we meet a family in the same area, still keeping their herds and living much as their ancestors did, but in a changing Mongolia. The novel focuses on several members of the family questioning if there is something more than their traditions and way of life and seeking truth and purpose.
Though the world has lots of Christian fiction, novels about missions are few and far between and sometimes don’t ring true. I was impressed with this one. It provides a loving look at Mongolian thinking, culture, experience, and spirituality and will be welcome to those who know or want to know more about Mongolia, though the unfamiliar Mongolian names and phrases might lose a reader not willing to persevere.
The author and her husband live and serve in Mongolia.
In this short video, Steve Schirmer of Silk Road Catalyst explains and responds to data about the status of global evangelization compiled by Joshua Project—including the estimate, published in 2007, that 86% of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists do not personally know someone who follows Christ. Is that still true?
CORRECTION: After contact with Joshua Project, we’ve discovered that the percentage of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists who personally know someone who follows Jesus has actually gotten a bit worse, rather than better. Too bad! If you click on the link above it will take you to a newly revised version of the JP handout.
Need the details? A JP data hound directed us to what the newest edition of World Christian Encyclopedia says about the matter, in a table titled Personal Contact, 2020. This lists by region how many Buddhists know a Christian, how many Hindus know a Christian, how many Muslims know a Christian, and a catch-all group “All non-Christians.”
“Personal contact in the second table measures the number of non-Christians who personally know a Christian by applying a formula to each ethnolinguistic people group. Values for each country, region and continent produce a global total. Although these numbers are estimates, they offer a preliminary assessment of a critical shortfall in Christian mission. Globally, 87% of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims have relatively little contact with Christians.” (p. 943)
Note the language has changed a bit, too. WCE’s summary statement says “Have relatively little contact,” rather than “personally know,” as in previous statements Though they are still using the term “personal contact” in the same discussion.
Need a source you can cite? Here you go:
Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, World Christian Encyclopedia 3rd Edition, Edinburgh University Press, 2019. 943.
